Page 8 of Cocky M.D.
She opened the door for us and squeezed my arm, which I flexed for her. “Tomorrow. Good night.” She then let me go and hugged my son. “Thanks, Bradley, for the flowers.”
“Tomorrow morning. We’ll have breakfast together,” I said as we crossed the threshold.
She nodded and closed the door.
Then I gave my son a high five. He’d been right to go there, though if she did become the nanny, I wasn’t sure how to mix business with pleasure. For the first time in my life, I was ready to cross that line.
Chapter Three
Olivia
My hands trembledas I brushed powder onto my eyelids. It was light and meant to cover the dark circles.
After Dr. Dawes had left my home, I practically wrote a novel in my diary of what I wanted him to do to me. Then not even a cold shower cooled me off. All year, I’d imagined him in my arms.
My sleep had been filled with remembering our kiss and how I ached to touch him and wanted him in my bed.
Until I met him, I would have sworn my head was on straight. Our flirtations were nothing I could follow through on, as I was his son’s teacher, and there were rules. Well, probably, but those were gone now. Now my knees melted from one of his kisses. My entire body was achy with unmet and never-existed-before needs.
I applied a light lipstick and hoped I at least looked decent.
Done.I checked my pocketbook, then my phone rang. I grabbed my keys and answered, though I read the caller ID. It was my sister Stephanie, in London, and we usually talked while I headed to work.
She didn’t say hello and instead said, “I almost thought you weren’t going to answer and intended to sleep in.”
Hmm.I checked the missed call log. She’d called five minutes ago. I opened the door but heard neighbors talking near their cars. I hoped no one paid me any attention.
I said to my sister, ignoring them, “I was in the shower, and I’m heading out.”
I locked up, and the hairs on my arms stood on end as I headed toward the parking lot as Stephanie said, “Didn’t know you had to head to work again. I thought it was summer now.”
I jumped into my car and locked the door, feeling better immediately. I tried to start it, and at first, the engine didn’t turn.
Oh no.My heart raced as I told my sister, “It is, but I might take a summer gig.”
She sounded so relaxed and happy. “I get it. You and I are the working stiffs of the Steel family.”
I tried again, and that time, my twenty-year-old car turned on.Yeah!I put Stephanie on speaker then clicked the phone into the holder. As I drove off, I asked, “How is London?”
“Now that my evil flatmate moved out… better.”
Good.Her ex-roommate had slept with her ex-fiancé. And as she lived in London, none of the other Steel sisters had been close enough to help much.
I swallowed and said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I have interviews for her replacement, so it will be fine.”
Moving forward with clarity was amazing. Stephanie always had a great sense of adventure and what she wanted in life, unlike me, who’d become a teacher to figure out what I wanted. I drove past the school and started heading toward the nicer homes.
“Good. How was the Jane Austen festival?”
On the main road, I spotted the coffee shop and thought of the job. He’d mentioned six figures. I tapped the wheel. I wasn’t completely poor yet, and that coffee always got me through long days at work. I headed to the drive-through as Stephanie said, “It was good, though I have a rip in the dress I wore to the costume ball. But what about you? Tell me about the summer gig, and why does it sound like you’re up to something?”
“So not true,” I said quickly, though she was my sister, and I could be honest with her. “One second. I’m ordering.”
I put her on mute and ordered two drinks, hoping he liked the same thing I liked, then grabbed Bradley a chocolate donut, which he’d always taken when I brought the class treats.
Done.I pressed the mute button again and said, “I’m back.”
