Chasing Love (Dark Love Series)

Nine Years Ago

Isat in the waiting room, a nervous wreck.

I had heard enough horror stories to know that unprotected sex led to teen pregnancy, and I couldn’t have thought of anything worse at eighteen. After a sleepless night, I decided to bite the bullet and drive to a clinic the next town over so the doctor could prescribe me the pill. Maybe I was jumping the gun. We hadn’t had sex yet, but it was inevitable. He was twenty-five, and anytime I was near him, his cock practically waved hello and invited me over for a nightcap.

“So, Charlotte, how can I help you today?” Dr. Hanson asked.

“I… uh… want to go on the Pill.”

“Charlotte, before we continue, do you have any concerns with my intern sitting in?”

“Uh… no. If it helps the medical community then it’s fine with me.”

He left the room, and I sat there for a few minutes playing with a model of the human body that sat on his desk. As the door opened, I fumbled with the heart which fell to the floor. Surely, I wasn’t the only one who touched this? I reached down to pick it up thinking this couldn’t be any more embarrassing until a hand reached it before mine.

I recognized the hand immediately.

Fuck. Me. Sideways.

I looked up into eyes that belonged to Alex. This wasn’t happening. It had to be a dream.

Wake up, Charlie! For fuck’s sake, wake up!

“Charlotte, this is my intern, Dr. Alex Edwards. Now let’s continue our discussion. Charlotte, are you sexually active?”

I couldn’t have thought of anything worse right now, the temperature rising in the room as sweat broke out beneath my top. There was simply no way out of this. Just answer his questions and get the hell out of there.

“Um, yes… I mean, no… maybe.”

“Perhaps I need to rephrase my question. Have you had sexual intercourse?”

“Yes.”

“More than once?”

“Yes.”

“How many sexual partners have you had?”

I couldn’t look his way. My body had already crawled into a dark hole, my brain just waiting for an opening to follow. “Only one.”

“Will you be continuing to have sexual intercourse with this person?”

“Definitely not.”

“Did you use protection such as condoms?”

The hole was getting darker and darker, and I wanted to climb up and curl into the fetal position. How on earth could I be this unlucky? My eyes shifted toward where he was sitting, and the second I saw the smirk across that smug face, I instantly avert back to the wall.

“Yes, Dr. Hanson.”

“That’s a very responsible attitude, Charlotte. I understand these questions seem personal. However, it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re educated on everything associated with being sexually active.”

Oh, dear God, what the hell was he going to ask me now?

My feet shuffled nervously, and my knees pulled together while I rode this embarrassing moment out. If he asked anything to do with my vagina, I’d be out of there in a flash.

“I’m guessing your intention is to be intimate with a specific person at this stage. Charlotte, how much do you know of their sexual history?” Dr. Hanson questioned, his brow raised.

Oh, how the tables had turned.

Now, I was going to be discussing the questions I had so desperately wanted answers to but had no balls to ask.

“To be honest, I think he’s slept around… a lot,” I answered, staring right at Alex.

His smirk disappeared, and now he looked like he could crawl into that hole with me and die. Although we wouldn’t die in there, we’d be using all our time to procreate and populate the dark hole.

“Is he still behaving this way?” Dr. Hanson asked with concern in his eyes.

“No, he’s with someone long-term.”

“Is he still sexually active with her?”

“I’m not sure, Dr. Hanson. He is a man, after all.” I searched his face, looking for the answer that would reassure me and ease the ache in my gut that appeared anytime I thought of them having sex.

“I strongly suggest you use both condoms and the Pill. Sexually transmitted diseases are easier to catch than you may think.” He scribbled some notes and handed the chart to Alex. “Everything looks fine to me. I’ll leave you with Dr. Edwards to check your blood pressure and write up your prescription. It was nice to meet you, Charlotte.”

He closed the door. I had no choice but to deal with the most embarrassing situation in my entire life, worse than the time my dress accidentally flew up in first grade, and everyone saw my Strawberry Shortcake underwear.

Alex grinned as he placed the blood pressure machine around my arm. “So, I’m a player, am I?”

“More like a manwhore. I hate you right now… you know that, right?”

“Aww, no you don’t. You love me right now. Otherwise, why would you be here getting a prescription for the Pill in case your sexual activity picks up?”

I shook my head, covering my face with my hands. “You’re a jerk.”

He removed the blood pressure machine and wrote something on his chart. Placing it down on the table, he wheeled his chair over, so he was right in front of me.

“Since when do you work here? I thought you just interned at the hospital?”

“They were short-staffed…” He paused before grabbing a lock of my hair and pushing it behind my ear. “So, tell me, Charlotte, are we doing this?”

“This?”

I could see he was trying to find the right words until he finally responded, “You came here today to make sure you were protected. That we are protected.”

“I just wanted to make sure, you know… just in case.”

Alex leaned over my shoulder and turned the lock on the door. He pulled himself back and placed his lips on my mine, hungry for the very reason I was there.

Surely, this was fate, right?

Following my instincts and ending up here of all places?

“I’ve never wanted anything more, Charlotte. You have to believe me.”

I looked into his eyes, those pools of emerald green pleading with me to understand that his desire drove him to this insanity that was becoming us. I placed my arms around his neck and pulled him into me, hoping this gave him the reassurance he needed. “I believe you. And anyway, if it wasn’t your words that told me, it’s the general saluting me right now.”

He placed his forehead against mine. “You’re crazy.”

“Insane is the word you are looking for,” I corrected.

Laughing, he stood and unlocked the door. I followed his lead before he turned around and ripped the paper off the pad.

“Here you go, Miss Mason. The reason you came. Hope you have fun,” he teased.

“Thank you, Dr. Edwards. I’m sure the pleasure won’t be all mine.”

And with that, I walked out, accompanied by the swarm of butterflies which formed in my stomach, making it impossible to hide the huge grin on my face.