Page 322 of The Doctors Will See You Now

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.

Literally, my mind mocked mercilessly.

Breaking into a jog, I weaved my way through the people scattered on the sidewalk and bounded up the stairs behind her two at a time.

Her eyes widened, and her face grew longer before my eyes as her mouth did the same.

“Scott?”

“Hey, Low,” I greeted casually. Far, far more casually than I felt, my heart beating so violently I thought it might jump straight out of my chest and land on the stoop in front of me.

“What are you doing here?”

I swallowed the thickness in my throat and concentrated on getting inside first. “I’m sorry to surprise you like this, but…can we talk? It’s important.”

Her face serious—seriously worried—she turned back to the lock and finished the job, pushing the door open and holding it for me. “Of course. Come in.”

We walked in silence up two flights of stairs to what I presumed was her door. As she inserted another key into that lock and turned it, I immediately felt sick.

She pushed it open, and as soon as the light of the hall sliced into the small entry of her apartment, my admission poured unchecked from my lips.

“I followed you.”

Her eyebrows pulled together as she stepped inside and I followed her, almost as if she hadn’t heard me.