Page 22 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

Excitement bubbled in her chest.

Maybe he did.

Maybe he was thinking the same way.

When they reached the top of the stairs, he walked her down the hallway and stopped at the door to the guest room.

“Here you go.”

She looked up into his eyes, and it was only when he squeezed her hand that she realized despite his words, he hadn’t let go of it.

She raised her eyebrows, not wanting to come right out and ask the question.

It seemed she didn’t need to.

He tilted his head to the side and said, “It’s entirely up to you.”

Chapter Five

Trip swallowed.Hard.Standing at the door to the guest bedroom, he had an almost overwhelming urge to keep on going—to keep hold of Shelley’s hand and lead her to his bedroom.He’d stopped, but he hadn’t been able to make himself let go of her hand.Of course, he would—if she wanted him to—but he had the impression that maybe she didn’t.

Maybewasn’t enough, though.He needed to know.

Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated as she stared up at him.

Maybe shewasn’tthinking along the same lines as he was …

And then she smiled.“It’s not entirely up to me.It’s up to us both.And if we’re going to sleep together, we should probably establish some ground rules first, don’t you think?”

He could only nod.His mouth was dry, and his dick had perked up at the words,sleep together.She was right, they should establish some ground rules.He’d managed to avoid this very situation for months because he didn’t want to make things awkward between them.He didn’t want to lose her—he needed her at the clinic, and with the more time that passed, the more he was starting to feel as though he needed her in his life.

Her next words made things a lot simpler for him.

“We’ve already established that I’m going to be leaving by the end of next month, right?”

His heart pounded in his chest.That wasn’t what he was hoping to hear.He nodded again—he should probably hear everything she had to say before he started asking for clarification.

The way she smiled hit him hard—she looked relieved.

“So, since we only have a month or so left, I think we’ll be okay, don’t you?”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“I mean, I understand why it would have been a bad idea to sleep together if I was going to stick around, but …”

His heart sank.As far as he was concerned, sleeping together meant hoping that she would stick around.He opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head.

“I need to say it all while I’m feeling brave enough, Trip.Let me finish?”

“Okay.”

“If we do this now, and it turns out to be a disaster, promise me that we’ll laugh about it in the morning and put it behind us like it never happened.”

He frowned.“It’s not going to be a disaster.”

“I hope not, but it’s a possibility.So … Can you promise me that we won’t let it make things awkward?”

“I promise.”The last thing he wanted was for things to get awkward between them.Well, maybe that was the second to last thing.He’d take awkward if she was still here.The thought of her leaving?Thatwas the very last thing he wanted.

---