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When Thomas woke from his nap, the gloomy afternoon he’d fallen asleep to had darkened to pitch. No stars twinkled in the sky and the only light appeared to be from the parking lot down below.
Still overcast and still bitter cold.
But he didn’t care about the outside weather, now that he’d found a warm, safe place to sleep. He relished the quiet of his room late at night and getting the best rest he had for the past month.
After he stuffed his face at Main Street and ordered a couple of sandwiches to go, he took his chances that the Graff would have a room he could stay in long-term or at least a few nights until he figured things out.
His agency representative arranged a room for him to stay at the Graff for the duration of his contract and gave him the suite at a discounted rate. There he had a small refrigerator, microwave, and coffeemaker along with a comfortable queen-sized bed, TV, and a perfect view of Copper Mountains.
Once he had his bags inside the door, he stripped, tossing his work clothes in the corner and took the longest, hottest shower he could tolerate.
Right before his body gave in to exhaustion, he took his daily medications then crawled into bed wearing nothing but a smile and immediately drifted off to sleep.
The moonlight shone through the windows, a brief pause in the darkness before the clouds hid the light again.
The soft flannel sheets of the bed slid against his aching muscles and beaten body. He’d been so wiped out, he’d slept in one position the entire time, but it had been worth it. His fatigue had finally loosened its grip on him and he felt revived and rested. Sucking in a deep, easy breath, he relished the fact he didn’t have to reach for his inhaler upon waking up or that no shortness of breath woke him.
Grabbing his watch, he pushed the buttons. “Two-thirty. Swing shifts suck.”
He’d been out a good ten hours, but plenty of time to get up, work out, then get another nap before going in at noon.
Nothing like some good sleep. Lying in the quiet night, he absorbed the room. The subtle smell of the citrus and sandalwood scented body soap he used before he came to bed. The low hum of the hotel bedside clock.
When working swing shifts and noon to midnight, this had been one of his favorite times of the day when he’d been with his previous girlfriend. He loved it when he’d come home from a shift and she’d decided to stay the night. He’d quickly shower then wake her with gentle kisses. Seduce her with his tongue until she cried out her joy.
He started tenting the sheets thinking about doing the same to Lucy.
Pushing the sheets away, he took himself in his hand and slid up and down his shaft, as he imagined how she tasted. How she’d react to his touch. Her mahogany red hair cascading around her as he worked down her body, tickling her peaked nipples with his tongue before feasting on her most tender flesh, bringing her to climax. Her hands in his hair as he ate her, hearing her moan his name.
Within minutes he’d taken care of his business and relished the idea doing the same for her. Not that it would happen.
After her joy wiped away with the mention of his friend’s name, any shot he had with Dr. Lucy Davidson was out the window.
Rationally, he should be grateful for the loss. You’re leaving in six weeks. Why would you start anything up?
But Lucy Davidson more than piqued his interest and his emotional brain couldn’t think of a better way to spend his days in Marietta than getting to know her better.
Slowly, he got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Flipping on the light, he shielded his face until his eyes adjusted. His scars were the first thing that came into focus. The slashes from the knife. The incisions where they tried to repair the damage to his lung. The lateral scar across his deltoid from the surgery to fix his injured shoulder. The circular scars where the chest tubes had been inserted after his punctured lung collapsed.
On the counter, the inhalers he couldn’t live without anymore.
He hated this. Hated the inhalers. Hated not having fully recovered from his wounds. He hated that when he ran it took him longer to build his speed and regain his breath than it ever did before the attack. His left shoulder ached most of the time and his general endurance had never fully rebounded.
The obvious scars, he didn’t care about since everyone had some. No, what wore down his pride had been the long lasting results that decreased his ability to do the job he’d spent so much time training for. ER physician.
He loved the buzz of a busy level one trauma unit. The unknown chaos that could walk through the doors at any second. The ability to change a person’s life for the better. How a sixteen-hour shift would roll by in the blink of an eye.
Not anymore. He had trouble with the pace. The constant bombardment of respiratory illness floated through him. He’d never fully recovered before getting another one. The long, brutal hours.
Now, he had to work the in smaller hospitals so he could keep up appearances and his mental skills without beating himself up every shift.
He pounded his fist on the counter.
I just need the weather to get better, some good exercise and I’ll be fine. I can go back to level one after a few months and get away from Marietta.
Lucy’s sweet smile flashed in his brain, giving him pause.
Looking at his wounds again, including the bruised lower lip, he painfully smirked at her stolen glances when he changed his shirt.
Good to know my workouts have paid off.
Staring at his reflection, he paused, taking that nugget of Lucy’s admiration and holding it close to his soul. “You’ll get this done, but it will be harder than you think.”
He showered and dressed in his work-out clothes. He’d hoped the recent self-gratification would take care of his building interest in his colleague, but thinking of her again made his cock twitch.
Looking toward the window and the darkness outside, he rubbed his aching shoulder and ribs, a pang of sadness tickled the back of his throat.
Since he moved too much growing up, he never had a serious girlfriend until college. Even during that time, he’d only been with her two years before he graduated and she left for her military commitment. During the next four years of medical school and three for his ER residency, he’d spent more nights alone than he had with a long-term girlfriend and never had a one-night stand.
He didn’t regret being particular, but he wondered if the constant uncertainty his parents willingly provided because of their careers and self-made chaos had done far more harm than good when it came to him finding his own stability.
More than he cared to count, their fights, their infidelities, their selfishness when it came to their child, played in his head. When he graduated high school, Thomas couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
He spoke to his parents every few weeks, but he hadn’t visited in years because they never felt like home. For far too long, he’d been fine with the constant travel, but almost dying gave him a hard dose of reality. He questioned when the running would stop and if he would ever be comfortable setting down roots.
Yet, in the last place he’d look, he’d found a sliver of hope from a woman he never expected.
Lucy gave him a sense of calm he’d attempted to find for far too long. The idea of staying here with her, for her, should have unnerved him but it didn’t. And that only aggravated him more.
What are you doing? You can’t stay here.
As he tied his shoes, he heard the ding of the elevator followed by a door opening and clicking closed before he opened his. He put his earbuds in, but before he pressed play, the melodious sound of Lucy’s laughter tickled his ears as the subtle flowery citrus fragrance drifted around him.
Geez, my imagination is screwing with me. He had no doubt a good run on the treadmill would help alleviate some of his general frustrations and purge his over imaginative libido. An hour and a half later, he’d completed his 5K and lifted free weights, but the ache continued.
I haven’t been this worked up since high school. He adjusted as he walked back to his room, the subtle flowery scent still lingered in the hall.
Showered up, Thomas threw on his favorite sweatshirt and jeans. He planned to eat the thick turkey sandwiches he brought back from Main Street while finishing his latest book, when he heard footsteps in the hallway.
Other than the front desk staff, he’d seen no one else awake and thought nothing of it, but when someone softly sang the lyrics to the Rascal Flatts song, “I Melt,” Thomas sprang from his chair.
“Lucy?” He opened his door to look around only to catch a familiar redhead turning the corner at the end of the hall. She wore bright pink long-sleeved pajamas and held an ice bucket in her hand.
“Lucy?”
The loud thumping of ice against plastic echoed into the hallway.
He jogged after her, not wanting to shout her name and wake up other guests, especially if it wasn’t her. His heart pounded as he drew closer, hoping he wasn’t wrong.
The ice dropping stopped as he reached the room, but the sweet voice continued to sing along to the song. He stepped in the doorway as she turned around.
The bucket crashed to the floor, sending ice everywhere. She pulled her earbud out. “Oh, my gosh... Thomas?”
Without thought, he knelt and began picking up the escaped cubes. “Sorry, I didn’t want to scare you.”
“What are you doing here?” She crawled around on all fours, reaching under the ice maker for the remaining escapees.
“I’m staying here now.”
“What? Why?”
He couldn’t help but notice the V-necked collar of the pajamas and how much of her perfectly freckled skin he could see. She’d always worn long sleeved shirts with higher collars under her scrubs, which hid her arms and décolleté.
She stood and flipped hair over her shoulder. “Lover’s quarrel?”
“Lucy, come on.” With her hair out of the way, he noticed an irregular line at the base of her neck.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t... well, yes, I did, but I’m sorry for being quick to judgment.” She moved around him, but waited for him to catch up. “What brings you to the Graff?”
“Change of plans since her brother arrived.”
“Oh, right.” She tapped her lip. “That would be awkward.”
He jumped up and walked beside her. “For the best. Jade’s selling the place, anyway. Less for her to have to deal with if I’m not there.”
“True. I hope that goes easily for her.” Lucy let the ice bucket swing casually at her side as neither of them appeared anxious to get back to their rooms. “I’m sorry if I acted weirdly, earlier. At the diner. It simply wasn’t news I expected to hear.”
“About Junior?”
“Yes.”
Relief flooded him. “It’s nothing I’ve kept secretive, me staying with Jade. She told everyone I was coming to help out with the house.”
Not that it mattered now. He mentally shook his head at the amount of money she’d already spent to keep her head above water.
None of it she would get back. Not a penny.
“You mentioned she saved your life.” Lucy rested her hand on his shoulder. “How? And you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
He stopped and took a deep breath, hoping to get the words out in an intelligible way. “Out of control man. He had a beef to pick with me. Attacked me in the parking lot of the ER after a long shift. Knocked me to the ground. He’d already gotten me a few times with a knife. Jade had a gun. Shot him. Killed him.”
The color drained from her face as her eyes widened. “Oh, my gosh, how scary. How awful for both of you.”
Both of you. After all the hell Jade has put you through, you still show her compassion. Lucy constantly amazed him.
“But I’d think you’d know about me helping Jade from the staff.”
“I know a bit, but I’m the boss, remember? I don’t hang around the staff other than at work. I have meetings with the hospital directors.” She stopped and leaned against the wall, facing him. “Though, I have met several of the first responders, paramedics, firemen, that group at Main Street Diner. They are a great bunch of people, but the staff hasn’t been as inviting outside of work, so I’ll know the basics, not the details.”
He leaned against the opposite wall. His hands tucked flush behind him. “The first responders are good people to know.”
“They are great. Gabby, you know, Kyle’s girlfriend, she’s been really nice and welcoming. She’ll be my neighbor when I move in.”
“You have a house? Why are you here?”
“I have a house, but none of my stuff. The snowstorms and some sort of computer glitch have the truck with all my furniture somewhere in Michigan right now so no bed and I’m not sleeping on an inflatable.” She rolled her eyes. “By the time it gets here, it may not matter anyway.”
“Why’s that?” He loved how her hair cascaded about her shoulders like a long winding road, but he wondered about that irregular place on her neck.
That doesn’t look like a birthmark.
He also wondered what sound she’d make if he kissed her there.
She moved a lock of hair to cover her neck, apparently noticing his stare. “I have my six week performance evaluation later today. Hopefully, it’s better than my last one.”
“They weren’t good?” Pulling his head out of the gutter, Thomas’s heart sank remembering Jade’s comments. “I talked to Denver and Evan yesterday morning. The evaluation is painless.”
“Glad to hear it. Yes, they are good people. My evaluations have been mostly positive. That I was solid with my professional and organizational skills. The patient surveys that were completed were overwhelmingly positive and, apparently, people have said good things in town. Anything Carol or Betty hear, it gets back to hospital administrators.”
“Good to know the grapevine is working well.”
She smirked. “Right, but I didn’t score as well with some of the employees.”
“What’s not well?”
“About average for most of them and one you’d think I was the spawn of satan.”
Thomas subtly clenched his teeth together. Jade. “But that’s only one person.”
“True.” Lucy sighed. “Hopefully, I’ve improved on my overall employee satisfaction before they offer me the job permanently.”
“You’re extremely competent. Why is the staff’s input so important?”
“The way it’s been explained to me is if the staff doesn’t like working for me, there’s a higher chance of them quitting. Hiring and firing costs money and the professional pool here isn’t as high as it is in say, Billings or Livingston.”
“Right. They want to keep their staff happy.”
“Yes, and I understand it. Denver or Evan could take over as ER director while they looked for someone else, but they can’t rehire an entire unit. It’s difficult when I can’t seem to connect well with many of them.” Tilting her head, she sucked her bottom lip. “But apparently my ninja skills did make me cooler this morning, although my actions this morning may have me talking to the hospital’s attorney.”
“Why would you need to do that?”
“I hit a patient.”
“You defended yourself,” he answered louder than he intended. Covering his mouth, he lowered his voice. “You defended yourself.”
“Yes, but I’m sure someone will argue that I put myself in that situation and should have expected Junior to be combative. That I could have deescalated the situation. Don’t you love litigious fortune-telling?” She started walking again. The carpeted floor creaked under their feet.
The sadness in her voice bothered him. He hoped Jade’s biting commentary wasn’t enough to keep Lucy from the job she appeared to want.
I need to talk to her. “You want me to say something to Jade?”
“Why would you assume—”
“She’s said a few things. She’s not one of your biggest fans. She thinks she got passed over for the job.” Not that she deserved it by the way she’s acting.
“I can understand why she doesn’t like me. No one wants to feel as though they are being replaced. If she’d talk to me, we could at least work together to better the unit, especially since my predecessor really dropped the ball.” She ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it back into a makeshift ponytail and let it drop.
“Jade’s mentioned that, but has never gone into too much detail.” His fingers itched to run through her hair. Feel the softness, the fire of the red against his skin.
“The man never liked the computer and wanted all his charts printed. He hadn’t done a QA or had someone on his staff do any QA since the last JHCAO inspection.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “It’s a nightmare in this office. I honestly don’t think Evan and Denver understood the extent of the backlog.”
“Lucy, I can help you with all that.”
“No!” Her head popped up, but she swallowed hard. “I mean, thank you. I can do this. It’s what the job is, right? Even Jade would have to admit it’s a lot to take on.”
Until then, the conversation flowed so easily, Thomas walked right by his room and they stopped between doors. “That’s what she said, but between you and me, I don’t think she minded that Dr. McMasters passed her the baton. She’s always argued she never needed a physician looking over her shoulder.”
“I’ve had that talk with PNPs many times, but this isn’t a personal slam. It’s the law and what insurance companies are willing to reimburse for and cover. Besides, you and I have both looked to colleagues for second opinions before. Why should this be any different?”
“When we get or give opinions, we don’t have to have someone else sign off on it.”
“That’s true. I appreciate your gallant offer to speak on my behalf, Thomas.” She rested her hand on his arm for a moment. “The last thing I want to do is get between friends. I can fight my own battles.”
Her polite decline only made him like her more. “No kidding. Junior never saw it coming.”
Leaning toward him, she whispered, “That’s the idea.”
The quiet nestled between them and Thomas realized they stood closer than he ever expected they would.
Wonderfully close.
Dangerously close.
Taking a lock of hair, he ran his finger down its length and dropped it on her shoulder. “Are you always so stealthy?”
“When I need to be.”
I wanna kiss you so bad right now.
Shaking his head, he ran his tongue over the still swollen area. “Still tender.”
“It’s gonna be bruised for a bit, but in three to five days, those sutures can come out.” Lucy gently cupped his chin with her fingers. The warmth of her touch made his skin tingle.
“Am I hurting you?”
“Not at all.” His hand rested on the curve of her hip.
She stepped forward, closing the gap between them. “Make sure to keep taking Tylenol for the first twenty-four hours. Which room is yours?”
She’d rattled her question so quickly, he almost didn’t catch it. Swallowing hard, he replied, “Three eighteen. Yours?”
“Three twenty-seven.”
“Guess this is good—”
“You want some hot chocolate?” she blurted, her face slightly flushed.
His heart sped up. “Now? Don’t you have to go to work in the morning?”
“Yes, but I slept from noon to almost eleven. Worked out and I took another short nap. Woke up about thirty minutes ago. I can’t go back to sleep.” She tapped her watch. “I don’t have to be there until ten. When I do you have to be there?”
“Noon. Answer me something.”
“Of course.”
“If you’re the director, why are you working all these weird hours?” What are you doing? She’s asking you where your room is.
“That’s not what I expected you to ask me right now.” Her gaze lingered on his mouth as she moved her fingers away. “Not at all.”
I hate Junior so much right now.
“What did you expect me to ask you, Dr. Davidson?”
She paused as though she were searching for the perfect words or decided whether she should say anything. “It wasn’t about schedules.”
“What was it about?”
“Hot chocolate.” She sucked on her bottom lip as she rocked sideways. “I do owe you a hot chocolate, right?”
His body hummed with her so near. “You promised Copper Mountain hot chocolate.”
“It’s too early to go to Sage’s.” A sexy smirk spread across her face that made his cock stand at attention. “I have instant hot chocolate powder and some marshmallows. It’s not Copper Mountain chocolate, but maybe consider this as a bonus for being such a good patient?”
It wouldn’t have mattered if she’d offered to serve him hot water in a dirty cup, he would have said yes. He looked down at his old sweatshirt and suddenly became very self-conscious. “Yes, but I need to do something real quick.”
“Of course. Do you want me to come over or you come over there?”
“Either works.”
“Come over.” She pointed. “Three twenty-seven.”
“Give me five minutes.”
