Page 42 of Not My Finest Hour

Justin chuckles. “Do you want me to just start at the beginning? Would that make it easier?”

I nod. “Yes, I think it would.”

We spend the rest of the meal discussing both our childhoods, and I learn that he grew up in Redmond and played basketball in high school. His mom still lives in Redmond with his stepdad, and when I ask about his father, he tells me that he was an amazing father who unfortunately passed away too soon from liver cancer.

His childhood seems so normal and very much like mine where money wasn’t growing on trees. It’s much different from when I was with Wesley and felt inferior every time he talked about his life. Justin may be a doctor and one day he'll make a lot of money, but he seems very grounded and practical. There’s nothing extravagant about him.

After dinner is dessert, which is a decadent white chocolate mousse that Justin prepared ahead of time. That first bite of the sweet mousse along with the almost tart berries slides down easily. It’s so good, it doesn’t take long before I’m scraping the bottom of the bowl with my spoon.

“You’ve outdone yourself,” I say, making sure I get every last bit of the mousse out of the bowl. “Everything was amazing.”

“It’s my pleasure. Thank you for coming over tonight and letting me cook for you. I enjoyed it.” He stands up and takes my bowl from me and places it in the sink. “Should we head into the living room now?”

I shake my head. “Not yet. I can at least help you clean up first.”

“You’ve already cleaned up most of it.”

“I know, but my mother ingrained it in me to never leave a kitchen dirty. It’s something that drives her nuts, and I guess it kinda rubbed off on me.”

“If that’s what you want to do, I’m all for it,” he says.

Since I cleaned up most of the dishes while we were cooking, cleaning up this time around is quick, and soon, we’re snuggling in each other’s arms on his couch. He’s sitting with my outstretched legs draped over his lap and my head is resting on his shoulder.

His hand strokes my jawline, and I pick my head up and look into those arresting eyes of his. We stare into each other’s eyes, neither of us saying anything because we don’t need to. He brings his lips closer to mine, and I can’t help but oblige him with a kiss. He kisses me harder, his lips forcing mine apart to let his tongue dip in to taste mine. His hand palms the back of my head, making sure my lips never leave his.

What I’m feeling in this moment is indescribable. Every touch to my skin, every brush of his lips against mine feels better than the last. And it’s not because Justin is deft with his hands or a good kisser. There’s an emotional attachment between us that I’ve never felt before. It’s like my heart is so full, it’s going to come right out of my chest. It makes all those big feelings I thought I had with Alain seem like nothing more than a schoolgirl crush.

When we separate finally, he’s staring at me with an intensity that makes it impossible to look away. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I feel like I can’t get enough of you,” he says, his voice husky and rough. “When we’re together, it’s like I never want you to leave. I’ve never experienced this before, and I hope you don’t think that I’m coming on too strong. If you think that, tell me, but I want to be honest with you about how I feel.”

“I don’t think you’re coming on too strong,” I say. My arms are draped over his shoulders and my fingers play in the hair at the nape of his neck. “I feel it too. I feel so connected with you which is crazy because we haven’t been together that long.”

“I hated what I did at the seminar. I didn’t want to do it, but I felt like I needed to for my career. But the more time I spent away from you, the worse I felt, which is why I went to your workplace. When you told me you were seeing Wesley, that was a bad day for me,” he says, shaking his head. “I thought I’d lost you for good.”

“But then I called you.”

“And then you called me,” he says with a smile.

“It was really hard for me when you came to my workplace. I may have acted like I was over you, but I wasn’t. So I’m glad you picked up the phone when I called.” There’s something that still needs to be discussed before it gets in the way of our happiness again. “But what about your residency? What are you going to do about that?”

“I don’t want to ask this of you, but I feel like it’s the only way forward.” He doesn’t elaborate further, and I can tell by the look on his face, he’s searching for the right words to say.

“I’ll switch doctors,” I cut in. “You’ve worked way too hard to lose everything right at the end.”

“Really? You don’t mind? It’s something I didn’t think of until after the seminar because I was more focused on someone seeing us together. But by the time I’d thought of it, it was too late. I’d already hurt you too much.”

“I don’t mind at all. I will miss Dr. Tarlton because he’s an amazing doctor, but I’m not risking what we have over it.”

“Thank you,” he says, leaning forward to give me a kiss. “I can recommend some really great people who can help you out.”

“Now that we’ve gotten that taken care of, what should we do with the rest of the evening?”

“Remember when I told you the next time we were together I’d take my time with you?”

I nod, struggling to keep the grin off my face. Justin hasn’t even touched me yet, and already my girl parts are squealing in delight.

“We’ve got all evening, and I can think of nothing I’d rather do.”

Justin tookhis time with me last night…and early this morning too. But now it’s late in the morning, and we’re finally up and out of bed, getting ready for the day. For me, that means putting on yesterday’s clothes, and for Justin, he’s in the shower.

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