Page 104 of Good Girl's Guide to Love
Shit. I had no idea. “Is that why your wrist was always red?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Yes, and can we never bring that up again? In return, you can talk about how I ran into you until the end of time.”
I pretend to think about it for a second. “Fine. Deal. Just promise you’ll stop doing that?”
She moves her hand between us, her finger gently on my chest. “Cross my heart.”
Our lips find each other again, a soft kiss, but one that means so much.
No more fake. No more PR. Just us.
“You swore at me,” I joke as our lips come apart.
I swear she has the sweetest laugh I’ve ever heard. And right now, on this date, I vow to myself that I want to make her laugh at least once a day. I think if that happened, we’d live a pretty good life together.
“I did. But it worked, right?”
I spit out a laugh. “Yup. That was it. Hearing you call me a stubborn ass sealed the deal.”
“Well dang, if I would’ve knownthatI would’ve swore at you weeks ago.”
I roll her on top of me, about ready for round three. “Yes, the swearing snapped me into reality. But falling for you? It was so much more than that.”
She tilts her head with a soft smile, her naked body lying on top of me. She feels perfect there. Like she was meant to be.
And maybe she was. I was just too stubborn to admit it.
“It was you, Ainsley. You’re like no one I’ve ever met. From the moment you walked into me, I think I knew you were different.”
She blushes. “You did?”
Now it’s my turn to take my fingertip and gently make an X over her heart. “Cross my heart, Ainsley Mae.”
guide to love rule #9
Good girls can still say dirty words.
31
ainsley
I’ve never been soglad to get cut in all of my years as a nurse.
We had a really hard birth this morning. Luckily, baby and mama are going to be fine, but it was scary for a while.
Then I thought my day was getting better when I had a delivery at lunch. I’d told Linc last night that I was weirdly craving tomato soup and grilled cheese. So when the reception desk called to tell me I had a delivery, I was excited for what I thought was Linc being Linc. Especially since he’s on the road for an away game.
It wasn’t him. It was flowers from Jonathan, with a note asking if he could take me to dinner tonight to “see where I was at.”
I took the flowers to a patient’s room. They were nice flowers and shouldn’t go to waste, but I didn’t want to have to look at them any longer than I had to.
So when we were slow on the floor—babies come when babies want to come—my charge nurse asked for volunteers to leave early. I couldn’t have raised my hand fast enough. Which is why I’m now speedwalking to the elevators, one Stanley in hand, my cell phone in the other, as I’m ready to get home and shower off the day. All I want is to talk to Linc before he has to report forcurfew and enjoy my day off tomorrow away from the hospital and watching my man play against the New York Vipers.
Ainsley
Leaving work early. I had a day. Hope to talk to you tonight
Linc doesn’t respond, which I figured he wouldn’t. I know he has team meetings before they’re dismissed for dinner. But he did tell me to text him when I left work, and I’m proud of myself for not overthinking whether or not to text him earlier than he expected.
