Page 26 of The I Do Over

“Knox…”

Pulling back slightly, his expression was serious. “How about we both play hooky today?”

That…wasn’t quite what she was expecting. “Um…what?”

“I know you were planning on driving back to Chesapeake this morning and…I don’t know…maybe you were going to go into work, but…” He shrugged. “Stay.”

“Stay?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Stay.” With a soft laugh, he added, “I know you have patients or clients or whatever it is you call them, but maybe see if one of the other therapists can cover for you.”

Now it was her turn to pull back a bit and study him. “Wait. I don’t understand. You want me to stay another day?”

Knox pushed up onto one elbow and grinned at her. “Or two. Maybe three.”

“Three days?You want me to stay with you for three days?” she squeaked. “Why?”

“Look, I think we’re both pretty intelligent and practical people. There’s obviously still something here between us. I’m not saying we should pick up where we left off and run to the nearest justice of the peace, but maybe…I don’t know…we need this time to genuinely get some closure.”

She silently prayed that the crush of disappointment didn’t show on her face.

Closure.

He didn’t want her to stay because he still had feelings for her that he wanted to explore for the future. He was looking to get over them so he could move on.

Wasn’t that what you were thinking earlier?

Okay, fine. It was. But hearing him say it was mildly devastating.

Could she really do this to herself? It was one thing to have one last sexy encounter and move on with the glow of several orgasms. It was something else entirely to walk into the lion’s den where there was a very real possibility of her getting far too comfortable with him and then having her heart break all over again.

Closure.

Maybe a few days together would prove that they weren’t compatible anywhere else except the bedroom and she wouldn’t get her heart broken.

It was amazing she didn’t snort out loud at how ridiculous that sounded. She knew herself and knew her feelings toward Knox and how even now—when she should be packing her things and getting dressed—she was imagining what it would be like if this were their lives.

As if the last seventeen years hadn’t happened.

“Mads?”

Turning her head, she looked at him—ready to say that it wasn’t a good idea—but the uncertainty she saw in his face told her he was struggling too.

“I think you’re right,” she said carefully. “But I really do need to call the clinic and make sure my patients are covered or rescheduled.”

His entire face lit up as his body visibly relaxed. “Of course! I wouldn’t expect you to just say yes without making sure it would be possible.” Leaning in, he gave her a quick kiss. “Why don’t you do that while I go and call Daniel and let him know I’ll be taking a few days off?”

“Do you think they’ll be able to cover for you?” she asked as she sat up and clutched the sheet to herself in a ridiculous show of modesty. “Do you want to wait until I check on my schedule before calling him?”

He stood and stretched and it was beyond tempting to reach out and run her hands all over him again and drag him back to bed, but…

“Don’t worry about it. If you can’t stay, then I’ll go in. Or I may just take the days off for myself since it’s something I rarely do.” He bent over and kissed her again before picking his briefs up off the floor and walking out of the room.

Once the door was shut, Maddie fell back against the pillows with a long sigh. But rather than sit and obsess about the possible turn of events, she rolled and over and reached for her phone and quickly called her assistant.

“Keep it Moving Physical Therapy! This is Babette. How may I help you?”

Just hearing her assistant’s voice put her mind at ease. Plus, Babette had an amazing Australian accent that Maddie adored listening to. “Hey, it’s Maddie.”

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