He grunted and laughed.
I was getting pretty fond of his grunts. They were more like a growl when I frustrated him, but he always looked so good doing it. I tried to get him worked up about something at least every other day. It kept things interesting, that’s for sure.
“Anymore?” he fished.
“Yeah, I know you’re naked.”
The sound of his warm laughter soothed my fractured ego.
“How’s that?”
“I can hear the water over the phone. You always take your clothes off in your bedroom by the hamper before a shower and walk in the bathroom, dick swinging.”
“Oh, my dick isn’t swinging right now. It’s more like … well, it’s hard.”
“See distractions everywhere. Hurry up,” I said and then hung up. I’d just chipped my tooth. Picturing him naked and erect getting into the shower would surely give me a hook through my finger.
It was a safety issue.
“Well, I can’t tell if you cracked it above the gumline without an X-ray, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you did, Hannah. It’s split right up the side.”
My lips seemed so huge with the gap left from the missing splinter of my right front tooth. Up until that night, it had always been my loyal and trusty biting tooth. It really let me down.
“I know. It was dumb, but I do it without even thinking.” Kind of.
“Move over here and let me see it in this light?” He walked to where I had my desk lamp and he twisted it up to shine in my mouth. “Open up.”
Oh, I’d open up.
My mind went in one direction and my body went where it always did when he told it what to do. Yielding to my new hussy-like tendencies, I shoved all of my smart-ass quips aside and opened up. I was already in a little trouble. Anymore and I’d be asking for it.
“Ahhh,” I sang as he took a closer look in the new light.
He pushed a little on my gum and said, “I think we better go in and fix that, Hannah. Before it does get sore. I don’t see any pulp though. I hope it’s just superficial.”
I tried to answer, but he was still inspecting me and his finger was still in my mouth, which I usually really liked.
“Ha-kai,” I agreed. “Ah go.”
He drove us to his office and it was weird being there with the lights off, at night. I waited in the almost dark room, while he walked to the other side where the front doors were, to turn on the overhead lights.
“Let’s get a quick X-ray,” he advised as he held out his hand for me to follow him down the hall and into the room where they did them. I put the vest on and he handed me the things to bite as he got the machine all set up.
“I’d rather be getting a tenderloin with you,” I admitted with my teeth clenched.
Even though Vaughn wasn’t exactly thrilled with me, he flashed me a forgiving smile as he prepared the X-ray thing.
“I’d rather be picking out pie, but I think I have some ice cream at home.” He kissed my forehead, and I knew it wasn’t the end of the world. I was dumb, but he rolled with it pretty well.
I always enjoyed watching him work on his house, but this was different. He was so focused. So in his element.
After we looked at the X-ray and saw I hadn’t done any damage above my gumline, he was satisfied with giving me a cap made of this composite stuff. I didn’t even have to get numbed or anything.
I was lucky, and he told me that probably ten times.
“If this doesn’t feel strong, or gets loose, we’ll have to give you a different crown or a veneer,” he said as he walked around collecting the tools he was going to use and moving the light around to a spot that suited him.
As he worked on my mouth, I watched his eyes, and every so often he’d catch me and he’d wink then go back to work.
He couldn’t wink enough. I loved it every single time.
My boyfriend, the dentist, was so handsome and, probably because it was just me, he didn’t wear a mask like Dr. Carver always did. So I studied his mouth, too. That talented son of a bitch.
Finally, the last time he put the ultraviolet light on the work he’d done, he spoke.
“I was going to ask you about something tonight. Yesterday, a lady from the country club was in and said they have a few plates left for the charity dinner they’re having next weekend. I didn’t know if you’d want to go or not, but I went ahead and bought two plates.”
His eyes met mine, looking for a reaction. I wasn’t sure what my reaction was. So it was a good thing I still couldn’t talk.
“It’s fine if you don’t want to go, but I thought it would be a chance to do something different and have a nice meal. Maybe a little dancing. Maybe a few drinks. I want to take you. I’d wear a suit and clean up real nice.”
That almost made me laugh. He didn’t need a suit to look good to me. The more he talked about it the more I could tell he genuinely wanted to go.