Then He Kissed Me (21 page)

*~*~*

L
auren scraped the rest
of the cheesecake off her plate and stuffed it in her mouth. “It’s official,” she said, leaning back on the couch in her office. “This is the year I become a fatty.”

Nate sat across from her wearing nothing but his glasses and his boxer briefs. “Then you’ll just have to start running with me in the mornings.” His jeans were still somewhere on the floor but she’d claimed his shirt. She liked wearing it. It was crisp and the cotton felt cool against her skin. Plus, it was huge on her. It went down to her knees and it smelled like his cologne. She was going to demand he gift it to her before the night was over.

“Is that how you stay in shape?” she asked, admiring his chest. After he’d given her that lovely birthday present on the desk, they’d practically attacked the food basket. She’d eaten almost half her salmon and all her cheesecake, and between them, they’d finished off the bottle of wine as well.

He looked her over with the same appreciation she’d just shown him. “You’re not too shabby yourself.”

“But my boobs are saggy and I have stretch marks. Men have it so much easier. They can have a baby and it doesn’t change them one bit.”

He laid down his cheesecake. “Are you serious? Or is this your way of fishing for a compliment?”

She felt herself flush. “No, I mean…I know I’m not a troll or anything. I know I’m…pretty. But, I’m not eighteen anymore, you know?”

He looked at her. “No, you’re not. You’re much more attractive now.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re hoping to get lucky again tonight,” she joked.

“I’m saying it because it’s true. You were pretty at eighteen. But you were…untouchable. At least, for a guy like me. I didn’t know you very well, but the Lauren in high school? I think she would have gotten in a car with a bumper sticker that said My Other Toy Has Tits. She wouldn’t have liked it, but she wouldn’t have stood up for herself, either. That night at The Harbor House? You should have seen the fire in your eyes. I’d just had one of the crummiest nights of my life, but I walked out into that parking lot and heard you telling off that asshole and it made me smile. Seriously? You’re worried about a few stretch marks?”

He paused and his voice went low. “And for the record, you do know that women pay to get breasts like yours? I went to med school with a guy who charges about ten grand for a set of those, only even as good as he is, he’s still going to leave a nice little scar somewhere.” He shook his head. “Baby, you’ve got Playboy breasts. Believe me, I should know. I studied enough of them when I was in high school. And yours are by far the most spectacular set of tits I’ve ever had the privilege of getting up close and personal with.”

For a second she was speechless. “That’s…the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. I think.
Wait
. Did…you just call my breasts
tits
?”

He shrugged. “I’m a guy. Sooner or later you were going to hear me say that.” He picked up his plate and took another bite of his cheesecake. She liked this. Sitting here on the couch with Nate, both of them only partially clothed, but completely sated, and talking about whatever came into their heads. There was something very right about it all. She could definitely get used to this…

“So, tell me more about your Playboy addiction.”

“Not an addiction. More like a phase between the ages of fifteen and seventeen. A very highly productive phase,” he made a back and forth motion with his right hand, “if you know what I mean.”

She laughed. “Oh, God. I think that’s definitely
too
much information.”

“It was either that or walk around with a constant hard on.”

“Poor baby. What happened when you turned eighteen?”

“I discovered girls.” He grinned. “I take that back. I discovered girls at thirteen. They just didn’t discover me back till I went off to college.”

“Hmmm…I
bet
they did.” She sighed. “This has been by far the best birthday of my adult life.”

“Because of that?” He nodded toward the desk.

“And all this,” she said pointing between them. “But don’t get a big head. You still have to beat the year I got my Barbie Convertible.”

“Guess I’ll just have to aim a little higher for next year then.”

Next year. He was already thinking that far in the future? Of course, it was probably just a flirtatious figure of speech. “When’s your birthday, by the way?”

“November fifth.”

“This year’s election date. So I have slightly less than six months to put together something really fantastic.”

“I’m looking forward to it already.”

The way he looked at her made her nipples tighten.
Playboy breasts
. Coming from anyone else it would seem like just a cheesy line. But not from Nate. There was something so completely genuine about him. He was like the old saying, what you see is what you get. Lauren definitely liked what she saw, all right.

“So are you really going to stay and help me organize my booth?”

“Of course I am.”

“Good, because we have a lot of work to do, mister.” Reluctantly, she got up from the couch and began to put away the rest of their meal. “Kitty told me that she got her picture taken with you for the paper.”

“Allie Grant interviewed me for a story. I think it comes out tomorrow.”

“I’ll be sure to buy like a dozen copies. I can see the headline now: Hero Doctor delivers baby, saves Bunco from sure disaster, and gives lonely divorcee the night of her life. Story to follow at eleven.”

“Lonely divorcee?”

“It sounds more dramatic that way. Sells more papers.” She cocked her head to the side. “If you’d never been born, Nate Miller, who would I have had desk sex with?”

“Or given you your birthday orgasm?” he added.

She loved this little game they played now. “
Exactly
! It’s like when George finds out in his alternate life that Mary turned into a spinster librarian.” She shuddered. “I hate that scene. I just want them back in the life where they’re married with their four kids living in the run down house with the shoddy staircase.”

He smiled, then grew pensive. “Were you serious earlier, about telling Henry about us?”

“Yes.”

“Good. He’s a smart kid and I don’t want him to think we lied to him.”

She picked his jeans off the floor and tossed them Nate’s way. “Get dressed. All that sexiness is distracting me and, like I said, we still have work to do.”

He stood and pulled his jeans back on. “So, this birthday dinner your parents are throwing for you tomorrow. Who’s going?”

“Just my parents, Henry, and me. And Felicia, of course. She’s practically part of the family.” She paused. “Oh. I don’t think tomorrow night is a good night for us to come out as a couple. For one thing, Daddy’s just so unpredictable these days. And Momma will make a
huge
deal out of it. Let me tell Henry on my own, and we can ease Momma and Daddy into it later. Maybe next week we can hang out together at the festival and get everyone used to us?”

“You think people need to get used to us?”

“Just some people.”

Just me
.

It had been four months since the proposal and less than three months since The Kiss. Tonight had been....wonderful. She hadn’t exaggerated when she’d said it was the best birthday of her life. Nate seemed to be over Jessica. They never talked about her and he never seemed anything other than perfectly happy with their relationship. But still. It didn’t hurt to take things slow.

“And the by way. Yes, I do love key lime pie, but I think cheesecake has just become my favorite dessert.”

He grinned. “Mine, too.”

T
he minute Lanie opened
the door to her apartment, she thrust Hector into Nate’s arms. “Thank God you’re back. This is the neediest dog ever.” She turned to address the two big mutts barking in the living room. “Isn’t that right, ladies? Penelope and Medea have been traumatized by your son,” she said, pointing to Hector. “He’s been trying to hump them all night.”

Hector, who looked completely innocent of any wrong doing, squirmed against him, wagging his tail and making happy dog sounds. “So now he’s my son? Don’t forget you’re the one who insisted I have him.”

He studied his sister’s two dogs—both were lab mixes that probably weighed about seventy pounds each. “Hector’s all of ten pounds, tops. Besides, he’s neutered. He couldn’t have…you know, humped them. Not successfully, anyway.” He turned Hector around to face him. “Did bad old Aunt Lanie mistreat you?” He was rewarded by a slobbering kiss.

“
Well
! Someone’s in a good mood.” She looked at his jeans and the old T-shirt he’d found in the trunk of his car. Lauren had insisted on keeping the shirt he’d worn last night. They’d worked till the wee hours of the morning. Had another go at some birthday sex (technically, post-birthday, he supposed, since it had been after midnight), then fallen asleep on the couch, only to wake up fifteen minutes ago. Lauren barely had time to run home and shower before going back to open the store.

They went into his sister’s kitchen and she poured them each a big mug of coffee. “That’s last night’s jeans, but that’s not last night’s shirt,” she pointed out.

He took a sip of his coffee.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she demanded.

“You made an observation. It didn’t require a response.”

Lanie sighed. “As usual, I’m going to have to be very specific.” She cleared her throat and modulated her voice to make her sound like a robot. “So, Nate, I take it the surprise went well and that Lauren was happy to see you.” She glanced at her watch. “According to my time piece, it is morning now. Where did you spend the night? What did you do? Did you have fun? And more importantly, do you plan to have more of this same kind of fun in the future?”

He tried to hide his smile and answer her questions in order. “Yes, the surprise went well. Lauren was very happy to see me. Where I spent the night is none of your business. Nor is what I did. But, to answer your last questions, yes and yes.”

Her jaw dropped. “Wait till I tell Mom you have a new girlfriend!”

“What are you, sixteen? All right,” he conceded, “You can tell Mom. But just Mom. Lauren wants to tell Henry first.”

“That makes sense.” She smiled and tossed the morning newspaper at his chest. “This is definitely your day, bro. First you swagger in here with your
I just got laid
vibe and now you’re a celebrity. If I didn’t know you personally, I’d say you were the best thing to hit this town since sunblock.”

Hector tried to bite the edge of the paper, but Nate pulled him away. He opened up the front section of the Gazette. There in living color was a huge picture of him in his lab coat standing in his office next to his med school diploma. Another picture showed him with his arm around Doc. There was even a picture of him with Hector, and of course, one of him with Kitty Pappas and baby Amanda. “
Damn
. I’m all over the place.”

“I’m just surprised they didn’t get one of you taking a piss.” She giggled at her own joke. “Seriously, though, this Allie Grant? She’s like your number one fan. According to this article you practically walk on water.”

He quickly read the article. “Shit,” he muttered.

Lanie made a face. “Let me guess. You’re at the part where Jessica left you so broken-hearted that you had to look to Hector for comfort? I think this Allie was trying to do you a favor. Think of all the single women who are going to read that and think, ‘Aw, poor sad rejected doctor.’ Then they’ll take one look at that mug of yours with those adorable dimples, and you’re going to have more tail than you’re going to know what to do with.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Haven’t you ever seen
Sleepless in Seattle
? The more pathetic you seem, the more women flock to you. It totally worked for Tom Hanks.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Maybe I should try it some time,” she mused.

“I don’t want—that’s not the part I meant.” He pointed beneath the picture of him and Doc. “Read that section.”

Lanie quickly perused the article. “So? She talked to Doc Morrison about you. What’s wrong with that?”

“Did you see what he said about how we didn’t have a contract?”

“And?”

“And, he repeats it three times in the interview. Whereas, I’m specifically quoted that the two of us have a contract.”

“What? You’re worried Doc is going to can you? What have you been doing? Stealing the tongue depressors?”

“It’s not funny, Lanie. Doc and I have a philosophically different way of doing things. I’m not the first guy he offered this position to. He might decide I’m not a good fit for his office. Maybe this is his way of hinting to the good people of Whispering Bay that I’m not going to be staying.”

“
Wow
. I’ve never heard you sound paranoid before. Let’s say for some crazy reason it doesn’t work out between you and Doc. It’s not like you couldn’t get another job.”

Was Lanie right? Was he being paranoid? Doc’s Mediterranean cruise was six weeks out. What if Doc considered it some kind of test? Sure, Frances Kiefer seemed to have changed her opinion on him. But if other patients complained about him, Nate could very well find himself being asked to leave. Doc hadn’t said that outright, of course, but Doc had a way of skating around a subject that made him nervous. Nate had never been good with subtext. Life would be so much easier if people just said what they really meant.

Lanie was right about one thing, though. He could easily get another job. He knew of four different positions that would take him in a heartbeat. And of course, there was always the surgical fellowship in Miami. He’d already turned it down, but the physician in charge had told him that if he ever changed his mind to reapply, he would be a shoe in.

The thing was, he liked where his life was right now. He liked working with Doc. He liked the office staff. Hell, he even liked Lola. And his personal life was better than ever.

“You really think it’s okay? The article, I mean?” he asked his sister.

“It’s better than okay. The way I read it is that those other doctors who came to work before you didn’t think Whispering Bay was important enough for them, so they went on to bigger jobs. But you, who aren’t even legally bound with a contract, are staying because you’re just that kind of guy. A man of honor and all that. See,” she said pointing to the paper, “it even mentions the handshake.”

“All right,” he conceded, “if you say so. Maybe I am making too much of it.”

“Get used to it, bro. You’re the town’s new hero. Hey, cheer up, it’s better than being the goat.”

*~*~*

T
he family celebrated her
birthday with Lauren’s favorite meal—Felicia’s homemade lasagna followed by key lime pie for dessert. As per tradition, they ate on Momma’s good china. It had been handed down to her by her mother, and one day, Momma said, it would belong to Lauren to hand down to her own children. The thought of handing down Nana’s old china to Henry brought a smile to her face. It was important to have traditions.

Of course, Henry might not be her only child. She’d love to have a daughter. A little girl she could teach to sew and watch old movies with. The image of a girl with serious green eyes and glasses popped into her head.
Whoa
. That was thinking way too far ahead. She and Nate hadn’t even come out as a couple yet. She told him she’d only remarry if she was crazy in love. Right now, she was crazy in
lust
. Definitely not the same thing.

After dinner, Henry and Daddy settled down in the patio to play a game of checkers, while Lauren and Momma stayed in the kitchen to help Felicia with the dishes. The article on Nate had come out in this morning’s edition of the Gazette. Lauren had been waiting all evening for Momma to mention it. True to form, Momma didn’t disappoint.

“Lauren, sweetie, did you see the big article on Dr. Miller? What a shame. That
hussy
from Miami left him heartbroken and now all he has is a little dog to keep him company.”

Felicia rolled her eyes.

“Yes, it’s a sad situation, all right.” Lauren paused for effect. “Good thing he has a new girlfriend to help take his mind off the hussy.”

“What! Oh. I
knew
it! You and that friends routine. Someone swooped in right under your nose and stole him from you. Who is it? Please don’t tell me it’s that dingle berry Janie who works at the office. I mean, she’s a sweet girl and all but—”

Lauren couldn’t help herself. She started laughing. Felicia, who’d been around the block a time or two, instantly caught on to the meaning behind Lauren’s laughter. She gave Lauren a big thumbs up.

“What’s so funny?” Momma demanded, waving a soapy plate in the air.

Felicia took the plate from Momma’s hands. “Just in case,” she said. “We don’t want to get excited and break anything.”

“Momma,
I’m
the girlfriend,” Lauren said.

“What?
You
!” Momma grabbed her into a hug. “Oh, darling! I’m so happy for you! I knew it!” She spun around to face Felicia. “Didn’t I tell you?”

“Yes, you sure did,” Felicia confirmed.

“Tell her what?” Lauren asked.

“Oh, sweetie, it was so evident from the first moment that the poor man was
smitten
with you. And who can blame him? I told Felicia, you just watch and see. Before you know it, those two will be dating and then it won’t be long before—”

“Before nothing,” Lauren said firmly. “We’re just dating, Momma. Very casually, I might add. So please, don’t make a big deal of this. Promise?”

Momma made a big show of crossing her finger over her heart. “Promise. I won’t make a big deal. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make a
little
deal of it.” Lauren sighed. Her mother’s idea of a little deal was fireworks in Central Park.

Henry, it seemed, wasn’t surprised one bit by the news. “Yeah, I figured you two were dating. Dad already talked to me about it.”

“Oh? What did your dad say?”

“He said that you’d probably start dating again and maybe even get married one day, but I wasn’t to worry because you were the wisest person he knew, so anyone you married would be a good guy.”

“Your dad said I’m
wise
?”

“Yeah.”

“I had no idea he was so smart.”

“I think you both get it from me,” Henry said.

Lauren grinned at her smart, wise, beautiful son. “Agreed.”