“I’m not sure about this,” Becca said, beside me.

I turned into the parking space just in front of the entrance to the practice, right beside the spot where her beat-up VW had been the day before and smiled at her. “I told you, it’s fine. There’s no rule against fraternization here, and even if there were, we’re just two employees carpooling to work.”

“Doctor carpool? Sounds unlikely.”

“Then I’m just a handsome doctor helping out a friend whose car broke down.”

Becca snorted. “You just had to throw in the handsome, didn’t you?”

“What’s life without the perks?”

“Vanity being one of them?”

“You said it.” I gave her the finger gun of approval, then unhooked my seatbelt. “Besides, Becca, Mary’s the only one here at this time of the morning, and she won’t care. She hasn’t got a vindictive bone in her body.” I exited the vehicle then circled to her side and opened up her car door before she got the chance.

Becca sighed. “You’re just making it worse,” she said and slipped out of her seat onto the rough macadam. Her body brushed against mine, and I tensed up, fought against every base urge I’d ever damn well possessed.

“No,” I said, “you’re making it worse. You want to maintain the friendly façade, angelface?” I brushed a few strands of her hair behind one ear. “Keep that gorgeous body away from me, and those eyes innocent, or I’ll take you over my desk during lunch hour.”

She bit her lip and gave me a stare that was all challenge and zero innocence.

I stepped back and waited for her to walk past me, then I shut the car door. Finally, we turned and headed for the walkway that led up to the entrance.

“Thanks for last night,” she whispered. “I had one helluva time.”

“That makes two of us.” We’d spent the rest of the evening feasting on pizza, then continuing to explore each other’s bodies. We’d fallen asleep together in bed after settling in to watch The Walking Dead on her iPad. I’d woken early enough to rush home, take a shower, and get dressed for work. The whole experience had been something… Shit, something entirely different.

My relationship with Tabitha had been born out of ill-fated loyalty to a girl I’d met in high school. We’d had our teenage moments, but we’d never had anything close to what Becca and I had shared last night.

A thrill traveled through me, tensing up my muscles. This wasn’t at all what was supposed to happen. Soon, I’d either have to leave or… What was the other choice? Stay behind for this woman I’d met a week ago?

She’s more than that, and you know it.

I pushed that thought aside as I opened the practice’s glass front door for her. She entered ahead of me with a “thank you” then waved to Mary behind the reception desk.

The pregnant woman rose and grinned at us both, her fists on her hips either side of her barrel belly. Mary had the prettiest pregnant-woman glow I’d ever seen. “There you are,” she said. “I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t make it in today. Thought I scared you yesterday by overloading you with tasks.”

“Who, me?” I asked, pressing a hand to my chest.

Both women rolled their eyes, and Becca laughed softly. “Overload me? I can’t wait to get started.”

“Great! Because I’m hankering for an iced tea and a gossip session.” Mary winked, purposefully avoiding my gaze.

“I could use a cup of coffee,” I suggested.

“All in due course, Doctor Dunn,” Mary replied. “You just run along to your office, and we’ll send some through once everything out here is sorted out.”

I turned to Becca and stunned myself all over again. Every time I’d been focused on something or someone else for a short period of time and I turned back to her, her beauty struck me right between the fucking eyes.

“Have a good day,” I said, resisting the urge to reach out for her. Hug her, kiss her, like she was more than just a neighbor and a friend.

“You too,” she replied, with an easy smile. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime.” I gave her another finger gun—apparently, long periods of exposure to Becca transformed me into a fucking cheeseball—and strode past the front desk, the water cooler in the corner with its Styrofoam cup tower, and a few potted plants, then into the hall.

It was blessedly empty. The doors to the other offices were closed.

Crown, who owned the practice, had always planned on expanding the place as the town itself grew. The doors on either side of the hall let into five offices, two of which hadn’t been used before. He’ll be OK without me. They’ll all be OK.

But it didn’t ring true.

I let myself into my office, muttering under my breath like I’d gone deranged in the span of a few steps.

Everything had been fucking fine a week ago. All right, not exactly fine. I’d been resentful that I had to leave the town I’d been born in, the one I’d come back to after my service. Stoneport had all the best and worst memories of my life rolled into one, and I’d figured a fresh start was the way to go after what’d happened.

Pity my fresh start had come in the form of my next-door neighbor. Fuck it, if I’d left a few days earlier, none of this would’ve happened. But I couldn’t bring myself to regret meeting her.

I took a seat behind my desk and fired up my computer. I didn’t have many appointments today. Heck, I probably could’ve come in way later, but Becca had work early, and it’d encouraged me to head in, too.

My thoughts turned to her body—the taste of her pussy, the scent of her skin—as my PC screen clicked on. “Stop,” I growled. “Just fucking stop.”

But it was futile. I was already thick in my jeans, pressing for release. I couldn’t get enough of the woman, and taking her at work was definitely out of the question. I had to maintain some modicum of professionalism until I left this place.

If I left this place.

A knock at my office door brought me back to earth with an unpleasant thud. “Come in,” I called out.

The door creaked open and Crown himself stuck his head around the edge and blinked at me, bleary-eyed. The old man had never been a morning person. “Doctor Dunn,” he said. “I didn’t expect you here this early.”

I shrugged. “Early bird and all that shit.”

“Indeed,” Crown replied. He licked thin lips then sniffed, touching a thin, tapered finger to the end of that sharp, hooked nose. The man had always reminded me of an oversized macaw, down to the wacky ties he wore to work. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

“Sure.” I gestured to the chair in front of my desk.

“In my office.” Crown retreated before I could protest, his footsteps soft on the carpeting in the hall.

What’s this about?

Crown rarely called me into his office for a chat. He was more the solid, silent type—unless there was an actual issue, or he needed me to pick up some of his patients because he had a conference or something like that. Which seemed entirely unlikely now.

I rose and tracked out of my office, then down the hall to his. He waited behind his desk, his hands together under his chin, forming a steeple. “Have a seat, Doctor Dunn.”

I shut the door behind me and did exactly that, settling my legs in my jeans by tugging on the fabric at the knees. “What’s up, doc?” I asked.

The joke whooshed over his head. “We need to talk about your future at the practice and a few changes I’ll be making.”

“All right.”

Crown heaved a sigh, laden with the pressure of running a business. “I’ve been hearing things about you, Mason,” he said.

The first-name thing caught my attention. He’d only called me by it once, and that’d been on the day I’d handed in my resignation letter. “What kind of things?”

“There are rumors around town about you and a young lady, whose name I won’t mention,” Crown said. “Of course, that’s not a problem around here, but it’s given me some pause.”

“In what sense?”

Crown shifted his fingers to the desk and smoothed them over its walnut edges. “I want to know if you’re still planning on leaving Stoneport. If not, I need to follow through with paperwork here, so that you can stay on without a hiccup. Even with Doctor George on the way, I’ve still got space for you, and I’d love to keep you on at the practice.”

“I’m sensing an unspoken but, here, Crown.”

The older man hunched his shoulders up and then down again. “There’s no but, per se. I just need to know as soon as possible. Can you confirm that you’re going to leave as planned?”

I opened my mouth, then shut it again. Could I? Christ, I’d wanted nothing more than to escape this town, and now, with my long-time colleague and friend seated across from me, I couldn’t get the words out.

“You’re still undecided,” Crown said.

I still didn’t answer.

“I urge you to make the decision before the month is out. I need to get everything in order should you choose to stay on. You understand there’s paperwork to attend to, and I have a business to run.”

“I do,” I said, at last. “I need a few more days to think about it.” The more time I spent with Becca, the clearer the decision would become. Leaving would be easy in one sense, staying would be…terrifying? That wasn’t a word in my vocabulary, but the thought of what it would mean still sent my pulse up a tick.

I’d sworn off intimate emotional connections. If I stayed, what did that say about Becca? About me?

I already felt the overwhelming urge to protect her and help her.

“Very well,” Doctor Crown said after a beat. “There’s one other thing I must tell you that might influence your decision.”

“Shoot.”

“I’ve hired Doctor Perry Jackson to work at the practice, starting next month. He’ll be coming to see me today to find out what I’ve decided. I know there’s history between you two, and I wanted to get this into the air before I tell him he’s hired.”

I ground my teeth, balled my hands into fists. “That’s fine,” I said. “Who you hire isn’t any of my business.”

“Mason, we’ve been colleagues for years. I’ve come to think of you as a friend, and I would be loath to jeopardize our working relationship because of something like this.”

“But your decision to hire Perry is final.”

“Yes,” he replied. “Jackson is a reputable doctor, and a good step toward growing the practice into what I’ve always wanted it to be. He’s a specialist.”

“I’m aware of what he is.” I couldn’t keep the edge out of my tone. Christ, I hated that motherfucker with a passion.

“Good,” Crown said. “I’ll expect your decision before the month is out. I want this ironed out as soon as possible. I need to know if working with Doctor Jackson is a deal breaker for you.”

It was clear he expected an answer, but I couldn’t give it to him. This was yet another sign that everything I’d placed in motion had come to a head.

I was meant to leave Stoneport. It wasn’t my hometown anymore. I opened my mouth to tell that to Crown and to let him know that Perry was a total fucking asshat and would only bring the practice down.

A picture of Rebecca rose in my head, standing by her car, frowning at Perry.

“I’ll let you know,” I said. What else could I do at this point?