I wonder if that would have hurt less than the emotional damage he caused. He ran around on me every chance he had. I was never enough. Ever. It didn’t matter what I wore, how I treated him, what I did for him… I—” pointing to myself “—was never good enough.”
Aiden’s eyes glazed over as he stared deep into my eyes, contemplating what he was going to say.
I never expected him to follow up with, “I was right. He’s a very stupid man because I guarantee you, Cami, you were always enough. And you still are, for any man.”
My heart burst.
No one had ever talked to me like this.
No one.
He didn’t stop there. “You’re the most selfless person I’ve ever met. You don’t ask for anything in return, yet you give everyone your all.”
“I thought I was just a babysitter who did a shitty fuckin’ job at cleaning your house and cooking your food.”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t be here.”
“Is this your way of saying you’re sorry?”
“No.” With a stern expression, he confided, “My way of apologizing has been by taking care of you. No one has appreciated what they’ve had in front of them, and I have a huge fuckin’ problem with that.”
“Oh…”
His eyes followed the movement of my mouth.
“Is that why you’ve done all this for me? Because you felt bad for treating me like shit?”
“Amongst other things.”
“What things?”
Journey chose that moment to wake up, calling out, “Ma!” in the monitor.
Which was another thing that changed in our dynamic. Journey thinking I was her mother didn’t faze him anymore.
“For the record,” I made clear, standing to go tend to Little Miss, “a simple apology would have sufficed.”
He leaned over the cheesecake, getting close to my face. The scent of his cologne assaulted my senses and I stopped breathing when he huskily groaned, “For the record, it wouldn’t have.”
<>Aiden<>
“You’ve been spending less time at the hospital, Dr. Pierce,” Renee, my RN, pointed out.
“I’m making up for lost time with my kids.”
“And the nanny?”
What is it with everyone and the nanny questions lately?
If it wasn’t Noah, it was Skyler riding my fucking ass.
Was I that obvious?
Feeling irritated and annoyed, I snapped, “I don’t have time for your bullshit today, Renee. My surgery board is full, and I need to be home early tonight. So say what you want or go do your job.”
She put her hands out in front of her in a surrendering gesture. “I was just saying…”
“I know what you’re saying.”
“Aiden, not sure if you remember because you are getting up there in age, but I was the one who ordered Camila’s cheesecake for you to pick up last week.”
“Your point being?”
“You never order cheesecake for anyone. You obviously like her.”
I growled, harshly grabbing the charts out of her hands, rounding my desk to sit down.
“I never thought I’d finally see the day that Dr. Pierce is smitten with someone. And let me just say, it’s about damn time.”
“Don’t you have patients to take care of?”
“I just made my rounds.” She sat down in the chair in front of me, placing her elbows on my desk and resting her chin on her hands. “So… tell me everything. Have you made a move yet?”
I glared up at her through the slits of my eyes.
“Please! You gotta give me some sorta gossip to feed my soul. I’ve been waiting for this since you hired her. Come on, spill!”
“Do I look like Chatty fuckin’ Cathy to you, Renee?”
“No. You look like an asshole withholding information. You never want to talk about anything. I’ve been with you for over ten years. I always have to pry everything out of you. So here I am, prying.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Have you gone on a date?”
“For fuck’s sake, Renee.” I leaned back into my chair. “Do I look like a fuckin’ teenage boy to you now?”
She rolled her eyes, already used to my temper. “Can you stop with the broody shit? I’m really kind of over it.”
“Great. There’s the door.”
“I’m not leaving until you give me something.”
“I’ll give you something. Mr. Sanders in bed B needs an enema. How about you go clean up his shit?”
“Very funny.” She looked at her nails. “But I do need a manicure. Maybe I should ask Camila if she wants to go with me? I bet she’d spill the dirt on you two. I feel like we’d have a lot in common. You know, having an asshole as a boss and all.”
“Are you trying to get