Page 69 of Dr. Intern

“Hmmm.” She hums, her voice dripping with amusement. “I’ll think about it.”

I shift slightly, disappointed by the fact that she doesn’t immediately accept. “Well, take your time. I know you’re super busy reading and doing whatever else you do when I’m not here.”

Claire’s hand dramatically flies to her heart. “You wound me,” she teases, flashing me a wide grin. “What if I had dates planned with other people? I can’t cancel them three weeks in advance. That would just be rude.”

My lips press into a hard line as I feel my pulse start to quicken. We haven’t had a conversation about us being exclusive, so she has every right to make a comment like that, but it fucking rips my heart out to think of another man taking her on a date.

“Claire,” I snap, unable to help the coldness in my tone.

She flutters her long lashes, testing me. “Yes?”

“You know that if you wanted to have an adult discussion with me about whether or not we’re seeing other people, you could just bring it up, right? You don’t have to play your little games and dance around the topic.”

I know this is how Claire handles uncomfortable conversations, but it doesn’t make me any less irritated.Why can’t people just say how they feel?

You like someone. You tell them.

You love someone? You tell them.

We only have so much time, and we never know when it’s going to be taken away. Of all people, she should understand that.

Claire’s grin grows, her light blue eyes twinkling like a pool on a sunny day. “But it’s so funny to watch your jaw tick.”

I drop my keys on the counter as the emptiness in my stomach is replaced with a completely different form of hunger. “It’s not going to be funny when I punish you for it one of these days.”

At some point I crossed the room because I now find myself flush against Claire, caging her into the back of the couch with my hands. Even though I can barely see her body, the sharp inhale she takes tells me that she likes what I just said.

Interesting.

“Do you want that?” I growl, my voice lowering as my eyes drop to her heaving chest. “To be punished for playing games with me?”

Claire’s breath catches in her throat as she tries to respond, though no words come out.Maybe it’s the fact that she taunted me with dating other men, or maybe it’s how she gulps as I lean into her neck, but I continue.

“Fuck, I should tie you up right now,” I groan, lightly dusting my lips against her ear. “Tie you up, and make you come over and over again until you never so much as think about another man.”

Leaning forward, I pin her hips against the couch as one hand reaches up to stroke her flushed cheek.

“You’re mine, pretty girl,” I murmur into her skin as my lips caress her neck. “Only mine.”

“I’ve been yours.”

Chapter 27

Beau

Ileft Claire in a needy state when I went to grab some lunch. But I know if I hadn’t forced myself to walk away, I wouldn’t have been able to stop what came next, and I’m desperately trying to exercise a semblance of restraint with her. Just because I’ve given in and touched her doesn’t mean it’s balls to the wall. I need her to trust me. And to trust herself too.

When I made it back to the condo with food, Claire was lying on her back, furry socks covering her feet as they rested in the air atop the back of the sofa. Frosty sat purring in her lap as she read her Kindle, and for some reason, I was jealous of a damn cat. Especially considering she replaced the comforter with an oversized cream sweater that hung off one shoulder and shorts that barely covered her ass.

As we ate, I tried to keep the conversation neutral, not daring to enter remotely into flirtatious territory. But everything about this damn woman is sexual. The way her dark hair cascades across her exposed collarbone. The way she sighs before she takes a bite of her food. The way her eyes widen with excitement at the littlest things I say.

I can’t focus, and I desperately need to be able to think to have this conversation, so I position myself as far away from her as possible. Last night was a completely uninhibited moment and I wasn’t thinking clearly, driven by pure lust. Before Claire and I take things any further, I want to make sure we talk through what’s happening between us.

Claire has turned on Miracle, the hockey movie, claiming that it’s about Christmas. I’ve got no fucking clue what she’s talking about, but if it makes her happy I’m not going to step in. She’s got Frosty in her lap again, happily stroking his back as she watches the film, and I want nothing more than to climb behind her and do the same thing.

“So,” I start, picking up the remote from the coffee table and muting the movie.

She shifts her body to face mine and shoots me a death glare, unamused by my interruption. “So?”

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