The Other Side of Someday (21 page)

“Baylee?” He cleared his throat glancing down at the tablet he held in his large, muscular hands.

“Declan?” I muttered, my voice rising in pitch. I crossed my legs, trying to warm my body.
Why did they keep these exam rooms so chilly?
“You’re a gynecologist? You said you were a doctor,” I spat.

“A gynecologist
is
a doctor.”

I threw my head back, barking with laughter. The ridiculousness of the situation shouldn’t have surprised me. It was just my luck that my dreamy doctor just so happened to be a gynecologist. But not just any gynecologist. Oh no. Life liked to take Baylee Morgan’s dating fails to the next level. Doctor McDreamy had to be
my
gynecologist.

“I know that, but you made it seem like you were some ER doctor, being on call and all that,” I hissed, flustered.

“It wasn’t my intention to mislead you,” he responded in that same deep, soothing voice. “I am on call several nights a week in case any of our patients go into labor.”

“But…,” I floundered, trying to figure out what to say next. I couldn’t wrap my head around my luck. What were the chances that the guy I was supposed to be going to dinner with tonight would end up being my new “lady parts” doctor? I admit I didn’t exactly do research on any of the doctors at this practice. All I cared about was getting this appointment over as quickly and painlessly as possible so I’d no longer have it hanging over my head.

“I can have one of the other doctors do your checkup.”

“I should hope so.”

Agitated, he stared at me for an embarrassing moment, then quickly retreated from the exam room.

Instead of waiting for another doctor, I hastily dressed, wanting to get out of that office without running into Declan again. As I was darting through the parking lot toward my car, a voice called my name. Stopping, my hand on the door handle, I cursed under my breath.
So close
, I thought, turning to meet Declan’s eyes.

He shifted from foot to foot, running his hands through his hair. I glared at him, waiting for him to finally say whatever was on the tip of his tongue. “So…,” he began, his voice barely audible. “Are we still on for tonight?”

“What?” I shrieked, taken aback. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Nothing’s changed,” he insisted. “Now you know what type of medicine I practice. I’m not your doctor. You’re not my patient. I’ve never seen your medical charts, and have instructed my support staff to shred all your records.”

I shook my head. None of that mattered. I couldn’t date a man who looked at hoo-has all day long. Even if he assured me he could leave the job at the office, I knew from experience that was never the case. After working as an editor of the local newspaper, whenever I read other articles, I always rewrote them in my head to make them more poignant and interesting. How could he not do the same thing?

“
Nice vagina, Baylee, but I’ve seen better.
”

“I don’t think so, Declan.” I opened the door and climbed into my car. “Have a nice day.”

I cranked the engine and sped out of there before he could persuade me to change my mind. I just knew Sebby would get a kick out of this one. Baylee - 0. Men of LA - 2. It seemed the odds of ever dating again were certainly not in my favor.

~~~~~~~~~~

“H
OW
WAS
YOUR
DATE
?” I asked Marcel upon entering Sophia’s condo the following night. I hoped to be able to get the attention off me and my dating disaster from the previous day. I knew I couldn’t avoid sharing what had happened forever, but I wanted at least a few glasses of wine in me before telling everyone that Doctor McDreamy was a gynecologist. I wondered how long it would be until they’d all stop bringing that one up. I was fairly certain this disaster surpassed the Dennis mix-up on the embarrassment scale.

Marcel looked up from the table everyone was gathered around and beamed a brilliant smile at me.

I smirked. “Well, that answers my question.”

“He’s been raving about him all night.” Sophia drapped her arm around his shoulders, batting her eyelashes flirtatiously. “Or at least constantly in the ten minutes he’s been here.” She winked as I took my usual seat on the opposite side of Marcel.

“I need to hear all about this guy!”

“He’s amazing,” he gushed like a teenager with his first crush. “Everything about him is amazing. He took me to a top-of-the-line waterfront restaurant in Marina del Rey.”

“How do you know who’s taking whom out?” I blurted, intrigued.

“I could tell just by looking at him that he’s a topper.”

“A topper?” I furrowed my brow. This lingo was completely foreign to me.

“That’s what I said.” He acted as if this were all common knowledge.

“What’s that?”

There was a brief moment of silence around the table before everyone broke out in laughter. I made a mental note to do some research on gay terminology so I wouldn’t be completely lost during conversations with Marcel.

“What’s everyone laughing about?” Sebby’s voice broke through and we all turned our heads toward the foyer to see him strolling in, carrying a bottle of wine.

“Baylee asked what a topper is,” Marcel responded, still giggling.

Sebby lowered himself into the last empty seat next to me and grinned his sly smile at me. “Think about it.”

I pinched my lips and studied Sebby’s face for a few moments before looking back at Marcel. “You mean…?” I began, putting the pieces together.

“Exactly, Miss Dixie,” he said. “There are some gay men who give, if you know what I mean. Some of us are happy to go either way, but others aren’t. They’re what we refer to as a topper.”

“How can you tell?”

“Sometimes it’s hard,” he admitted. “But Nicholas made it pretty clear from the very beginning.
He
asked me out.
He
picked me up.
He
initiated the goodnight kiss, which led to a goodnight… Well, use your imagination.” He winked. The table erupted in cheers and whistles as Marcel fanned himself. “Plus, he came right out and told me.”

“You could have just said that from the beginning,” I chastised.

“I know.” He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close. “But I love watching you squirm, Miss Dixie.”

I pushed away from him, laughing.

“So when are you seeing each other again?” Lacey asked.

“When
haven’t
we seen each other?” He popped a slice of cheese into his mouth.

“Apparently, he’s been coming by Marcel’s condo every night after his shift at the bar,” Sophia announced.

“What can I say?” He shrugged, a devilish grin on his face. “My man is insatiable.”

“And what about
your
date, Baylee?” Sophia asked. All eyes were on me in an instant, including Sebby’s.

“It’s not going anywhere, so why even talk about it?” Raising my wine glass to my lips, I took a sip of the full-bodied Cabernet.

“Who cares where it’s going?!” Cora exclaimed, leaning toward me. “We still need details on Doctor McDreamy. Where did he take you?”

Swallowing hard, I mumbled, “Nowhere.”

“Staying in on your first date?” Marcel elbowed me. “You hussy, you!”

“That’s not it.” I drew in a long breath, meeting the eager eyes of everyone around the table. “He didn’t take me anywhere because the date never happened,” I focused my eyes on the wine glass in front of me.

“What do you mean?” Sebby interjected. “I asked you this morning how last night was and you said it was good.”

“Yes,” I answered. “You asked me about my
night
…not about my
date
. The devil is in the details.”

“So what happened?” he pushed. “How did you go from looking forward to your date to not going in just a few hours?”

“Nothing.” I fidgeted with the stem of my glass. “It’s not important, so let’s just drop it and start playing.” I grabbed the box of cards off the table and opened it.

“I don’t think so!” Marcel exclaimed. “There’s a story here, and from the rate at which your cheeks are turning red, I’d say it’s probably a pretty good one, so let’s hear it.”

I continued sifting through the cards, ignoring Marcel.

“You know damn well I’m not going to stop hounding you until you tell us what happened, so just save yourself the hassle and fess up, girlfriend.”

Sighing, I reached for the bottle of wine on the table and refilled my glass. “Yesterday, I had a doctor’s appointment,” I said once I had taken a large gulp of wine. “It was
that
appointment.” I raised my eyebrows as the table let out a collective breath of acknowledgment. “As I was sitting there in a thin paper gown, looking at all the illustrations of vaginas and whatnot, the door opened and in walked my doctor, except it was
my
doctor.” I raised my eyebrows again, hoping they’d understand so I didn’t have to explain. I was met with a mixture of confused and amused expressions.

“What do you mean?” Lacey asked with a smirk. She clearly knew what I meant, but wanted confirmation.

“Doctor McDreamy is a gynecologist, but not just any gynecologist.” I buried my head in my hands, my ears burning as I relived that embarrassing moment. “He was supposed to be
my
gynecologist,” I said in a muffled voice, the entire table erupting in laughter. “Go ahead. Laugh at my expense.”

Sebby flung his arm around my shoulders, the vibrations of his laughter warming me. “We’re not laughing at you, Baylee,” he insisted. “More like the situation. It’s kind of funny, don’t you think? You can’t make this shit up.”

“I’m not sure anyone else in LA has as bad luck dating as I do.”

“So you didn’t go out with him just because he’s a gynecologist?” Marcel pushed.

“It was game over once I found that out.”

“He didn’t do the exam though, right?” Cora asked, a horrified look on her innocent face.

“Of course not! I hightailed it out of there. But as I was running to my car, he had the balls to chase after me and see if we were still on for our date.”

“He still wanted to go out with you?” Sebby asked.

I nodded. “I told him no.”

“Why?”

“Because!” I exclaimed. “He’s a gynecologist!”

“So? You were all hot to go out with him when he told you he was a doctor. He’s
still
a doctor.”

“Yeah, but…”

“But what?”

“How will I be able to tell the difference between foreplay and an exam?!” I shouted, bolting up from my chair.

The room was silent as everyone stared at me. As if on cue, they all erupted in laughter, tears streaming down some of their faces. Sebby pulled me back into my chair, wrapping his arm around me once more. “Point taken, Baylee. Point taken.”

“Foreplay or an exam,” Marcel said through his laughs, barely able to even get the words out. “You’re something else, Miss Dixie.”

Once the laughter died down and the conversation had turned to other people’s love interests, Cora shot up. “Wait! I have an idea!” Her eyes turned to me. She had a devious grin that I knew meant she was planning something I wouldn’t like.

“What?” I asked cautiously.

“There’s this guy at one of the charities I volunteer at. A freelance photographer. He’s the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome.”

“Why am I worried about where this is going?”

“I’m going to set you guys up!”

“Why don’t
you
go out with him?” I glared at her.

“I don’t like to mix business with pleasure. You’d be perfect for each other.”

“What makes you think that?”

She shrugged. “It’s just a feeling I get. He’s an artsy type like you. He loves classic movies. I just think you’d have a lot in common. And if you don’t, at least you get a free meal and some good wine out of it.”

“I don’t think so.” I waved her off. “After my last two failed attempts at dating here in LA, I’m going to take some me time. Maybe work some more on my mother’s list.”

“Oh, come on, Baylee,” Cora pouted. “Just one date. Don’t you want to be able to rub it in your ex-husband’s face that you’ve moved on and have some hot new beau with six pack abs and a panty-dropping smile?” She grinned. “Because he has all of those qualities.”

Pinching my lips, I considered her offer. Granted, I wasn’t ready to have another failed date, but maybe it would be different this time since it was someone Cora knew. If there ended up being something wrong with him, at least I would have her to blame. And I would certainly pay to see the look on Will’s face when he found out I was dating a man with a physique he could only dream about having. Superficial? Perhaps, but he deserved it.

Letting out a long breath as I stared around the table, everyone eager to hear my response, I met Sebby’s eyes.

“Fine,” I agreed, my gaze still locked on Sebby’s. “Set it up. Just let me know when and where.”

C
HAPTER
S
IXTEEN

“Y
OU
’
RE
MAKING
AN
ABSOLUTE
mess!” Sebby bellowed, throwing a larger helping of flour at me than I had just flung at him.

Laughing, I glanced around my condo on Sunday afternoon a week later, the kitchen covered with flour. These were the moments I had begun to look forward to and crave. It was almost like déjà vu, as if we had done this exact thing together at some point in a former life. Sport and Gidget had lost interest in begging for table scraps and had assumed their regular positions on my couch. Every so often, a seagull would land on the railing of my balcony, sending both dogs into a barking frenzy. Regardless of their noise, the seagull stayed in its spot, most likely for the sole purpose of trying to irritate both dogs even more.

Sebby and I had been spending more and more time together as the weeks wore on. Not only had we met for coffee every morning, as had become tradition, but I could count on him barging into my condo nearly every day, wanting to do something, whether it be taking me to his favorite Thai, Mexican, or sushi place in town, or helping me check yet another item off my mother’s list. Today was no different. He had appeared at my door with a bag full of flour, yeast, homemade pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, and a bunch of other ingredients he deemed necessary for the task at hand.