Page 18 of The Holidays with Dr. Mitchell
“Is this about Jake? Have you dried up? Because not to worry, darling, there are a plethora of fabulous lubricants that Spence and I use when we?—”
“No, no. No one is dried up yet,” I chuckled. “And I don’t need your sex therapy. All of God’s creatures know that you and Spence have every sexual situation mastered.”
“Well, I have some great lube brands if you need to help out Lady Ashley.”
“Lady Ashley?” I said with a laugh. “I’m not a fucking duchess.”
“You might not be a duchess, but your pussy is a queen that should not go unnoticed or become neglected.”
“That’s not my problem.Lady Ashleyis performing well,” I said.
“Well, then, what is it?”
“It’s just that I feel like Jake and I are drifting apart from the responsibilities of life: his job, my job, and the kids. All of it.”
“Oh, sweetheart, this is why I didn’t allow Spencer to pick out his own costume for the Halloween event. I was gettingdangerously close to feeling how you are feeling right now, and he was oblivious, so I turned that man’s ass into Big Bird. Once he saw my and our daughter’s admiration, he was instantly reminded that being married to me was more rewarding than work and landing billion-dollar deals.”
“Jake’s not like that, though, and I feel bad even talking about it.”
“Don’t feel bad at all. That’s what we girls are here for. You’re feeling lonely, and you miss your husband. Why would you feel shame for admitting that?”
“Because it’s not really his fault. He tries his hardest to be there with all of us, but his job pulls him away. I don’t want—” I couldn’t even think. “I don’t know. I feel selfish even talking about this. Jake’s one of the best heart surgeons on the planet, so it’s not like he’s out fucking around. He’s saving people’s lives every day. I knew that when I met and fell in love with him. I knew what I was getting into when he proposed, and I said yes. I knew all of this.”
“You might have known it,” Nat said, “but you didn’tknow thisfeeling of loneliness in your marriage. Have you talked to Jake about this?”
“No,” I said. “I would only feel like I was adding more to his already full plate.”
“Okay,” Nat smirked at me sympathetically, “you’re not alone in how you’re feeling.”
“Really? You too?”
“Me? Oh, hell to the fuck no,” she said, looking at me like I asked if she would consider becoming a nun. “Honey, when I feel lonely, my manhearsabout it. Spence already knows he’s lucky to be married to my ass, just as Jake knows he’s lucky to have you. Unfortunately, I’m seeing a very troubling trend amongst my lady friends. What is happening with you and Jake sounds like what I’m seeing and hearing from Collin and Elena.”
“Elena hasn’t said anything to me about feeling lonely with Collin these days. I hadn’t noticed anything, either.”
“That’s because you’re not as good at seeing the sadness in a lonely woman’s eyes as I am. Think about it. Jake and Collin are both chief of their specialties at that damn hospital, and they never have time off. Fucking ever.”
“I didn’t even think about Laney.”
“Well, I came up with a little plan for her and Mr. Brooks to revive that famous spark of theirs, and it’s high time I share it with you, too, because Jim is about to give two of his surgeons time off around the holidays to be with their wives on a very sexy love fest vacation.”
“Nat, we can’t,” I immediately stopped her. “Seriously. We have the kids, and they miss Jake as much as I do.”
“The kids will be fine,” Nat said. “The kids will be worse off if their parents drift apart and end up divorced. That shit can’t happen. We need to take care of the intimacy that’s lacking between Mom and Dad, and then, trust me when I tell you, the kids will be rewarded when you all get home just in time for Christmas.”
“I don’t know about this.”
“That’s why the spark is dead in your relationship, my love,” Nat said with a laugh. “If you want to revive it, you’ve got to go back to the bold and daring ways from the beginning of you and Jake.”
“In the beginning, we hooked up on a one-night stand.”
“Ah, the thrill,” Nat said, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply through her nose, no doubt imagining the many one-night stands she’d enjoyed. “Do you remember how it made you feel that night and then long afterward when you and Jake inevitably met again for the first time?”
Adrenaline coursed through my body at the reminder of when Jake and I first met. How daring and exciting it was andhow badly I wanted to feel all that again. I craved it and him more than I knew.
“That smile and look in your eyes is telling me the answer I need,” she grinned. “Get your cute little ass home to those adorable kids, and let me and Spence talk with Jim. We’ll handle the rest. You, Jake, Collin, and Elena will return home just in time for Christmas week, and you can celebrate with the rest of us with the renewed love that you sexy mommas desperately need. And, of course, Jake and Collin can kiss my ass later for saving their marriages.”
“What is this big plan?”
