Page 74 of Doc Showmance
“My agent suggested that. It costs money. I have some from the show but being on TV doesn’t pay as well as you’d think. My family… Well, they cut me off.” He gazed at me as if trying to figure me out. Good luck on that one. “How about you? Why areyoureally going through with the showmance?”
“Already told you they threatened my residency.”
“Amber…seriously? After that last episode you could call any ER clinic in the country. They’d jump to have you finish your residency with them. What really has you doing this?”
I sighed long and hard. I rolled away from him to my back and stared at the white ceiling. “First, the money. My stupid brother, Marino, has a gambling problem. Don’t ever tell him I told you. He got suckered into gambling and lost big to a loan shark. Not the first time, but he’s been doing well for years. I used the money they paid me up front to pay off his debt.”
“He’s lucky to have you, especially if this isn’t the first time he’s screwed up.”
“He hadn’t gambled in years, but he got drunk in Vegas. Why he was there to begin with is unclear.” I fiddled with the comforter. “I’m worried about him. I don’t know how to fix his gambling problem. I can’t keep bailing him out. That’s enabling the behavior. But I want him to get better.”
“Addicts have to want to be fixed. You can’t do it for them.”
I nodded. That was true.
“Is that you admitting I’m right?” He pushed up to rest on his side and grinned a genuine smile with an eye crinkle. “Where’s the camera when I need one?”
I rolled to face him where he was propped up on one arm.
“What’s the second reason?” he asked.
“You called me chicken.”
“Ah. I had a feeling that’d get you motivated.” He chuckled. “What’re you thinking when you look at me like that?”
The tension between us was taut, charged, and burned bright.
“I think you know, but don’t worry. I want it, too.” I scooted a bit closer to him. “I’m a girl who knows what she wants.”
“Do you? Seemed you had some reservations not so long ago. I’m not sure that I like how all this happened. You and this mean more to me than some bogus fake dating scenario, but I don’t think our life paths are set in the same direction.”
I traced his lips with a finger. “Are you worried if we sleep together that I’ll become an emotional wreck tomorrow and expect a proposal or some sort of long-term agreement? No need to fear. I’m a commitment-phobe. For me, this is about now. I don’t make long-term plans with men.”
“I used to think I was averse to commitment, too.”
“Something changed your mind?”
He nodded. A chill ran through my shoulders at the intensity in his gray eyes.
Me.I was what changed him?
Had to be reading too much into his look. If it was true, it terrified me. I wasn’t ready to handle the question of tomorrow and future what ifs.
“Don’t overanalyze or make this difficult. We have this moment.” I sat up and leaned into him, pressing my lips into his. He made a surprised sound, but he repositioned against the headboard to have both arms free, using one to cup my head. After few passes of my lips on his I teased with my tongue to see if he’d let me take it further.
He opened.
My breath shuddered as he ran his hand up my stomach under the T-shirt to cup his hand around a breast. I ended the kiss to remove my shirt and bra, baring myself to him. I was proud of my body, not because it was a certain size or shape, but because it was what I had to offer to him.
“Maybe I don’t want just a moment. Maybe I want a lot more,” he said as he unhooked his watch and put it on the side table.
Excitement danced up my spine. This meant he was all in.
He bent and took one nipple into the warmth of his mouth. I moaned as I buried my fingers into his hair. He leaned back to look at me. “You’re amazing, Amber. Beautiful.”
He scattered kisses along my belly, downward to my pelvis, and then along my thighs. Finally, he kissed gently between my legs. He pulled the thong down over my legs and returned to spread me with his fingers, applying swipes of his tongue.
I moaned something incoherent.
