Page 23 of Healing Her

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t really get close to people,” Ashley said dryly, her mouth quirking up in a half-smile that made Jen chuckle. “No. City’s as close as I’ve ever come, but… I don’t love her. Not like that. And honestly, she’s…” She swallowed and picked her water glass up again to take a few more sips before inhaling deeply and looking Jen squarely in the eyes. “City is really my only friend. I mean, that I’ve ever had.”

Jen’s heart skipped a beat at howlonelythat sounded. At Ashley’s age, she’d been at a similarly demanding stage of her surgical career, but she’d had Nina, she’d had friends like Maria. “Even as a kid?”

Ashley set aside the photo and her glass and picked at her cuticles. Jen saw her swallow and suck in a breath. “Not really. I… my father died when I was nine. My mom was a family practice doctor who hadn’t expected to become a single parent. And she wasn’t…” She looked visibly uncomfortable, and Jen knew this had to be hard on her. “I love my mother. But shewas not an easy woman to haveasa mother, especially after my father died. She’d always been fairly detached and preached self-sufficiency, but it got a lot worse once it was just the two of us.”

Jen reached over to take Ashley’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

“I survived it.” But the smile on Ashley’s face as she said it struck Jen as being nailed on, a bit forced, and practiced, like she’d had to do it for too much of her life. Jen’s heart broke as Ashley went on. “I think that’s why I had such a problem with you. You’re everything I never got to be. I never had the room to be so passionate about my work, because I had no support, because I kept people at arm’s length. I don’t get close to my colleagues or patients because my mother engrained it in me to be incredibly independent.”

Pulling her blanket more closely around herself, Jen scooted closer to Ashley. “You know, it doesn’t have to be like that anymore. We can start fresh, right here and now. I’d love for you to feel like you can rely on me. And I’d like to be your friend.”

Ashley shot her a sidelong glance. “You’re awfully naked for a friend.”

“I have it on good authority I’m not even your first naked friend,” Jen quipped. “Anyway, I didn’t want to jump the gun, I only just got you to admit you had parents and didn’t just spawn in some kind of uptight priss laboratory in Topeka.”

She was shocked when Ashley snatched a pillow out from behind herself and whacked her right in the face with it. Screeching with laughter, Jen launched herself across the bed in a tackle to start a tickle fight that lasted until they started kissing, and then the kissing led to more interesting things…

16

Mmm. So warm.Ashley yawned and stretched.Do I smell pancakes? This isn’t my bed. Eh?

She blinked and sat up to look around. The bedroom she was in was a bit bare, but sunny and well-lit. It was done up in a palette of pale blues, white, and seafoam green. Lots of soft downy bedding and pillows, sheer curtains, and fluffy white rugs made it feel cozy and comfortable, which she thought might be why she felt well-rested despite the champagne she’d consumed last night.

Her glance fell on the bedside table, where her phone sat next to a photo of a pretty brunette in sunglasses, with the most gorgeous smile she’d ever seen.Nina. She finally collected all of her scattered wits and remembered. This was Jen Colton’s place. They’d come back here and… Ashley blushed as she looked over at the other bedside table and saw a sizeable purple vibrator sitting there.

They’d had sex. Lots of sex. And they’d talked. More and more came back to her, and Ashley put a hand to her head as she clutched the comforter to her chest. She’d openeduplast night, like she never had before. Things she’d never even toldCity she’d talked to Jen Colton about. And somehow, instead of being overloaded with panic, there was an unfamiliar sensation of… contentment, she thought it might be. Of a burden shared, and therefore halved. She felt lighter than she could ever recall.

And she’d unbent to allow somethingno one, not even City, was permitted…

As she was trying to figure out how to process it, Jen bustled into the room, carrying a big tray of breakfast goods. Her smile was radiant, her curly mane tied back from her face with a deep purple ribbon that matched the amethyst shift dress she was wearing. “Hi, Ash.” Jen put the tray down on the bed and climbed in next to her, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek. “I made pancakes. Gooood pancakes.”

Shehadsmelled pancakes. Ashley looked at the tray in awe. Pancakes, two kinds of jam, real maple syrup, a dish of creamy butter studded with big salt crystals, and a bowl of sliced strawberries filled most of it. There was also a carafe of orange juice and a pair of glasses. She recalled last night that Jen had brought a tray of post-coital snacks to the bed as well. “Who are you?” she asked, shaking her head in wonder. “Martha Freakin’ Stewart?”

“I just enjoy a certain standard of living,” Jen said primly, filling a small plate with two pancakes, butter, maple syrup, and strawberries. “I bet you don’t even eat breakfast half the time.”

Ashley had to admit she wasn’t great about it. “I usually eat a bowl of Raisin Bran and a protein bar,” she admitted. “It’s… sort of balanced.”

“Jesus. And here I felt guilty for not making eggs or sausage or some other source of protein. At least I’m feeding you something better than cardboard flakes and a Styrofoam bar. Eat, eat.” Jen handed over the plate she’d filled and picked up another one.

The pancakes were perfectly fluffy, the salted butter a perfect contrast with the rich maple syrup. The strawberries were juicy and ripe, surprisingly red for December even in California. Ashley wasn’t sure she could go back to cereal and protein bars after this.

Jen was chewing on a bite of pancake and looking thoughtful. “I think I actually have something you can wear to the hospital, if you want to just leave from here. Something that’s not an evening gown. As fetching as you looked in it, I don’t think it’s really the thing for a stent procedure.”

Ashley felt her eyebrows go up. “How can you have something for me to wear? We don’t have the same style, and anyway, any skirt you have will probably look like a belt on me.”

Jen rolled her eyes heavenward. “Grant mestrength. I had no idea you were such a snarky one. I’ve got half a mind to throw you back out into the water.” Setting her plate aside, she stood up and walked over to a closet. “I bought a very nice navy suit a couple months ago. It needs tailoring to fit me, it’s much too long, which means it should be perfect on you. I won’t have a blouse that fits, but here’s a black silk camisole. A little edgier than your usual look, but maybe no one will notice.”

“I have a spare blouse in my office, anyway.” Ashley spotted her black silk sandals on the floor next to a chair draped with throw blankets. “And spare shoes, thank God.”

“Those will coordinate neatly enough with the camisole, at least.” Jen carefully set the suit down on the chair. “The whole shebang will get you to the hospital.” Sitting back down on the bed, she picked her plate back up and stuffed another bite of pancake into her mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly. “We took my car here. Shall I drive you to the hotel to get yours, or would you prefer to Uber?”

Each word out of Jen’s mouth felt dangerously close to popping the bubble of happiness they existed in at the moment.The sultry yet fairy-like Jen of last night had been replaced by Dr. Jen Colton, M.D. and F.A.C.S., an entity far more pragmatic than Ashley had ever given her credit for being before today. “I haven’t decided yet,” she hedged, nibbling on the edge of her own bite of pancake. “I’ll figure it out. We’ve got time.”

“We do have time.” The look on Jen’s face as she licked a dab of rich, dark cherry jam off of her index finger was what Ashley could only describe asnaughty. “Eat, please. I’d like to show you something.”

“Showme something?” Ashley raised an eyebrow, but obediently began shoveling her stack of pancakes into her mouth.

Jen dipped her finger into the cup of cherry jam again, taking a bigger dab of the deep garnet jam onto the tip. Slowly, in a devilish way that made heat arrow directly to Ashley’s core, she stuck her finger between her lips and millimeter by millimeter, pulled it out again, sucked pristinely clean. “Show you,” she agreed, with a wink.

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