by Marie James
I don’t bother telling him that I don’t think she wants me to go to her house this evening, but it’s not like her rejection will stop me.
“Just be careful. If she’s someone you can see a future with, tread lightly.” Griffin sighs and takes a step back. “Ivy was worried about her.”
“So your girlfriend sent you to interrogate me?”
I smile, and so does he. “Wait until love knocks you on your ass. You’ll do anything to make her happy.”
“Even giving your oldest friend a hard time?”
“Even that.”
“I can’t wait, man.” I clap him on the shoulder and head toward my house.
Once inside, I head straight up the stairs and grab my cell phone from its charging station and shoot Camryn a text. I’ve had her number since I met Charli at the mall, but I haven’t been in a place where I felt like I had a right to use it. She spent the night in my arms nearly naked, so I figure it at least gives me the right to send a text.
Me: What do you want for dinner?
Cam: Who is this?
Me: Your knight in shining armor.
Cam: Good thing I’ve never had any desires of being rescued.
I laugh at her last text because that fits Camryn to a T. She’s too strong and independent to need anyone. She forges her own destiny. I both love and hate that about her.
Me: So you don’t need me? You said you needed me last night.
The memory of those words makes my cock jerk in my jeans
Cam: Who is this?
Me: *narrows eyes.
Cam: Thanks for the offer, but I don’t need you to bring me dinner.
Me: You’ve already eaten?
The dots appear and disappear before they stop altogether.
Me: I’m coming over regardless.
I get no response by the time I get out of the shower, but I’m not deterred.
Me: I hope you like burgers and fries.
I fire off the last text before leaving the house. By the time I get to the burger joint and place the order, she still hasn’t responded. I take her lack of response as permission to show up, so that’s exactly what I do.
She’s trying to hide a smile when she opens the door, and I lift the bag of food in front of her.
“Samson,” she groans when I walk past her and head to the kitchen. “You shouldn’t be here.”
After placing the bag on the counter, I turn to argue with her, but her proximity only leaves one thing undone. When I pull her to my chest and press my lips against hers, she stops complaining.
Surprisingly enough, she even returns the kiss for a few seconds before pushing me away. It’s enough to work with for now.
“Hey,” I say down at her, not yet willing to release her completely.
“Why are you here?” Her throat works on a swallow just before her tongue skates across her lips.
“Tell me I didn’t ruin anything because I took things too far last night.”
“Samson,” she groans, pushing against my chest again.
Releasing her, I’m thankful she only takes a few steps back instead of retreating clear across the room.
“I don’t want you to regr—”
“I threw myself at you. I can’t really regret doing something I wanted, something I begged for.” Her cheeks pink, but when I reach out to touch her cheek, she turns her head so I can’t touch her. “And I apologize for passing out before I returned the favor.”
My dick thickens at the anticipation of her offering to do it now.
“But if you’re here to get that, you’re gonna be disappointed.”
I’m not exactly crushed at her words, but I can’t lie and say that I’m not a little crestfallen.
“I’m not here to get my dick sucked,” I assure her.
“Well, that’s a good thing,” Charli says as she comes into the room. “Because we have a strict no men in the apartment rule.”
“Really?” I ask before digging through the bag. “Even if the man brings dinner for everyone?”
Charli’s smile widens when I pull out the extra burger and fries I grabbed while at the restaurant.
“I guess we can break the rules this time.” She takes the food before opening up the cabinet and grabbing three plates. Then, she opens the fridge, bending down to look inside before lifting her head up above the door. “Do you want regular ketchup or the spicy kind?”
“He’s not staying,” Camryn mutters to her friend, but even by the tone of her voice, she seems to know she’s on the losing end of the battle.
“Spicy,” I tell her before taking the bag and unloading the other burgers on to the plates.
“Here you go.” Charli hands over the ketchup as I hand her the plate with her food.
We trade, passing the spicy ketchup between the two of us.
“Cam likes regular ketchup,” Charli says seconds before I squirt some of the other kind beside her fries.
“Good to know.” After her plate is ready, I turn to hand it to her. “Take it, babe.”
“Aww,” Charli says around a bite of fries. “You guys are already using pet names? I love it.”
Cam rolls her eyes as she takes the plate, and I move fast enough to sit right beside her on the couch while Charli sits in the recliner.
“You guys have a lot of freaky sex planned for tonight?”
Cam coughs, choking on a bite of her food at her friend’s antics before glaring at her. “I’m not sleeping with Samson.”
“Again?” Charli clarifies.
“We haven’t had sex,” Cam hisses at her best friend.
“Yet,” Charli eludes.
“I’m just here to hang out, eat dinner, and maybe watch a movie,” I cut in before Camryn says never in response to Charli’s prying.
“Dinner and a movie?” Charli grins in our direction. “You better scoop this guy up before someone else does.”
Camryn mumbles something that can’t be deciphered around a huge bite of burger, but she continues to give her friend the stink eye. When she’s done, Charli stands from the recliner and graciously offers to dispose of mine and Camryn’s dishes.
“You cook, I do dishes,” she says before disappearing into the kitchen.
“And by doing dishes, she means put them in the sink,” Camryn whispers.
And sure enough, Charli is only in the kitchen for a few seconds before coming back and letting us know she’s getting ready for work.
“If you really don’t want me here…” I let my words trail off.
“I can’t really kick you out after you fed me, can I?”
“I mean, you could, but it would be incredibly rude.” I wink at her, and she rolls her eyes once again.
“Wouldn’t want to be rude, now would I?”
“What would your parents think?”
She laughs at this before picking up the remote and pointing at the TV. “I hope you don’t mind home renovation shows.”
I don’t give her my opinion one way or the other because I know I won’t pay attention even if she picked my favorite movie. Focusing on anything other than her when she’s near is impossible.
Charli leaves half an hour before eight, and Camryn and I have sat through two episodes of Beach House Restorations. When she yawns, I pull her closer to me and grin like an idiot when without argument, she settles against my chest.
By the end of the fourth episode, she’s completely relaxed and breathing rhythmically, and like the creep that I am, I don’t bother waking her. I sit on the sofa with her tucked against me and watch stupid beach house shows until Netflix begins to judge me by popping up the ‘Are you still watching’ message. It may seem lame, but it’s honestly the most fun I’ve had in a very long time.
Chapter 20
Camryn
Although jostled as I’m lifted from the sofa, I don’t even bother to open my eyes. The masculine scent clinging to Samson’s t-shirt tells me that I’m safe. My eyes do flutter when I’m lowered into my bed, but I’m
too tired to hold them open.
“Shh, baby. Get some sleep,” he whispers as his lips brush mine.
When I wake by the sound of my cell phone alarm the next morning, he’s gone.
***
“I told you it was a bad idea,” I mutter to Charli as she glances down the hall for the millionth time in the last thirty minutes. “He’s probably avoiding you.”
“What are you talking about?”
She’s about as convincing as a dog drooling while watching its owners eat a juicy cheeseburger.
“You got off shift half an hour ago. Go home.”
With a final look up and down the halls, Charli sighs and leaves me standing at the nurses’ station. She may want to see Dr. Hunter, but I’m the unlucky one who has to work with him today. I imagine she doesn’t even care about the position she’s put me in.
“Dr. Davison,” my mentor says less than two minutes after Charli walks off. Just as I suspected, he was waiting for her to leave before showing his face.
Maybe he should’ve thought about the consequences before he had sex with one of his students.
“Dr. Hunter,” I reply, praying that he doesn’t want to talk about his presence in my apartment yesterday morning.
“Can we umm—” His large hand grips at the back of his neck before he angles his head toward a corner of the floor that isn’t occupied by anyone else.
Against my better judgment, I follow him. Acting insubordinate in front of others is something I’d never do even though I want to run for the hills and never see this man again.
“So,” he clears his throat, and it’s easy to tell he’s at least as uncomfortable as I am, if not more. “About yesterday.”
“Please don’t,” I warn.
“We need to talk about what happened.”
“Nothing happened.”
“I just want you to know, I’ve never done that before. Getting involved with residents is messy and—”
I hold my hands up, thankful that he stops speaking, but also hoping that he doesn’t see it as disrespect.
“Nothing happened.” I give him a look that I hope translates into please drop it. “I have to make rounds.”
“Camryn.” He grabs my arms. The grip on my forearm isn’t painful, but it’s the second time in less than two months that he’s put his hands on me. Something is going on with him, but I’m too much of a coward to ask. This man isn’t my friend, and if he wants to ruin his career, that’s fine, but when he drags me into it, that’s when I’m given the freedom to speak freely.
“Don’t touch me.”
He pulls his hand back like I’ve burned him. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Listen,” I step closer to him, “I respect you as a mentor, and my opinions on what happened between you and Charli have absolutely no bearing on anything but bringing me into this is unacceptable. On the one hand, I feel obligated to report what I know to HR because you two are in direct violation of the fraternization policy we’re all held accountable to, but on the other hand, I know what will happen to Charli. It pisses me off that you abused your power—”
“There was no abuse of power between me and Char… between Dr. Burch and me.” His hand hits the back of his neck again. “There was possibly too much tequila—”
“Stop,” I hiss when I think he’s going to begin oversharing. “I just want to work. I don’t want to be in the middle of whatever is going on between you two.”
“Okay.” He nods his head before taking a step back.
One second he’s searching my face, and the next he’s turning back to the nurses’ station.
“We have two planned C-sections this afternoon. Keep an eye on Mrs. Derringer’s blood pressure when she comes in for pre-op. She’s incredibly nervous as she’s never had any type of operation before.”
I nod along as I take notes before he clips out a quick ‘thank you’ before heading toward the doctor’s lounge.
My day is filled with rounds, a quick sandwich at lunchtime, and loads of guilt for speaking to my mentor the way I did this morning. Knowing he’s going to find some way to punish me for the way I treated him earlier, I’m surprised when I get the text reminding me to scrub in for the first C-section of the afternoon.
“You’ll assist on this one,” Dr. Hunter begins as we scrub in side-by-side. “Mrs. Vega has had four prior sections, so I need to keep a close eye on adhesions. Mrs. Derringer, although nervous, told me just moments ago that she’s okay with you performing her surgery.”
With the news, my hands begin to shake.
“Are you sure? She was terrified when she came in for pre-op.”
His hand slides from his side of the sink to mine, but as if remembering his place, he pulls it back before touching me. I’m grateful because it means I won’t have to rescrub.
“Her nervousness shouldn’t be your nervousness. You’re an excellent surgeon, and her case is textbook easy. You’ll both be fine.”
I’m not only feeling confident in my surgical skills by the time we’re dressed and gloved for Mrs. Vega’s surgery, but I’m hopeful that the weirdness between Dr. Hunter and I this morning is gone. We’re both professionals, and it seems we’re mature enough to maintain the status quo. I know Charli is going to be a different story. She was already getting weird this morning as she hung around waiting for him to show up.
With both surgeries over and successful, I make one last round on my patients before heading to the parking lot. Rather than being tired like I normally feel after a shift, I’m energized. Looking down at my phone and checking for messages, I frown when I realize Samson hasn’t called or texted me today. I don’t realize that I wanted him to reach out until my blank screen stares up at me.
“Thinking about calling me?”
I startle at the voice, and my phone falls from my hands.
“Crap,” Samson says as he climbs off his motorcycle. “I hope it’s not broken. I’ll buy you a new one if it is.”
“Otterbox Defender,” I tell him as I pick up my phone and show him that it’s fine. “Doctors drop their phones a lot.”
“I thought doctors were supposed to have steady hands.”
I look up at his smiling face and sparkling eyes. “We do, but we also don’t tend to look where we’re going and run into things all the time. What are you doing here?”
“Thought we could go for a ride.” He points behind him to his bike, but the devious smirk on his sinful lips makes me wonder what kind of other filthy thoughts are running through his head.
“A ride, huh?”
“If you’re not too tired. If you are, I can just follow you over to your apartment.”
“Inviting yourself back to my place? Don’t you think that’s rude?”
“I just want to spend time with you, Cam.”
“Is that so?” I continue to tease him even though I’m ecstatic that he’s here right now.
“Yeah.”
He looks a little sheepish, almost worried that I’m going to turn him down, but I’m sticking to the proclamations I made to myself in the shower yesterday morning. I want to see where things go with him.
“I won’t always have a ton of time to dedicate to you,” I warn. “There are times it’s so busy, I don’t see sunlight for days. There will be times we’ll make plans, and I’ll have to break them because my work comes first.”
“I understand.” He says the words, but I wonder if he actually means them.
There’s a difference in believing what you say and actually being in the frustrating position of working hard to make something happen only to get the call that it will have to be postponed. That very scenario is why after my last boyfriend broke up with me two years ago, I decided against relationships altogether.
“It will require understanding.” I walk closer to him as I slip my cell phone back into my scrub top. “Like superhero level maturity.”
“I can be mature.”
“You sure?” I’m an inch away from
his chest with my head tilted up.
“Promise,” he vows before his mouth lowers to mine.
When the sweet kiss breaks too soon, I take a step back, excited at how he seems reluctant to let me go.
“You really want to see where this goes?” His eyes dart to mine.
“I think I do,” I confess. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
That wicked grin tugs up the corner of his mouth. “Baby, I’ve been waiting for you my entire life.”
Chapter 21
Samson
She wants to see where things go? Have I died and gone to heaven? How is it possible the woman of my dreams is actually standing in front of me and willingly giving me a chance?
“Is this some sort of trick?” I ask because my luck is usually never this good.
“I don’t play games, Samson.”
I can’t tell if it’s regret with agreeing to date me or if she’s already having second thoughts, but her eyes dim. Refusing to let her get lost in her own head, I reach for her hand and tug the strap of her bag off her shoulder.
“Let’s get this in your car and go for that ride.”
When her headlights flash, indicating the doors are unlocked, I toss her bag in the passenger seat before closing it. She makes sure it’s locked as I walk toward my bike. Once I’m situated and the kickstand is up, she climbs on the back with no need for direction.
“You’ve ridden before?”
“Once or twice.”
Suddenly, I’m jealous of the men before me that have had this gorgeous woman at their backs, but when she leans against me and wraps her slender arms almost all the way around my waist, I forget about everyone but us.
Her grip tightens when we coast out of the parking lot, and she squeals in delight when I’m on the edge of town and hit the throttle to open the bike up on the highway. As much as I’d love to ride all night with the heat of her breasts on my back, I’m dying to look into her eyes and press my mouth against hers again.
“I didn’t even know this place was here,” she says in awe as she looks up at the flashing diner sign. “Is the food any good?”
“They have the best waffles,” I assure her as I clasp her hand and for the first time ever walk with Camryn Davison into a restaurant as a couple.