The Doctor's Damsel (Men of the Capital Book 3)

by Cara Nelson

  “That is a shortcoming on its part, I guess. Okay, I used it for good luck when I went bowling, does that count?”

  “You took this bowling? That’s a family place...children could have seen it!” Shannon snorted, clearly not as aghast as she sounded.

  “Yes, and I won. Also it would be excellent for...cracking nuts. Like if you had peanuts in the shell and didn’t want to mess up your nails, you could just whack them with the dildo. It’s very hard and solid.” She giggled. Hannah laughed and hugged her.

  “Let’s dance,” Hannah said, joining the crush on the floor and dragging Becca with her. “This may be my last chance to party with transsexuals. You know Jasper’s so uptight sometimes. He’d be checking his email every three seconds.”

  “I thought you were crazy about him?” Becca said worriedly.

  “Oh, honey, I’m over the moon for that man. God knows why I found misanthropic and surprisingly vulnerable to be a winning mix—it must have been the cello...”

  “I do NOT want to hear this story. Please spare me. He’s about to be my brother-in-law, and I could do without the mental picture.”

  “It’s nothing like that, although it totally made my panties want to hit the floor,” Hannah said, dropping into a chair at a vacant table.

  “STOP it,” Becca bellowed, covering her ears with her hands in protest.

  “Oh, quit being a baby,” Hannah said.

  “Speaking of babies...” Becca teased. “When should we expect a Jasper, Jr.?”

  “We’re not even married yet. Don’t pressure me. You know what happened with the engagement party. I might cut you if you pressure me,” Hannah warned playfully.

  “Yeah, well it’s not like you can decide to have the baby on a beach if labor and delivery classes are too much pressure.”

  “Hey, don’t knock it. I’m sure there’s some fancy midwife that delivers your baby in a tide pool or something. Besides, I’m thrilled that we ditched the society wedding. That engagement party damn near killed me.”

  “The party didn’t try to do you in. You just freaked out because you went all perfectionist.”

  “I thought Jasper—well, you know he’s so exacting—I thought he needed it to be perfect. I made that my job, which sort of made that Annelise’s job, too. Then it turned out he didn’t give a crap about anything except those weird mushrooms. I swear to God, he DVR’d that documentary and made me watch it. It was gross.” Hannah laughed.

  “Yeah, and now you get to say ‘I do’ on a private island. Best of both worlds.”

  “Hey, I would’ve taken you along as a witness, but then he would need a witness, which would mean more people, and a wedding dinner, and it just—“

  “Mushrooms?” Becca finished for her, giggling.

  “I was going to say ‘escalates’, but I guess mushroom is the appropriate verb for this particular scenario. Anyway, I’ll get married with my toes in the sand and leave the stress behind.”

  “I think you’re faking all that stressing over perfection business because you want to avoid standing before an elite crowd of the wealthy and powerful while a minister says ‘Do you, Hannah Filomena Abbracciabene Largent, take this man, Jasper Regular Middle Name Cates?’” Becca accused.

  Hannah shook her head. “I’d marry him anywhere. Since we’re both pretty private, this is just the most natural fit for us. The truth is, I want this for you, too, Bec. I want you to be able to know the worst part is over and from now on, you have the person who’ll love you forever, no matter what. Do you think Abe—”

  “Don’t go there with me. I realize I asked you the forbidden when-are-you-having-a-baby question, but Abe and I are not...okay, he is not committed,” Becca said. “He’s got work issues, and now family issues with the dying grandpa, and it boils down to him not being all that serious about me. But it’s already too late, because I love him.”

  “Did you tell him?” Hannah demanded, already dreading the answer.

  “Yes.”

  “Good lord. Did you hand him your panties, your credit card and the keys to the front door, too?”

  “No. Just my heart. I know it wasn’t the most intelligent decision, to tell him when he doesn’t feel the same way about me, but I don’t want to be that person, that girl who withholds and pushes people away,” Becca said. “I’d rather be honest with him and get hurt again than be closed off.”

  Hannah hugged her sister, wanting so much for Becca to find her own true love, feeling sorrowful that Abe didn’t seem like he’d step up and be that man. Becca kissed her cheek.

  “Now that I’ve rained on your parade, can I sneak out early and go see him? He leaves for Germany in the morning,” Becca asked.

  “On one condition. First, we sing.” Hannah grinned.

  Becca nodded eagerly. Together they stormed the karaoke stand, bickering about which song to choose. Hannah wanted to do something bluesy because she had an amazing, smoky voice, but Becca, who had a pretty voice but was more of a lightweight, preferred some Britney Spears. They compromised and did a Cindy Lauper classic that left the drag queens waving their phones in homage.

  Chapter 7

  Becca went to Abe’s apartment, feeling a little like an intruder, like she was storming the battlements to reach him. She knocked on the door until her knuckles hurt before calling his cell. She jumped, startled when she heard the ringtone behind her. He was coming out of the elevator and heading for his door, large coffee in one hand and a bag of candy bars in the other.

  “Becca!” he said, more surprised than anything else.

  She went to hug him, but his hands were full. She fished the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. It was a total guy apartment, she decided on a single glance. Big TV, no kitchen table, stacks of papers and magazines everywhere, and clothes of indeterminate cleanliness overflowing a laundry basket by the door.

  “I’m glad you came by. How was the party?” he asked, smiling at her apparel.

  “Pretty tame, but I did score a dildo.” She held up the gift bag triumphantly.

  Abe set down his bag and coffee cup and took her in his arms.

  “I’m going to miss you, Bec,” he said quietly.

  “So let me come with you. I want to go to Germany with you, Abe.”

  “Becca—”

  “No, hear me out. This is really tough on you, and I want to be there to help you and comfort you. I won’t be any trouble, I swear. I won’t embarrass you...I’ll even leave the dildo at home! I won’t even try to seduce you in your parents’ house. Scout’s honor.” She tried to make the scout sign, but couldn’t decide if it was three fingers or two that she was meant to hold up earnestly.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not staying at my parents’ house.”

  “We?”

  “We. I’d love for you to come. I thought of it, but I didn’t know if it was too soon to ask you to tag along for my family drama. Also, my dad’s on like his fourth wife now, but my mom is in Germany for the—for the family emergency and to see me. So it’ll be awkward, and they have all of these blighted hopes for me.”

  “I can come?” she squealed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him excitedly. “Let me call my sister. I know she’ll lend me the money for a ticket.” Becca bounced on her toes with enthusiasm as she looked for her phone.

  “No. Becca, that won’t be necessary,” he said stonily.

  She looked up at him, anxious. “I want to go, Abe. Seriously. You just said you’d love for me to come along.” She dropped onto the couch dejectedly, bracing herself for the speech about how he just wasn’t that in to her.

  “I do want you to go. There’s nothing I can think of that would help half as much as having you by my side on this trip. I mean it won’t be necessary for you to borrow money for a ticket. I have money.”

  “I’m not letting you buy my ticket. I’ll pay Hannah back. I always do. Admittedly, I’ve never borrowed money for a trip to Europe before, so it may take a while to get it pa
id off, but I can do it,” Becca insisted bravely.

  “We’re not flying commercial, Becca. Opa’s jet will pick us up at a private airfield at ten sharp. Don’t worry about whether I can afford a plane ticket for you. I have a trust fund so embarrassingly big I could live off the interest in a villa by the sea if the notion struck me. I used some of it for tuition, but I haven’t touched it since I completed my internship,” Abe confessed a little sheepishly.

  “So you’re rich?”

  “Well, yes.”

  “Like, mega rich?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

  “Not mega rich. On a scale of slightly rich like those people that win ten million dollars in the lottery, to mega rich like your sister’s fiancé that billionaire mogul, I’d estimate that my Opa and Oma are mega rich. My dad was mega rich before he took up divorcing a succession of younger women as an expensive hobby. I’m just, I suppose, moderately rich.”

  “Like, we can stay at a place that has a big bathtub and those fluffy white robes?”

  “The fluffiest money can buy, Bec. If you’ll come with me, I’ll give you anything you want.” He cracked a smile and she hugged him.

  “I just want to be with you,” she said, meaning every word so hard that tears sprang to her eyes.

  “Candy bar?”

  “Why exactly do you have a bag full of candy?”

  “It’s an old habit. A bad habit, I guess, from my med school days. When there were exams coming up or we had finals in clinical, some of the guys would take pills to stay up and study and then pills to kill the anxiety. I always self-medicated with sugar. So whenever I’m really dreading something, I stock up.”

  “Any flavor that’s particularly effective?” Becca asked.

  “Anything with nuts. I like a satisfying crunch,” he said.

  “Hmm. I was talking to my sister about how the singing dildo would be useful to shell nuts with. So if we ever decide to make homemade cookies or anything, we can use that to crack the nuts,” she said.

  “As much as men love hearing about the variety of ways you know to crack nuts, let’s save the dildo bashing for another occasion.”

  “Okay, I need to go pack anyhow. I’ll just grab a candy bar to eat on the way home.”

  “Stay with me tonight. Please. I’ll buy you clothes at the airport or when we get there. I don’t care. Just don’t leave me tonight,” Abe said, his voice husky, almost strained.

  He raised his eyes to meet hers and that pleading dark blue gaze finished her. If she had to wear the 80’s hot pink mini dress and frosted jeans the entire time she was in Germany, it would be worth it just to have heard him say those words to her. Becca wanted to tell him so many things, but all she could manage to say was ‘yes.’ She cleaned off her outrageous makeup and washed the stiff hairspray from her blond hair, claiming an old t-shirt of Abe’s to sleep in and a pair of his socks pulled high up her calves.

  Becca’s damp hair was drying in curls as she climbed onto Abe’s bed with its rumpled gray sheets. Without a word, she passed him a candy bar she’d purloined from his stash and took a huge bite when he offered one.

  “There’s sugar in that. And carbs. And dairy,” he warned ominously.

  “I’ve heard it’s smart to self-medicate before a major event.”

  “This isn’t a major event. In fact, it’s a depressingly small event. I work in a hospital. I know how often this has to happen, the family gathering at a patient’s bedside.” Abe shook his head.

  “That’s not the event I was referring to,” she said, pulling him down into her arms. “This is the first night we’ve spent together. I mean to make it count. I can burn off those carbs.”

  “Thank you,” Abe said.

  “You’re welcome. What for?”

  “For being here tonight. For coming with me. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to stand this trip, but it’ll be better with you.”

  Abe folded her in his arms with sudden fervor. After a few seconds, Becca managed to turn her head to get a good breath of air in his crushing embrace. She felt the tremor in his arms, the control he was exerting to keep from breaking down. She knew that telltale shudder. He was holding back tears by sheer strength of will.

  “Go ahead, Abe. It’s okay. I’m here,” she whispered, shifting so she could get her arms around his shoulders and hold him. “This is us, nobody else to see.” Her voice was soothing, but she felt him shake his head, still holding back.

  Becca took a big breath in, kissed his cheek as he buried his head in her shoulder, and started to sing.

  “If you wanna leave/Take good care/Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there/just remember there’s a lot of bad everywhere/oh, baby, baby it’s a wild world—“

  “It’s ‘and beware’,” he said, lifting his head to look at her seriously. “It’s ‘just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware.’”

  “Nope. ‘There’s a lot of bad everywhere,’” Becca maintained with a small smile.

  “I’m appalled. You’re misquoting Tea for the Tillerman.”

  “No, it’s Cat Stevens,” she corrected.

  “That IS Cat Stevens.”

  “It’s on his greatest hits. I had the CD growing up.”

  “Greatest hits? Do you listen to movie soundtracks too?” He shook his head in mock horror. “You have to experience the journey of the original album, preferably in vinyl, to appreciate the resonance of that song.”

  “You’re a music snob. You’ll get along great with my sister, although she was always more of a Jim Morrison fangirl,” Becca said. “Appreciate the resonance? I just sang to you when you were sad. That was a beautiful and loving gesture. It is appalling bad manners to argue with me at a time like this.” She stifled a giggle and started kissing him.

  Chapter 8

  The alarm on Becca’s phone woke her at six, and she sneaked out to go pack her stuff. Calling Hannah on the way, she filled her in on the situation, including the mega richness and private jet.

  “What should I pack?” Becca hissed into the phone urgently.

  “Condoms. Lots of them.”

  “Besides that. This is a serious family event. I need to dress—“

  “Modestly. That’s the word. No leather shorts. No drapey scarves. Especially no dress with the tummy cutout.”

  “Hey, you wore a tummy cutout dress when you were dating Jasper, as I recall.”

  “I wasn’t meeting his parents that night,” Hannah corrected.

  “Fair enough. No tummy cutout. Are you sure about the leather shorts, though? They’re darling. Although I do have that jumpsuit I could pack. It’s dressy and polished-looking. I bought it when I thought I’d actually get to go onstage as understudy and would need a nice outfit for the press conference once everyone realized I was a natural star.”

  “You have an outfit for that?” Hannah asked, astounded.

  “I have an outfit for everything, but especially for being discovered as a natural star. Okay, I don’t have a dress for the Oscars or the Tonys, but I expect I’ll get a designer gown loaned to me then,” Becca continued.

  “Focus, Bec. You have to take pants and tops that cover you up. I know you work hard for that body, but you don’t want to give Opa the stroke that finishes him off by showing too much skin,” Hannah said.

  “Good point. Natural star jumpsuit and probably the serious actress pencil skirt and blouse.”

  “Condoms. Remember the condoms.” Hannah reminded her and hung up.

  Oo00oO

  By the time Becca returned to Abe’s apartment, he was out of the shower, which she considered a wasted opportunity on her part.

  “I thought you bailed on me for a second,” he said, buttering a slice of toast and offering it to her.

  “No thanks. I’ll take a bite of chocolate in the name of solidarity, but you can count me out when it comes to Wonder Bread slathered with hydrogenated fats. You’re a doctor. You should know better.”

  Abe bit into the toast and rolled hi
s eyes at her.

  “So what do you eat for breakfast? Some kind of protein shake?”

  “Berries. Egg white omelet with lots of veggies if I’m feeling creative.”

  “Sounds very...healthful,” he remarked, dropping his towel and heading for the bedroom to get dressed. Becca shot up off her chair and trailed after him, still not accustomed to seeing him in the altogether. He was worth following, she decided, just for the view.

  Once they were on the plane, which was smaller than she’d imagined, Becca kept his spirits up with jokes about the mile-high club and repeated demands for assurance that he was, in fact, allowed to use this jet whenever he wanted. He raised the armrest between them and put his arm around her, pulling her against him. His embrace felt more like the plea for an anchor than any hint of desire, so she snuggled in his arms and fell asleep.

  When she woke up, they were touching down in Germany. It was foggy and at least twenty degrees colder than home, but there was the crashing sound of the sea and the stark beauty of a coming storm. Disoriented from sleeping in the middle of the day and the long flight, Becca shouldered her duffel bag and stumbled to the waiting car. Abe thanked the pilot and joined her.

  “Were you speaking German to him? You speak German?”

  “That’s two questions. Yes, I speak German, and no, I was speaking Dutch to the pilot.”

  “How many languages do you speak? I only speak menu Italian.” She sighed.

  “English, German, enough Dutch and French to get around. After med school I feel like I should be able to claim Latin, but I only know textbook physiological terms, so it doesn’t really count.”

  Becca looked at the beautiful scenery as they left the airfield and made their way into the city. Abe gripped her hand tighter than was strictly necessary on the ride to their hotel.

  Abe accomplished their check in at a cosmopolitan high-rise hotel while Becca gawked openly at the shining marble lobby, the high, elaborate floral arrangements. A uniformed employee offered her a goblet of water with a slice of strawberry in it. Their room was lovely and posh. Almost before the door was closed behind them, Becca was shucking off her wrinkled traveling clothes and donning a huge white robe from the closet. Beaming at Abe, she stopped the words on her tongue—some flippant, happy remark about the accommodations, when she saw he had gone pale.