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“And what about you?”
“That’s where I’m hoping you’ll fit in,” I replied and winked at her.
“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
“You did. You see this thing that we’re doing?” I asked, pointing a finger back and forth between us.
She nodded. “What about it?”
“Don’t you miss this?”
“This what?”
“Back and forth that we’re doing. Someone to have an idle conversation with at the end of a night. Someone you can relax and unwind with.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“That’s exactly what you’ve been doing.”
Giselle dropped her head back against the couch. “I don’t want to do this,” she whined.
“Why not?”
“You make everything so difficult and complicated in my life. I need smooth and easy, Casimir. Not turbulent and stormy waters. My anxiety cannot take that.”
“Self-diagnosed?”
“Very. But you’re not Dr. Perez, and I’m not a patient in need of therapy. Off of me.”
I smirked at her reference and replied, “Girl, when I’m on you, trust me, you’ll know. And when I get on you, there won’t be any backing down.”
“Why do you do this?”
“Do you remember when I told you that I was thirty-eight and I’ve seen a lot? I wasted so much time on a marriage that was not meant to be. I’m not wasting another minute on securing the woman of my dreams at my side.”
“But what if I’m not? What if I’m not all that you think I am?”
“And what if you are? What if I miss out on the opportunity to make my dreams come true? I’d rather waste time finding out that we’re not perfect for each other than spend a lifetime of regret because I didn’t make you mine.”
Giselle blew out a breath and dropped her head in her hands. I leaned over and massaged her shoulders. I felt her relaxing underneath my touch, and when she caught herself moaning at the contact, she jerked away from me.
I turned her head around so that she could face me.
“I might not be anything you need.”
“And you could be everything that I’ve hoped for. Let me ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“If I met you in some other fashion, and I was never your patient, and this attraction between us still existed, would you run the risk of getting to know me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I’d like to think so.”
“Then don’t let the fear of losing your license be your obstacle. We can overcome this together if you trust me.”
Giselle searched my eyes for a while, and I wondered if she was trying to determine if she could trust me or not. I reached out and drew a line down the slope of her nose before it dipped off into the middle of her lips. I pushed them in, and she sucked my finger into her mouth.
My eyes narrowed at the contact and the heat that emanated between us. I wondered if Giselle remembered what I had told her at the ball.