Three's Company

57. Selfish

Her eyes fell into a slight squint as she tried to read over the messy scribble.

Wriggling her small toes against firm fingers, her bottom lip sunk in between her teeth in heavy thinking.

"When you were studying for law, did you have to study acoustic neuroma by any chance?"

The faint hum of the television served as good background noise, it had become a nightly routine in the eight days he had been back.

He pressed his fingers between her toes and rubbed the balls of her foot, sliding his fingers along the pressure points with the benefit of the slippery lotion. "I can't say I ever needed to study that, so no." He muttered, watching her through his dark gaze.

He dug deeply into her foot to try to separate and stretch her muscle fibers to ease all of the stored tension and the soreness from the daily farm chores.

"That's a shame." Her lips curled, her almond eyes pressing closer together at the small action. "Like I know what it means and everything but it's a hard one."

"How so?" He asked, interested in what she had to say.

She pursed her lips out, placing her book down on her lap and letting out her frustrations. "Its simple in textbook terms but when you're actually dealing with it, it's so easy to misdiagnose." She said, her toes flexed out against his touch out of habit. "Ugh. I can't believe I still have another seven years of residency to go. Seven whole years of this."

"Seven years is nothing, baby. I'm sure you'll fly through the seven years in no time and the reward will be that you'll become the sexiest doctor out there."

She snorted, playfully nudging her foot against his stomach. "Shut up."

He flashed a cheeky toothy grin her way and then the silence was back. It was comfortable and she no longer felt like she could let her brain fill with any more research.

Instead she was bringing her feet back to her, before she was crawling on top of him.

Heath caught her hips in time, settling her on his lap. He was in a pair of lounging cotton pants and a matching cotton T-shirt. She on the other hand was lounging in a black satin chemise.

"I think it's time I get my mind off studying, I feel like my brain is slowly melting."

This is how the days often went. Breakfast, chores, lunch, study, dinner, and relax.

Heath had started disappearing at odd times in the day when he needed to attend an online therapy session. Because he was in the countryside, he was talking to Mary through his computer screen.

Mona had gone into the city for a few of the days to complete her necessary shifts but it was nice to have dinner sorted when she returned. He knew he could easily go with her and attend his sessions in person but he wanted her to have hot food on the table when she was done.

He spent those days doing all the chores before driving her there, finding something in his apartment to numb his mind with whilst she worked in the hospital before driving her back home when she clocked out and somehow, dinner was always sorted for her within ten minutes when they arrived home.

He would rub her feet after a long day, some stolen kisses here and there and most importantly, he stayed by her side through it all.

She could tell he was really trying.

It made her heart soar in emotion and her appreciation poured into the passionate kiss she laid on his intoxicating lips.

"What do you have in mind?" The clueless fool asked, the random twitch in his pants not seeming to faze him. He lifted her gently, quickly adjusting so he wasn't bothering her. "I can oil your hair if you want to relax."