Love Me True (Love Me Book 2)

Chapter 3

Faye was standing on a stool with her head in the washing machine when she sensed a presence behind her. She closed her eyes as she realized who it probably was and that she was not presenting her best side to the world. She had learned a long time ago that scrubs did not do much for the female form.

She slowly pulled herself out of the washing machine and turned to look at Dr. DeGraff, who was standing with his hands in his pockets, watching her without expression.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

Faye gave him her brightest smile. "Nope, not anymore," she said as she held up the shoelace that had been wrapped around the agitator. Her guess was that either Hayes or Alyssa had been washing their shoes and hadn't bothered to tie the laces.

"How are you settling in?" she asked for something to say as she started to throw her load of laundry into the machine. "Did you need the machine?" she asked as an afterthought.

"No." He shook his head. "I'm settling in fine, but I had a question."

She nodded and continued throwing her laundry in without a thought about sorting. She never sorted her clothes, who had the time for that? "Shoot," she said.

"Pardon?" he asked, not getting her meaning.

"Sorry, it's a way of saying 'ask your question'." She blushed. It had been a term her father had used a lot, but hearing it the way he must have heard it made her feel suddenly gauche.

"Is there somebody else that lives here? I saw a young man leaving this morning?"

"I'm sorry." She straightened to look at him with an apologetic smile, she couldn't believe that she had forgotten to mention Hayes and Alyssa. "That was my brother Hayes, he lives here, and my sister Alyssa is here sometimes too when she is on a break from classes. I completely forgot to mention them, probably because I never see them myself. If you would like to leave, I'll give you your money back," she offered, assuming he was displeased by the additional members of the household.

"Why should I want to leave?" he asked, tilting his head as he asked the question. She had a feeling that she was always under examination with him as if she was a patient whose problem he was trying to diagnose.

"Because you wanted privacy," she explained.

"I'm sure it will be fine, but if it becomes a problem, I will let you know." He nodded and then left, it was an abrupt end to an abrupt conversation. Faye tried not to let it bother her as she finished starting her load of laundry. Instead of putting her off his abrupt and blunt manner only drew her curiosity more.

She thought back to Chloe's and Lia's conversation earlier that day at work, remembering how she had hoped to hear more about Dr. DeGraff. They had been talking about Lia's neighbor, Ben, at first, and Faye hadn't been able to control herself when she asked if Chloe had dated him. What man wouldn't want to date Chloe? She was also secretly hoping that the question would lead to Chloe admitting that she had dated or was dating Dr. DeGraff.

Faye was sure that there was something going on between her and Dr. DeGraff, something more than just than just a family friend, and when the conversation had turned to Dr. DeGraff, she had kept her back to them so they wouldn't know she was overly interested as she had listened. She couldn't help but be disappointed when nothing personal about Dr. DeGraff had been said, only that he had brought news of Chloe's father.

She was having a hard time admitting to herself that she was fascinated by the man and that she may even have a crush on him, so there was no way she was going to admit her interest to Chloe and Lia. Especially not Chloe because if she was seeing him it would make everything very awkward.