Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 72892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
When I called him an hour ago to request a special order, he said he couldn’t refuse.
I’ll reward his kindness with a healthy donation to the pantry on my way to work.
She pops open the lid of the box. “Ham and pineapple? This is my favorite.”
I know. Stevie is the source for that tidbit of information.
We were making homemade pizza one night when she asked if we could race to a market to get ham and pineapple. She mentioned that it was Eloise’s favorite so she wanted to try it out. She wasn’t a fan. I was.
She reaches for a piece, but pulls back to lick sauce from her finger. “It’s delicious. Is it your favorite too?”
I take her hand in mine and trace my tongue over the finger she just licked. “It is now.”
“We’re kind of perfect for each other,” she says, before she sucks in a deep breath. “I mean, we have a lot of fun.”
I like her first statement more, but before I can tell her that my phone starts ringing.
Her eyes dart to it, but she doesn’t say a word.
I do when I scoop it up and answer it, “Dr. Morgan.”
I listen to Julissa rattle off an update about a patient in the CCU. I turn my back to Eloise as I list the blood tests I want done on the young man before I arrive at the hospital.
I hear movement behind me just in time to see Eloise disappear down the hall.
“I’ll be there shortly,” I tell Julissa before I end the call.
By the time I’m at the doorway to my bedroom, Eloise is getting dressed. “I’ll get ready to go too.”
“You can stay,” I say. “Eat pizza, watch something, have another bath. The door will automatically lock behind you when you leave.”
“I have school in two hours.” She buttons her blouse. “I’ll take a slice to go, though.”
“Good.” I turn to exit the room.
Before I can, she’s behind me with her arms wrapped around my chest. “You’re such a good man.”
I let out a deep seated chuckle. “I’m not so sure about that. I am a good doctor, though.”
“The best.” She rounds me to grab hold of my tie. She tugs it slightly. “One last quick round of our game.”
The patient Julissa called me about is stable, and I see a playfulness in Eloise’s eyes that I don’t want to rush away from, so I bite. “Who gets to ask the question?”
“Me.” She widens her eyes as if to suggest that was a given.
“Go.”
“Why did you become a doctor?”
I have to look away from the truth that is always in her gaze. She expects that from me now, but it will take us down a path that will create a distance I can’t bear.
“Let me guess.” She taps her finger to her chin. “Was it to impress women? Or maybe it was to…”
“I need to go,” I cut her off mid-sentence. “I’m needed in the CCU, Eloise.”
Her expression shifts instantly. “Oh, of course. I’m sorry.”
I step back and suck in a breath. “Have a good day.”
“I will.” Her voice is soft. Pain taints it, but I can’t do this right now.
With just a simple goodbye, I turn and walk out of my bedroom and away from the woman who owns my heart.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Eloise
“You look a little pale,” Astrid remarks as she steps into Vinyl Crush.
“I said the very same to her when I got here,” Penny pipes up from where she’s currently sorting through a box of records that arrived yesterday.
Astrid tosses me a look and mouths the words, “Is she working here?”
“Just helping me,” I mouth back.
“I’m fine,” I say in response to my cousin’s comment. “I’ve been working on a million different projects at once.”
It’s an exaggeration. I’ve spent the past week and a half focused on Penny’s wedding dress and sketching a design for Stevie’s special dress. I plan on texting her an image of that after she’s done school today.
“One of those projects is for me,” Penny states proudly.
She skims a hand over the front of her denim shirt to brush away some dust. “I love this place. I never knew this jewel existed until Els told me to stop by for a visit.”
Astrid beams. “It was my mom’s jewel. I wish I could devote more time to it, but with my recording schedule, and writing new songs, I just can’t make the time.”
“Thank God for Castle.” It almost feels wrong to say that since I gave Astrid a hard time when she hired him on as manager.
“He gave me his resignation last night.”
My head snaps to the left to look at my cousin. “What?”
“He’s leaving New York.” She sighs. “He has family out west and there’s a job that’s his if he wants it. It’s at a radio station. Something local but he wants to give it a try.”