Page 96 of Free to Fall

Fifty-Two

Laura rolls over my chest and places a bottle of water on the nightstand. After she does, she runs her hand up my tattooed arm. “Tell me about your ink. I have to say, it doesn’t scream chief audit officer.”

I finish chewing the last bite of the sandwich she made for me. Originally, I fantasized aloud that she should be naked until she pointed out that “Kalie and Grace could come home any minute. I’m not so certain I want them to have the image of your cock, Liam.” At that, I slid into my jeans before tossing her my tee.

Now we’re finishing our snack in my preferred state of undress. “It started when I was in the Army.” I point to the complex design on the main part of my forearm. “This was the design my unit wore.”

“Were you forward deployed?” she asks as her lips trace the outline.

I point to a different set of ink. “Not until I went to work for the Agency. There, everyone saw some time in the field—even if we were just support staff.” I take a deep breath before I point to a final set. “And this is what I got when I realized Bailey was mine.”

She cocks her head to the side, spilling her sable-colored curls over one creamy shoulder. “What do you mean when you realized she was yours?”

Tonelessly, I tell her about Ashleigh, about how we were together. What I walked in on. How I demanded a paternity test. I don’t know what to expect.

I shouldn’t have wondered. Not with Laura.

She lets out a snort. “I’m a doctor. There are questions about implantation dates from couples who have been together for years. Of course you’d have questioned it. So what happened after?”

I pass my hand through her curls and lift her lips to mine. After a long and drugging kiss, in part to thank her for having my back so unconditionally, I realize I don’t want Ashleigh here. Not tonight. I summarize the story with a brief, “Bailey was shuffled between two parents until Ashleigh passed away in a car wreck.”

Laura’s face drops. She’s an ER doctor. She knows far too well what that means. And right now, I can’t bring myself to share with her what a complete fuck up Bailey’s mother was.

Later, I tell myself. We have all the time in the world for me to share this.

Instead, I ask, “What made you choose emergency medicine?”

She groans before her face crashes into my chest. “Don’t tell me you’re going to say I should have done something else with my life.”

I frown. “Why would I say something like that?”

“Because I hear it from my chief of staff—Dr. Moser.”

“Isn’t that the same guy you refer to as Dr. Douche?” I recall from the gala.

“One and the same.”

“Then why do you care?

“I don’t except when he corners me on the way to my shift to remind me I should have become his protégé in neurology.” Laura’s curls dance across my chest as she shakes her head negatively. “No, thank you.”

I pull back a bit. “The chief of staff wanted to mentor you?”

“Yes.”

“I read your CV, Laura. I know you’re ridiculously intelligent. Are you that good of a doctor?”

Her head lifts and her eyes stare straight into mine. “I’m probably better.”

Holy crap. “And you’re nannying for me. Why?”

She props her head on her chin. “Because somewhere along the way, I forgot something that made me such an exceptional doctor.”

Concerned, I cup her cheek. “What’s that?”

“How to care. I was afraid if I let people back into my heart, they’d wind up hurt.”

I piece the puzzle together. “Just like with the Tiberis.”

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