Page 24 of Wesley

Chapter Nine

Charlotte

The first two months after Marisol’s accident had been rough. There had been lots of doctor’s appointments, many frustrating moments, and lots of therapy. Some for her and some for me.

After two months, she was starting to act more like herself, but she still had major mood swings, that seemed to come out of the blue, and she would get frustrated when she couldn’t accomplish a simple task, or remember something that she knew she should. She didn’t remember the incident at all, and for that, I was grateful. I had yet to have the courage to take her back to the park, and she had not asked, thankfully.

Now four months later, she was finally gaining ground. We still had bad days, and she would get headaches sometimes that took her down for a day or two, but they were fewer.

I’d managed to go back to work after six weeks with the help of Jersey and Judith. Both of them had been godsends to me over the last couple of months. I’d even finished my classes and took my test. When I learned I passed, the first thing I did was call the woman I knew at the hospital in medical records. She’d been excited to hear from me and told her boss about me immediately. A few days later, I had an interview.

The interview had gone really well, and I was on a high when I stepped out and ran into the man who had occupied pieces of my mind more than he had the right to.

I’d been disappointed that he hadn’t come to see Marisol or me again after that the time when she woke up. After he’d left me that day, Jersey had been grinning when I went back into the room.

“Someone has a crush on the doctor.” She whispered, and I glared at her.

“No, I don’t. I’m just really thankful for all he’s done, and I feel bad for attacking him.”

“Oh, honey, you are totally into him, and I have to tell you, I have known Wes for a long time, and I have never seen him look at a woman the way he just did you.”

“Whatever.” I dismissed what she said, but once in a while, she would bring him up in conversation, and my ears would perk up, wanting to know anything about him that I could find out.

When Jersey had told me that she was having this picnic and that he was coming, butterflies had immediately infested my belly. I had almost opted out of coming, but Jersey had told me in no uncertain terms that if I didn’t come, she would be very upset with me. After everything that she had done for Marisol and me the last four months, I couldn’t upset her.

So here I sat, watching one of the sexiest men alive being sprayed with a hose, as he laughed like one of the kids. My gaze was locked on his wet shirt, and what peeked through. It had been so long since I had been with a man, and the sight of him brought about fantasies I had no right to have.

I couldn’t keep my gaze off his chest, as he talked to Bruce, and I was late to realize he was heading my way. My eyes had a mind of their own as they tried to memorize the look of the muscles under the clingy shirt.

Just the sound of his voice made my knees weak, and I was thankful I was sitting. Especially when Jersey started joking with him. I knew what she was doing and that she was trying to hook us up. It was one of the reasons I hadn’t wanted to come. I didn’t want him to feel obligated to talk to me or ask me out. In fact, I hoped that we didn’t get to that part.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like him. I did. I loved everything that I knew about him, but I didn’t know that much. He was a stranger to me, a very kind and sexy stranger, but a stranger all the same. I didn’t do well with strangers on a personal level.

As we ate and laughed, I relaxed. I knew all of Jersey and Bruce’s friends, and it was obvious that Wes did, too. It made it easier that neither of us was feeling left out, and I got a chance to see him in a different light. He wasn’t the imposable doctor that had control over a person’s life. He was a very handsome man with a great sense of humor and obvious affection for children.

He was like a magnet with them, even Marisol was drawn to him, and after dinner was over, she was looking at him carefully, and then at me.

“Sweetie, did you want to ask Doctor Young something?” As I spoke, Wes turned to Marisol.

“What do you need, beautiful?”

She grinned, glanced at me, and I nodded before she spoke softly. “Can you push me on the swing?”

“You want to swing?”

She nodded, and before he could speak, I did, “Honey, I can push you. You don’t need to ask Doctor Young.”

He glanced at me and then smiled so wide that it melted my heart, “I would be honored to push you on the swing.” He stood and looked at me, “Unless, you’d rather your mother do it.”

She shook her head, “No, you.”

He winked at me, and as they began to walk away, she put her hand in his. My jaw dropped, and Jersey slipped into his vacant seat.

“Look at that, he has you both wrapped around his little finger.”

“Very funny, Jersey,” I replied to her drolly. “I am not wrapped around his little finger.

She leaned forward, “No, but I bet you’d like to be wrapped around that body.” I felt the blush instantly rising into my cheeks, and she laughed. “I knew it!” We turned to watch them as they reached the swing and he held it steady for her so she could climb on. He glanced up and met my gaze, winking again.

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