Page 5 of Hush

“Seriously, if not Doctor Delicious, then someone else. It’s time, girl.”

Sighing, Elise rested her gaze on the ceiling, where she had affixed glow-in-the-dark stars in the shape of the constellation Gemini. She remembered the afternoon spent on the ladder while Jaden directed her from the floor, star chart in hand. “I wish I felt ready.”

“You’ll never feel ready. You just have to get out there. You’ll find your way once you start.”

“I don’t even know how to start,” Elise replied.

“That’s why I’m calling,” Caitlin said, sounding excited. “I set you up with a dating profile on Twinkle.”

Elise sat bolt upright. “Please say you’re joking.”

“Nope,” Caitlin continued. “Now before you get all pissed off at me, just look at it, okay? It’s completely private. Nobody has to know you’re on there. You don’t have to reply to any of the guys.”

“What do you mean ‘any of the guys’? You make it sound like I’m going to have them beating down my door,” she fired back. “Caitlin, this isn’t me. Take it down.”

“You can take it down if you want,” Caitlin replied, undeterred. “I just wanted you to see what’s available.”

“You make it sound like a shopping trip.”

“It can be whatever you want,” Caitlin replied. “I just sent you the link with the password. I used a picture that doesn’t show your face clear enough, for your privacy.”

“Why, thank you,” Elise replied, her voice tight. Sighing again, she closed her eyes. “I really wish you’d asked me first.”

“If I had, you would have said ‘no.’” Caitlin paused. “Believe it or not, I’m trying to help you,” she added, her voice softer. “Just because Garrett turned out to be an asshole doesn’t mean you have to spend the rest of your life alone.”

“I won’t be alone forever,” Elise said softly, not wanting Jaden to overhear.

“Then let’s get you started,” Caitlin replied. “C’mon, when was the last time you had sex?”

Elise groaned inwardly. Her last sexual encounter had been with Garrett, the night before she left him. Though he had no clue about her plans, the encounter had felt so wrong because her broken heart was already locked away, deep in a hidden place. Afterward, she’d felt cheap and broken. Once Garrett had fallen asleep, she’d curled up in the bathtub and cried.

“We’re not talking about this right now,” she said in a shaky voice.

“Fine, you don’t have to answer that. But think of this as a way to kick start your engine. Go on a few dates, bring a few of them home.” Caitlin paused. “Don’t you have that Christmas party next weekend?” she asked.

“I’m not going,” Elise said, remembering the friend from her dance class at the gym slipping her an invitation.

“Why not?” Caitlin replied. “How hard would it be to just ask one of these guys to go with you? It doesn’t even have to be a date-date. Tell him it’s just for fun. He’d be doing you a favor.”

Elise grimaced.

“And then you can bring him home and he can do you all kinds ofotherfavors,” Caitlin said in a sultry voice.

Elise rolled her eyes. She tried to imagine a man in her small house with the scuffed floors and leaky refrigerator. At least she liked her bedroom. She’d splurged on three-hundred-thread-count sheets, a new down comforter in a soft pink—a color Garrett hated—and four thick down pillows. A wisp of fantasy filtered into her mind of Dr. Parker placing her gently down on her bed, planting soft kisses on her lips. But who was she kidding? Dr. Parker was young and, of course, dashingly attractive—she wasn’t so shriveled up that she’d missed that. He surely had plenty of ladies in his life. What would he want with someone like her?

“I thought that was what the vibrator was for,” Elise replied.

“Are you using it?” Caitlin asked. “Good!”

“Of course not,” Elise replied, remembering the shock of opening the box from some address she’d never heard of. Thank God Jaden had been at Garrett’s.

“Maybe that’s a good thing, actually,” Grace mused. “A woman with a vibrator has very little use for a man.”

Elise laughed so hard her stomach hurt.

The next day, Elise and Jared entered the hospital where Garrett was waiting.

“Daddy,” Jaden shrieked, running into Garrett’s arms.

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