Page 45 of Accidental Doctor Daddy

Dom:Hey, Ella. Just checking in. How are you?

I stared at the screen, my pulse hammering. It wasn’t ten minutes before three dots appeared. Then they vanished. Then they came back.

Ella:Hey. I’m okay. Tired, but good.

I exhaled sharply. She didn’t sound distant. That wassomething. I took a chance.

Dom:I’d like to see you. Can we meet up?

There was a longer pause this time. Then?—

Ella:I’m not leaving my apartment anytime soon, so if you want to see me, you’ll have to come to me.

My chest tightened. An invitation. At least things were moving in the right direction.

Dom:6 good?

Ella:See you then.

The rest of my workday felt like a weight had been lifted. I moved through surgeries on autopilot—still doing my best, but my mind was elsewhere. No one seemed to notice, so I must have been doing well enough.

By the end of my shift, the streets of New York blurred past me as I walked, my body moving on autopilot.

My mind wasn’t in this office. It was back on that island. Back on her.

I could still see her—sun-kissed skin glowing under the tiki torches, hair wild from the ocean breeze, laughter sharp and intoxicating. She was untamed, messy, perfect.

I remembered how she melted against me. The way she gasped when I slid inside her, nails carving into my shoulders, begging for more without a single word.

I still tasted her—salt, bourbon, fruit, and something purely Ella. I could still hear the low, desperate sounds she made as I pushed her to the edge, the crash of waves filling the room as I buried myself deeper inside her.

I wanted her like I hadn’t wanted anyone in years.

And I wasn’t done wanting her.

I hadn’t thought about protection that night. Not once. I was clean, tested regularly, and I’d assumed she was covered. That’s how it usually went—with women my age, women who handled their own birth control or were past worrying about it.

But Ella was younger. I’d been reckless.

I muttered a sharp curse, the sting of it hitting me fresh.

Still… would I have done a damn thing differently? Even knowing what I know now?

No.

Not for a second.

But now, I had to deal with the fallout.

Could I handle raising kids again? At my age?

I’d loved it the first time. But back then, I was younger. I had energy to burn and a wife who managed the home so I could dominate my career.

Now? Everything was different.

I had grown kids. One, a ray of sunshine. The other, Leonardo—a man-child still playing at adulthood.

And just as I was poised to take on a job role that would own my time, my focus… did I really want to swap boardrooms for bottle feedings? Executive decisions for midnight meltdowns?

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