Page 8 of My Boyfriends Are All Monsters
“Can I be put down now?” I asked.
“What? Oh, right.” Instead of releasing me, he walked toward the staircase. “Which room do you want her in?” he asked the innkeeper.
“This is not down,” I interjected. Dr. Crane shifted his hand to get a better grip on my thigh. The veins in his forearms bulged as rough fingers dug into my skin.
Why am I even complaining?Shut up, Lucy.
Caroline rubbed a hand under her chin. “Hmm, it depends. Can she live without pizza delivery?”
“She’ll be fine,” he replied.
“Can anyone else hear me?” I am my own worst enemy.
A cry of relief broke from Caroline’s lips. “Perfect, she can take all of ’em!”
With a speed mismatched with her elderly frame, Caroline dug a ring of keys from the desk drawer and tossed them on my chest. Then she slapped a paper on the counter, whipped out a pen, and signed her name next to anXat the bottom. “Here’s the deed to the place. Sign your name here and hand it to Jasmine down at the bank tomorrow.”
My mouth hung open as she rolled up the deed and tucked it into the side pocket of my backpack still sitting by the door. Caroline took her jacket off the coatrack and tugged it on. Turning to the dog, she said, “Spatula, take the nice woman’s bag to her room and meet me at the bar.” With a dazzling smile, she wished me luck and all but flew out the door.
Blinking rapidly, I asked, “What ... what the fuck?”
Tail wagging, the old dog fetched my backpack and trotted away with it.
Dr. Crane carried me up the stairs, where the dog led us into a large suite. Setting my bag next to the bed, Spatula barked once, as if to say, “Mission complete,” then trotted back out the door.
“Do I own a bed-and-breakfast?” I asked.
Crane set me down gently on the bed and placed the key ring on the nightstand along with my pack. He sat in front of me and undid the laces on my boots before carefully slipping them off. “Knowing Carol, probably. Do you want one?”
“I ... Yeah, I don’t know. Didn’t really wake up this morning thinking I was gonna be gifted real estate.”
“We should all be so lucky.” He grinned. Crane rested my leg over his lap and ran his fingers from the side of my calf to my ankle. “Any pain?”
“No.” But there was a tingle in the pit of my stomach. A fire that grew larger the more the good doctor explored. The touch of his hands on the sensitive skin at the back of my calf was almost unbearable in its tenderness. When the tips of his fingers slid to my heel, I couldn’t stop the shuddering breath. He mistook the reaction for pain and retracted his touch; the sudden coldness I felt in the absence of it,of him, sent me reeling.
“Apologies, it seems you’re still more sore than I thought. Wait here and I’ll bring you something to ice it with.” Dr. Crane removed my leg from his lap and stood.
“No!” I reached out and grabbed his wrist. “I’m fine, really. There’s no need to trouble yourself any further; you’ve already helped me enough.”
His tone demanded no argument. “If you were troubling me, I wouldn’t have offered. You are my patient. Listen to your doctor and wait here.”
“I . . . fine.”
He flashed a smile that sent my pulse racing. “Good girl.” His gaze fell to my lips, and something intense flashed in his eyes. The heat of it washed over my skin like sunlight after a long,longwinter. I realized with no small shame that I couldn’t remember the last time a man had looked atmelike that. A sad thought, when considering I had arrived on this mountain in what I thought was a committed relationship.
In Crane’s eyes there were no games, no second guesses, just pure unadulterated want. He leaned closer; the anticipation of a kiss hung between us like the fruit of the world’s first sin. Impossible to resist.
My hands found purchase on the front of his coat, leaning into him as I tilted my face to his for the first taste of his lips.
Loud knocking startled us apart. Neither of us had time to answer before Noah’s booming voice could be heard from the entryway. “Lucy, are you still here? I brought food!”
My stomach growled because she was a hater and didn’t want me to kiss the hot doctor.
Crane’s head fell to rest on my shoulder as he let out a small laugh. “Do you want me to carry you down?”
“No, just give me a moment to clean up and change out of these clothes, and I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
I heard Noah’s voice in the hall. “Before I forget, I ran into Caroline on her way to the bar, and I know she offered you the inn, but if customer service isn’t your style, there’s an old hobby farm that isn’t getting any use next to my land.” He had paused by the doorway when he noticed Dr. Crane. Noah grimaced before crossing his arms over his chest. “This guy bothering you?”
