Page 128 of The Doctor's Irreplaceable Love

Banner laughed beside her and said, “You’re right, Jim.I am.I’m telling Miss Shelley that I’m worried I won’t be able to get a girl to dance with me tomorrow night—they’ll all be after you instead.”

Jim laughed.“Let’s get these steaks on the grill.Then you can tell me what you need of me as your wingman.”He turned to Shelley as he explained, “I’m only joking.This one has the ladies falling at his feet whenever he goes out.”

She raised her eyebrows at Banner and he shrugged.

“He ain’t wrong.That’s why I don’t go out much.We’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Shelley.”

Trip was already home when she got there.He’d left her the space closest to the door, and as she grabbed her bag from the backseat, he came out to greet her.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pushed her back against her car and leaned his weight into her as he looked down into her eyes.

“How was your day, honey?”

“It was good.How about you?”

He chuckled.“It was good.I had a good chat with Brooke—and I had fun with Tanya and Alana.”

“Oh, I’m glad.I know you’ve been looking forward to that.”

He dropped a kiss on her lips.“So now that we know we each had a good day—want to come inside and have a great evening?”

She waggled her eyebrows.“What exactly do you have in mind?”

“I definitely want the kind of fun you’re thinking about—but how would you feel about dinner, a bottle of Shiraz, and a movie first?”

She smiled.“A romantic comedy—like the first time I stayed over?”

He nodded.“Yeah.Just like that.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he walked her into the house.

“Just like that—only better,” he added.“Back then, I thought we’d only ever be friends.”He turned and pressed a kiss to her temple.“Now I’m hoping that you’re going to be my lady—for eternity.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him.“That seems like a strange one to use.”

He gave her a bashful smile.“I was just trying out the sound of it.What do you think?”

She rested her hands on his shoulders and pressed a kiss to his lips.“It sounds wonderful to me.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

On Saturday morning, Trip stood in front of the windows in the living room, staring out at the mountains.He was surprised at himself.He felt nervous—and he hadn’t expected that.

He started guiltily when Shelley came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck, sending that now-familiar prickly sensation shooting down his spine.He turned to face her, wrapping his arms around her waist, loving that she was wearing his pajamas.

She didn’t wear them to bed anymore, but on the weekends, she still liked to put them on while they drank coffee and ate breakfast together.It struck him that it wasn’t all that long since she’d borrowed them that first Friday night she’d stayed over.

She tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked up into his eyes.“Are you okay?”

He kissed her forehead.“Yeah, honey, I’m great.Sorry.I was just thinking.”

For once, she didn’t pick up on what he was thinking about.But then again, there was no way she could know—and no reason she would even suspect that he’d lied to her about the reason for his trip to town with the guys this morning.

Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie.Cash, Mav, and Blane had arrived last night, and when Cash had called to ask if Trip wanted to meet up with them all in town this morning, Trip had decided it would be the perfect opportunity to go ring shopping.

He’d promised Cash he’d wait for him to be able to come along—and there was no telling when he’d be back.And even though Trip knew that Mav and Blane would probably have little to no interest in coming with him, he still liked the idea of having them there.

Since Shelley had no idea about any of that, he just smiled.