“Yeah. So, how’d it go in there?”
We walked back to his office together. “Just had to give an update on our progress for funding reasons. It’s a nonprofit research facility, so we rely on our donors, which means they basically run the show. If they don’t like what we’re doing, they can terminate it.”
“Do they like what you’re doing?”
He nodded. “So far. I’ve had some pretty promising results, but I don’t expect my research to become medical practice anytime soon. It takes years and years, and my work is a bit controversial, so…”
“Why is it controversial?”
“Because it involves drugs. It’s not just an electric shock inserted in the body. The apparatus needs to be able to be changed out every so often, so the meds don’t expire and cause more issues. It requires the patient to be responsible, whereas a traditional pacemaker is pretty autonomous and doesn’t require as much intervention.”
Even when I didn’t understand everything Dex said, I was profoundly interested in what he had to say. It was like foreplay for me, listening to him talk about his work, his passion, being so smart and sexy at the same time.
I never knew I had a thing for smart guys, but damn, they were hot.
When we returned to his office, his lunch was already sitting there.
“This shit looks good.” He fell into the chair behind his desk and picked up his sandwich before he took a bite.
I sat in the chair across from him and went over his schedule for the rest of the week, told him about a few follow-up appointments we’d have to squeeze in on Saturday, and informed him about a few other things. “I have an idea, but I’m not sure how you’re going to feel about it.”
“But you know I’ll always listen.” He took another bite and stared at me as he chewed.
“Well, there’s only one of you, so you’re stretched thin. What if you hired another cardiac surgeon to join your practice? There would be two of you, both of you performing surgeries through your charity fund, and it would take the stress off of you for a bit.”
He shook his head as he continued to chew.
“May I ask why not?”
“Because patients are going to request me instead of the other surgeon anyway. And if they really were at my level, they aren’t going to want to work for someone else. They’ll have their own office. The really good ones, in any discipline, always do their own thing. The people who aren’t so good work for someone else. Kind of a rule of thumb.”
I nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”
“It’s fine,” he said before he took another bite. “I enjoy working, so the hours don’t bother me.”
I smiled at his response because he was a totally different person from when I first met him. Couldn’t get him to cooperate at all, and now he was passionate about his craft to the exclusion of all else. “Well, that’s everything.” I rose from the chair. “I’ve got to head back to the medical office to do some billing. Let me know if you need anything, and I’ll run back over here.”
He nodded as he chewed his mouthful.
I turned for the door.
“Baby?”
He never called me that during business hours, so I immediately turned back around and looked at him, loving the way that nickname fit me like a warm blanket.
“Free tonight?”
“If I weren’t, I would make myself free.”
I offered to cook him dinner because I didn’t want to go out when I’d rather have some privacy. As much as I loved talking to Dex across the table while we enjoyed our date, I already knew everything about him, and he knew everything about me.
I just wanted to be with him.
That was a part of our relationship I hadn’t gotten to truly enjoy, our bodies wrapped around each other in bed, our faces close together on the pillow, his naked and hard body at my fingertips. I wanted the intimacy, to feel his heartbeat against my palm, to kiss him whenever I felt like it, to appreciate him as my man.
Yes, I wanted to make love, wanted to feel him inside the moment he kissed me, was ready to jump through all the stages of a relationship and get to the finish line because I already knew how I felt about him.
I wasn’t going to wait out of principle, to make myself look like a good girl, when Dex had turned me into a bad girl a long time ago.
But if he wanted to wait, I would wait.
I would wait forever.
I decided to make something easy, pasta, garlic bread, and a salad. Dex wasn’t a picky eater and chose to work off his diet on the treadmill instead of restricting his food, so it was easy to throw something together.