"So you're not okay—"
"What I mean is, 'okay' can't quite possibly describe what I'm feeling now."
A moment passes. Two. Three. His hand, which had been reaching for my face, slowly lowers. And when he looks at me, it’s no longer as my doctor, but as the man who...well,you know.
It’sthatman who’s gazing at me with exasperation in his dark eyes, and I try but fail at biting back a laugh.
"That was not funny, Katherine."
I'm about to apologize when I realize what he's just called me, andoh my gosh—
"You...”
My heart has disintegrated in pieces, all jumbled up because of one thing, and all I can do is whisper—
“Y-You called me Katherine.”
His thumb shifts against my waist. Just slightly. Like the name and the touch are connected, and he didn't plan either one.
"Should I not?"
"No, of course not—"Wait. Did that come out correctly? "I mean, you totally should!"
"Then there's no problem, is there?"
Well...
He raises a brow, and honestly, I...I just love it when he does that. It makes him look a thousand times cooler and smarter, and the dark chocolate of his eyes catches that particular gleam he gets when he's being patient with me, which is always, and at the same time it also makes this a thousand times harder to believe.
I know I've been in love with him for years, and of course I've always dreamt and hoped that he'd love me back, but now that it's happening...
"What is it?"
His hand is still around my waist, and it's the first time he's touched me like this, despite...
"What are you thinking?"
He must've noticed my lips twitching, and just the thought of answering him has a helpless smile forming over my lips.
"I know you've noticed how I tend to become...clumsy around you."
"It has crossed my mind to refer you to a specialist."
Oh, thedriesthumor from thedriestman, but more than that—
“But right now...”
My heart starts to race as I slowly look down, and it races even faster as I feel him follow my gaze.
In the past, Dr. Collington has always found ways to keep me from stumbling into him without touching me. Most times, hewould do so by stepping deftly to the side and then catch the back of my shirt like I was a fish caught on a hook as he helped me regain my balance. Whatever he did, he would always be swift and efficient; it would be all over in a flash, andneverever did any part of our bodies come into contact...
Until now.
Until...
“Ah.”
And of course, he’s figured it out, andgulp.