Page 37 of Dr. Baby Daddy

“You shouldn’t listen to Victor.” I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “He likes to make up horrible lies about me for his own entertainment.”

Kate turns down the music and drops onto the couch. “Oh no, now I need to know how long you’ve been hiding under tables.”

Victor taps a finger against his chin before pouring himself a glass of wine. “Well, the last event I went to with him was threeyears ago, so I would say that he was still hiding under tables at thirty.”

My cheeks flame as Izzy steps away from me, her body shaking from laughing so hard. I head into the kitchen and grab another bottle of beer. “It wasn’t like I was hiding under the table. I just thought that something dropped under there.”

Izzy wipes tears from her eyes as she falls to the couch beside Kate. “I can’t believe you hid under a table.”

“In all fairness, one of my mother’s friends was trying to sleep with me. It was either hide under the table or get dragged off to an old woman’s room like a piece of meat.”

Izzy smirks and tilts her head toward her room. With a wink at her, I lift my bottle to my lips and take a long sip.

Kate yawns as she stands and stretches, glancing at the white numbers on the stove. “I’ve got to get going. I have an audition in the morning, and I need time to run my lines before bed.” She leans down and hugs Izzy. “Have a good night. We’ve got another bill-paying date at the end of the week, and I’m sure it’s going to be hell.”

Victor finishes his drink and sets the empty glass in the sink. “I’m going to get going too. My niece wants me to be at her soccer game tomorrow.”

Izzy gets up and walks both of them to the door, giving them hugs while I clean up the kitchen.

Once the pizza is in the fridge and the alcohol is put away, Izzy turns on another slow song and hums to herself as she moves some of the furniture back into place.

I cross the room and take her by the hand, spinning her into my arms. She smiles and puts her head on my chest as I sway with her to the beat. I kiss the top of her head, my heart swelling in my chest.

As I look down at Izzy, there is no denying that I’m falling for her.

CHAPTER 16

IZZY

Iget back from my morning run to find Oliver sitting up in my bed, reading his book. The sheets dip low around his waist, his broad chest bare. My heart skips a beat as I walk into the room.

He puts the book to the side with a smile and rakes a hand through his hair. “I was thinking that we could go spend the day at Coney Island.”

I take off my sweater and toss it into the laundry basket. “That sounds good. I haven’t been there yet. Have you been?”

Even though I try to keep my tone casual, I’m panicking on the inside. Normally, my runs clear my mind, but today all I’ve been able to think about is our relationship. It’s all that I’ve been able to think about for nearly a week now.

Since we danced in my living room, it feels like things have changed between us. More often than not, I wake up in Oliver’s bed or with him in mine. It feels like we’re more than two people just starting to date and seeing where things go.

I don’t want to push him, though. Not after the last time. I wouldn’t be able to handle him disappearing on me for days again.

Once is enough.

Oliver gets out of bed and crosses the room, giving me a quick kiss before disappearing into the living room. I head for a shower, taking time to clear my head. All I want to do is have a good time with him today. I don’t want to spend the entire time we’re together thinking about where this relationship is leading when it’s so new.

And yet, it feels like I’ve known him forever.

The shower doesn’t last nearly long enough, and the entire time we’re on the way to Coney Island, Oliver is taking calls from the hospital. I read a book on my phone while we travel, trying to not let how busy he is bother me.

Although, the truth is that I don’t know if I can deal with this forever. I want him to be successful in his job, but in the last few nights, I’ve been woken up several times because he had to rush to work in the middle of the night.

The last thing I’m going to do is say anything to him about it. He deserves to live the life he wants, just like I do.

I’m not going to try and change who he is as a person. I just have to figure out where our balance is.

He turns his phone on silent and slides it into his pocket as I pay for the admission at Coney Island. “I’m sorry about all the calls. That should be the last of them. The new batch of residents that we got at the hospital aren’t the best, but they do try hard, so there’s that.”

“It’s okay.” I take his hand and lace my fingers through it as we head over to one of the games. “I bet I can win a bigger prize than you.”

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