He stirs at my back, and I become aware of a broom handle poking my right butt cheek.
“Oh my God.” I laugh. “You are insatiable.”
“I can’t help it,” he groans. “You’re here. You’re naked. You’re in my bed. What do you expect?” His lips nip the back of my neck and my shoulder. “Good morning.”
“It is,” I agree. “But I’m a little … sore? May I ask if we can take some recovery time?” I roll onto my back to look up at him.
He’s propped up, resting his head on his fist. “Of course.” He sighs with a smile that makes my heart flutter. His fingers find the necklace and he fiddles with it, working the charm down from where’s it’s fallen off the back of my shoulder. He settles it between my breasts.
“So what are you doing after residency, Dr. Butler?”
“Well, I’d like to work over on Hilton Head in the hospital for a while, or maybe Savannah. And then …”
“And then?”
“And then, I was thinking I might want to have my own practice. Here. On the island. In Butler Cove.”
I widen my eyes. “That would be … wow. That would be really …” Words float in and out of my brain. Permanent, amazing, scary, amazing. Amazing won out. “Amazing.”
He watches me through my hesitation.
If he stays here, then what if I get another job up the career ladder in another resort town somewhere? I mean unless I open my own hotel sooner rather than later. But there are constraints to that. Experience. Money. Those are just the two big ones. Would I build something or convert something? If he has a practice here, he will be stuck here forever. Permanently.
“But like I said, I might want to.” He looks down into my eyes. “It all depends on if it’s the right thing at the time. What about you? You excited about this new job?”
I nod. “I am. It’s what I want.”
“Good,” he says and kisses my nose. “So did you hear Keri Ann and Jack are building a place out on Daufuskie?”
“Yeah.” I grin. “With his money and her style, can you imagine how gorgeous it’s going to be? Right on the water too.”
“He’s a good guy,” Joey admits. “All I want is for her to be happy. I wanted to save this house for her, but it looks like she saved it for me.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you know the town’s been trying to find a way to take it. Make it a museum or whatever. They even tried to take it through a tax foreclosure by raising the rates so high we couldn’t pay them. At least not while I’m in school anyway. Jack bought the deed. To keep it safe from the Town Council. For now, he owns most of the house.” Joey swallows. “It pissed me off, of course.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I can imagine.”
“But he was a gentleman about it, made it a business investment. So I was thinking, when the time comes, I could either have the practice here. Or …” He lets out a long slow breath.
“Or what?”
“If you were serious about running your own hotel one day. Maybe we could turn this into an inn. And you could have your own place.”
My heart stops and then starts.
“I mean only if that’s what you still wanted. It’s small. I get it. But maybe after a bit you could expand. Or—” He expels another heavy breath. “Well, shit. This was too much. I’m sorry. Don’t freak out. It’s just a thought. A crazy wild, random thought. And it would be years. Four years at least, I’m thinking.”
I lay my finger across Joey’s lips to silence him. My brain is flying through possibilities for this crazy old house that I love so much. It would be amazing. But he’s right. It’s years away at least. I need more experience. He needs to work and pay off student loans. So would I. And … wait. It would be his? And I’d run it? That’s not having my own place. But if we were together? I think he’s saying it would be ours.
Wow, yeah. This is huge.
I’m too afraid to ask him exactly what he means, what I hope he means, in case I’ve misunderstood.
“I guess after all that,” he says. “What I told Bethany Winters is kind of ridiculous to hold back.”
I swallow.
“Now bear in mind, you were eleven and I was fourteen, so this is going to sound beyond crazy.”
“I’m listening.”
“I told her, and this is not word for word, because I mean, who remembers shit like that?”
“For God’s sake, Joseph.” I roll my eyes good-naturedly. “It better be important after all this.”
“You were the one who made such a big deal out of it. You told me that was the reason I irritated you growing up, because I ‘fought your battles.’” He makes an air quote with one hand.
“Tell me already,” I squeal.
“Fine.” He rolls on top of me, settling between my legs and pinning me down with his weight. “I told her that she was messing with the girl I would grow up and marry one day.”