He stops at the base of a staircase near the back entrance. “You want my mouth on you again, Dove?” Nick’s tone is growly and suggestive.
“Um…” I sway my hips from side to side.
“That’s a yes.” He leans forward and puts a shoulder to my abdomen, where he lifts me into a fireman’s hold.
I kick my legs. “Oh my goodness. Nick, put me down!”
“Not a chance. I’m taking you to my place, I’m eating you, and then we’re ordering pizza and eating that. Then maybe I’ll eat you again. You got a problem with my plan?”
I shake my head.
He growls in warning. Words. He always wants my words.
“No, Nick. No problem. All yours.”
“Damn straight.” He smacks my ass hard and takes the stairs two at a time.
My brute of a man did not lie about going down on me or eating the pizza last night. Though, at midnight he led me down to my car before moving things to the next step, claiming he wants to take me out again before we spend the night. Which I thought was sweet and yet oddly strange since we’d already had our mouths and hands all over one another’s naked bodies.
I wiggle my toes and evaluate my pedicure, when Dr. Hart enters her outer office.
“Come on in, Honor.”
“Hello, Dr. Hart!” I practically skip into her office.
“It’s Monet, again, Honor. And you seem…” Her eyes narrow, and she taps at her bottom lip with her pencil. “Happy.”
I sit on her couch and spread out my flowery new dress Grace helped me pick out. “Oh, I am.”
She smiles softly. “Would you care to tell me about this sudden change in your demeanor?”
Playing with my skirt, I trace a bold red flower that twines into an orange one. “It’s Nick.”
“The new yoga-teaching beau?”
I smile. “Yes, he’s a boxer too. Owns a gym. And guess what!”
Dr. Hart frowns, which is weird for her—she doesn’t usually—but I continue on anyway.
“He’s letting me organize his office. I’m going to help run his gym. He’s absolutely the worst at keeping files, and managing his money, and well, anything that involves the side that’s not physical or related to the gym’s equipment or how to deliver a punch correctly.” I say all of that in a flurry of excitement, not wanting to forget a moment of such a great, new experience.
Another frown.
Again, I carry on. “And he’s going to take me to meet his family on Sunday. He has a big family.” I smile in front of Dr. Hart for the first time in what feels like forever.
“Five sisters?” She tosses out the exact number of Nick’s siblings.
I gasp in awe. “Why yes. And they make wine. Well not all of them, but most of them. Nick wanted to be his own man after he…”
“Left the army.” She finishes my sentence.
This time I narrow my gaze and frown. “Dr. Hart, I’m getting the feeling that you know my Nick.”
She nods but issues her own question. “Before we get to that part, how about you start from the beginning and tell me how you two met and when he asked you out?”
“Actually, that was a strange accident.” I beam, feeling the flutter of the memory when I was afraid to take his class after meeting him. “Well, three or so weeks ago, I wasn’t going to go to his class again because I was embarrassed, and frankly, the man makes me nervous. Maybe not so much anymore, but being in his presence is like having a horde of bees buzzing all around me. I’m twitchy, itchy, and uncertain but exhilarated and excited at the same time. You know?”
With that question, Dr. Hart smiles. “I understand that feeling perfectly. I get it every time I see my husband, Clay.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. Your husband is a hunk.” I glance at the picture on her desk. Though, I still prefer the Italian Stallion. Nick is beyond my fantasy man.
“That he is. Now how did you meet up the second time?”
“Oh. Sorry. I ended up taking his sister Grace’s class, and he had decided to take her class that day too. After the class, he asked me out.”
“And you said yes.”
“Um, kind of. More like he made me say yes.” I chuckle. “I’m not sure Nick is the type of guy women say no to. Nor do I think he’d allow that of any female he was courting.” Not that he’s courting me anymore since he said we’re exclusive. And after yesterday on his desk, and last night at his house, there isn’t anyone I’d rather spend my time with.
“No, on that I would say you are right,” she responds, making it clear she does in fact know my Nick.
“Dr. Hart, I’m sensing there’s something you’re not saying.”
She nods. “Usually that’s my line.” Dr. Hart’s shoulders slump, and she rubs at her belly as if it’s a nervous gesture. Definitely not the response I was expecting with my great news.
“Let me ask you this. Is this Nick the same Nick that teaches at Lotus House in Berkeley? Nick Salerno?”
“Yes! You do know him.” I smile widely, but she doesn’t return the gesture, which makes me instantly uncomfortable.
Dr. Hart sighs, and it sounds heavy and fraught with unease. “I know him very well, I’m afraid.”
“Afraid? Are you trying to tell me he’s not a good man, that I shouldn’t date him?” Then it slams into me like a baseball ball bat to the back of the head. “Oh, my God! Have you dated him?” I cover my mouth with my own hand as the image of Dr. Hart and Nick kissing enters my mind. A sourness floods my gut and swirls, dangerously mixing up the cappuccino I had before attending my session.
My doctor shakes her head. “No, I haven’t dated him. He’s a friend, a brother type. I spend a lot of time with many of the same people.”
“Okay. Thank goodness. So you
