Chapter 10
THE NEXT SEVENTY-TWO
hours had been sheer hell for Rowen.
After the incident with Jeff, no matter how much he wanted to talk to Heather, he understood she needed space. He hadn’t felt that kind of rage in…well, never. Not even when he found his ex-wife screwing one of their friends.
His feelings for Heather cut deep.
He rubbed the side of his mouth as he pulled into the parking lot of her office. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her since the fight with her ex. He had to work a double shift to cover for one of his buddies who’d been injured in the fire and then he’d spent most of today sleeping. She was at work anyway, so it wasn’t like they’d be able to talk.
But now he had his scheduled appointment for the permanent crown. The clock on his dash blinked 4:45.
Fifteen minutes early.
He slipped from the driver’s seat, his body sore from work and lack of sleep, his heart aching from missing her.
The sun dipped behind a cloud as he made his away across the parking lot. This wasn’t the time or place to tell her how he felt, which she’d probably call him crazy if he did. He would, however, apologize. If there was one thing he knew about Heather, that was she didn’t like excessive use of force, and he’d done just that when he’d gone after Jeff. Truth be told, he wanted to make him hurt the way he’d hurt her.
Which put Rowen on the same level as Jeff.
Sort of.
Rowen’s intentions were good, but he knew without a doubt, he could have easily held his ground without ever tossing a punch, especially the first one.
He held the door open for a mother and her two kids before stepping into the empty reception area. The receptionist greeted him, telling to have a seat and Heather would be with him in a moment.
His heart rattled inside his chest like a kid sitting in the principal’s office waiting to get scolded.
Some woman who he vaguely remembered assisting Heather during his first experience in her office, led him down the hallway and into the same room he’d been in last time. He sat in the chair, clasping his hands together and waited.
And waited.
It felt like he waited an eternity, but the clock on the wall said he’d been sitting there for five minutes when he heard the clicking of shoes enter the room.
“Hello, Rowen,” she said, pulling up her rolling stool. “How’s the tooth feel? Any problems.”
He swallowed his breath, staring into her rich brown eyes. She’d pulled her dark hair back into a ponytail, which she did anytime she worked. A small smile spread across her face.
“None. I want to apologize—”
“Let me get this crown in place and then we can talk, okay?”
He nodded.
“I’d prefer to do this without numbing your mouth. That said, some patients feel a quick, sharp pain when I cement it in.”
“Drilling?” he questioned.
“Only on this.” She held up the crown. “And not much.”
“Let’s get this over with.”
He leaned back, closing his eyes, and opening his mouth wide, letting her violate his mouth yet again.
Only this time, he had no fear.
The procedure took about fifteen minutes, and only once did he feel any real pain. Before he knew it, he was following her up to her office where they could talk.
He felt good about the dentist, but wasn’t feeling so good about what the woman was going to say to him.
Shutting the door behind him, he situated himself on the sofa. She sat on the other end, facing him, one foot tucked under her.
“I want to thank you for being there for me,” she said, fingering her ponytail flowing over her shoulder.
“My pleasure,” he said. “I’m sorry I threw the first punch. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“The thing is, had you not been there…had I not been able to punch in the number to your uncle, who knows what Jeff would have done.”
“He hasn’t tried to contact you since then, has he?”
She shook her head. “But he got himself into some trouble that made the headlines and this time he can’t spin it.”
“What did he do?”
“He hit another woman who did what I should have done the first time.” She arched a brow. “I know you were just trying to protect me, and I understand and appreciated that, but you let him get the better of you and your rage scared me. Not for me, but that you could be so out of control, and I’ve seen that before.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “I’m not Jeff.”
“No. You’re not. But the way you were that day, you could have really hurt him and gotten yourself into trouble.”
He blinked, forcing himself to keep his frustration in check. “I understand that. But I want you to put yourself in my shoes for one minute.”
She opened her mouth, but he moved closer, hushing her with his finger.
“Imagine seeing someone you were falling in love with being threatened by someone who’d already proven he was a violent man? What would you do?”
Her eyes grew wide and her mouth hung open.
“So, you understand my point? I know I shouldn’t have hit him, but when someone you care about is being threatened—”
“Wait. Back it up a second.”
“What do you mean? Back it up?”
“Go back to the part where you said you were falling in love with me.” She’d dropped her hands to her lap and stared at him with those dark eyes filled with specs of gold.
Oh boy. Had he really said that? He hadn’t planned on tossing that out there just yet. “What about it?”
“Do you mean that?”
“I know it sounds crazy, considering we’ve only known each other a short time, but I can’t imagine my life without you in it. So, yeah, I mean it. I’m falling in love with you and there is no stopping it.”
“What’s crazy is we haven’t even gone on a date yet.” The corners of her mouth tipped upward.
“We had the barbeque,” he said, leaning forward.
“Wasn’t a date.”
“Okay, how about the night we grilled steaks. That had to be a date.” His heart beat faster as he cupped her face.
“Okay. I’ll give you that one.”
“Tonight, I’ll take you to my favorite sports bar and try to focus on you while stealing glances at the game.”
“I’d like that.”
His lips brushed hers, setting off an electric current from his mouth to hers, as if she were pulling all the heat from his body and taking it as her own.
“So, we’ve established I’m falling for you. Do you feel the same way?”
“I feel so much for you that the only explanation is that I’m falling in love with you, and I want to explore it and take our time with it. I don’t want to rush, I hope you can understand that.”
“We’ve got all the time in the world.”
He kissed her with everything he had, giving her everything he had. Who knew it would take a dentist to steal his fire.