with Skye during the birth.”
“Sure, no problem. I’m gonna talk about this with Dr. Johnson first thing when I see her. I already did my rotation in ob-gyn last year, but I really don’t think she’ll mind if I’m there.”
I put an arm around her shoulders, tucking her into me, kissing the side of her head. Her hair smelled like my shampoo. I couldn’t explain why, but I fucking loved that.
She startled when the alarm went off on her phone. Pulling out of my hug, she took it out of her bag. “Oh, I promised I’d FaceTime with my parents in two minutes.” She glanced up, tilting her head playfully. “Do you mind if I do it now? Do you want to join? They’d love to meet you.”
That was the exact moment I knew how special Laney was to me. In the past, that sentence would have sent me running for the hills. Now, I was looking forward to meeting them.
“Sure. Let’s just find somewhere comfortable to sit. Look, there’s a bench at the next corner.”
“Okay. You lead the way. I’m going to start the call.” She was smiling big as she brought the phone to her ear, explaining to her parents that she’d turn on the camera as soon as she was sitting down and that she had a surprise for them.
“Ready?” she whispered the second we sat down. I nodded, and she switched the phone from audio only to camera mode.
“Mom, Dad, this is Cole,” she exclaimed. Her mom instantly beamed, and her smile looked a bit like Laney’s. Her dad just nodded, his eyes wide.
“Good to meet you, Cole,” he said.
“Likewise,” I replied.
“Oh, we don’t want to interrupt you two,” her mom said.
“You’re not. We’ve been visiting his sister and were just going to the station,” Laney explained. “We’re heading back to the city.”
“Okay, okay,” her dad said. We spoke a few minutes only, and then her mom repeated that she didn’t want to interrupt anything.
“Hmm, that was weird,” Laney said after hanging up. “Usually they won’t stop talking. I think it really shocked them that you were on the call. Once they recover, they’ll have a million questions. But I think they like you.”
“How can you tell?”
“Just a gut feeling. Plus, Dad didn’t glare at you.”
I laughed, kissing her temple. Based on what she’d shared with me this morning, I suspected she hadn’t ever imagined she’d want to introduce another guy to her parents, and yet, here we were.
“I didn’t even get to exercise my charm on them.”
“Oh, trust me, that smile did a great job with Mom. I could tell by that starry look in her eyes.”
“I’ll take your word. Let’s go to the station. We’ve missed the train, but the next one comes in fifteen minutes.”
“Okay.”
On the way, I started thinking about Tess again.
“Are you worried about something?” Laney asked out of nowhere.
“What makes you think that?”
“I don’t know. You seemed preoccupied.”
“I spoke to Tess when we were in the kitchen. She was very melancholic—said she always wanted kids but isn’t sure if it will happen for her.”
“Oh, no. Hmm. Let me think. Isabelle was in a bit of a funk too. She’s not really making headway in gaining new clients. They both need cheering up. Maybe I can arrange an outing.”
“You’re fucking adorable.”
“I’ll come up with something. This is so new to me—planning stuff for my leisure time. I haven’t actually had full weekends off since I moved to New York.” But she’d taken time off for me. “It’s always been so easy to focus on my patients and research, and just forget about my issues.”
I squeezed her hand, bringing it to my lips. “And now?” I glanced sideways at her, watching her intently.
“Now, Mr. Winchester, you make me want to live a little. Explore New York... you.”
Yes! Fuck, yes! I’d never wanted to let anyone too close, but now all I wanted was to explore her.
“I don’t even know what to do with all this time,” she went on. I picked up on the teasing note in her voice.
“I have some ideas about how to fill it.” I pulled her closer, tilting my head. To my surprise, she put two fingers against my lips. I cocked a brow.
“Oh, no, no. No more kissing in the street.”
“Since when?”
“Since we established that it’s messing with my inner compass.”
I pointed with my thumb behind my shoulder. “Well, that’s the station, and this is nonsense.”
“So, here are the rules—”
“I’ll show you kissing rules,” I said, right