Page 70 of Careless Whisper

I waved a hand to the door leading to the gate that would take him right out of the property. “You’ve seen me, now go away.”

He set the coffee cup down and smiled at me. “How are you doing? You’ve lost weight.”

I gaped at him. “Get the fuck out of my grandparents’ house.”

“Reggie, be nice to our guest,” I heard G’Mum call out from the upstairs window.

I looked up and glared at her. “What are you trying to do, G’Mum?”

“I am trying to get you out of your wallowing,” G’Mum explained. “Now, Dr. Graham, you be nice to our Reggie, or I’m going to cut your pecker off.”

With that, she slammed the window shut, and my shoulders slumped. “My whole family is nuts.”

“I like them.” Elias rose and came to me. He put his hands on my shoulders. “Harper Memorial would likeyou to reconsider your resignation and come back to work at your convenience.”

I liked having his hands on me—a bit too much, so I shrugged them off. “Not coming back,ever. I’m done.”

“You want to find a job in New York?” His lips tightened as his gaze sharpened

“No, I’m done with nursing. I’m done with hospitals. Every time I get ahead you and your fiancée fuck with me. It’s…I’m tired.”

His lips curled into a smirk, but his eyes blazed with irritation. “First things first, stop calling Maren my fiancée. I’ve never asked a woman to marry me in my fucking life. I came closeonce,but then I found out she fucking killed a patient, and I had to?—”

I shoved him hard. “Oh no, no you don’t.”

“I’m in love with you,” he said belligerently, his eyes boring into mine.

“Go fuck yourself.” I pushed him again. He let me.

“How dare you show up after all the crap you’ve put me through and pull this stunt? Oh, now you found out I’m a Lancaster, you’re thinking?—”

“I’m a Graham; I don’t give a shit about your last name,” he cut me off cockily. Then he sobered. “I’m sorry, baby, for everything, for Boston, for not protecting you from Maren, for…what I did.”

“Well, gee, he said he’s sorry,” I muttered sarcastically. “Now, what? I should get on my knees and suck you off?”

He stepped closer. “I believed the wrong person.Twice. I didn’t trust you. I should have. I let you take the fall because it was easier than facing what Maren had become. I’m so sorry, Gigi.”

“You know what you can do with your apology?”

“I’m sure you want me to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, Gigi, but that’s not the kind of ass play I enjoy.”

I wanted to crack his face with my hand. I was not a violent person, but I wanted to do it. How dare he make a joke when I was…when I was…so scared that I’d believe him and fall for his bullshit again?

“For a year in Boston, you made sure I knew we werecasual,and now I’m expected to believe you wanted to marry me then?” He was about to answer, but I held my hand up. “That was a fucking rhetorical question. Then, in Seattle, right when we were…when I thought…”

“I wanted it too, Gigi.” There was a wealth of remorse in his eyes. “That time in the on-call room…that was when I knew I’d never gotten over you, I never would. I didn’t care what happened, I wanted you.”

I gave him a withering look, one G’Mum would be proud of. “So, you wanted me despite thinking I was a fuck up as a nurse?”

“You are not a fuck up as a nurse. I was so damn proud of how you handled yourself. I was in awe and?—”

“So much awe that you went right ahead and hired that bitch and let her make my life a living hell. I allbut had a nervous breakdown, Eli,” I shouted. “I’ve been holed up here carrying a cashmere throw like a security blanket and eating warm oatmeal with blueberries and watching crap movies with Uncle Jason, recovering from what you and that fiancée of yours put me through.”

He huffed out a sharp breath.“She. Is. Not. My. Fucking. Fiancée.”

“Like I care what she is to you.” I waved a hand and turned my back to him.

“I love you, Gigi,” he murmured from behind me. “I think I always have.”

---