Chapter 1
Claire's POV
"I have a problem” Connor said “I have not been able to reach climax for five years," he dropped to me.
I almost stabbed myself in the hand with my pen in shock. "I am sorry, what did you just say," I asked him.
Connor sat across from my desk in the leather chair and he put one ankle over his knee while he drummed his fingers on the glass top of the table. The Los Angeles skyline looked pretty through the tall office windows behind him, with the sun setting and turning the sky all gold and purple. But Connor still looked better than the whole view. He always looked annoyingly handsome no matter what.
His mouth turned into that smirk he always uses. "You heard me just fine," he said.
"I heard the words you said," I told him as I put my pen down on the desk. "I just do not understand why you walked into my office at six thirty in the evening to tell me about something like that as if we are talking about a normal patient chart."
His grin got even bigger and it looked lazy and wicked like always. "Because you care about me and you are my best friend," he said.
"I absolutely do not care in that way Connor," I said back to him.
"You looked concerned for a second there," he told me.
"I looked medically alarmed because that is my job you idiot," I said.
Connor put his hand on his chest like he felt really sad. "And here I thought we were finally having a good vulnerable friendship moment together."
"Connor I am being serious right now," I said as I tossed my pen onto the desk. "I am an internal medicine doctor and I am not your sex therapist and I am definitely not whatever this conversation is turning into."
"Wow," he said while he shook his head. "Healthcare in America really is collapsing if this is how it goes."
I just stared at him and he stared right back at me with that completely innocent look on his face. God he was so exhausting to deal with sometimes. The worst part was that he knew exactly how funny he was being and he loved it.
"We grew up sharing one bathroom with fourteen other foster kids," I reminded him. "Nothing about you shocks me anymore but this is just too much."
Connor laughed out loud, it was deep and warm and it did funny things to my stomach. "You used to kick the bathroom door open while I was showering because you thought I stole your Pop-Tarts," he said.
"You did steal my Pop-Tarts though," I told him.
"You cannot prove that," he argued back.
"You confessed to it genius," I said.
"False confession under emotional distress," he said. "You were holding a hairbrush like a weapon Claire and I feared for my life because you were terrifying."
I snorted before I could even stop myself from doing it.
Connor pointed at me right away and his eyes were sparkling. "There it is," he said.
"What are you talking about," I asked.
"That laugh right there," he said as he leaned forward. "You missed me, didn't you?"
"Oh my God," I said while I shoved my tablet into my bag. "You are unbelievably obsessed with yourself."
"Not true at all," he said and his eyes moved slowly over my face in that warm way. "I am actually pretty obsessed with you."
My hands paused for half a second and I froze right there. Connor always did this kind of thing where he would joke and tease and push until the air in the room felt different and I remembered that he was not just the boy I grew up with anymore. He was dangerous now in a whole new way.
He was dangerously attractive and he was dangerous to my peace of mind and he was dangerous to every sensible decision I had made in the last three years.
I cleared my throat to try and get myself together. "You are flirting with me now because you are emotionally unstable or something," I asked him.
"I am flirting because you are hot as hell," he said.
"Connor," I said in a warning voice.
"What," he asked while he spread his hands like he was so innocent. "I am being honest and personal growth would make therapy proud of me."
"You have never even been to therapy," I told him.
"I watched three TikToks from a licensed psychologist so it is basically the same thing," he said.
I rolled my eyes even as I felt heat creeping up my neck. "Go flirt with one of the nurses instead because half the hospital already wants to climb you like a tree," I said.
"Yeah but they do not yell at me the right way," he said while he tilted his head and gave me that wicked look. "You do it with real emotion and passion and commitment and I kind of like seeing all that from you."
"You need actual professional help," I told him.
"Are you offering sessions," he asked and his grin turned really sinful. "Because I feel like my healing journey would improve a lot if you sat on my—"
"Connor," I yelled at him.
He burst out laughing hard while I glared at him as hard as I could. "That is sexual harassment in the workplace," I informed him.
"But you are smiling so it is a good thing," he said.
"I am smiling because prison orange would look terrible on you," I said back.
"I would make it look fashionable anyway," he told me.
Unfortunately he probably would make it work somehow.
I zipped my bag harder than I needed to and I stood up. "I am leaving now because Tyler is waiting for me," I said.
The second those words came out of my mouth, the whole mood in the room changed really fast.
Connor leaned back slowly and the smirk started to fade from his face. "Right Tyler," he said.
The way he said my fiancé's name made it sound really bad like spoiled milk.
I sighed. "Do not start this again," I told him.
"Well I did not say anything," he said.
"You made that face though," I pointed out.
"I have expressive eyebrows and that is not a crime," he said.
"It should be with the way you use them like weapons," I told him.
His jaw flexed once before he looked at me again. "Are you really excited for tomorrow?," he asked.
"My engagement party?," I said with a frown. "Why would I not be excited about it?"
He shrugged his shoulders but his eyes stayed locked on me. "I do not know but usually when people are happy they do not look like they are about to get audited every time anyone brings up wedding stuff," he said.
I let out a laugh because I could not believe what I was hearing. "You are unbelievable Connor," I said as I grabbed my coat from the chair. "I am not doing this with you again," I said.
"Because you already know exactly what I am going to say," he replied.
"That Tyler is secretly evil," I shot back at him. "Yeah Connor I have heard that speech plenty of times."
Connor stood up then with all six foot three of him unfolding and suddenly my office felt a whole lot smaller than it was before.
"He does not deserve you," he said.
I hated how fast my heartbeat changed whenever Connor got serious like this.
Tyler never made me feel anything close to this. Tyler was safe and predictable and he was the kind of man my father approved of right away within five minutes.
Connor was chaos wrapped up in broad shoulders and expensive cologne.
"You do not get to do this every single time his name comes up," I said quietly.
"Do what," he asked.
"Act like I am making some horrible mistake with my life," I told him.
His eyes held mine tight. "I think you are making a mistake," he said.
The silence stretched out between us for a bit.
I crossed my arms over my chest tightly. "You know what your problem is?" I asked him. "You think that just because you feel something really strongly it automatically makes you right about everything," I said.
His eyes dropped to my mouth for a second before they came back up to mine. "And you think that if you pretend not to feel things they will just disappear on their own," he said.
He was right and it made me mad because he knew me so well.
I stepped closer to him before I could stop myself and I jabbed my finger into his chest. "I AM HAPPY WITH TYLER," I said.
Connor looked down at my finger on his shirt and then he slowly looked back up at my face with dark eyes. "You sound a little uncertain when you say that," he told me.
I pulled my hand back fast. "I am not uncertain," I said.
I tried to move around him to leave but he caught my wrist gently. His thumb brushed over my pulse once and my whole body lit up like he had struck a match right under my skin.
Of course he noticed because Connor noticed everything about me.
His eyes got a little darker. "Tell me something honestly," he said.
But before he could say further, the office door slammed open hard enough to rattle the glass walls.
A man I did not recognize stumbled inside breathing hard.
"Dr. Connor," the man said.
Connor let go of my wrist right away and turned around.
The man looked pale and shaken. "Damien is here," he said.
The whole room went completely still and every bit of humor disappeared from Connor's face.
My stomach dropped when I saw the serious expression on him now.
