Page 31 of Both Sides Now

With a final groan, I push the button on the intercom. “You can send Ms. Webster in. Mrs. Webster.” I need to keep that fact foremost in my brain.

A moment later, the door opens, and my heart speeds up at the sight of Calli.

This will never work. I need to put some serious space between us. Time for every professional wall to come into play.

“Mrs. Webster. Have a seat.”

For her part, she’s certainly downplaying her beauty. Or attempting to, anyway. Clad in a pair of yoga pants, a sweatshirt, and a ball cap, she looks like she’s ready to spend the day binging Netflix.

She also looks gorgeous.

I focus my gaze on the computer as I pull up her test results, my fingers beating out an erratic rhythm against the desk. So much for being calm and collected. For a speed junkie, maybe. “Give me a moment, please. The computer is slow today.”

“Actually, I’d like to say something.” Her voice is low, tremulous.

I swallow before swinging my gaze to meet hers. “Go ahead.”

She stands, her tiny frame once again pacing holes into my carpet. “I know you’ll want to transfer my case, and I understand completely, but I had to see you.”

“I never said that.” And I sure as hell don’t want that, either.

Her eyes are bright with tears when she dares to meet my expectant gaze. “But you should, especially after what I did. I’m so sorry, Dr. Russo. My behavior the other night was out of line. You have a girlfriend. You’re my doctor, but more importantly, I consider you my friend. My first friend in a really long time. Now, I’ve ruined all of that with my impetuous actions. I’m absolutely aghast at myself, and I’m so very sorry.”

I should be happy, right? She’s apologetic, accepting blame for a kiss she didn’t instigate. Every word she speaks is the right one. She agrees it was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened.

But instead of calming me, I’m now more aggravated than ever. My blood pounds in my veins as she recants the kiss, apologizing for the way her hands slid against my body.

Fuck that noise. Because as soon as Calli admits she’s sorry, I realize I’m not. Not one damn iota.

Instead, my foot taps against the floor as I try to convince my body not to launch across the desk and have a replay of the other night. “What part are you sorry about?”

“All of it. Like I said. You have a girlfriend. You’re my friend?—”

“So, you wish it hadn’t happened. Is that it?” My temper is near boiling point at this juncture.

Her cheeks flush with color as she wrings her hands. She opens her mouth to speak, but no sound comes out.

But she doesn’t need to say anything more. It’smyturn. “I’m not sorry for kissing you, Calli. Maybe I should be, for the reasons you mentioned, but I’m not. I’m not sorry for touching you. I am, however, terribly sorry that you regret it.”

“I don’t regret it.” She whispers her words, but I hear them.

And I can breathe again as my blood pressure returns to normal limits.

“But I should regret it,” she continues, as her pacing picks up speed. “I don’t know what it says about me that I don’t.”

“Why should you regret it?”

“You have a girlfriend. I don’t do things like that. I’m not a homewrecker, despite recent evidence to the contrary.”

“I told you before. She’s not my girlfriend. Megan was someone I took out once in a while and after our row the other night, she’s not in my life anymore.”

Calli sinks into the chair, but instead of relief, her face contorts with pain. “Is it because of what happened between us?”

“Yes, but not in the way you think. It’s not because of the kiss—and everything else—but because I realized I felt nothing for her. It was a waste of my time. Although you were the catalyst.”

She buries her face in her hands and groans. “Shit.”

“When you told me what she said to you, I was furious. Even worse was when she doubled down and claimed I belonged to her, when I know damn well she’s been on dates with other men just this week. So, I skipped the rest of the cocktail hour and dropped her at home. Ended it.”

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