Page 1 of Taking Her Medicine

Chapter 1

New Year’s Eve

Zoelle

Dressed in a cutesy off-the-shoulder top sprinkled with roses and vines along with my buttery soft flared jeans was fun for celebrating inside the house but I’d forgotten my warm coat and the winter air cut through my flimsy clothing choices. Still, I laid on the ground and counted the stars in the crisp night sky.

“Shooting stars,” I sang into the wind. “Pretty stars.”

“Are you drunk?” Aaron, my smoking hot Australian neighbor called over the fence.

“Maybe.”

“Where’s your jacket?”

“I don’t know.” I giggled as his handsome face came into view. He reached me impossibly fast, or my sense of time was off. Several stray locks of his golden blond hair fell over one eye and I tucked one of them behind his ear. “Hi.”

“Hello, sweetheart. It’s freezing. Let’s get you inside.” He offered his palms to me but once I tipped upright, colors swam in front of my eyes, and I teetered. Without missing a beat, Aaron swept me up in his arms. “Got you.”

“Am I your parting gift for the night?” I nuzzled against his chest as he carried me into the house.

“No. You’re more than just a lovely prize,” Aaron chuckled.

Tugging several blankets off the top of my couch, he wrapped them around me along with his body. The icy cold dissipated and I was left with a warm afterglow.

“I’m already feeling better.”

“Good. Next time you decide to drink heavily in the middle of winter, please promise me you’ll stay inside.”

“You can’t actually get sick from cold weather,” I replied smartly.

“No, but if you don’t bundle up your limbs are exposed. We don’t need frostbitten fingers.” He rubbed each of my hands in his.

“I’ll do as you’ve asked, Aaron. But this year sucked. I was trying to take my mind off it.”

“Why did this year suck?”

Aaron was so busy at work that we hadn’t spent much time together, but I didn’t want to make him feel guilty. He was one of my closest friends, but his job ran him ragged and limited our time together. We cuddled when watching movies, at least a few times a month, but never kissed. I had a crush on the handsome doctor, and our connection was palpable. I longed to be in a relationship with him but had not gotten the nerve to tell him my thoughts.

“Well, I was super single this whole year. Whenever I decided I didn’t want to be single there were no opportunities for me not to be.”

“Right.” He laughed. “Where did you search for opportunities, sweetheart?” Aaron tucked my hand into the cocoon of blankets.

“I sorta didn’t actually put in any effort.” My stomach grumbled its unhappiness with the alcohol combinations I’d fed it earlier. Shooting vodka didn’t usually mess me up, but my intention had been to numb my emotions after another year of being alone.

“Look, it’s almost midnight.” Aaron gestured toward the television screen interrupting the line of conversation and focusing on the positive. “Did you make a resolution for this year?”

“To do more things that scare me.”

“An excellent resolution.”

“What about you, Aaron?”

“To create a better work–life balance.”

For some reason I pictured him balancing on a tightrope with a stethoscope in one hand and a teddy bear in the other. He gave off the daddy vibes I’d been dreaming of for a while, but the mental image left me sad.

“We could all use balance,” I muttered, unsure of what else to say. If I flipped through a dictionary and pulled up the word workaholic, Aaron’s handsome face would be plastered there like some sort of poster child.

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