“Well, since you already put my real name on that form, I guess we’ll go with that.” I stepped out of my pants and folded them neatly before reaching for the blue paper gown. I heard him murmur an expletive under his breath. He apparently hadn’t thought of that before he filled out the form. “Besides, if we use something else, I’m probably just going to mess everything up. And thanks, by the way.”
“For what?”
“For at least coming up with a halfway decent story about me so that I don’t look like the whore you and I both know I really am.”
He turned around then and took two long strides toward me until his body was so close to mine that I could feel the heat rolling off him in waves. He put his finger under my chin and lifted it so that I looked him in the eye. “I’d hardly call a virgin a whore.”
I didn’t have a chance to respond because there was a light knock on the door. He stepped away from me before calling for whoever was on the other side to come in.
“Noah, my boy!” A jovial man wearing a white lab coat came into the room and hugged Noah. “It’s so good to see you. How have you been?”
“I’m surviving,” Noah said with a genuine smile on his face as he hugged him back.
The doctor turned to me then with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but there was no file, so I’m afraid I don’t know your name.”
“Delaine. Delaine Talbot,” I told him, and then suddenly became very fascinated by the plain white tiles on the floor beneath my feet.
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Miss Talbot.” He shook my hand and then motioned for me to sit on the exam table as he sat on the little rolling stool in front of me. “Now, what can we do for you today?”
“Delaine just needs a routine exam, and she’d like to go over her birth control options,” Noah answered for me.
“I see. Well, the form of contraception you’re least likely to forget to take is the shot. Is that what you’d like to try?” he asked me with a polite smile.
“Um …” I’d read some material on it during my last visit to my own doctor, but this was sort of last-minute, so I wasn’t really sure.
“Each shot lasts for three months, and one of the perks for most of my patients is that it normally makes your cycle lighter or stops it completely. It’s been a pretty popular form of contraception over the last few years.”
“Yeah, okay. That sounds good,” I answered with a shy nod.
“Well then, let’s get started, shall we?” His smile was genuine and comforting.
I lay back on the table and Noah came and stood by my head before I put my feet in the stirrups. It wasn’t like I’d never had a Pap smear before, but having all your goodies sprawled out like that in front of a perfect stranger was always unnerving. I mean, crotch docs saw a lot of snatch, so you had to wonder if yours looked any different from the others or if it had some kind of deformity of which you weren’t aware. Before I could even complete all my inner ramblings, he was backing away and patting my leg to tell me he was done.
“There will be some cramping over the next few days. You can take some ibuprofen for the pain. And you might experience a little bit of bleeding, given your particular circumstance, but all in all, you should be fine.” He stripped his gloves off and disposed of them. “Make sure you come in if you experience anything irregular.”
His assistant came up beside me and wiped my arm down with alcohol before she gave me a shot.
“I’ll just leave you to get dressed now and then you’re free to go,” he said as he turned for the door. “Noah, it was great to see you again.”
“You too, Everett, and thanks,” he said before turning back to me. “I’m just going to go settle up on the bill and I’ll meet you outside.”
He followed the doctor and his assistant out and I jumped up, instantly regretting the fast movement because I was already feeling sore. I dressed as quickly as I could, wanting to get the hell out of there, and when I opened the door Noah was waiting for me.
“You okay?” he asked, probably because I had an arm over my abdomen.
“I’m cramping a little, but if I can just go home and lie down, I think I’ll be all right.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod, and then pulled out his cell phone and pushed a button. “Good morning to you too, Polly,” he said into the phone. “I need you to wrap up whatever you’re doing at the house. I’m on my way there and my guest and I will need some privacy. … Yes, Polly, it’s her.” He rolled his eyes, but held my elbow and guided me out of the building and into the waiting limo. “She’s not up for visitors right now. Maybe in a couple of days. Call Mason and tell him that I’ll be back in the office within the hour. Thank you, Polly.”
With that, he ended the call and sat next to me, draping his arm around my shoulders. “Polly takes care of all my personal business, including the household. She means well, but she can be a bit much to handle sometimes,” he explained. “It’ll be harder to fool her with our little secret than anyone else, so keep on your toes around her. She’s a sneaky little shit.”
I nodded my understanding, and he cupped his hand to the side of my head and nudged me to lie over on his chest. It was probably too intimate a thing for him to do since we’d just met each other the night before, but considering the intimacy we had already shared, I supposed it was okay.
I listened to the thrum of his heartbeat as we rode along in silence. And for the first time I actually paid attention to the way he smelled. I recognized the scent of his body soap and deodorant from this morning, but I also caught another scent that was more distinctive and so very … him.
His fingers stroked my hair, and I closed my eyes, just enjoying the silence and his tender caresses. The action was so soothing that had I not been in a good deal of discomfort, I probably would’ve fallen asleep.
All too soon we were home. Noah stepped from the car first and held his hand out to me, dismissing Samuel’s attempt to do his job. I slouched over because I was really starting to cramp a bit more by then.
“Shit, are you okay?” Noah’s voice was frantic.
“I’m fine. Just a bad cramp,” I said, trying to keep as much strain as possible out of my voice. I didn’t want him to think I was a big baby who couldn’t take a little bit of pain.