All Wound Up

by Jaci Burton

  Good.

  “I need to get back to work,” she said.

  “Okay.” He drew her into his arms and planted a long, hot kiss on her that, under normal circumstances, would have led them back to bed. But since they hadn’t actually started in bed, and they weren’t at home, she reluctantly pulled away.

  “Tucker . . .”

  “Yeah, I know.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “Oh, I actually stopped by to find out when your next day off is.”

  She thought about it for a second. “Tuesday.”

  He grinned. “Hey, that works out. So’s mine. How about a date?”

  She laid her hand on his chest. “Sounds perfect.”

  “I have an out-of-town series coming up, but I’ll call you.”

  “Okay. Can you find your way out the way we came? I think it would be best if—”

  He brushed his lips against hers. “Yeah. I can. Bye, Aubry.”

  “See you later, Tucker.”

  He slipped out the door and disappeared. She waited a minute, then headed back to the station to retrieve the chart on her patient. Since she hadn’t been beeped, she knew there had been no new incoming patients while she’d been . . . otherwise occupied.

  The CT results were in on her abdominal patient, so she found Max and they went over treatment options. After she finished there, she went to update the chart.

  “You were absent for a while,” Katie said, eyeing her with a mix of curiosity and amusement.

  “Oh. Uh. Tucker and I grabbed a bite to eat.”

  Katie let out a snort. “You two might have grabbed a bite, but it was more likely of each other, not food.”

  Aubry concentrated on the laptop in front of her, ignoring her friend. “I have no idea what you mean.”

  “What I mean is there are red marks on your neck, and you’re wearing a post-sex glow on your face, not an I-had-an-awesome-chicken-sandwich glow.”

  She turned to Katie. “You are way too observant.”

  Katie shrugged. “I am when other people are having sex. And here in the hospital? You naughty girl.”

  An hour ago Aubry would have laughed off the suggestion that she’d have sex in the hospital. Now? “I’m not even going to blush.”

  “I wouldn’t, either. Someone needs to have some fun around here.” Katie studied her. “So . . . was it?”

  “Was it what?”

  “Fun.”

  She laughed. “It was amazing. Tucker definitely brings out my bad side.”

  Katie linked her arm in Aubry’s. “There’s nothing wrong with that. You’ve been good for way too long. Time to tap into your inner bad girl. Now that you’ve had fake food, let’s go get some of the real stuff before it gets busy in here again.”

  She followed Katie toward the cafeteria, thinking about what her friend had said.

  Is that what she’d done? She’d always followed the straight and narrow. College, then medical school and now her residency, never once deviating from her carefully chosen path. Her father had always told her that her career was vital, and she should never allow anything—or anyone—to distract her.

  She never had before. Not that she’d been a saint. But she wasn’t a bad girl, never had been. She’d had her share of fun, just never the kind that would get her in trouble.

  Tucker, though? He’d tapped into her wild side, the part of her that had fantasized about doing crazy things.

  Like having sex in the hospital.

  He could be trouble, in so many ways.

  THEY’D WON ONE GAME AND LOST TWO IN PITTSBURGH. Tucker had pitched one of the losses, and he felt pretty shitty about that.

  He knew they weren’t going to win every time he pitched, but still, he hadn’t been on his game. He’d given up two earned runs. Something had been off and he’d thought about it ever since that game. He still couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong, even now as he and the other pitchers ran through warm-ups.

  “You’re still bugged about that loss the other night.”

  He looked over at Garrett Scott, who was throwing balls next to him. “Yeah.”

  “Let it go. It was just one game. You’re going to lose a lot of games, Tucker.”

  “I know that. But my curveball was off that night. My curve is never off.”

  “Did you talk to Bobby about it?”

  That’s what he should do. As pitching coach for the Rivers, Bobby Sloan could spot a problem with a pitcher’s mechanics better than anyone. “Not yet.”

  “Do it. Trust me, Bobby will know if there’s something off about your curve.”

  “I will. Thanks.”

  “And Tucker?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let go of that game. It’s one down, and a lot more coming up. You let that one get in your head, it’ll fuck you up for the rest of the season.”

  He nodded. “You’re right about that. Consider it gone.”

  Garrett laughed. “If only everyone took my advice so easily.”

  “What a crock, Garrett. Who listens to you?” Tommy Mahoney asked.

  “All of my peers should, Mahoney. Like you. Because I’m full of wisdom.”

  “What you’re full of is shit,” Tommy said with a laugh.

  Garrett shook his head. “And that’s why you’re a relief pitcher, and not a starter.”

  “No. I’m a relief pitcher because someone has to come in and save the game after you’ve fucked it up.”

  Now it was Tucker’s turn to chime in. “Come on, Mahoney. You know that’s not how it works. You come in and take over when we have to take a piss.”

  “And you can suck my dick, Cassidy.”

  Several of the other pitchers came over, both starters and relievers, and they all spent several minutes giving each other shit. It was a good stress reliever, and something they did a lot to ease tension. No one ever took offense since they all respected each other’s work. Tucker relied on middle inning relievers and closers. Without them to save games, he’d be toast and he knew it. So did Garrett and the other starting pitchers.

  “All right, assholes.” Bobby Sloan, the pitching coach, came over and broke up their jawing session. “Now that you’re all done insulting each other, how about you shut up and start putting up?”

  They all dispersed and walked away to throw, but Tucker hesitated, then headed over to where Bobby and the assistants stood to watch. “Bobby. Have you got a minute?”

  “Yeah. What’s up?”

  “I think there might be something off with my curve. I felt it the other night during the game.”

  “Okay. Let’s set you up with a catcher and I’ll watch you throw. Mix in some of your other pitches, too.”

  Bobby pulled one of the catchers over to the mound, as well as one of his teammates to stand in as batter, which made it easier for Tucker to visualize the strike zone. Tucker was already warmed up, so he took the catcher’s signals and threw as if in a game situation, trying to throw strikes.

  He threw several pitches, several of which the batter hit. He missed quite a few as well, but Tucker didn’t pay attention to that. He wanted to concentrate more on the style of his curveball, the mechanics of getting the ball where he wanted it to go.

  “Okay, that’s enough. Thanks, guys,” Bobby said to the batter and catcher.

  Bobby walked over to him. “The pitches looked good to me, Cassidy. I don’t see anything off with your mechanics. The curve looked like it was supposed to. Your body was in the right position and the ball sailed normally, no matter what pitch you threw.”

  That was good to hear. “Okay, thanks.”

  “Hey, you had an off night. Sometimes it’s the weather or the crowd. Sometimes, especially with the curveball, it just ain’t gonna work that night, no matter how you throw it, ya know?”

  Tucker scratched the side of his nose. “Well, that’s the problem. I don’t know about that. My curve always works. Except that night.”

  Bobby laughed and slapped him on the back. “You’re young. You’
ve had a lot of success and very little failure. Welcome to the big leagues, kid. And get used to some of that failure. It’s going to happen. But it’s good that you evaluate it. Keep doing that, you’ll do great things.”

  “Thanks, Coach.” He walked away to join the rest of the pitchers for practice.

  Maybe Bobby was right and he was overthinking the other night. He’d suffered losses before and had never thought anything of it. Sometimes the other team just had hot bats, and other times he’d gotten behind in the count too many times. He’d never let a loss bother him like this one did, but he’d always been confident in his curve. It was his trademark pitch and it worked for him.

  He needed to shake it off, because tomorrow night he was pitching again.

  And he needed to be able to count on his curveball.

  AUBRY GOT UP EARLY ON HER DAY OFF, KNOWING SHE had to catch up on studying, laundry and paperwork. She also had to get her car licensed, so she took care of that detail before she forgot—again. She worked quickly and managed to finish everything on her to-do list before heading over to her parents’ house to have lunch with them.

  She walked in the door and found her parents outside on the terrace.

  “Hi, sweetheart.” Her mother got up and came over to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “It’s such a beautiful day, we thought we’d have lunch outside.”

  “It is nice out here.”

  Her dad came over and kissed her cheek. “You look pretty today.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” She’d worn capris and a short-sleeved top along with comfortable sandals, because she wanted to go shopping after lunch.

  Shopping for her date with Tucker tonight, though he hadn’t told her where they were going.

  She considered telling her parents about Tucker, then thought better of it.

  Not yet. She wasn’t even sure where they were headed, and her mother was so fixated on her having a relationship, while her father was the exact opposite.

  Definitely not yet.

  “How is everything at work?” her dad asked.

  “Fine. Busy as usual.”

  “Any interesting cases?”

  She smiled. “Nothing we want to get into over lunch.”

  Her mother grimaced. “Yes, please, Clyde. My stomach can’t handle all that blood and gore while we’re trying to eat.”

  Her father looked at Aubry. “This is why I always took you to see the horror movies and left your mother at home.”

  Aubry laughed.

  They ate lunch and caught up on family gossip and news. One of her cousins had gotten engaged, which surprised Aubry, but she was so thrilled for her.

  “I’m so happy for Jade. I didn’t know she and Mark were serious.”

  “Neither did I,” her mother said. “But Farrah tells me he was so romantic about the proposal. He took her to the park and proposed in the rose garden.”

  Aubry melted. “Oh, how sweet.”

  “Seems a little soon to me,” her father said. “And Jade is still working on her master’s degree. I hope they don’t rush things to where it screws up her plans for her future.”

  Her mother waved her hand back and forth. “Oh, Clyde. Where’s your sense of romance? I’m sure the two of them will figure that all out.”

  “She has to think of her future financial well-being, and that means her career. She needs to finish school and get her career established, just like Aubry.”

  Her mother leaned back in her chair. “What if Aubry fell in love with someone tomorrow?”

  Her father shook his head. “Aubry’s head needs to stay focused on finishing her residency, applying for a fellowship. Plenty of time later for love, marriage and babies. It’s too soon.”

  Nothing like being talked about as if she wasn’t in the room. She loved her father with all her heart, but his thoughts on career versus home and family were awfully rigid. She understood he wanted her to be independent and have a career, but there had to be room for her to have a personal life as well.

  “I’m sure I could handle both, Dad.”

  He shot her a look of disbelief. “When would you even have time? You work all the time, and when you aren’t doing that, you’re studying and keeping up with managing your caseload. There’s so much to learn being a doctor, Aubry. No. There’s no time for romance in your life. Not now, anyway. You’ll have time for that later.”

  It was as if he’d dismissed the notion she could have a relationship with someone. Like he’d banned the thought. He was treating her like a child all over again, telling her what she could and couldn’t have.

  Well, screw that.

  She wanted to blurt out that she’d found plenty of time for romance in the past month with Tucker, but that would be a stupid thing to do and would set her up for failure. If she wanted to introduce Tucker as someone she was . . .

  What exactly was she doing with Tucker, anyway? She hadn’t—they hadn’t defined it. And did it matter? Did it matter to her? It hadn’t until now. The only reason she was even thinking of it was because her father’s objections to mixing career and dating were really pissing her off, making her want to fling her relationship with Tucker in his face and show him that she could manage her career and a private life just fine, thank you very much.

  But not today.

  Still . . .

  “You know, Dad, it’s the twenty-first century, and women juggle career and relationship quite well these days. In fact, many very smart women manage to have successful careers, a healthy marriage and children. Shockingly, all at the same time.”

  “Well, of course. And someday I’m sure you’ll be able to do that.”

  She pinned him with a look. “But for some reason I couldn’t handle that now?”

  He calmly took a sip of his iced tea, seemingly unaware that Aubry was about to spring from her seat and strangle her father in anger. Instead, he shook his head.

  “Residency is a full-time job, a night and day endeavor. You’re on call, you have cases to research, and your exams to prepare for. I can’t see how you could successfully handle a relationship, let alone marriage and family.”

  He had no faith in her ability to manage her time. Like she could only deal with one thing. “Several of the residents are married. One has a child.”

  “And I’m sure it’s quite a juggling act for them and very difficult.”

  And now he was making judgments about her friends’ lives. Did she even know this man at all? She started to argue, but her mother shook her head, making her swallow the argument.

  After lunch, her father kissed her good-bye and told her he had some calls to make, which left her alone with her mother. They carried the plates into the kitchen and laid them in the sink, where Aubry helped her mother with the dishes.

  “Don’t take your father’s words to heart, Aubry. He can be so single-minded on some topics, especially where you’re concerned. But you know he only has your best interests at heart.”

  “He made me angry, Mom. It’s like he doesn’t trust me to know what’s best for my career. For my own life. I’m not a child anymore. I can make my own decisions. And how dare he presume to know how difficult someone else’s life is? People he doesn’t even know.”

  Her mother swept her hand up and down Aubry’s arm. “Well, it’s not the first time he’s done that, and not just with you. He can be . . . difficult at times.”

  Aubry choked out a laugh. “Difficult? That’s an understatement. I don’t know how you can keep from throwing plates at him.”

  Her mother smiled. “He can also be sweet and kind and very open-minded.”

  Aubry huffed out a sigh of disgust. “I haven’t seen much of that where I’m concerned.”

  “I know you’re perfectly capable of handling your own life, sweetheart. You’re an adult now. You have been for a while. Your dad, though, still sees you as his baby girl. He only wants the best things for you. He wants you to succeed.”

  She leaned against the kitchen counter. “And h
e thinks I can’t do that without his guidance. Or maybe I should say his bullying tactics.”

  “Oh, honey. He’s not a bully.”

  She shot her mother a look. “Isn’t he? What would happen if I brought a guy over to meet the two of you? Could you imagine how that would go over?”

  Her mother tilted her head, giving Aubry a questioning look. “Is there a guy?”

  She trusted her mother above anyone else. “There might be. I don’t know yet.”

  “If you have a young man you want us to meet, you let me know and I’ll prepare your father for it. I’ll make sure he’s on his best behavior.”

  Aubry raised a brow. “And how will you do that? Are you going to drug him?”

  Her mother laughed. “No. But trust me, I do wield some influence where your father is concerned. You have nothing to worry about. He might come across as brusque and bullish at times, but, Aubry, he loves you.”

  She sighed. “I know he does.”

  “So bring your young man over for dinner, and let’s get your father used to the idea that you’re a grown woman who’s handling her own life just fine.”

  She’d think about it. In the meantime, she’d push thoughts of her father’s opinions aside and concentrate on her date with Tucker tonight.

  AFTER SPENDING THE AFTERNOON WITH HER MOTHER, who decided to go shopping with her, Aubry dashed home just in time to get ready for her date. Tucker had told her he’d pick her up at six and she could dress casual.

  She’d bought a new blouse for tonight, so she put on her tight jeans, wedge sandals and the button-down silky red top, with a black tank underneath. She did her makeup, brushed out her hair, and finished off the look with her favorite lip gloss just as the doorbell rang.

  She opened the door and couldn’t help the sigh of pleasure as Tucker stood there wearing dark jeans and a navy blue button-down shirt. His hair was getting a little long, which made it curl at the ends, making her want to sift her fingers through its thick softness. Unable to resist, she stepped up to him, slid her hand in his hair and kissed him.