Page 123 of Dr. Bad Boy

“I’m going to take a nap. Alone.” I gesture at the basinette, still in pieces. “You can finish putting that together. Or not. It doesn’t matter.”

47

Max

Igiveher thirty minutes to calm down, then I join her in my bed.

“You’re not sleeping,” I say when she doesn’t roll over.

“No,” she says quietly.

“So stop ignoring me.”

“I’m not ignoring, exactly. I just…I don’t know what to say.”

“I do love you. We’re not leaving, remember? You’re not leaving, I’m not leaving, and we love each other. Isn’t that enough?” Even as I say it, I know the answer is probably not. But God damn it, this is hard shit for me to process. It’s not in my nature to be all Ward Cleaver where I do and say all the right things. I’m just Max. The guy who is muddling through unknown territory, completely clueless about how domestic life works. I’ve asked her to move in—an enormous step for me, but still not big enough. She’s expecting marriage and I should have seen that coming, but I didn't. Marriage…I can't give her that.

My phone rings and I pull it out to silence it.

“You can answer it,” Violet says, burrowing her face in my chest. “Work's important.”

I laugh at her assumption that it’s work. It usually is. I show her the screen.Eliza.“Not work. She can wait.”

“Eliza Black? The Eliza Black?” She says it the same way Blair did the first time he took a message from Lizzie.

“Yeah.”

“Should I be jealous?”

“Not at all. She’s like a sister to me. I told you about her. She’s Lizzie.”

Violet’s eyes go really big. “Oh. Well, take it.”

I put the phone down. “I’ll call her back after we finish our nap.”

“I wasn’t really napping.”

“Wasn’t, yes. But now you will be.”

***

The next daywe’re about to sit down to dinner when the doorbell rings. It’s a totally startling sound, because I’m quite certain it’s the first time the bell has been used.

Violet gives me a confused look. “Expecting someone?”

I shake my head. But it could be Lachlan or Tate, or someone else from the hockey team. Except they wouldn’t be so rude as to show up without calling ahead.

Irritated at my time with Violet being interrupted like this, I stalk to the foyer, ready to blast whoever it is on the other side. As soon as I yank open the front door, my bluster immediately deflates. “Eliza.” I step back and gesture for her to step inside and out of the cold. “What are you doing here?”

She sweeps in. She's wearing a Canada Goose jacket that looks suspiciously brand new. “I called yesterday.”

And I’d dodged it because I wanted to take a nap with Violet. “Sorry I didn’t call you back. Nice coat.”

She winks at my observation. California girl wasn't prepared for the winter wonderland that is Ottawa, clearly. I bet she bought it at the airport. “So you're really okay? Are you—oh!” Her voice turns up at the end and I glance back to see Violet’s joined us.

I reach out for her and she takes my hand. “I’m more than fine, actually. This is my girlfriend, Violet. She’s the reason I’ve been a bit…distracted lately.”

“Oh, so lovely to meet you!” And they are off. Somehow I'm left holding Lizzie’s coat as she whirls into my house holding Violet’s arm.

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