All Chapters of Dr. Brandt: Billionaires’ Club Book 5: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

“Nothing,” I sniffed. “Ugh.” I shook my head, frustrated that I couldn’t just knock this shit off.“Here,” she said, pouring me a glass of wine, “this usually gets the tears flowing faster. Then, once it’s out of your system, you’re freed up to handle shit again.”I grinned at her, grabbed the glass, and took a sip. “Don’t they call that self-medicating?”She laughed and raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, her blue eyes so piercing and beautiful, “I run a women’s home that deals with those types of things, and I can tell you that this isn’t self-medicating. Turning to booze to make the troubles disappear is where we draw the line.”“Ladies?” Ash called, bouncing into the kitchen with the usual pep she always seemed to have in her step. “The kids are settled in, and it’s time we relax.”“I didn’t realize the children went to bed so early,” I spoke. “It’s only seven.”“I was referring to the gentlemen,” she teased. “Seriously, though, half the time, the kids are babysitting them and not

“Are you concerned about Jackson and the surgery?” Collin questioned, knowing that on the rare occasion I wasn’t in a light-hearted mood, it was because of a patient.I wanted to lie and say yes.“Nah, man,” I said, then forced a fake smile. “I just slept like shit last night.”“Well, you flew that chopper like the dreamboat pilot you are,” Jake said, always acting like a dipshit to lighten the mood.”“Totally dreamy,” Collin said, with the same dipshit humor as Jake’s.“Why don’t you two idiots make sure the ladies and kids are settled while I help Cam finish up?” Jim said, casting them a knowing glance.I remembered the days when I was as much of a fuck-off as these two, but those days seemed to slip away as soon as I saw Jessa again. Since then, I’d been struggling with the guilt of leaving her and beating myself up over letting her go.I was dealing with all that fallout, and I hated it. I wanted to get the fuck off this vacation, walk back into my hospital, and bury myself in wor

“Shit.” My heart sank. I was acting like a little bitch. There was no way I could waltz back into Jessa’s life, thinking this second chance was owed to me. I was going about this wrong, and it all made more sense now.“I heard a therapist once say that hurt people hurt people,” I said, staring down at my bourbon. “She’s going to hurt me, or I’m going to hurt her.”“As I said, stop fucking thinking. If you think about all the ways to go about this, you’ll miss this door while it’s open. Appreciate the opportunity to be in each other’s lives again. Let the past stay where it fucking belongs, in the past. Move from there, and you’ll be fine. Be the boy’s doctor; until she permits you to be more to her, be her friend. Don’t be the ex, and don’t you dare try to make a cheap move and be her man.”“Cheap move?”“Yes, it’s cheap because you’re asking her to trust you the way we entitled assholes think we deserve. Getting another shot isn’t owed to you because you were careless the first time.

“Jake and I have a beach home there, and we rarely use it.” She pursed her lips and looked at Jake, who was nodding along with her, “You’re most welcome to it if that helps ease the burden of everything that’s going on.”“I couldn’t,” I said. “I can’t thank you enough for the kind offer, but I really couldn’t.”“Why the hell not?” Jake asked, sitting back and sipping a beer after inhaling his lunch. “We’ve got no use for the place. We always rent it out during fall and winter; what’s one month early? The place is yours for as long as you need it. No strings attached, of course. Use it before the cobwebs take over.”“And don’t say no because you think it’s rude to say yes,” Ash insisted. “We wouldn’t offer if we didn’t want to help make your life easier. You aren’t putting anybody out or anything.”I felt tears pool in my eyes at their generosity, and the relief that washed over me was bigger than I expected. “Okay, yes. I really can’t thank you enough,” I said. I laughed and smiled at

“What are you saying?” I asked, knowing what she was saying but needing to hear it spelled out.“I want to give it a shot and see what’s possible between us.” She turned and looked at where I stood in shock, staring down at the wind blowing through her hair. “Slowly, though. I guess I’m trying to say that I’m sorry I pushed you away so quickly. I just wasn’t expecting you to say anything like you did, and it took me by surprise. It scared me.”“When has the fearless Jessica Stein ever been afraid of anything?” I smiled and felt the barrier drop between us.I stepped closer to her and moved a strand of hair from her neck, letting my fingertips gently caress along her décolletage. I’d give anything to have my lips running along this warmth of her skin, to taste the sweet fragrance of her perfume.Slow the fuck down, Cam.Jessa’s eyes never left mine, and I could see how different a woman she was from when I knew her in college. The woman who stood before me now shook me to my core. I fe