Stripped - By Brenda Rothert Page 0,25

stripper. He was the best side of humanity, and she was the worst. Next to him, she had so little to offer. And she continued feeling more and more self-conscious about him not wanting the one thing she did have: her body.

She had decided as she pulled out of the club and not looked back at Chris that she would ignore his calls and texts for the day. He needed to know he had really hurt her feelings. What was bothering her more than anything today was the fact that he’d never called.

As he lathered soap around his forearms to do an exam on a patient, Chris couldn’t help hearing the conversation between the young couple in the room.

“Don’t cry, baby. It’ll be okay. Shh,” the man said.

“I’m scared, Jonathan. I want this baby so much. I can’t lose another one. I can’t,” her voice broke as she cried.

“No, Cara, don’t say that. Shh. You need to stay calm, okay? Stay calm for the baby.”

He cradled her head to his chest as she cried, and Chris offered them a reassuring smile as he walked over.

“Just relax while I take a look, okay?” he said. He shifted into work mode, remembering the steps he had to perform for the exam. It wasn’t something he did every day.

“I’ve been thinking,” Jonathan said to Cara. “If it’s a boy, I think we should name him after your Dad.”

“Really?” The joy in her voice was contagious, and Chris couldn’t help smiling. “Jonathan, that means so much to me.”

“You’ve been so strong through this whole thing. I love you so much, Cara. No matter what, I will always love you.”

“Everything’s good so far,” Chris said. “I think you were just having some implantation bleeding, which does happen.”

Fresh tears flowed down Cara’s face, and Chris’ heart went out to her. Her head dropped against her husband’s chest with relief.

“Thank you,” Jonathan said, tears welling in his eyes.

Chris nodded at him as he finished the exam. He had never been envious of a happy couple, but he was feeling a twinge of … something. The love between these two people was palpable, and he couldn’t help thinking of the empty apartment he’d be going home to. The look of pain on Cara’s face when Chris had entered the room had made him think of Abby, and how hurt she’d been the day before. He hated that he’d been responsible for it.

He had thought of calling her, but he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t going to apologize for not fucking her then and there. That was exactly what most men would have done without a second thought. Chris had been thinking about her feelings instead of his own. Sex always led to attachment, and he didn’t want to create that with Abby when they could never have a relationship.

But as he looked over at Jonathan wiping tears from his wife’s cheek with his thumb, Chris realized that some things went beyond being right or wrong. The chasm between him and Abby was troubling him, because though he had been trying to avoid hurting her, that was exactly what he’d done.

Abby was sullen as she got into Chris’ car.

“I’ve missed you,” he said as he pulled away from her office.

“I’ve missed you, too,” she admitted.

“I picked up some lunch and I thought we could just park and eat, because we need to talk.”

“I’d really prefer not to dwell on it, Chris. I wanted to have sex, and you didn’t. It’s embarrassing. Let’s just move on.”

“Of course I wanted to,” he said, exasperated, as he parked in the back of the Case Publications lot. “But you’re my friend, Abby. I don’t want us to have casual sex and ruin things.”

Abby sighed deeply.

“You’re right,” she said. “I just got carried away. The truth is I don’t want that with anyone. I need to keep my priorities straight.”

“I know I send mixed signals. I don’t want a relationship, but it’s hard to be around you and ignore how attractive you are.”

“Maybe we should stop spending time together,” she suggested.

“Is that what you want?” he asked, his brows knitted together with concern.

“No. I like being with you. I hardly have any friends, and it’s nice to be around someone I can be myself with. We just need some firm ground rules, like no kissing.”

“Or lap dancing,” Chris said, smiling.

“Right. I won’t do that anymore.”

“Could you also avoid wearing those black stockings and heels you had on the other day?”

“Which ones? The