Romancing Dr. Bailey

A Good Man is Hard to Find

Eli's truck was in the driveway and he was sitting in the front seat. Miranda turned around and saw that her son was asleep and slumped in his booster seat. His head was in the palm of his hand. Occasionally, it slipped off of the side of the seat, stirring him a little. When he slept, he looked just like his father. Tucker used to come home and fall asleep in his car, his elbow on the console in the middle of the front seats, the exact position that their son was in. She got out of the car and walked over to Eli's truck. His head was back against the headrest. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open. Miranda knocked on the window and his head lurched forward. "Oww, shit," Eli said and she laughed. He turned on his truck and rolled down the window. "You scared me," he said sticking his head out of the window. He kissed her cheek. "Hey, Dr. Bailey." She blushed.

"Hello, Nurse Eli," she said as he opened the door and climbed down. He pulled her arms up and put them around his neck and he slid his arms around her waist. She was comfortable. Tuck was awake and was walking toward them.

"Hey, Tuck," Eli said cheerfully and Miranda tried to pull away, but Eli kept her in his grip. "Did you guys have fun at the park?"

"Hi, Eli," Tuck said waving. "Yeah, we did! We had a lot of fun!" He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Mommy, can I go and take a nap?" He said looking at his mother.

She shook her head and held out her house keys. "Go and get some pajamas and a change of clothes, pack up your game and get ready to go." He shrugged his shoulders a couple of times, took the keys and let himself into the house, closing the door behind him. Miranda focused her attention on Eli. When she looked at him, he was already looking at her. "Long day?" She asked stroking his head.

"No. Long night. Can you imagine that I spent all night waiting up for a woman who waited until I was asleep to show up?" Miranda giggled.

"Why didn't you go inside?" She asked curiously. She'd had a key made for him a month ago, not because he was moving in and not to come and go as he saw fit, but for situations like this. He didn't need to be sleeping outside in his truck if he could be inside sleeping on her bed. Miranda shook her head as his shoulders shrugged. "I didn't have that key made for noth—" She didn't finish her sentence because Eli was kissing her and doing it passionately. Miranda was sure that he sensed that tonight they would have sex after a week or so. Remembering that fact, she kissed him back with as much passion as she could muster. She cupped her hands on his face as his hands roamed under her shirt, touching her bare skin.

"Your shirt's a little wet," Eli said when they pulled away to catch their breaths.

"That's what playing basketball will do for you."

"You guys were at the park a long time," he commented with his hands still on her back.

"Well, we played a few games. Then, we went to lunch with a few friends," she said choosing not to mention Ben and their newfound friendship.

"Oh yeah, who'd you go to lunch with?" He asked looking down into her eyes. She reached up and stroked the hair on his chin.

"A girl that Tuck likes who is too old for him. I'll have to have Tucker talk to him about that. And her uncle. He's a friend of Tucker's and, I suppose, Tuck's, too. And, actually, an Anesthesiologist at the hospital. His name is..."

"Don't say..."

"Ben Warren," they said together. Miranda felt his grip loosen considerably, but he didn't drop his hands.

"You know Ben," she said.

"Yeah, I know him," he said kissing her cheek.

Miranda wanted to know more. "How? Why didn't you want it to be him? Did something happen? I mean, obviously something happened. But what?" She spat her questions out.