Page 27 of Welcome Home to Ivy Falls (Ivy Falls #3)

FORD

The Match

We weren’t two steps in the door when I spun Piper around and pressed my mouth to hers. She gave a delicious squeak before she melted into me. I had a hard time deciding where I should put my hands because I wanted to touch her everywhere. I settled on her lower back as our kisses deepened.

When I’d gotten ready this evening, I’d thought maybe I’d coax her into a dance.

Maybe two. Even though we’d had pizza, shared a bit of our history, she’d still been cagey.

Doing her best to avoid me when I went to claim my free coffee and donuts from Sugar Rush.

Twice now, I’d casually walked into the bookstore pretending to need a book or a drink.

The sly smile she’d given me said she knew exactly why I was there, but I kept a gentle distance between us not wanting to push things.

She ran her nails up and down my back. I loved the way she gripped me like she needed to hold on to me tightly, pull me close, ensure I wasn’t going anywhere.

Her kisses were slow and languid as we learned each other’s instincts and reactions to small bites and hungry moans.

She tugged the shirt out of the back of my pants and I walked her backward until her knees hit the edge of the couch. Once she sank down, I pulled off my shirt and the way she greedily scanned my body nearly undid me.

She scooted back to make room for me but there was hesitancy in her gaze, a tremor in her lower lip. I didn’t need anything more from her than to be in her presence. To listen to the melody of her voice and the soft cadence of her breaths.

‘Do me a favor,’ I whispered. ‘Sit on the floor.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘You want me on the floor?’

‘Trust me.’

She ran a shaky hand over her mouth. ‘You don’t know how hard that is for me.’

I ran a finger along her soft cheek. ‘Bird, you could ask me to do a backflip, the Macarena, yodel right now, and I’d oblige.’

‘Yodel? Can you yodel?’

There was that smart-ass tone I loved.

‘Trust me?’ I repeated.

She cocked her head. Everything about her was deliberate.

How she talked, dressed, interacted with the people of Ivy Falls.

It was like she was weighing every encounter.

Making sure she never did or said a word to upset anyone.

It had to be a heavy load to carry. For once I wanted her to clear her mind and let go.

After letting out a shaky breath, she sank down onto the rug covering the floor.

I took a spot on the couch behind her and loosened the hairband at the end of her elaborate half-braid.

‘What are you…?’

‘Hang on,’ I whispered against her neck, and I loved the way she shivered.

Once I had the band out, I unraveled the braid piece by piece until her hair hung down her back in luminous dark waves.

I started at the top of her head and lightly massaged, working my way down to her shoulders.

Another shaky breath left her mouth, and the tension she carried like tight cords under her skin melted away.

I worked my hands down below her scapula and her triceps, taking my time massaging and kneading.

Her breath stuttered as she said, ‘All that time studying anatomy was not wasted, I see.’

‘Oh, I know how to handle several parts of the body.’

‘I bet you do,’ she murmured, which made my pants tighten.

I swept back her curtain of hair, placing my mouth against the tender skin on the base of her neck. I kept working her shoulders, pushing aside the thin silver material of her shirt.

‘That feels so good,’ she stuttered.

‘Which part? My hands or my mouth?’

‘I have to choose? Well, that’s mean,’ she teased.

Without any prompting from me, she pulled off her shirt. I had to bite my tongue. Her skin was like silk under my fingertips. Her bra the softest color pink I’d ever seen.

She turned to face me and pulled my mouth down to hers.

I tried not to moan at the way her lips moved over mine – sweet and achingly slow.

I gripped the edge of the couch as she climbed onto my lap and we fell backwards.

Her hands were in my hair and all I could think about was how much I wanted to unclip that bra and place my mouth over her nipples.

I reached for the strap and she put her hand over mine. That hesitancy was back.

‘Is it okay if all we do is kiss right now? Take things slow?’ she said.

I ran a finger along her arm, still amazed that she was letting me be this close. ‘Of course. You set the rules and I’ll follow.’

‘Thank you.’ She gave me a relieved smile that made me pause.

Did she think I would argue? It made me wonder what kind of guys she’d been with in the past. How they were idiots not to treat her like an absolute freaking queen.

She moved off my lap and took the space beside me. ‘Why did you want to be a family doctor?’

‘Where did that question come from?’

‘I enjoy learning about people’s backstories. How they decided on their life’s path. I’m still not sure what I want to do, so I like hearing how other people became inspired. Decided which direction their life would take.’

The vulnerability in her voice said that if she was going to trust me, she needed to know me. To see the real me, not the doctor mask I often wore for the town.

‘The truth is that wasn’t my first choice.’

She shot me a look of surprise. ‘There’s a story there.’

I scooted against the couch’s cushions. She wriggled between my legs, and I’m sure she could feel how hard I was but she didn’t say a word.

‘Orthopedics was my dad’s idea. He had these big dreams about me becoming the team doctor for the Nashville Predators or the Tennessee Titans. Thought it’d be a great thing to brag about to his country-club pals.’

‘Again, your dad is sounding too much like an asshole.’

‘He can be a bit much sometimes.’

She rubbed her hand down my leg as a comfort but it only turned me on more.

‘Where does this story take a turn?’ she said.

‘The Match.’

‘What’s that?’

‘In your final year of medical school you start interviewing for residency. After you’ve visited all the programs who are interested in you, you have to list in order where you would prefer to go. Orthopedics is one of the most competitive specialties.’

The memory of that day was still a bitter pill to swallow.

‘On “Match Day” you get an envelope and open it with all the other students in your class. Your family surrounds you and it’s supposed to be loud and celebratory. All you hear is ripping paper and shouts and screams. Some tears.’

‘And your envelope?’

‘It’s complicated.’

‘Go on,’ she said gently.

‘Two days before The Match I got a call from the dean’s office telling me I didn’t get into a residency program.’

She sucked in a quick breath, threaded her fingers through mine.

‘I scrambled to find another spot, and a professor I knew well encouraged me to take a family practice opening at Meharry. He insisted I had the skills and disposition for the job. Deep down I knew he was right.’

‘What happened after?’

I scrubbed a hand through my hair. ‘I applied and was accepted.’

‘That had to make your parents happy. You getting a spot. Finding your purpose.’

I loved the confidence in her voice. Too bad her assumptions about my parents were all wrong.

‘My dad was livid. Told me I was ruining my life.’

Fire burned in her eyes. ‘What the hell is wrong with your folks?’

Sadly, all I could do was shrug. ‘They’re elitists.

Even when you practice medicine, there is a hierarchy to each specialty.

With orthopedics, especially if I worked in professional sports, they’d have a reason to one-up all their friends.

Family practice, which in my opinion is the mainstay of medicine, was not glamorous enough for them. ’

She crossed her arms over her chest. ‘Did he ever apologize?’

‘No, he just said that when I was ready to grow up, I’d move back to Harpeth Manor. Join a practice and provide his friends at the country club with all the Viagra they could ever want.’

That made her shake her head. ‘I’m beginning to understand why you took the job in Senegal.’

I pulled her back into my arms. ‘They shame me a lot less these days, but there are still biting comments around the holidays after one too many glasses of wine.’

‘And Ivy Falls? Are you glad you decided to fill in for Doc Sheridan?’ The anticipation in her eyes was sweet.

I slid a hand around her neck and pulled her in for a slow, deep kiss. ‘Best decision I’ve made in a long time.’