Page 99 of Rescuing Dr. Marian
“Foster,” I interrupted. “I turned down Stanford. And I told UC Davis I wasn’t interested.” I took a deep breath and admitted, “I already accepted a different job.”
“Oh.” His mouth fell open, and I saw the rapid calculations happening behind his eyes as he tried to recalibrate. “Okay. Right. Well, we’ll make it work. If it’s further away from SERA, we can?—”
“Actually,” I interrupted, wrapping my arms around his neck, suddenly needing there to be no distance whatsoever between us. “It’s closer.”
“Closer?” He blinked. “How close?”
I grinned. “About… three feet away from you? Possibly four. But I really think I need to bite the bullet and get a decent-sized bed, so?—”
“Tommy.” He gave me a light shake that said he wasn’t in the mood for teasing. “Where?”
But I saw the hope blossoming in his gaze, and I could tell he already knew.
“SERA.” The look in Foster’s eyes was so happy, so vulnerable, I couldn’t help but lean in and press a kiss to his mouth. “I love you,” I whispered.
“I don’t understand,” he croaked. “Jasper said Trace was ripping you a new one before you left.”
“He was,” I said ruefully. “He told me he would only hire meif I swore never to do something that stupid again. I don’t blame him.”
“Fuck, baby.” Foster’s voice was barely a whisper, his eyes seeking mine. “Are you sure? You’d be giving up?—”
“Nothing that I truly want.” I threaded my hands through the hair at the nape of his neck. “I figured out what I really want. And it’s not a prestigious job in California. It’s not impressing my colleagues or making my parents proud or any of the things I thought mattered.”
“What do you want?”
“You,” I said simply. “I want morning coffee with you complaining about compliance paperwork. I want to argue about training techniques and fight over who gets the bigger half of the bed. I want to watch you work with Chickie. I want to teach students and save people’s lives in ways that matter.”
Foster’s hands came up to frame my face. “You have to be a hundred… no, athousandpercent sure. Because I can’t—I can’t do this if you’re going to change your mind. I can’t watch you leave again.”
“I’m not leaving.” I covered his hands with mine. “I’m staying. I’m staying for the job I actually want, I’m staying for the family I chose. I’m staying for youandfor me.”
Foster grabbed my face with both hands, crushing our mouths together in a bruising kiss. I threw my arms around him and held on as tightly as I could.
“What can I do to make this good for you?” he asked, pulling back and meeting my eyes. “I don’t want you to have any regrets.”
“Mmm, let’s see,” I said, tapping my finger to my chin. “Iwasconsidering some cost-cutting measures.”
His eyes caught the light as he laughed. “What did you have in mind, Dr. Marian?”
“I figured I’d need to find a roommate. Someone who knows the area. Someone who’s good with his hands and doesn’t mind sharing a bed.”
Foster’s lip quirked up in a smile. “I thought room and board were included at SERA. But maybe if we agree to continue sharing, the program will save on housing, and they’ll be able to use that to bump your salary a little,” he teased.
“Ahhh, see there? You’re solving my problems already.” I clutched the front of his shirt and yanked him until his nose brushed mine. “You, sir, are awfully convenient to have around.”
“Tommy.” Foster’s voice was serious now. “I need you to understand something. I’m not going anywhere. Not anymore. If you stay, if we do this, it’s not a summer fling or a temporary thing. It’s forever. I’m talking about building a life together. A real life.”
“Are you threatening me with a good time, Sheriff? What does this life look like, exactly?”
“It looks like coming home to each other every night. It looks like planning SERA’s programs together and arguing about curriculum and probably driving Trace crazy with our bickering. It looks like weekends at your family’s lodge and holidays in Majestic with mine.” He paused. “It looks like maybe getting a house together when we’re ready. Maybe getting married. Maybe adopting a whole pack of rescue dogsbecause I know you’re going to fall in love with every single one and give them all ridiculous names.”
My heart felt like it might explode. “That sounds perfect. But you forgot something.”
“What?”
I gestured toward the dartboard. “It looks like you taking down that photo and burning it.”
Foster laughed, the sound rich and warm. “Nah, I think I’m having it mounted on a real dartboard because surely there’ll be times I’ll need it again in the future.”
