by Jaci Burton
He rolled over onto his back, hoping like hell he hadn’t broken anything important, like his pitching arm.
“Hey, dumbass, you hurt?”
He blinked and saw Barrett standing over him. At least he thought it was Barrett.
“Don’t know.”
“Shit.” Barrett held out his hand. “Come on, let’s get you up and check the damage.”
He reached out and Barrett hauled him to his feet.
“Oh, fuck.” He dropped like a rock back to the ground, dizziness making him feel like he was going to barf up the contents of that amazing dinner he’d just eaten.
“Uh-oh. That’s not good,” Grant said, crouching down beside him. “Did you hit your head?”
“I don’t know. Maybe, when I hit the ground.”
By then Katrina and Anya were out there surrounding him.
“What happened?” Katrina asked.
“He can’t run for shit,” Barrett said. “That’s why he plays baseball.”
He wanted to say something sarcastic back to his brother, but his head had started to pound. And then everyone started talking at once, which only made his head hurt worse.
“He needs to go to the ER.”
That got his attention. He looked up at Katrina. “No, I don’t. I’m fine.”
“You are not fine. You hit your head. You’re dizzy.”
That much was true. But the last thing he wanted to do was go to the hospital. “I’m fine.”
“I think Katrina’s right,” Grant said. “Come on, Barrett. Let’s pull him up and we’ll take a drive to the ER.”
He felt hands grab him under his arms, then he was lifted. And then he got the spins again. And felt like throwing up.
Not good.
“I feel a lot better when I’m sitting down.”
“Which is why we’re taking you to the hospital. Moron.”
If he didn’t feel like shit, he’d take a swing at Barrett for calling him moron. But right now he couldn’t tell which one was Grant and which one was Barrett.
“Can I go with you?” Leo asked.
“I don’t think so,” Grant said. “You should stay here and do your homework. I’ll be sure to let you know how he is.”
“I’m fine.” He needed to expand his vocabulary. Soon.
His brothers managed to walk him out front and shove him in the backseat of one of Grant’s cars.
“Call me,” Katrina said before kissing Grant. “I want to know what the doctors say.”
“They’ll say he can’t run for shit,” Barrett said with a grin before climbing into the front seat.
Tucker just wanted to lie down and take a nap. He didn’t want to go to the ER.
“Which one did you go to last time you got hurt?” Grant asked.
“Mercy General. So don’t take me there.”
“Why not?”
“Aubry Ross works there.”
“Who’s Aubry Ross?”
His stomach hurt. He hoped he didn’t throw up in Grant’s car. “The daughter of the team owner. She’s a doctor.”
Grant looked at Barrett, then grinned. “So, Mercy General it is, then.”
Barrett nodded. “Yup.”
“I hate you both right now.”
Grant started up the car and pulled down the driveway. “We know.”
WHEN AUBRY GRABBED THE CHART AND SAW TUCKER’S name on it, she rolled her eyes.
“Really?”
Marie nodded. “Yes, really. He’s in room eleven. With his two brothers. Who, I might add, are just as good-looking as he is. The Cassidys win the hot and sexy gene pool.”
She shook her head and, for a second, thought about palming Tucker off on Katie. But he was next up so she might as well do her job. And, she had to admit, she was curious.
She walked down the hall and entered the room. Tucker was lying in bed, his eyes closed. The two other guys, who were in there watching TV, stood when she came in.
Marie was right. One was tall and hot and oh dear God good-looking, with dark hair and gray eyes that pinned her with a look of concern. The other was all hard muscle and angled curves, and looked a lot more like Tucker with jet-black hair. Except his eye color was different. More blue mixed with the green. And he didn’t wear glasses.
“Cassidys, I presume?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Grant, and this is Barrett.”
“I’m Dr. Aubry Ross.”
Tucker opened his eyes and smiled. “Hey.”
She walked around to the bed. “Hey yourself. What did you do this time?”
“Tripped over a bunch of rocks in Grant’s backyard and fell.”
“And hit his head,” Grant added. “I think he might have gone lights out for a few seconds. Which is why we brought him in.”
“So I see on his chart. Let’s sit you up, Tucker.” She pressed the button that pulled the bed to a full sitting position, laid the chart down and put on a pair of exam gloves to feel around on his head. “No cuts, but you have a hell of a knot on the back of your head.”
“Yeah, so I felt.”
“Any headache, dizziness, or nausea?”
He paused for a second, until she pinned him with a look.
“Okay, yes to all three.”
“It’s probably a concussion. We’ll want an X-ray and probably a CT scan to rule out anything more serious.”
“Sounds fun.”
“I’ll get those tests ordered, and then I’ll be back to discuss the results with you. Might as well get comfortable. And guys, don’t let him nap, okay?”
“We’re very good at keeping him awake, Doc,” Barrett said.
“Good. You do that.”
After Aubry left the room, Tucker lay back down. His headache had lessened to a dull pounding. He’d asked the nurse for some aspirin, but she wouldn’t give him any until the doctor examined him and made a diagnosis, which really sucked. All he needed was something for his damn headache.
He was fine. This was stupid.
“Your doc is hot,” Barrett said. “Are you dating her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because . . . I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
Grant stood, stretched, then leaned his back against the wall. “How is it complicated? Did you ask her out?”
“Sort of.”
His lips ticked up. “So, she turned you down?”
“I’m disappointed in your lack of game, Bro,” Barrett said. “Maybe I should give it a try.”
This was making his headache worse. “Give it your best shot. I’m going to take a nap.”
“I don’t think so. Doc said no naps for you,” Grant said. He grabbed the TV remote. “Let’s find the sports channel on this TV and see if we can find some shitty baseball game while we wait for them to grab you for your tests.”
He should have stayed home today. Then he could be sitting on his sofa watching TV—without his brothers, and without a goddamn headache.
But on the up side, at least he was seeing Aubry today, though not the way he’d wanted to.
AFTER RETRIEVING THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM Tucker’s X-rays and CT scan, she reviewed them and made her way back to his exam room. It was quiet in the ER tonight and nothing epic was going on. For that she was grateful.
She opened the door to find all of them watching a baseball game on TV.
They all stared at her. She saw genuine concern in the eyes of Tucker’s brothers. It warmed her.
“You have a concussion, Tucker. Your X-rays and CT scan are clear, though.”
“Good to know. Can I have some aspirin, now?”
She nodded. “Of course. I’ll make sure they give you some before you leave. They’ll also print out some post-release instructions for you. I’d really like to not see you back here again, Tucker.”
He gave her a look. “I didn’t do this on purpose. This was totally Grant’s fault.”
“Hey. How was it my fault? You’re the one who didn’t pay attention a
nd fell over the big-ass rocks that, by the way, anyone with two eyes could see. You should have been able to spot that pile even without your glasses on.”
She looked at Barrett, who nodded and said, “This is true. Big-ass rocks.”
She shook her head. “Either way, this is three times now that I’ve had to treat you.”
Grant frowned. “Three times? You were here another time besides the stitches?”
Tucker scratched the side of his nose. “No. Just that one time.”
Aubry realized as soon as she’d said it, then saw the pleading look in Tucker’s eyes and knew he really didn’t want his brothers to know about that event that occurred in the wine cellar of her father’s house. She couldn’t blame him for that.
“My mistake. Twice. I’ll get your discharge on file and the nurse will provide you with instructions.”
“Hey . . . Aubry . . .”
She stopped. “Yes?”
He gave a look to his brothers.
“Uh, I’d really like some coffee,” Grant said.
“Not me. I’m good right here.”
Shaking his head, Grant grabbed Barrett by his shirt. “Coffee, Barrett. Now.”
“I miss all the juicy stuff.”
“Thanks for everything, Doc,” Grant said as they left the room.
“You’re welcome.”
They closed the door, leaving Aubry alone with Tucker.
“Is there something you want to discuss?”
“Yeah. First, thanks for not mentioning the first time we met.”
She laid the chart on the table next to his bed. “I can understand you not wanting your brothers to know about that. Besides, I promised you I wouldn’t ever tell anyone about that. I’m sorry for the slip.”
“Not a problem. It’s just that . . . you don’t have any brothers or sisters, do you?”
“No. But I still understand. It wasn’t your finest moment. If they knew, they’d never let you live it down.”
“Understatement.”
She paused, waiting, wishing she could make him feel better. She knew his head was fuzzy and likely hurting—bad. “Is there anything else? You really should get some rest.”
He looked up at her. “Yeah. There is something else. Can I get your phone number? I’d like to not come here again as a way to see you.”
She laughed. “I think we went through this before. There are so many reasons why the two of us shouldn’t see each other—either professionally or personally. One, because you have to stop getting hurt. Two, because I lead a very busy life.”
“So do I. Which doesn’t mean you never have any downtime. You should get out and have some fun. You are allowed to do that, aren’t you?”
“On occasion. But not often.”
“So on the ‘occasion’ that we both have, I’d like to take you out. At least to thank you for being so concerned about the well-being of my testicles.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked out quite that way before.”
He grinned. “I’m nothing if not unique, Doc. So is that a yes?” He pulled out his phone.
She sighed. “I have a terrible feeling if I say no that you’re going to end up in my ER again.”
“I’ll take a pity yes for now. And then I’ll convince you I’m worth it.”
She gave him her number and he entered it in his phone. Then he gave her his number. “So you don’t think I’m some random spammer when I call you.”
“Okay. Now that we’ve done that, I need to explain your aftercare, which I want you to take seriously.”
She told him everything he needed to know about his concussion. “We’ll get you a printout before you leave.”
“I’m due to pitch in three days, Doc.”
“You need to take that up with your team physician. I’d like him to examine you and he can assess your readiness to pitch. You might have to sit out a game.”
He heaved a big sigh. “That’s not what I want to hear.”
“I’m sorry, but the last thing you need is to get dizzy and drop to the ground while you’re on the mound. Your health is the most important thing.”
He looked down at the paper she gave him. She knew he was disappointed, so she reached down and grasped his wrist.
“Plus, it looks bad on TV.”
He laughed and looked up at her. “Yeah. I get it. I’ll talk to Phil and make sure he knows what went down.”
“Make sure that you do, because I’ll be talking to him as well.”
“Damn. Okay.”
She started to pull away, but he grasped her hand.
“Aubry.”
“Yes?”
“Thanks. I’m glad you were here tonight. It was good to see you again.”
A flood of warmth enveloped her. There was something about this man that called to her, that made her feel things she had no right to feel about anyone. Not right now, not when her work was so critical. Distractions could be bad.
And a baseball player, of all things . . .
“I’m glad I was here to help you.”
“I’m not talking about the medical stuff, though you do make me feel better. You make me feel . . . a lot of things.”
She shuddered in a breath when he tugged on her hand, drawing her closer.
This was all kinds of wrong, but as she leaned over him, she couldn’t resist the pull of attraction. And when he cupped the back of her neck, she wanted nothing more than to feel his lips on hers.
Until the door opened. She pulled back so fast she nearly lost her balance.
“So what did we miss?” Barrett asked, holding a cup of coffee in his hand as he rounded the end of the bed. “Anything good?”
Tucker glared at his brother. “No.”
“Anyway, I’ll be sure you get that list of discharge instructions, Tucker,” she said, trying to gather her wits about her and remember the real reason she was in his room. And it wasn’t to kiss him.
She turned to his brothers. “You’ll need to read those instructions as well. I wouldn’t recommend he be alone tonight.”
“I’m staying at his place for a few days,” Barrett said. “He won’t be alone.”
She nodded. “Good. If you’ll excuse me, I need to see to other patients.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Tucker said, giving her a look she recognized as regret.
“You’re welcome.”
She hurried out of there, hoping her face didn’t appear as flaming hot from the embarrassment she felt at almost being caught kissing a patient.
Could she have acted more unprofessional? What was wrong with her, anyway? She’d been laser focused on her work since the moment she’d entered college for her undergraduate degree. Other than a short, ill-fated romance in medical school that hadn’t occupied a lot of her time, there’d been nothing and no one to distract her.
Until now. And in a couple short weeks, Tucker Cassidy had completely turned her world upside down.
She was determined to turn him down when he called her for a date. There was no way she’d allow him to disrupt her carefully planned life.
She went to the station and gave the nurse discharge instructions, then took a breath.
“Heard you treated Tucker Cassidy again.”
It figured Katie would be hovering nearby.
“I did. He presented with concussion symptoms. X-ray and CT scan results were negative, fortunately.”
“Did he get hit with a baseball?”
“No. Playing football with his brothers. He tripped over some rocks.”
“I see.” Katie was entering her notes into one of the laptops and didn’t look up. “He probably did it on purpose so he could come and see you again.”
She turned and leaned against the station. “He did not. He’ll likely miss his next pitching spot, so why would he intentionally hurt himself?”
Katie looked up from her notes, shoving a thick auburn curl behind her ear. “I was kidding. And you’re being sensitive about it. What’s up with that?
”
She looked around. Marie was on break and everyone else was on the other side of the station. “I almost kissed him. In the exam room.”
“Scandalous. And juicy. So why didn’t you?”
“His brothers walked in. Otherwise, I probably would have. Which is so inappropriate.”
“But probably would have been incredibly hot, right?”
She was trying not to think about the hotness of the situation. Or the regret, both positive and negative. “No. Not hot. Inappropriate, Katie.”
“I don’t know. He’s a stud. You should have sex with him.”
“And you are not helping.”
“Actually, I am helping. You’re wound up all the time, and you haven’t gotten laid in ages. You’re always so all about medicine, and not about having fun. You need to have some fun, Aubry.”
She pushed off the station. “I’m not talking about this.”
But Katie followed. “Seriously, Bree. When was the last time you had some incredible, mind-blowing, curl-your-toes sex?”
She gave herself a few seconds to think about it, then realized she couldn’t pinpoint the last time, which meant it had been too long. “I don’t remember.”
“Aha. Did he ask you out again?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He’s got my number. He’s going to call me. I’m going to say no.”
She started moving, but Katie stopped her. “Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
“No, I’m being smart. Work has to take precedence. My residency is important to me. Plus, he’s a jock, and you know how I feel about that.”
“So, fuck him and don’t think about his occupation. Then you’ll feel better and he probably doesn’t want a girlfriend anyway. Not after what the last one did to him.”
Katie had a point. After his ex-girlfriend kneed him in the testicles, the last thing Tucker probably wanted was a girlfriend. And she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend.
So what was the harm in some . . . harmless sex?
“Dr. Ross. Dr. Murphy.”
She turned in the hallway to face Dr. Kenneth Chen, the attending physician in charge of emergency medicine.
Their boss.
“Hello, Dr. Chen,” Katie said, always unaffected by Dr. Chen, whereas for some reason he made Aubry a nervous wreck.
“We seem to have patients in this emergency room, yet the two of you are . . . doing what, exactly? Gossiping?”