Page 13 of Love in Fine Print

The automatic doors opened and a woman in blue scrubs who was seated behind the front desk looked up and smiled widely. I was sure that Ben had that effect on quite a few women. This woman was young, probably in her twenties, with gorgeous, curly brown hair piled up on her head and huge green eyes that got even larger when they landed on Mr. Arm Porn.

“Hey Nia, is Charli in?”

She stared for a moment, then after a beat, she blinked and picked up the phone but it fell from her hand before she picked it up again, seeming flustered. “Yeah, um, I’ll tell her you’re here.”

“Is there an exam room open?”

“Um,” Nia looked at her computer before answering, “Five.”

“Great. Thanks.” Ben shot her a smile that I could only imagine had left a trail of broken hearts in its wake.

As we walked toward the reception desk, I noticed there was a waiting room full of people. We had just gone through another automatic door that magically opened as we approached when I said, “Put me down.”

“We’re almost there.”

“I’m serious.” I didn’t know if it was the look in my eye, or the tone in my voice, but whatever it was, he lowered me down gently.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not going to cut in line. Did you see all those people out there?” I’d always had a very strong sense of social justice. I got it from my father. It didn’t matter how much money anyone made, if they had a home or not, job or not, he treated every person the same, with respect and dignity. Regardless of the fact that Ben clearly had an in at this clinic, I didn’t want to make anyone else suffer for my benefit.

“They’ll be seen.”

“Great. They can be seen before me.” I started to walk away, fueled by righteous indignation, but when I put a little bit of weight on my foot, searing pain shot up my leg.

I hissed as I reached out to grab the wall for support.

Ben’s arm snaked around me, holding me up. “Look, you said you wouldn’t go to the hospital, so I figured you don’t like medical things. I’m simply trying to get you in and out. This isn’t an emergency room, it’s a rehab facility. Those people will all be seen. I promise.”

I stared into his dreamy moss-green eyes and found myself, for once, at a loss for what to say. I was used to having to argue my point with people. I was not used to people not only listening to me, buthearingwhat I was saying.

It was unnerving.

“Okay,” I replied with a nod.

At my acquiescence, a smile spread on his face, a smile that revealed two deep dimples that made me forget…everything. The sight caused my mind to go blank and my knees to buckle. Thankfully, my weak knees weren’t a problem because I felt my feet leaving the ground as Ben picked me up once more and carried me to exam room five. No sooner had we entered, and he sat me down on a table covered in white paper when a stunning brunette walked in who looked vaguely familiar to me.

She greeted Ben with a kiss on his cheek. “Good to see you.”

“You too,” he grinned.

I was pretty good at reading people and relationships. Over the ten-plus years I’d spent in family law, I usually knew the couples that still had something and would end up calling off the divorce. I sensed that this woman and Ben cared about each other, but it seemed more like a familial love than anything else.

Still, I had to admit, I didn’tloveseeing a woman, especially a woman as attractive as she was, kissing him. Which was absolutely ridiculous since I’d just met the man. I knew nothing about him.

Well, that wasn’t true. I knew his name was Ben, he drove a truck, he used to play football professionally, he had a dog named Dolly, and he’d inherited his late grandmother’s business. But other than that, I didn’t know a thing about him.

Except that he smelled like cedarwood and fresh laundry and his arms were strong and I felt safe in them. And I could easily get lost in his forest green gaze. And he had tattoos andwashboard abs, and a smile that would make the gloomiest day brighter.

But that was it.

The woman turned toward me. “Hi, I’m Dr. James, but you can call me Charli.”

“Hi, I’m Olivia.”

“Olivia,” Ben whispered my name under his breath.

My eyes shot to his, and I could see that he hadn’t meant to say it out loud. I realized I’d never even told him my name. Everything had sort of happened so fast that I guess we skipped that part. I only knew his name because Trevor had asked.

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