Forever and a Day (Lucky Harbor) Read online

  “Arf,” Toby said.

  Grace’s uterus contracted, which she couldn’t have explained to save her life. “I can handle the cupcakes,” she heard herself say.

  Josh looked at her with the expression of someone who was drowning but hadn’t expected a rope tossed to him. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” She smiled at Toby. “I’m something of a cupcake expert. Especially chocolate cupcakes.”

  Josh’s phone buzzed from the depths of his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen, mouth grim. “Gotta go.” He kissed the top of Toby’s head. “Be good.” He sent Anna a long warning look, then went on the move, towing Grace along with him, his hand on her wrist, forcing her to practically run to keep up with him. They strode through the house and out the front. Josh shut the door firmly, then pressed her back against it, dipping down a little to look into her face.

  “We have got to stop meeting like this,” she said.

  He didn’t smile. “We still on the same page?”

  “The no-relationship page in spite of the fact that we tend to burn up all the oxygen in a room when we’re in it together?” she asked. “Hell yes, we’re on the same page. Who needs all that crazy chemistry.” She forced a laugh. “Not me…”

  “Grace.” He wasn’t smiling. “If this is too much—”

  “No, of course not. We have a deal. I’ll watch Toby. Another reason to minimize the whole kissing thing, right? Because I don’t kiss my bosses. In fact, my last job didn’t work out because I wouldn’t…” She grimaced. Damn big mouth of hers. “You know.”

  Josh’s expression was suddenly even more serious. “No,” he said quietly. “I don’t know. Tell me.”

  Well hell. How did they get here? She rolled her shoulders and looked at the ocean across the street, uncomfortable with the subject and the memory she didn’t want to tell him about. “It’s no big deal. He wanted…things. I didn’t want to give him things. The end.”

  Josh studied her for a moment. “But first you sued the pants off him, or at least smacked him around a little, kicked him where it hurts, right?”

  She let out a low laugh. “No.” Nothing nearly so satisfactory. She’d simply left Seattle, not willing to fight for the job that she’d realized she’d never be comfortable in. Unnerved about what had happened, scared about her future, she’d gotten in her car and headed out. She’d been thinking only about putting some distance between her and what would have been a bad decision, and then she’d ended up here in Lucky Harbor.

  A complete accident that had turned out to be the best accident of her life. A glorious break from the fast track of her life.

  “Grace,” he said, and waited for her to look at him. “I’m not that guy.”

  “I know.” And she did. “Which is how”—she waved her hand between them and let out a low laugh—“it got a little out of hand just now. My fault, I know, but I just don’t want you to think—”

  “I don’t,” he said. “I wouldn’t. And you weren’t alone in letting it get out of hand.” He shook his head. “Not even close. I acted inappropriately. I’m sorry, Grace.”

  In her world, blame was assigned and cast upon the closest target. In her world, people did not take responsibility for their own mistakes. She met his gaze and gave him the utter, terrifying truth. “It didn’t feel inappropriate,” she admitted. “It felt…”

  “Fun?” His tone was lighter now. Teasing. And she knew they were truly going to be okay. He didn’t want this; he didn’t have time for this. That made two of them. She’d be leaving soon, going back to her “real life.” Soon as she found it. “Anything critical I need to know to ensure Toby’s well-being?”

  “He’s shy and won’t tell you if he’s hungry or thirsty. He eats dinner at five-thirty, and there’s stuff in the freezer with directions included. Be careful not to deviate—he has food allergies. There’s a card on the counter listing all the no-nos. And don’t let him feed Tank any of his Zhu Zhus. Tank is the Antichrist himself, but even the Antichrist can’t digest metal and plastic. That painful lesson cost me six hundred bucks last week.”

  “Ouch,” she said, grateful not to have a pug puppy. Or a Zhu Zhu. “So feed and water the kid, and keep Tank away from the Zhu Zhus. Got it.”

  “And Anna…”

  “I’m thinking she can tell me when she’s hungry and thirsty. And she probably knows not to try to inhale any Zhu Zhus, right?”

  Josh let out a breath. “Yeah. But she’s not your responsibility. Don’t let her drive you off.”

  “She won’t need any help?”

  “No. Trust me on this, no. And I should probably apologize ahead of time for her.”

  “We’ll be fine, Dr. Scott.”

  He let out a half laugh. “Back to that, are we?”

  “Don’t you like it when people call you doctor?”

  “Only if they’re sitting on my exam table.”

  She looked into his eyes for a sign that he was being falsely modest, but he wasn’t. There was nothing but a mild impatience in his gaze.

  And a lingering heat that stoked hers back into flames. “You gotta go.”

  “Yeah.” He leaned in and brushed his mouth over hers, then kissed her with some serious intent before pulling back. “Shit.”

  She wobbled unsteadily and had to laugh at the both of them, shaken by a kiss. “It’s still there.”

  “Yeah. It’s still there.”

  Chapter 9

  There’s no Chocolate’s Anonymous because no one wants to quit.

  Josh went back to the office, and as he worked through his patients, all he had to do was look at a door and he’d think about the full-body press he’d given Grace.

  Twice.

  He wanted her, which was just about as crazy as it got, since she was a woman with nothing more than fun on her mind. But he’d been there, done that, and had had his life changed forever. It was how he’d gotten Toby, which he wouldn’t change for the world.

  But he wasn’t about to do it again.

  So it made no sense to him, his crazy attraction to Grace. She wasn’t his type. Okay, so he didn’t have a type. His requirements were warm and sweet—except in bed, where he preferred decidedly not warm and sweet.

  But Grace wasn’t going to end up in his bed. They’d both said so. They’d agreed to be on the same page in this matter—the no-relationship page. Very grown up.

  Christ, he hated being grown up.

  “Room one,” Dee said as they passed each other in the hallway.

  Mrs. Carson was waiting on him. She’d accidentally mixed up her blood pressure meds with her husband’s Viagra. Unfortunate that she was also hard of hearing. “Mrs. Carson, you need to get the pill dispenser that we talked about to prevent this from happening.”

  “What is that, dear?” she yelled, an arthritic hand curled around her ear. “I’m going to grow taller and harder?” She grinned at her own joke, slapping her knee, completely unconcerned that everyone in the building could also hear her. “Not that I wouldn’t mind being able to take care of myself in that manner, mind you,” she went on. “Paul’s a good man, but he’s not built for much downstairs, if you know what I’m saying.”

  Josh did. He just wished he didn’t.

  “Aw. Your father would have laughed. You’re not much fun.”

  Gee, where had he heard that before?

  Josh’s next patient was Kenny Liotta, a truck driver who came in every six weeks without fail with a new STD. “You ever think about getting smart?” Josh asked.

  Kenny grinned. “Your dad used to ask me the same thing. Problem is, my dick’s in charge. And my dick’s not the one with the IQ.”

  Josh shook his head and wrote a script. “Your dick needs to read Dicks for Dummies, or it’s going to fall off before your next birthday.”

  Kenny laughed. “But what a way to go, right?”

  “No,” Josh said. “It’s not a good way to go. Go with a hot tub full of blondes in some seedy hotel, from a heart at