no. Jaxx has only had one, what most would call a ‘real relationship’ with a man and that ended badly.”
That got his adrenaline jacked, even as he decided the woman wasn’t just failing. She was miserably failing. If he were going to make things right with Jaxx, Carmichael needed some help in the driving-him-away department. Because right now? He was raring to go forward. He needed a stumbling block fast. “Then why is loyalty an issue with her?”
“That’s not for me to say. But…” He’d call the look she gave him calculating. “Let’s just say her parents weren’t the best role models for a successful marriage or proper behavior. Jaxx doesn’t want to be like them.”
Couldn’t he catch a fucking break here? This was one more aspect of Jaxx he could totally relate to. Family issues. “I don’t think you want me to be myself as that—” He was throwing her a bone here. Ready to come clean about how he’d already been an asshole which hadn’t deflated the attraction between them, when Carmichael made a mistake. A big, no, huge mistake.
“For your part? There’s no thinking to be done. That should be easy enough for a guy like you.”
He tried not to glare. “Let me get my feeble head around this. You want me to take Jaxx out for dinner and be myself, correct?”
She sniffed and curtly nodded.
“You’re sure about this?”
“Absolutely.”
“Fine. Will Friday night work?”
He stood and reached behind her to grab up the trunk. Adjusting it in his hands he said, “I heard you the other day. You know, if you eased up on her occasionally she wouldn’t be so quick to doubt herself in the workplace. She’s a very talented therapist.”
“Talented? She’s brilliant. And doubting herself in the workplace? Who said anything about that?”
Aries halted at the door and then spun around. If this wasn’t about him righting Jaxx’s angst over what they’d done in her office, what the hell was it about? “This—you wanting me to spend time with her so she can get me out of her system isn’t about Jaxx’s feeling bad about her career?”
Carmichael shook her head.
Genuine relief flooded him, and with the fear that he’d shaken Jaxx’s confidence in her job off the table, there was virtually nothing the Doctor could say to stop him from cancelling the forced-upon-him date. There was nothing—
“I was talking about her being frigid.”
Except that. “Frigid?” An image of Jaxx on that door and then off it when she dove on him came to mind. “She’s not frigid.” He shifted the trunk and tucked it under the other arm, ready to defend his statement, but the doctor spoke first.
“She is, or was. Or thought she was, actually. But now she’s questioning that. Who’s to say? All I know is that until you came into her life, she was on-point and focused. On track with her career and the perfect wife material for Dr. Gunther Kreizeger.”
“She’s engaged?” He nearly dropped the trunk. He was totally stunned because the answer mattered to him for some reason.
“Not yet, but when my illustrious doctor friend comes from Germany at the end of the month, I’m hoping that will change. I know it will. Combining their genes would be magical.”
Now this was irony at its finest, because this therapist was nuts. “Tell me, Doctor FrankenMicheal. Is Jaxx aware of your plans for her?”
“Of course…to a certain extent. She wants a family and since she hasn’t had any success in the relationship area of her life, she has to be practical about it. I think she was prepared to be until you showed up. Didn’t you pick her off the list because she was the youngest doctor in our group and you figured you could get around her?”
Actually, it was just the opposite. Not that he’d share that with her, but he’d chosen Jaxx off the list his attorney presented to him because he’d recognized her name from the byline of the monthly column she wrote. He’d read it for years
That got his adrenaline jacked, even as he decided the woman wasn’t just failing. She was miserably failing. If he were going to make things right with Jaxx, Carmichael needed some help in the driving-him-away department. Because right now? He was raring to go forward. He needed a stumbling block fast. “Then why is loyalty an issue with her?”
“That’s not for me to say. But…” He’d call the look she gave him calculating. “Let’s just say her parents weren’t the best role models for a successful marriage or proper behavior. Jaxx doesn’t want to be like them.”
Couldn’t he catch a fucking break here? This was one more aspect of Jaxx he could totally relate to. Family issues. “I don’t think you want me to be myself as that—” He was throwing her a bone here. Ready to come clean about how he’d already been an asshole which hadn’t deflated the attraction between them, when Carmichael made a mistake. A big, no, huge mistake.
“For your part? There’s no thinking to be done. That should be easy enough for a guy like you.”
He tried not to glare. “Let me get my feeble head around this. You want me to take Jaxx out for dinner and be myself, correct?”
She sniffed and curtly nodded.
“You’re sure about this?”
“Absolutely.”
“Fine. Will Friday night work?”
He stood and reached behind her to grab up the trunk. Adjusting it in his hands he said, “I heard you the other day. You know, if you eased up on her occasionally she wouldn’t be so quick to doubt herself in the workplace. She’s a very talented therapist.”
“Talented? She’s brilliant. And doubting herself in the workplace? Who said anything about that?”
Aries halted at the door and then spun around. If this wasn’t about him righting Jaxx’s angst over what they’d done in her office, what the hell was it about? “This—you wanting me to spend time with her so she can get me out of her system isn’t about Jaxx’s feeling bad about her career?”
Carmichael shook her head.
Genuine relief flooded him, and with the fear that he’d shaken Jaxx’s confidence in her job off the table, there was virtually nothing the Doctor could say to stop him from cancelling the forced-upon-him date. There was nothing—
“I was talking about her being frigid.”
Except that. “Frigid?” An image of Jaxx on that door and then off it when she dove on him came to mind. “She’s not frigid.” He shifted the trunk and tucked it under the other arm, ready to defend his statement, but the doctor spoke first.
“She is, or was. Or thought she was, actually. But now she’s questioning that. Who’s to say? All I know is that until you came into her life, she was on-point and focused. On track with her career and the perfect wife material for Dr. Gunther Kreizeger.”
“She’s engaged?” He nearly dropped the trunk. He was totally stunned because the answer mattered to him for some reason.
“Not yet, but when my illustrious doctor friend comes from Germany at the end of the month, I’m hoping that will change. I know it will. Combining their genes would be magical.”
Now this was irony at its finest, because this therapist was nuts. “Tell me, Doctor FrankenMicheal. Is Jaxx aware of your plans for her?”
“Of course…to a certain extent. She wants a family and since she hasn’t had any success in the relationship area of her life, she has to be practical about it. I think she was prepared to be until you showed up. Didn’t you pick her off the list because she was the youngest doctor in our group and you figured you could get around her?”
Actually, it was just the opposite. Not that he’d share that with her, but he’d chosen Jaxx off the list his attorney presented to him because he’d recognized her name from the byline of the monthly column she wrote. He’d read it for years
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