Page 79 of Nanny for the Doctor

“So this is my fault?” I stop myself, taking a breath. “Sorry. What personal stuff? Maybe I can help.”

She shakes her head, and all I can see as Mae continues to avoid looking at me is her eyes going wide.

“No. I’m not ready to talk about it.”

It’s like talking to a fucking wall at this point. “Fine. I’m just trying to help, you know? Just trying to ‘open up’ to you like you’ve been nagging me to do.”

The car hangs in a brief silence, but my frustration is raging too hard for me to let it go.

“Why don’t you just take the day off if you’re going to be like this?”

Mae’s eyes snap to mine for the first time as she glares at me. “Be like this? Are you serious right now?”

She shakes her head with a huff, gripping her purse with white knuckles. “I just said I’m going through some personal shit, and this is your response? God, you wonder why you suck at dating. How you stayed married is beyond me.”

My gut tightens. I’m inches from losing it.

“The fuck does that mean?” I grit out.

“Fine. You really want to do this?” Mae smirks angrily. “You’re an abrasive bully, Reed. Whenever things don’t go your way, you just try to force it in the direction you want. My emotions aremyconcern. Just because I don’t want to share my feelings right now doesn’t give you the right to act like I’m the one being irrational. You have no idea what’s going on, what I’m dealing with. And trying to force me to spill because you need to know right this second isnothelping your case.”

I don’t respond, clenching my jaw hard to keep from saying something I’ll regret.

Tears stream down Mae’s face, and her body shakes as she fights to keep them in. With a sigh, she wipes them away, shaking her head.

“I shouldn’t have brought up your marriage. I’m sorry. I know I snapped, but…you need to really think about how you speak to me, to Henry, and to everyone else in your life.”

Her tear-stained face turns to mine, and facing the reality of how I’ve affected her makes my chest ache.

“I didn’t cause the accident. Henry didn’t. Johnny didn’t.Youdidn’t. You need to stop looking for someone to blame.”

My head rears back like I’ve been slapped in the face, and my eyes burn.

“I—” I shake my head, closing my eyes, and reconsider my words. “I’m sorry, too. I…I don’t know what I’m doing. And—and I don’t like it.”

Looking back up at Mae, her maple-colored eyes shimmer, and that pull I’ve always felt to her tugs hard. Before I have the presence of mind to stop myself, I reach across the car and press her lips to mine.

Mae leans further across the console, returning the kiss, and it quickly becomes frantic, a desperate plea for comfort among the raw nerves we’ve exposed.

My thoughts swirl, my emotions a whirlwind.

“Come back to the house with me. Please.”

I’m begging. I’m begging Mae to be with me, and I don’t fucking care.

After a moment’s hesitation, Mae nods. “Okay.”

Chapter27

Mae

I don’t remember the drive to Reed’s house. My emotions are too much of a roller coaster to concentrate or think rationally.

All I know is that I’m desperate for the feel of Reed’s lips on mine again, to feel him take me so entirely that I forget everything that’s happened.

Thinking about the future, about potentially being someone’s mother right now, is too much. I’ve chastised Reed for avoiding things, but that’s precisely what I want to do.

I want to avoid thinking, avoid worrying.

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