Page 65 of Dr. Alaska
“Enough.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mav’s ears buzzed.
She was leaving.
For money.
Andshopping.
“So. Wasthisnot to your liking?” He moved his hand in an arc to indicate thatthismeant Yukon Valley, the hospital, the babies, and him.
“It’s not like that—”
“I know what I heard.” When he swallowed, the action felt like sand and tasted like failure. “This isn’t my first time with someone from the lower forty-eight thinking they want the Alaskan lifestyle. Until they hate it here.”
“I don’t hate it here.”
“But it’s not enough.”I’m not enough. Just like before. “Damn it, you’d think I would have learned by now.”
“This is a complicated situation.” She sat cross-legged on the bed, somehow withdrawing further into herself.
He’d seen a similar posture with Skylar years ago. After falling for the act in the past, he wasn’t sure if he bought it today.
“I have to think of my financial situation,” she said.
“You don’t like it here. Right? Too cold, too far away from shopping?”
Lee jumped to her feet, but didn’t meet his eyes. “You’re taking my words out of context.”
“Context seemed pretty clear from where I’m standing.”
“Damn it, Maverick. This is compl—”
“If you saycomplicatedagain, I may say something I will regret.” Was that low growl his? Damn. “I’m not fancy. I work hard. I don’t do ‘complicated.’ I am straightforward with everything I do.”
“I know—”
He lifted his hand to stop her useless words. “This stay in Yukon Valley and being here with me. You were killing time until the next best thing came along.”
Her warm brown eyes shimmered, the image of her pain nearly breaking him. “It sounds worse when you say it that way.”
“At least now you can say you got the full Alaska experience.”
She flinched like he’d physically hit her. He’d gone too far. He wanted to take back the words, but pride stuck his tongue in place.
With a voice barely above a whisper and her posture ramrod straight, she said, “We did not have sex as part of myAlaska experience. I am not casual about relationships.”
“Sure. You pick guys you can help. Like we’re a case to diagnose and cure?”
She recoiled. “What?”
Damn it. What had he said? “Here you are, the hero. You took care of this case, Lee. Good job. I mean it. You were great with handling Randy and thank you again for throwing your weight around as a doctor.”Stop talking, his brain begged his mouth. Didn’t work. He plowed ahead.
“And hey, you got your reward.” He motioned in the general vicinity of his dumb penis. “Now you can go where the grass is greener.” He hadn’t wanted to say any of that, but his past memories took over and shoved those damned words out of the damn hole in his face. He held up a hand, hauling in air like he had run a mile. “Lee, I’m sorry. That was out of line. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“But you did say it.” Her shuddering breath nearly drove him to his knees. “You weren’t totally wrong.”
