by Anne, Melody
She stammered a little more before walking off in what appeared to be a daze.
“I can see not much has changed in my absence,” Kyle said, finally allowing his laughter to escape.
“Beauty is meant to be appreciated,” Jason said.
“I like to meet the new staff,” Mitch added.
“I’ve missed you guys,” Kyle said, making the table go silent.
They were definitely close, even when they were apart, but they weren’t exactly known for sharing their feelings. Kyle wanted to instantly take the words back as he squirmed in embarrassment.
“It’s good to have you home,” Mitch said.
“This is getting far too serious,” Jason piped in, saving Kyle. “But I do have to agree it’s nice to have you here. If we could corner Matthew it would be perfect.”
“He’ll be home soon and we can hear all about his newest adventures,” Mitch said.
“He always has good stories to share with us,” Kyle agreed.
The waitress didn’t say a word as she left their beers and hurried away.
“I think you scared her off,” Mitch said. “And I was hoping to get some food.”
“You might be out of luck,” Kyle told him.
“I’d just get heartburn anyway. I think they put extra grease on top of the grease here,” Jason said.
“But the pain is worth it. I miss bar food,” Kyle added.
“Yeah, it’s good once in a while,” Jason said as he tried to flag down the waitress, who wouldn’t look their way.
“How are you liking the new job?” Mitch asked. “It’s got to be a real change from having your own practice. Are the boobs as great in Seattle as they are in the land of plastic?”
“There’s nothing wrong with cosmetic surgery,” Kyle said for what felt like the millionth time since he’d become a surgeon.
“I appreciate plastic,” Mitch said with a grin. “I take beauty in all shapes and sizes.”
“You make me feel dirty sitting near you,” Kyle told him.
That made the brothers laugh again.
“Seriously, how’s it going?” Jason asked.
“It’s different, but I needed a change. I’m glad I came home,” Kyle told them.
He wasn’t a hundred percent sure if he was telling the truth or not. He still wasn’t sure what he wanted. An image of Patsy flashed through his mind, and he pushed that thought right out the window. He was her boss, and though he’d enjoyed the hell out of flustering her in that meeting, he knew she was hands off. Of course, when had that ever stopped him before? Dammit! She was a challenge he wanted to go after. The fact that she’d refused to give him her name had seriously turned him on. He wasn’t used to women running away from him. And that damn dog of hers had made him instantly fall in love. What a terrific animal.
The waitress finally came back and they ordered their pub burgers, fries, onion rings, and cheese sticks. And they polished it all off while catching up.
By the time Kyle left the bar he was feeling a lot better about his decision to come home. He’d meant to talk to his brothers about the mysterious resident he was technically the boss over, but for some reason he’d kept it to himself.
Maybe when he figured out exactly what he planned on doing with the girl, he’d think to ask for some advice. But he doubted it. Kyle had always been a jump-in-with-both-feet kind of guy. Maybe all he needed to do was take the leap now.
Chapter Four
Some of Kyle Armistead’s favorite places in any hospital were the surgical viewing rooms. He could close his eyes and listen to the staff on the other side conducting surgery, moving along with them in his mind, asking himself if he’d do it the same way. Sometimes the answer was yes, sometimes no.
But he didn’t only love the viewing rooms because of the surgeries taking place. He liked them most during the first month new residents were at a hospital because they tended to not hold back, thinking it was a safe zone. It was a good opportunity to listen, to find out who had what it took to be the best, who would stand out when others fell into the shadows. They never paid attention to him when he sat in the rooms as he normally positioned himself in a corner chair with his head leaned back, his feet up, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
A lot of residents would find the viewing rooms a great place to hide away when a surgery wasn’t going on. The rooms were dark and quiet and no one bugged you. Whether it was a power nap or a study hour you needed, that was the place to go. On call rooms got too noisy, too smelly, and too crowded.
Kyle had been in this career long enough to know the ins and outs of any hospital. He was good at his job, and he loved what he did. His lips turned up a bit as he tuned out the chatter of the residents.
When a person knows how good they are at their job, they might come off as arrogant. Kyle didn’t consider himself a man with a big ego, he just knew he was that good. Some were born to yield a scalpel, and others were born to do paperwork. One of the biggest tragedies in life, in Kyle’s humble opinion, was when a person didn’t appreciate and use the talent they’d been given.
It wasn’t as if these thoughts went through Kyle’s head often. However, as he leaned back in the incredibly uncomfortable viewing room chair, his eyes shut, his mind turned on constant alert, these were the thoughts he was facing.
It was better than thinking about her—about his resident who’d been on his mind for an entire week. It had been exactly that long since her dog had used him as a launching pad. He hadn’t been able to keep her from his mind the rest of that day, or the rest of the week—especially with her working in the same building as him. It might be a big place, but it grew surprisingly small when a woman was there that he wanted desperately.
After she and her dog had left the park, his brothers had ribbed him endlessly about a woman refusing to give him her name. They’d suggested he should have pulled out the doctor card. He’d been fascinated by it. Kyle honestly couldn’t remember a time he’d been interested in a woman who hadn’t been flattered by it.
Then luck of all luck, he’d stepped into the room with his new residents and his eyes had been immediately pulled to the back of the room. He’d waited for her to sit down, then he’d sat across from her. He’d gotten to study her for a long while before she’d looked up, before she’d noticed him.
He’d gone from thinking he’d never see her again, to being in a position he’d see her daily, and not only that, but in a position where he was her superior. That meant nothing could happen with her. That meant he’d better never get her alone. He might not be responsible for what happened if that were to occur. He hadn’t been this infatuated with a woman in so long he couldn’t remember the last time. He liked the feeling way too much.
For an entire week he’d managed to avoid Dr. Lander just to see what it felt like, to see if the infatuation would dim. But it didn’t matter that he hadn’t been in the same place at the same time as her since he could practically taste her as he walked down the hospital halls. It intrigued him. It also slightly infuriated him. No woman had held that kind of power over him since he was in college. He was sure the appeal would soon wear off. It was just a phase, he assured himself.
Shifting in his seat, he didn’t care what the residents crowded into the room were thinking. He heard their hushed whispers, and it nearly made him smile. He’d been in the business long enough to be the best at what he did, but not so long as to forget how it felt to be a wide-eyed resident eager to get his hands on a live patient.
For ten years he’d worked in California, doing surgeries on those who didn’t want it spoken about, who liked to slip in the back door and emerge three months later with his perfected face or body and say it was all natural. Kyle had grown bored, so he’d sold his practice, uprooted his entire life and moved back home—back to cold and wet Seattle.
He was happy bein
g home—or he thought he was happy. He could do without so much rain, but the positive was there wasn’t a chance of a drought anytime soon. And the spring and summer weather in Washington made the dreary winters almost worth it.
Cracking his eyes open, Kyle scanned the room as residents spoke about their latest conquests, or the money they’d be making when they got through the long hours of training. Kyle had to fight back his annoyance. He was sure he’d sounded just as stupid at their age.
He was about to shut his eyes again when he caught sight of Patsy. She was about as far away from him as she could possibly be in the small room, sitting on the edge of her seat, her full concentration on the surgery going on below as her fingers moved in her lap as if she were down there, performing the delicate cut and stitches being done on the elderly woman who’d been bitten in the face by her neighbor’s dog.
The woman’s skin was frail and the surgeon who’d initially stitched her up in a crowded ER should’ve lost his license. The infection that followed that surgery had landed the woman here, where she was now being properly cared for. It was an easy surgery, and Kyle was glad to see Patsy was utterly absorbed, unlike several of the other residents who wanted to see something far more grueling or challenging. It all began with the basics, though. If you could do the fundamentals, you’d learn the rest.
He kept his eyes barely open as he watched her, not wanting her aware he was alert . . . and attentive. It seemed he couldn’t really be anything but that way when she was around. It was honestly quite annoying if he dared to admit it.
He now knew exactly who Patsy Lander was. Her sister was married to none other than Ryan Titan, a prestigious and very wealthy businessman residing in Seattle. Their family had money, the kind of money that bought respect, the kind of money that gave people an inflated sense of ego when they hadn’t earned it—the kind of money he’d grown up with. That kind of money tended to make the people holding it unbearable in most cases.
Granted, Kyle had to grudgingly admit he liked the Titan family. His family had known theirs for a very long time, and they weren’t the typical elitists. However, that didn’t mean Patsy was the same. For all Kyle knew being a surgeon was nothing more to her than playing doctor because she was bored.
As he watched her intense concentration he realized he was wrong about that. A person didn’t make it through that much schooling without truly wanting to be a doctor. That didn’t mean the person would be any good at their job, but normally within an hour of meeting a resident Kyle could tell if they had what it took. He didn’t want to admit it out loud, but Patsy definitely had it.
He wanted to see her as a spoiled heiress with more concern over her thousand dollar heels than her patients, but he didn’t see that. It also wasn’t as if he could throw stones or anything. Wealth had been an easy part of his life for so long he wouldn’t know what it was like to go without. If he didn’t want to work again, he didn’t have to. He’d sold his practice and decided to go to a teaching hospital—not because he needed to, but because he couldn’t quit doing what he loved, he couldn’t help wanting to be known for more than just boobs and asses.
A surgeon could never quit being a doctor. It was in their blood. If he didn’t get to cut, he wouldn’t survive. It defined who he was, what he wanted, and his purpose in life. The moment he put on scrubs, he knew what to do. There hadn’t been a puzzle yet he hadn’t been able to solve, and he’d sought out cases other surgeons refused to do. Those cases had been in the beginning before he’d moved to California. Once there, he’d wanted to be sought after, wanted to be the best.
He’d slowly lost himself as he’d gained a reputation for being the best at what he did. Now he was hoping to be remembered in an entirely different way. He was getting back to his roots, to the beginning, when fixing someone changed that person’s life. He had no doubt he’d do exactly that.
Yeah, Kyle was arrogant, but it was born of ability. He could perform procedures others couldn’t, and that gave a person the confidence to walk with their head held high. Even with all that knowledge, Kyle’s thoughts kept returning to Patsy, and he was beginning to grow irritated with her because of it. Logically he knew it wasn’t her fault. She wasn’t flirting with him, wasn’t doing all those things a lot of women did in his presence to gain his attention, but maybe she was a lot more subtle about it. He couldn’t imagine her not being affected by the chemistry between them. That was something that didn’t happen every day.
One of the residents got a little excited behind him and kicked his chair, making a low rumble of disapproval escape Kyle’s throat. The residents grew amusingly silent. There was something to be said about inspiring fear in the new generation. Respect quickly followed.
As much as Kyle had enjoyed running his own show for ten years, it was nice to be back in the hustle and bustle of a busy hospital. As much as this younger generation annoyed him at times, he also thrived on their eagerness to learn, their excitement over procedures that had long ago bored him. There was something to be said about going back to the basics.
Still only half watching the surgery below, Kyle was far more interested in what Patsy was doing. He wasn’t sure if she was aware he was there or not, but he found it hard to believe anyone could ignore his presence. She was sitting up too properly, making sure her head was turned just so, and even when the group behind him got a little too loud, she didn’t so much as turn an inch to check it out.
The surgery wasn’t all that interesting so he had a feeling she was more than aware of him sitting nearby, and she was doing her damnedest to pretend he didn’t exist. That was okay with him. It was probably better for both of them if they kept it that way. The last thing he needed was to have an affair with not only someone he was responsible for, but a spoiled little heiress at that. Girls like her required far too much work, and he couldn’t simply disappear in the morning.
Yeah, he was an ass. Get over it.
Kyle was so aware of Patsy’s movements, it made him smile when she rose and practically hugged the window in front of her as she began making her way past him. There was no other way around if she wanted to leave the room.
He thought about being an ass and stretching his legs out far in front of him so she’d have to climb over him, but that might be pushing this silent game a little too far. He did notice she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye before ripping her gaze away again. Interesting. It appeared as if everything she did kept him entertained.
“Okay kids, whoever gets here first can close up,” Dr. Watson called over the speaker in the room.
Oh Crap!
There was utter silence before the room erupted as the residents rushed from their seats, pushing each other out of the way as if they were no older than a group of elementary school kids.
As a group of residents pushed past the two of them, Patsy turned and looked at him, her eyes widening when she noticed his own were open and gazing directly at her. That color she couldn’t seem to manage to keep from her cheeks instantly lit up her beautiful face, making him want to reach out for her.
Dang it, he couldn’t seem to resist the innocence a blush spoke on a woman’s cheeks. How could she still have enough of it left to color her face? Maybe it was an act. If it was, she was damn good.
“This one’s mine,” one of the residents yelled as he pushed past Patsy, knocking her off her feet. Kyle watched as she began to topple, knowing this wasn’t going to end well. It seemed the pretty doctor might be slightly klutzy—just one more thing that was endearing about her.
Before Kyle thought of reaching for her, Patsy went flying—straight on top of him. And though she was a small thing, though her curves were ample enough for him to fantasize about filling his hands with, she landed hard right in the middle of his lap.
Their cries mingled together, hers of shock, his of pain as she squished a part of him he’d much rather keep protected. It took him a
second to clear the flashing lights popping in front of his eyes and another second to realize he had an amazingly great smelling, perfectly curvy, beautiful woman wiggling in his lap.
Though he knew she was struggling to untwist herself and rise to her feet, the resident who’d knocked her over wasn’t the last to shuffle from the room, and they weren’t even noticed as people climbed over them, making Patsy wiggle on top of him, giving him a reaction there was no way he was going to be able to hide from her.
As all the blood rushed to one sensitive area of his body, Kyle’s arms wrapped around Patsy to keep her from wiggling. His body was now pulsing, his blood on fire. Her face was too close to his and the single most important thought in his head was how good her lips would taste.
It had been way too long since he’d spent the night with a woman, and now he’d literally had one land right in his lap and his body had ideas his brain knew would be the wrong path to take.
Kyle didn’t try to stop the groan of pleasure from slipping from his throat as the rest of the room cleared, leaving them alone. He could take her right here on this chair and no one would be the wiser. The other residents were long gone. His head shifted forward without his brain allowing him to stop it.
Patsy instantly put a stop to it as she held a hand against his chest, her eyes wide, her breathing heavy as her gaze focused on his lips. He was pretty sure her brain and body were having the same battle as his.
Kyle wasn’t sure how much more torture he could take, but finally he shifted her, slowly turning her body, groaning again as she did a half turn on his throbbing lap. Then he pushed her to her feet, his hands staying on her luscious hips a few seconds longer than necessary. He seriously wouldn’t mind placing them there without any clothes in the way.
The flush in her cheeks deepened as he refused to release her gaze. She must’ve been as mesmerized as he was because she wasn’t struggling against his hold as she stood with what appeared to be shaky knees.