Checked Again (29 page)

“Yes.
Room 318.”

I
stop walking at the sound of his voice, as he gives my room number to someone
on the other end of the phone (
who is please, please, please not Dr. Gabriel
).

Standing
about ten steps away from him, I stare at his back. I listen for more words.
This call must have something to do with my surprise.

Something
delivered to my room? Food? Flowers? Some sort of barbershop quartet? I really
hope not. I don’t want them to be singing right by my door and maybe
accidentally spitting and—

Callie.
Shhh. Listen.

I
try to listen. But there is nothing to hear. He isn’t talking. So I stand
behind him in silence, holding my legs together and wondering how long it will
be until I get to go to the bathroom. I can probably hold it for another ten
minutes or so, but—

But
I’ve got to stop thinking about it. My thoughts are making it worse.

So
I think about my surprise again instead. And I glance down at my phone. Perhaps
he’s sent me another clue. Check phone. No new messages.
What? He didn’t
even—

“Callie?”

My
head snaps up. And he’s turned around. And he’s looking right at me.

His
eyes are smiling. His face is smiling. He walks toward me as he talks. “Your
surprise has been keeping me busy.” He nods down to the phone still clutched in
my hands. “I didn’t even get the chance to text you back.”

He
raises his eyebrows. “However, I did see your last message.” His eyebrows
somehow raise even more, and he leans in toward me, only a few steps away now.
He whispers. Smile whispers. “And you’re not supposed to be calling me Dr.
Blake.”

His
eyebrows stay up. His mouth keeps smiling. He’s…teasing me. He’s…flirting with
me. He’s freaking adorable.
{Come on in, Damien.}

“Sorry.”
I smile and raise my own eyebrows. “Aiden.”

“That’s
better.” He holds out his hand. “Now, it’s bathroom time.”

I
place my hand in his. Then he starts moving, whisking me through the hallway,
up the stairs, and to my hotel room. Still holding my hand, he keys into my
room and opens the door. Then he pushes his back against the door to hold it
open. His eyes meet mine.

“Do
you know how many times I thought about coming over here, opening your door in
the middle of the night last night?”

My
mouth drops open a little and my hand goes limp in his. Then the rest of my
body starts to go limp. Fortunately, I remember in time to keep my legs
squeezed together.

I
try to speak, to tell him that I thought about going to his room last night…but
no words come out.

He
squeezes my hand once, twice, three times. Then he blinks his eyes and shakes
his head. Changing the mood. Changing the subject.

“But
right now, you have to go to the bathroom. Text me when you finish your
article.”

I
nod and reluctantly let go of his hand, float past him, and watch as he leaves.

MY
ARTICLE IS FINISHED. TYPED. Proofread. Emailed. Done.

Still
sitting on the hotel bed, I grab my phone. I start a new Unknown Number text.

I’m
done.

Send.

Surprise
time.

I
don’t even want a surprise, though. I just want to continue the discussion he
started before leaving me alone in this room. The
I wanted to be with you in
the middle of the night
last night
discussion. Then I want the topic
to change…to change to an
I will be with you in the middle of the night
tonight
discussion.

Then
I don’t want to talk anymore. Then—

Someone
is knocking at my door.

“Callie?”
He
is knocking at my door. “Ready for your surprise?”

I
am.

I
get up off my bed and head right to the door. I reach out, twist the handle,
and open the door.

And
he’s here. Right here. Blue smiling eyes.

He
wanted to be with me last night. He wanted to be with me. And he’s here now.

I
just have to move a couple steps, and I can touch him. I can put my head
against his chest. I can wrap my arms around his waist.

Reading
my face…probably reading my mind, his eyes darken. They’re dark and heated now.

I
can do this. I can do this. I will do this.

One.
Two. Three.

I
pick up my foot and move one step in toward—

“SURPRISE.”
New voices. Familiar voices.

I
freeze, one step away from him, my hand still holding the door handle.

His
dark eyes flicker an apology…and some regret.

I
quickly look away, look behind him…where Melanie and Mandy are standing in the
now open doorway of his hotel room.

Oh.

Chapter
18

girls’
night

IN
A BLUR, THE SITUATION changes around me. Mandy and Melanie are all of a sudden
hugging me, and he…well, he is looking at me. He’s now standing against my
hotel room door, his back pushing it open. His eyes are, well, lots of things.
Still burning. Still apologetic. Also…questioning. And…hopeful.

He
wants me to like his surprise. He thought I would like his surprise.

And
I do. I really do.

Still
wrapped in a big hug with Mandy and Melanie, I smile over at him. I mouth a
“thank you” as I try to block out the thought of the two of us alone together.

The
two of us in my hotel room. In the dark. In the—

CALLIE!

I
blink away from his eyes…but not before I notice the extra heat in them. Maybe
he really does know exactly what I’m thinking…like Mel Gibson in that
What
Women Want
movie. Or maybe my eyes look that dark…that heated too.

If
that is the case, I need to change my eyes, my face, before Mandy and Melanie
notice.

As
they let go of me and start talking about margaritas and DVDs and food, I try
to look normal. I smile and nod and—

And
I wonder if it works. I wonder if I’ve gotten all of, well, whatever he saw,
out of my eyes.

My
sisters continue to talk, and I continue to focus on making appropriate facial
expressions…continue to focus on not looking at him…not thinking abo—

“Is
that okay, Callie?” Mandy’s voice. Mandy’s lips moving right in front of me. I
have no idea what she’s talking about, though.

Flustered,
I shake my head and try to say something that makes sense. “I, um…I’m just so
shocked that you guys are here.” I know I don’t answer her question or even
acknowledge her question. But somehow I get away with it.

Melanie
smiles. “We already had the weekend off. Seemed like the perfect time for an on
location Girls’ Night.”

Mandy
smiles too, and pushes past me, past him. She kicks off her shoes on my shoe
towel and then heads into the hotel room. “Don’t worry, Callie. We aren’t going
to use your bathroom. We have our own room.”

“I—I
wasn’t thinking about that.” Honestly, I wasn’t.

Mandy
doesn’t pay any attention to my response. She plops down on my bed. Melanie
grabs my hand and drags me behind her as she walks…as she moves right past him.
I move right past him…inches away from him…

Our
eyes meet for a second, only a second, as Melanie pauses to remove her ballet
flats. Then Melanie yanks me the rest of the way into the room. I don’t even
have time to really gauge what he’s thinking. I wonder if that second was
enough time for him to read my thoughts, though. I wonder—

“Are
you gonna stay to eat with us, Dr. Blake?” Mandy asks.

Melanie,
who has now pulled me over to the bed beside Mandy, chimes in. “Oh, yes. You
have to stay to eat. I already ordered food for you. It’ll be here soon.”

He
looks at me, waiting to see what I think. And I…I want him to stay. And stay.
And stay.

I
give him a quick nod. “Eat with us.” I smile. “We’ll try not to be too girly.”

THE
NOT BEING GIRLY THING doesn’t exactly happen. Before we all sit down at the bar
to eat, Mandy ends up putting on a channel showing
Sex and the City
reruns (she says that she can find something less girly, but he insists that he
doesn’t mind). We talk through most of the dinner (room service—salads and
sandwiches) anyway, so instead of hearing the Carrie/Samantha/Miranda/Charlotte
Sex and the City
drama, he hears about Melanie’s birthing plan, about
Jared’s new girlfriend’s cute new butterfly tattoo, and about Mandy’s upcoming
plans with Josh…and so on.

My
sisters occasionally stop talking in the middle of their stories to apologize
for the girl talk. And he…he just smiles and shrugs, sitting at the bar across
from me and sipping at the beer Melanie ordered for him. I let myself look up
at him every once in a while. Every time I do, he catches my eyes.
{And
every time that happens, Damien starts his song over.}

I
have to remind myself over and over that my sisters are right here in this
room…at this makeshift bar table. I have to remind myself that it’s not just
him and me...that it probably looks freaking stupid when the two of us just
stare at each other.

And
I know that Melanie and Mandy have noticed the staring. They keep making faces
at each other when they think I’m not watching. But I see them. And I’m sure he
sees them. And it’s pretty awkward.

Nonetheless,
I can’t seem to keep my eyes from floating back up to his again and again and
again throughout dinner.

I
try to keep up with Mandy and Melanie’s conversations, but I can’t. My head is
too fuzzy…and I haven’t even started my margarita yet.

I
don’t think he’s following the discussions going on around us either. He smiles
and nods a lot, but his eyes look like they are somewhere else.

Somewhere
where I think I want to be…

When
we finish eating, we all return our dishes to the room service cart. He then
gets off his barstool and goes to stand beside the cart, looking now at Mandy
and Melanie. “Thanks for dinner.” He smiles. “I’ll leave you girls to your
Girls’ Night festivities now.”

Mandy,
still sitting next to me, smiles back at him. “You could always stay. We
haven’t even started to talk about tampons and nylons and waxing yet.”

His
smile—it widens. It becomes even more charming. “Thanks for the offer—very
tempting. I really should go take a shower and answer some work emails,
though.”

Mandy
laughs. “If you must.”

He
laughs too. Then his eyes move to mine.

They
are stuck with mine. Again.

He
wanted to come over here last night. He wanted—

CALLIE.
Sisters. In. Room. Sisters. Right. Here.

I
cough. Well, I fake cough, and rip my eyes away from his. “I’ll, um, get the
door for you.” I move my jello-like legs, my jello-like body from the barstool
and start walking toward the door. I hear him walking, pushing the cart, a few
steps behind me. I also hear my sisters whispering at the bar. I can’t quite
make out what they are saying, but I’m sure I can imagine the gist of it.

I
twist the handle and open the door, and he…he moves to stand right beside me.
His eyes meet mine. “Have fun tonight, Callie.” He blinks his eyes. When he
opens them back up, his smile is gone. His
I wanted to be with you in the
middle of the night last night
face is back.

And
my body is frozen.

He
opens his mouth to say something, but no words come out. Just a groan. A sigh.
A groaning sigh. He holds my gaze for another…I don’t know how long…not long
enough…and then he slowly turns to go to his own room.

I
watch the back of him as he pushes the food cart right beside the wall outside
of his room, reaches into his pocket, and keys into his hotel room. Before he
goes in, he glances back for a second with the same expression…the same look in
his eyes as a second ago. Then he turns and disappears into his room.

Slowly,
I release my fingers from the door handle. The door shuts. I stand, still
frozen. I stare at the door, at the—

“Callie?”
Mandy comes up behind me, grabbing my shoulders and spinning me around. And her
face is teasing. Suggestive. Wicked. She raises her eyebrows. “You know, I
agreed right away when Dr. Blake planned this trip, this surprise for you. I
really thought it was a good idea.” Her eyes twinkle. “But now…I can come up
with some better surprises for you…and none of them involve us, Mel and me,
being here.”

I
start to shake my head, but she continues, a huge smile now on her face. “In
fact, none of my surprise ideas involve the TV, or margaritas, or food…well, I
guess if you want to get creative, you could use whipped—”

“Mandy—you
sound like Jared.” Melanie comes over, pulling me out of Mandy’s grasp and over
to the bed.

Mandy
huffs and pretends to be annoyed as she walks over and joins us. She sits right
beside Melanie, across from me.

“Umm…did
you see the way he was looking at her, Mel?”

Melanie’s
eyes start to gleam as she glances over at Mandy. They both giggle a little…as
though I’m not even here. I give them both a face…mouth closed, eyebrows down…a
face to tell them that I don’t know what they are talking about (even though I
obviously do)…a face to tell them to stop giggling (even though I know they
won’t).

Eventually,
Melanie pulls herself together enough to speak. “Okay, so what’s the deal? Is
he your doctor or boyfriend or what?”

Mandy
stops laughing and leans back against a pillow on the bed. “I want to hear
this.”

They
both stare at me expectantly, waiting for an answer that I don’t exactly have.

“Well,
um,” I begin, “he might start helping me with my, um, treatment again. But not
as my doctor.”

Mandy
and Melanie look confused. Mandy looks like she might start giggling again.

I
try to explain. “He would, um, work with me after business hours. I wouldn’t be
his patient.”

Confusion
still sits on their faces. And Mandy still looks highly amused.

I
throw out more words. “I don’t know exactly how it’s all going to work.”

I
stop talking. Melanie and Mandy don’t say anything.

After
about thirty seconds, Mandy breaks the silence. “That sounds hot.” She raises
her eyebrows. “A scandalous after-hours arrangement.”

I
shake my head, unable to hold back a laugh.

Melanie,
laughing as well, asks, “When do you start this after-hours treatment?”

I
lean back on the bed. “I don’t know. He hasn’t decided yet if he wants to do it
for sure.”

The
smile on Melanie’s face turns into a look of concern. “So he might not help
you? What are you going to do then?” She shakes her head, talking quickly. “You
can’t just let this go, Callie. You have to get help. Even if he says no—”

“He’s
not going to say no.” Mandy is all glittery-eyed again. “He’s not going to say
no to her.” She raises her eyebrows and bites her lip suggestively. “About
anything.”

Melanie
still looks concerned, but she laughs a little as I roll my eyes at Mandy. Then
the subject is dropped. At least for now.

We
grab our drinks (room service margaritas for Mandy and me and water for Melanie
and baby) and continue on with our Girls’ Night, our very different Girls’
Night. A Girls’ Night in Florida…in a hotel room…with no DVDs or DVD
player…where no one is wearing pajamas—probably due to the fact that we had a
special Girls’ Night guest…

That
brings me to the most different part about our Girls’ Night. It’s a Girls’
Night where he is right across the hall. Only about thirty seconds away.

I
try not to dwell on this, on his nearness, as we continue our evening. I try…I
don’t really succeed, though.

We
continue to watch (but not really watch—talk through)
Sex and the City
reruns. Mandy gives us more details about Josh’s upcoming visit to Pierce, and
Melanie talks about Doug and Abby. Abby apparently had some sort of panic
attack during a school fire drill yesterday. She must’ve convinced herself that
there really was a fire…that the school was going to burn down…that everyone in
the school was going to die.

Her
thoughts, her fears, once again sound all too familiar.

As
Melanie finishes up the story, talking about picking up a crying Abby in the
school’s guidance office, I can’t help myself. I break in.

“It’s
time, Mel.”

She
nods her head slowly. “I know it’s time. I called her pediatrician when we got
home yesterday. He is supposed to refer me, well, her, to some sort of
therapist early next week.”

I
nod, grabbing Melanie’s hand. She looks so upset. So worried. So—

“I
don’t want to think about this anymore tonight.” Melanie squeezes my hand and
lets go. “I’m so ridiculously emotional right now as it is.” She puts her hand
on her stomach. “Talking about this just makes me a weeping mess.” She smiles,
a teary smile. “I need to not be sad about Abby going to see a doctor. I need
to just be hopeful that we find a doctor who can help her.” She shakes her head
quickly and wipes the back of her hand over her eyes. “Okay,” she says in her
authoritative, older sister voice. “New conversation.”

Mandy
jumps right in…but not really with a new conversation. “Well, I’m hopeful too.
Hopeful that Abby’s doctor is as, I don’t know, doable as Callie’s.”

Melanie
laughs, and I shake my head at Mandy with a smile. “Different new
conversation.”