Saved By The Doctor (BWWM Romance) Page 6

  Allan's eyes went wide at that. “Well, for God's sake, Jackie. Let me take you out.”

  Jackie sucked in a deep breath, but had to look back at her daughter before she could respond. “Okay,” she whispered.

  Chapter Eight

  Jackie sucked in a deep breath and took a good long look at her assortment of lipsticks. It was strange dressing up for a first date with a man who had already seen her in her Sunday attire. After going through her closet for almost an hour, she settled on a bohemian purple and black dress with medium-height strappy sandals and a cute little artsy head band. But even that was a choice mostly influenced by Victoria anyway. There had to have been at least 50 colors of lipstick all yelling at her to pick them, but every time she reached for one, that feeling that she was making a profoundly misguided decision sunk in and she found herself right back at the drawing board. It wasn't too long until her choice seemed to multiply along with her expanding confusion and she found herself yanking open her bathroom door and yelling the words, “Victoria, come quick!” over the sound of her heart pounding.

  It wasn't too long before she heard the subdued sound of her best friend slowly making her way to her room. “Yes?” she let out an exasperated sigh, swinging her loose ponytail to the other side of her head.

  “What lip color should I wear?” Jackie demanded, dragging her through her room to the bathroom she shared with her daughter.

  Victoria stared wide-eyed at Jackie. “I don't understand why this is even a question,” she muttered.

  Jackie nodded excitedly, turning back to her collection. “I know the answer is supposed to be obvious, I just can't figure it out...” even as she was saying it, she could feel herself growing even more frustrated with her own nerves. “Will you just tell me what to wear?” she demanded, slamming her fists against her counter.

  Victoria wrapped her arms around Jackie's collarbones, resting her chin on her shoulder. “Honey, it doesn't matter what's on your lips. Chances are he's gonna want to take it off anyway,” she replied, staring right at her in the mirror.

  Jackie shrugged her hands off. “I'm serious!” she cried. “What the hell am I even doing?” she hissed.

  But Victoria just put her arms around her again. “You're starting your life again,” she murmured in the most caring way possible.

  Jackie shook her head. “I don't know. I just... I feel like a 17-year-old,” she muttered. “I feel foolish.”

  “Why? Because you're putting yourself out there?” Victoria asked in that demanding voice of hers.

  Jackie couldn't find it in herself to respond.

  “That's not foolish. That's brave.”

  But before Jackie could say anything else about how it was a terrible idea and that she should be spending her day off with Laila, there was a buzzing sound, loud, clear and demanding. Jackie leapt into action, going straight for her intercom system.

  He came up within the next minute or so, signified by his knocking on her door. She pursed her lips and yanked it open, her heart stopping at the sight of Allan standing at her door step, his perfect body draped in a maroon sweater and black pants. Jackie instinctively looked herself up and down, suddenly feeling incredibly mismatched in her stupid bohemian dress. “Oh hi. Fancy seeing you here,” she joked as she gestured for him to come in.

  He cocked his head to the side. “I'm sorry, is this a bad time?” he joked.

  Jackie laughed, and, suddenly, everything was at ease again. “It's always a bad time,” she retorted.

  “Oh hello,” Victoria said as she came around the corner, tugging Laila with her.

  The doctor waved at Victoria, an amiable smile on his face, but the way his eyes widened as he knelt down to greet Laila made Jackie want to take him to bed right then and there. “There's my little wonder woman!” he exclaimed as Laila ran into his arms.

  Jackie found herself giggling almost uncontrollably with a giddiness she couldn't hope to control. “I'll go get my bag,” she replied as she turned and scurried back to her room.

  “So, you got stuck with babysitting duty tonight?” Jackie heard Allan ask Victoria just as she left.

  Jackie had already decided to forgo the lipstick altogether by the time she heard Victoria respond with, “Babysitting? Psh. This is a girl's night in! Right, Laila?”

  Jackie ran out as soon as she could with her favorite black clutch. “All right, I'm ready!” she yelled.

  Victoria gave her the biggest smile she could muster, and her best, “don't worry, everything is going to be fine,” face. “Okay have fun!” she said.

  “Bye, beauty,” Chase replied as they walked out, shutting the door behind him.

  Once out of the claustrophobic environment of her too-small apartment, Jackie felt like she could breathe again. “Okay, you've got to stop doing that,” she muttered as they both made their way down the stairs.

  “What?” he asked, playing the innocent perfectly.

  Jackie shook her head, trying to take in a deep breath from taking the stairs without making it look like she was out of breath. “You know what...” she replied.

  He yanked the door open and turned to give her one of those million dollar looks. “I still don't know what you're talking about.”

  “You know, the best way to a girl's heart is her daughter?” she replied in a dry voice as she took her stance on the sidewalk and watched him pace back and forth.

  “I'm not trying to get to anyone's heart,” he replied in a preoccupied voice.

  “What are you doing?” she asked when she could no longer stand his pacing.

  He stopped, giving her a wide-eyed look. “I'm trying to get a cab.”

  Jackie burst into laughter, her eyes wide as she realized just in that moment how cute and confused he looked.

  “What?” he snapped.

  “You can't get a cab on this side of town.”

  He just stood there, looking back and forth like a cute little Oxford boy. It only made Jackie laugh harder. As he began to pout, Jackie crossed the sidewalk towards him and pulled his hand down, intertwining it with hers. He seemed to calm down right then. “Where do you think we are, Manhattan?” she teased.

  Allan just looked down at her with that amazing softness in his eyes. He raised his hand to her lips and planted a soft kiss on it. “I don't usually leave Manhattan.”

  Jackie raised an eyebrow. “Unless you're courting a 5-year-old,” she teased.

  “Oh no. Don't make me sound like a creep,” he replied.

  “No one can make you sound anything less than amazing,” she murmured.

  He winked at her. “Are you flirting with me?” he demanded in a playful voice.

  “I wouldn't dare,” Jackie replied.

  At that, he took his hand out of hers and slipped it onto that space between her neck and her shoulder. “I've never wanted anything more than I want you... right now.”

  Jackie's heart was fluttering so hard, it felt as if her head might fall right off of her neck. Her jaw hung ever so slightly open and she felt as if she needed three thousand gallons of water, four hundred oxygen tanks and a whole night of nothing but Allan. “W-well...” she tried to ignore the chill shooting up her spine long enough to think of something even half as mouthwatering as what he had just filled her head with, but just as words were beginning to form themselves in her mind, he pulled, drawing her so close to him that their chests were touching and she fancied she could feel his heart beating in time with hers. Her toes were tingling with a desire so strong she thought she might cry and laugh at the same time.

  Then he kissed her and it was the biggest tension relief she could ever have imagined. Their lips moved together almost perfectly, his tongue slipping just on the inside of her mouth. Her lips split even wider as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself still closer to him. She could feel his hands rubbing her waist, just on the outside of her bohemian dress and she wanted nothing more than to take it off right then and there.

  He pulled a
way for air.

  Jackie took two jagged steps away from him, struggling to find her thoughts again. “I-I thought that's what you go through the whole date for. Now we have nothing to look forward to.”

  Allan let out a dark chuckle then grabbed her waist, pulling her towards him yet again. His hand lingered just above her butt as he brushed her lips with his once again. “Nothing to look forward to? That's complete nonsense,” he replied.

  Jackie sucked in a deep breath, turning away from him so that she could catch her bearings again. “How about we walk to the Bazaar. It'll give us some air.”

  He shrugged. “Whatever you say, babe,” he replied, as he took her hand and led her down the street.

  Chapter Nine

  *** 3 Months Later ***

  Jackie stood on her roof, her heart at a steady flutter and her eyes narrowed in concentration. She was anxious, excited and incredibly calm all at the same time as the only thing that separated her from Allan's shirtless body was the canvas she attempted to mirror him on. Every stroke was made without thought and yet with every thought. She couldn't help herself; every movement of her hand expressed all the feeling in her heart. “You look so concentrated all the time,” he murmured in that alluring voice of his. Jackie had the wild desire to jump across that canvas and take him right there. Laila was at school and she didn't have work for hours and it was one of Allan's rare days off.

  “How do you expect me to concentrate?” she replied, trying to hide the adoration in her voice.

  He just let out one of those irresistible laughs and motioned towards her. “Why don't you come here?”

  Jackie made her way towards him, because he most definitely did not have to tell her twice. He wrapped his arms around her waist as soon as she was within reach. “I'm here,” she replied.

  He reached up, taking a stray tuft of hair and tucking it into her bun. “Are you?”

  “This is gonna be a long afternoon if you keep doubting me like this,” she replied, planting a kiss on his forehead.

  “I can't help myself. I'll keep doubting until I know you and have you and love you, every bit of you,” he replied.

  Jackie could think of nothing else to do, but to lean down and kiss him. He received her with the utmost graciousness, wrapping his arms even tighter around her and dragging her down towards him. She stopped thinking for the first time in a long time and let herself go. Before she knew it, she had mounted him and could feel his bulge hard against her crotch. She wanted nothing more than to reach into his under-armor sweat pants and whip it out, but just as that thought crossed her mind, she stopped herself. There was something incredibly dangerous about her doing anything she couldn't think extensively about first. “You are a hopeless romantic, my friend.”

  “Since when is romance hopeless?” he whispered, his warm breath brushing over her neck.

  “Affairs of the heart are always hopeless.” She was barely able to get the words out of her mouth before he kissed her again. She let a low moan slip between her lips as his hands found their way into her pants. He slipped his finger into her wet organ, sliding it in and out with growing intensity until she couldn't help but want more.

  He flipped her on her back, mounting her and pressing his weight against her as he showered her neck and chest with kisses. “That feels so good,” she breathed as she pushed his hands away from the buttons of her jeans.

  He let out a breathless laugh at this. “So just let it happen,” he whispered.

  Jackie giggled to buy herself some time. “I would,” she muttered in between kisses, “But I have a masterpiece to finish,” she replied as she slipped from under him and scurried back to her place behind the canvas before he could so much as utter a low cry in protest.

  “One thing's for sure, Jackie Brown,” he started as he resumed the pose the two of them had decided on after much planning, talking and kissing, “You definitely keep me on my toes.”

  “Well, Allan Chase,” she replied as she wet her paint brush yet again. “That is only my single most important goal in life.”

  He released a short chuckle before resuming his pose. But Jackie was only painting for a short amount of time before the position of the sun in the sky caught her attention. She could tell, just from how low it was hanging, that it was more than likely time for her to pick up her daughter. “Do you know what time it is?” she asked, ducking around the side of the painting

  He perked up at this. “Time for me to see the painting?” he asked in a hopeful voice.

  Jackie smirked. “Please, it'll take hours and hours more of work before this is anywhere near ready for your eyes,” she replied. He pouted playfully. “Oh, don't look so disappointed,” Jackie scolded.

  “I can't help how I feel!” he joked.

  “But seriously, I need to know what time it is. I have to pick up Laila,” she replied through her giggles.

  “Is the little lady still not old enough to walk home on her own?” he teased as he glanced at his watch. “It's almost 3,” he replied.

  Jackie laughed. “I assure you, she'll never be old enough to survive Brooklyn on her own,” Jackie replied as she started to pack her things up. “I'm still not old enough to survive Brooklyn alone.”

  “You seemed to be doing just fine,” Allan replied with a laugh.

  Jackie shrugged. “Well, the fact of the matter is that Laila is not old enough to even pretend yet,” she replied. “The cigarette-smoker toughness is not a look available to her at this age.”

  Allan raised an eyebrow. “You smoke?” he asked.

  Jackie rolled her eyes. “I used to. I had to quit when I got pregnant with Laila... obviously.” But when Jackie looked at him again, the immense confusion on his face made her want to slap him. “I don't know why you thought that I could hide smoking from you in three months of dating,” she replied.

  His chest rose as he sucked in a deep breath. “Are you kidding? You're amazing at hiding things from me,” he replied. “Most of the stuff I find out about, I do so of my own accord.”

  Jackie felt the heat rising to her face as she continued to pack her things up, finding herself avoiding him as much as possible. The last thing she wanted was to be confronted with the dark secrets she couldn't even repeat to herself. “Someone who says things like 'of my own accord' would be scared shitless by the stuff that's in my past,” she replied, trying to ignore the breathtaking sight of him standing up and slipping his shirt back on.

  He scoffed. “When will you stop underestimating me?” he murmured.

  Jackie could feel the frustration building up in the pit of her stomach. She felt like a claustrophobic sitting in a tiny, glass elevator car placed in the center of a crowded room. “When you stop trying to force me to be something I'm not!” She didn't know where those words came from, but as soon as they were out in the open, she couldn't help but to realize that they were what she had been thinking all along.

  “I don't want you to be anything but yourself!” he roared back.

  Jackie flinched. She didn't know whether to feel scandalized that he had just yelled at her like that, or to shove that canvas aside and mount him right then and there. Unfortunately, she went with her first instinct. “Why are you yelling at me?” she whispered, as she took the canvas off of its stand and leaned it against the edge of the roof and turned to face him, crossing her arms in front of her.

  He shook his head as he crossed the roof towards her. She could just tell from the shadow in his eye that he was remorseful. “I don't know. I'm sorry. It's just that even though I haven't known you for a while, I think about you almost every minute of every day. Every time I come across something funny on TV, I want to tell Laila about it. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wonder what you're up to or how I could make you happy. But you're vicious and I'm terrified that I'm going to lose you... and I can't. I just can't lose you.” He was less than a foot away from her, but the way that he looked at her made her think that the common rules of physics could d
o nothing to separate the two of them. They had never been closer. “I love you, Jackie, and I'm not afraid to admit that it terrifies me because I don't know how you feel about me. I could never be sure, because you're always so closed off.”

  Jackie was struggling to remember to keep breathing. She could think of nothing to say, so she just kissed him. He grabbed him, but that time, it was different, like he was melting into her, like he was giving himself to her, and that was the sexiest thing of all.

  Chapter Ten

  *** Two Weeks Later ***

  The shrill sound of the phone ringing ripped Jackie out of her deep slumber. Her eyes flashed open and the first thing she thought was, “Allan loves me,” but before she could think anything else, the sound of the phone ringing again came to her ear. She groaned, rolling over in her bed until she found it. She picked it up, answered it, and pressed it against her ear. “Hello?”