Page 18 of Blind Date with a #Doctor
“I used to think being a lawyer was all I wanted,” she murmurs. “Like if I could just get to the top, make a name for myself, I’d feel satisfied.”
I watch her, waiting. She exhales softly.
“But sometimes, I don’t know. I think about what’s next. If this is it, or if I’m supposed to want more.”
“Like what?” I ask.
Her lips press together. “Like slowing down. Finding something that feels more like me.”
Fuck if that doesn’t hit me square in the chest, because I know exactly what she means.
I take a sip of wine, rolling the glass between my palms. “You ever think about walking away from it?”
“Not yet,” she admits. “But maybe someday.”
I nod slowly, staring at the candle flickering between us. “Sometimes I wonder if I should’ve done something else,” I admit. “Not medicine. Or at least not this kind.”
Aspen tilts her head. “You don’t love it?”
“I do,” I say, and I mean it. “I love my patients. I love helping children. But some days, it’s a lot.”
She doesn’t rush me, doesn’t try to fix it. She just listens and I don’t think she realizes how rare that is.
I lean back in my chair, watching her. “What about you? What would you do if you weren’t lawyering?”
Aspen smirks. “Lawyering?”
I grin. “You know what I mean.”
She hesitates, then, answers softly, “I used to want to write.”
I blink. “Yeah?”
She nods. “I mean, I still do. I just never make time for it.”
I watch her, seeing something raw and real flicker in her eyes. And suddenly, I want nothing more than to make space for all the things she’s ever wanted, because Aspen Hayes deserves that. She deserves everything.
The meal ends, but neither of us moves. We just sit there, eyes locked, wine forgotten and I swear, the air shifts. Thickens.
My fingers drum once against the table. “Aspen.”
Her breath catches slightly. “I know,” she whispers.
Then we’re both moving. I push back from my chair just as she stands, and we meet halfway, crashing into each other like we’ve been waiting for this exact moment.
Her hands clutch my shirt.
My fingers tangle in her hair.
I kiss her like I don’t ever want to stop.
Like I won’t ever stop.
She melts against me, her body pressing flush to mine, fitting perfectly, like she’s supposed to be there. I don’t think, I just move.
Lifting her out of her seat and into my arms. She wraps her legs around my waist, and I let her feel exactly what she’s doing to me.
She moans against my lips, and I swear to God, I lose my mind.
