How much did she want to tell him? “I was allergic as a kid.”
“That had to suck.”
Not as much as not being able to breathe.
“Did you have any pets growing up?” he asked.
“We had a cat for a while.”
She’d loved Matilda the cat, but Matilda’s cat dander hadn’t loved her. A cat and childhood asthma hadn’t been a good combination. Matilda had been sent to live with the cousins in Puyallup.
“I like cats,” he said. Before she could say anything more Jacques started another slow song and Trevor caught her hand. “Come on, let’s dance.”
Dancing was more fun than talking about her health issues, anyway.
She caught sight of Harriet dragging a husky guy wearing a long shirt over bagging jeans onto the floor. “It looks like you’ve been dumped for a younger man,” she said to Trevor.
“Thank God. Propinquity finally saved me,” he said, drawing her to him.
“Pro...what? It sounds like a disease.”
He chuckled. “It has to do with being close to someone. You can’t help but fall in love eventually. Or maybe even sooner.”
As his lips moved close to that sensitive spot behind her ear she decided there was a lot to be said for propinquity. “I wish you were a doctor.” She sighed.
“You know, I do see that you have a certain condition, but I’m not sure you need a doctor to treat it.”
“What condition? What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously.
He tightened his hold on her. “Okay, now don’t take this as an insult, but I think you might be a hypochondriac.”
She scowled at him. “That’s what my sister says.”
“I concur with her diagnosis,” he said.
Well, who asked him, anyway?
“Hey, lots of people are. By the way, did I mention that I majored in psychology in college? I’m practically a shrink. I can help when you have a bout of hypochondria.”
“I am not a hypochondriac,” she insisted, frowning at him. “I just happen to be in tune with my body.”
He considered that. “Okay, and what do you do when you get sick?”
“I go to urgent care. Or the emergency room.” She’d been there more times than she cared to remember.
“I have a car and I can drive fast. I can have you at the emergency room in no time.”
“How about if I couldn’t breathe? What would you do then?”
His brows drew together. “Are you planning on not being able to breathe anytime soon?”
“You never know. It’s happened.” Okay, time to tell him. Let him know up front what he might be getting into. “I had asthma bad when I was a kid. I can remember some really scary trips to the emergency room.”
“Do you still have it?”
“My doctor said I’m one of the lucky ones and I outgrew it. But I read online that only a third of the people who have it as children do outgrow it. The symptoms can return in adulthood.”
“But you’re symptom free.”
She nodded. “So far.”
“Maybe for the rest of your life.”
“Maybe,” she conceded.
“Still, health is a big concern for you.”
He said it so kindly, was being so understanding, unlike her last boyfriend, who’d told her to get over it and quit being so paranoid. Unlike her family, who all loved her but, when it came right down to it, didn’t take her concerns seriously. Even Sierra, close as they were, didn’t understand about that shadow of fear that lurked at the edge of her life. Not being able to breathe was a terrifying experience, one that was hard to forget.
“It is,” she said.
“Understandable. You went through some scary stuff as a kid. But maybe, instead of a doc who has his nurse take your body temperature, what you really need is someone who can keep tabs on your emotional temperature.”
Now, there was an interesting thought.
He smiled down at her. “Doctors are arrogant asses. You don’t really want to be with one.”
“I don’t, huh?” she said. Maybe she didn’t.
“Anyway, I’ve got something a doctor doesn’t have,” he continued.
“What?”
“My own chocolate company. And you know, chocolate makes everything better.”
He had a point there. Maybe what she really needed was an almost psychologist who owned a chocolate company.
That maybe leaned closer to for sure when he strolled back to her room with her and kissed her. He had a magic mouth, and his fingers slipping through her hair lit up her nerve endings like holiday lights.
“You are a good kisser,” she murmured when they finally came up for air.