Page 204 of The Doctors Will See You Now

Harlow: Are you in need of the sex?

My lungs still burned as I thought of how she’d react when I fully explained what I really wanted. But then, in text message wasn’t the time for it.

No, this is a conversation for in person.

Me: I always need the sex.

Harlow: LOL At least you’re honest. My day is jam-packed, though. Breakfast at my mom’s right now, and then we’re apparently also eating lunch later in the city. I’ll be as big as a whale by the end of the day.

Me: Ooh. What restaurant? Let me eat through you.

Harlow: LOL Hot House. I’ll be free later this afternoon. I’ll meet you somewhere, and you can eat through me, all right.

Me: Hot damn. How about your apartment?

Harlow: I’m ignoring you now.

She hadn’t said anything then, and really, I think that was the starting point of my current semi-psychotic break. Realistically, she was probably just at lunch with her mom and practicing a little-known habit of actually paying attention to the person you were dining with rather than your phone.

But, yeah. All of this…all of these emotions—something I was horrifically unfamiliar with—were eating at me, and she’d been seemingly doing the dip on me when it came to her apartment since the day I’d met her.

And now, here I was, outside of Hot House, intentionally following Harlow.

Frustrated with what my life had come to, I leaned back against the warm bricks of the restaurant and sighed. I was crazy. I was fucking losing it. The apartment thing was just a running joke, and I was blowing it out of proportion.

Of course, just as I settled on going back to being sane, the door opened and, shading her eyes from the sun with one hand and digging in her monstrous bag for her sunglasses with the other, Harlow stepped out.

Quickly, I ducked around the corner of the building.

I cringed.

Oh Jesus, Scott. Time to reevaluate some things here.

Following a woman was fucking ridiculous, creepy, and highly illegal. Granted, she knew me and liked me, but yeah… Holy hell, now I’m just rationalizing. That’s what crazy people do.

“Thanks for lunch, Mom.” I heard her mom murmur something back before Jean-Pierre’s French accent took over.

“It is always a pleasure, Harlow.” His voice was genuine, heartfelt even, and I immediately liked him, sight unseen.

“Same. Thanks for listening, guys. Really. I know I unloaded a lot of stuff on you.”

Stuff about me?

My ears perked up, and just like that, I forgot all about how crazy I was acting.

“Anytime,” her mom answered sweetly before any and all sound faded away. I peeked around the corner to see them gone, Jean-Pierre and Harlow’s mom crossing the street to the other side while Harlow neared the end of the block on this side.

I jumped into action, walking her direction quickly but casually and paying attention when she turned at the corner.

With her out of sight, I quickened my step to try to close some of the distance and then spotted the top of her head in the crowd up ahead as soon as I made it to the end of the block.

She only went about a block and a half before turning and jogging up the stairs of a brownstone style apartment building and inserting her key into the lock.

Honestly, I couldn’t decide whether it was a good thing or not that the trip to her apartment had been so short. After all, I’d successfully completed my mission. But on the other hand, if I’d had more time, I might have circled around to the conclusion that this wasn’t a good idea again.

The jig was up now, though, and I had to do something about it before I lost my nerve. With just one side of her hair pulled back and pinned, I could see the side of her face as she concentrated on what she was doing, and a rush of emotion hit me all at once.

This was it. She was it. I’d finally found a woman worth chasing.