Page 92 of Dr. Attending

But Caroline doesn’t look at me like it’s ridiculous. She looks at me like she’s honored.

“Can I?” she asks as she reaches up and tucks a stray hair behind her ear.

“Of course,” I nod, gesturing for her to give me my son. “Just grab a shirt from my room and meet us up there.”

Instead of handing Carter over, she shifts him higher on her hip as her grin morphs into something more mischievous.

“That’s okay, Daddy,” she purrs, throwing me a sly glance over her shoulder as she marches toward the stairs. “I think I’m going to keep this on for just a little longer.”

Chapter 33

Weston

Itried to fly through Carter’s bedtime routine with Caroline, but the entire process took way longer than usual. I don’t know if she was purposely trying to draw it out to get under my skin, or if she genuinely had that many questions about changing a diaper, but it was nearly impossible to stay focused when she looks like she crawled out of some sort of kinky wet dream.

Fortunately, Carter was just as exhausted by her stalling as I was. He didn’t even make it to the letter O in the book Worth sent over before he passed out in her arms.

We carefully placed him into his crib, and I couldn’t help but notice how Caroline lingered for a moment, brushing his hair back from his forehead like she wanted to remember this moment for some reason.

“That was unexpected,” I whisper, quietly closing the door to his bedroom behind us.

Caroline’s lips curl into a teasing smile. “Yeah. Who knew there was a whole alphabet book dedicated to the state of Texas.”

Her boots click against the hardwood floors as she heads for the stairs, and the faint scent of her sweet perfume lingers in the air.

I resist the urge to say something more intimate, saving it for when we don’t have to whisper.

“Want a glass of wine?” I ask as we head for the kitchen. “Or are you heading back now that you’ve gotten to talk to the world’s first baby astronaut?”

It’s a leading question, but I’m genuinely curious.

When she showed up at my door earlier, I was simply so happy to see her that I didn’t consider why she might be here instead of the Halloween party. I can’t put my finger on it, but as she tugged on Carter’s pajamas and gently hummed to him, it felt like something had changed. Like she wasn’t just here for the night—she was here for good.

“Hmmmm,” Caroline murmurs a little too seductively. “I guess I could. But there’s a problem . . . there’s someone else that I wanted to talk to first.”

I spin around and lean against the island. “Who’s that?”

Caroline walks toward me, swaying her hips seductively.

“Just this surgeon,” she replies casually as she wraps her arms around my neck. “He made me an offer, and I wanted to see if it still stands.”

I study her intently, trying to figure out if she’s talking about what I think she’s talking about.

God, I fucking hope so.

“Did he?” I ask, cocking my brow. “If he’s a surgeon, I’m sure he’s a very busy man. Why don’t you remind him what that offer was?”

Caroline bites her glossy red lower lip like she’s just as into this role-play conversation as I am. “Well, I’m paraphrasing here.But I think that he said he would wait for me until I was finally ready to give him a real chance.”

I reach up to cup her face affectionately, savoring the way she leans into my touch. “And are you?”

My question is filled with trepidation because her response could change everything . . . I want it to change everything between us. Because I’d wait forever to call Caroline Winters mine. But I hope that I don’t have to.

She takes a deep breath, her eyes softening as she stares at me.

“I need more too, Wes,” she whispers with a tentative nod.

“Thank. Fucking. God.”

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