Page 38 of Doctor Daddy

I don’t think she realized I could see her from the elevators. As soon as I left her entire demeanor changed. Her posture dropped and so did the smile on her face. She was tired, and she was working hard to hide it from me.

I texted her after I knew she was headed home. “Come over, don’t worry, no pressure. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. I like pineapple on my pizza.”

I ordered the pizza as I left the office, and texted Brooke I was headed home. I was home only a few minutes when the doorbell rang. There was an even chance it was Brooke or the pizza.

I hadn’t expected both at the same time.

She was paying the pizza delivery guy as I opened the door.

“You got here at the same time?”

“Yeah,” she said as she stepped in.

The delivery guy headed in the opposite direction.

“You paid?”

“I can afford to pay for pizza, Mark.”

“Did you tip him?”

“Of course, I tipped him.” She slid the pizza boxes onto the kitchen counter. She took her purse off her shoulder and hung her hooded sweatshirt over the back of a chair. “Do you want plates and silverware, or are your fingers and some napkins enough?”

I started to pull a couple of beers from the fridge. I put them back and grabbed Cokes instead. If she was tired, the last thing she needed was a couple of beers in her system before she had to drive back home.

“Plates, yes, and grab a roll of paper towels,” I said.

With drinks in hand, I picked up the pizza boxes and headed to my TV room.

Brooke followed with plates, and she grabbed a bag of chips.

I put the boxes and drinks on the low table in front of the couch. “What do you want to watch? Movie, or our show?”

Our show was a couple of years old, but neither of us had managed to watch it when it was new and the hot thing everyone watched. It was full of battles and court intrigue. Siblings stabbing each other in the back, literally and figuratively. The characters were horrible people. But people loved the show, I understood why. It was like sports, which teams did you cheer on, which teams lost. The actors were all gorgeous and we saw a lot of skin.

“Show.” She yawned. “I have about enough energy for two episodes, after that, they’ll have worn me out.”

She sat on the couch and pulled the boxes of pizza toward her. “What kind did you get?”

“Canadian bacon and pineapple with peppers, and one with everything.”

“Yum. These smell good.”

She slid a piece from the top box onto a plate and settled into the couch. Before the end of the first episode, and after we had eaten, she was tucked up under my arm next to me.

This was nice. I had my girl by my side, a full stomach, and my feet up. It was the perfect way to end a busy week.

She stretched and yawned when the episode ended.

“I’ll be right back,” she said as she got up for a bathroom break. I had another piece of pizza and contemplated the finer aspects of not seducing her for the night. I had promised I wouldn’t, and I wasn’t going to. I enjoyed the way she snuggled into my side. It was nice to simply be without any expectations.

She came back and I started the next episode. She was asleep before it was halfway over. I decided to let her sleep. She needed the rest, and a little post-dinner snooze wasn’t going to do her any harm. I had another piece of pizza and finished the episode.

“Brooke,” I said gently. “You fell asleep sweetheart.”

She mumbled something before she dug into my ribs as if she were burrowing into my side.

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