Page 48 of Heal Me
“You’re right,” Ric said. “I’ll play nice.”
Kate kissed him. “Thank you.” She sighed as she caressed his chest a little. “I have to get going, but call me when you land in New York so I know you made it safely, okay?”
“I will. I’ll call you tonight, too,” he said, hugging her close.
“You better.”
He bit her earlobe. “Sure you can’t stay just a little longer?”
She shuddered as desire spread through her, but she pushed away from him. “I’d love to, but I have several surgeries today and I don’t want to get behind.”
He gave her an understanding smile. “Go on then. Go save the animal kingdom.”
Kate laughed as she exited the shower. “Just lock up before you go.”
“Okay, Doc.”
When Kate opened the bathroom door, the dogs came in and the scent of fresh coffee hit her. “Hey, Ric. Robert made coffee before he left.”
“That was nice of him. I could use some. I’m not a morning person, so caffeine in the morning is a necessity.”
Kate finished drying off. “Same here. Okay. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, honey.”
As she dressed, Kate listened to Ric talk to the dogs as he showered. Cinders yipped a couple of times and Rocco “talked” to him in moaning whines. It was so nice to have a man in the house again, but that wasn’t the reason she wanted to keep seeing Ric. She wasn’t one of those women who had to have a man around because she was afraid to be alone.
Kate had always been independent, even when her and Phil had been together, and she wasn’t about to give up her self-sufficiency for Ric. That’s why it was important for him to understand that she wasn’t going to ditch Robert for him.
Going downstairs, she found that Robert had filled the dog dishes in addition to making coffee. She found a note on the notepad that she left on the counter that read, “I like him.”
She smiled as she filled her travel mug with coffee and gathered up her backpack. She hurried out to her truck and got underway. As she drove to work, happiness flooded her soul and she thanked God for bringing Ric Stanford into her life.
