Page 27 of Boyfriend of the Hour
My phone buzzed again—no doubt with more sisterly texts wondering if I was at the subway yet. I ignored them, only then noticing I’d missed a button on my shirt.
God, I was a disaster.
“So, I guess you live here?” I asked. Brilliant question, I know. But give me a break. My brain was still foggy from all the Jaeger. Or was it Southern Comfort? I believe my exact order to Tom was, “Give me something to make this day disappear.”
I should have run right then. I needed a shower more than life; my head felt like a hammer was slamming into it, and my family was waiting to scold me out of existence. But instead, I lingered, waiting for the brown-eyed doctor to respond.
Because somehow, I just had to. I was starting to suspect I was a masochist.
Hunt frowned, making a brown curl flop adorably over his forehead. “Yes, I—you didn’t actually say why you are in my building. Your chart said you live in the Bronx, so why would you be here?”
The question came out stunted, like he’d only just remembered to say it. Or maybe he was finally demonstrating some appropriate embarrassment. Honestly, it was cute. Annoyingly so.
But also irritating because was hereallygoing to make me spell out the fact that I was slutting around New York just so he could offer yet another bit of choice judgment?
“Well,” I said, unsure of why my hands were suddenly fumbling under that direct gaze of his. It made me babble all over again. “I, ah, sort of went home with someone last night. You’re catching me on my way out before he wakes up.”
The words jumped out before I could stop them, the way they often did when I was nervous. Ihatedthat this guy made me so nervous.
But there was no reaction. None. Those chocolatey eyes just blinked as they waited for me to continue.
“He was a nobody, really,” I went on, unable to stop now that I’d started. “Just some guy at the bar, and I didn’t really wantto go home after my shift. My family has been kind of annoying lately. You know how that goes.”
More blinks. I guess he didn’t. Dr. Nathan Hunt probably only took home a carefully curated selection of supermodels and socialites who lined up in his office to get their faces tweaked and asses lifted.
I continued babbling and fumbling with my shirt. “My sisters are actually expecting me now, but yeah. Um. His name was—ugh, will you judge if I say I can’t remember? He had a really nice gray couch, that’s all I know. Soft-looking, kind of velvet, with all the buttons that make it look super classy. Alden? Aaron? I swear his name started with an A…”
“Aiden?”
My mouth dropped. “Yes, that’s it! How did you know?”
For the first time, Hunt’s face was curiously expressive. I couldn’t exactly read it, but the emotions were definitely there. A bit of a frown, his brows furrowed together like he was trying too hard to focus on something, and those big brown eyes pinned squarely on me, full of something…deep.
I shivered.
His throat rippled as he swallowed. “The gray couch. I recognize the description. It’s a one-of-a-kind.”
Great. Not only did Dr. Chocolate Eyes know I was the type for a no-name one-night stand, but he was apparently friends with the bearded lump under the sheets. I could just imagine him andAidengrabbing beers and swapping stories about me.
Time to make my escape.
“Well, anyway,” I said. “I gotta go. My sisters are waiting for me in Belmont.”
As if on cue, my phone buzzed again. This time, I pulled it out.
Frankie: What’s your ETA? Are you at least on the train from wherever you are?
Lea: I’m leaving the bathroom for you. You are not getting out of helping!
I rolled my eyes. Harpies, all of them.
“Wait.”
I whirled back, only to almost run into the doctor head-on. He steadied me at the waist, then immediately released me, only to take my shirt and fix the button I had somehow only managed to do up wrong again.
As his hands worked steadily up the front of my body, I watched like I was trapped in a spell, one cast by his slow, even breathing and the subtle scent of soap, sandalwood, and clean water.
I only just managed to stay upright until he was done. Then looked up to see my reflection in his glasses.
