I pulled on my scrubs and tied my shoes before grabbing my keys and walking out of the executive apartment down to my bike. There had to be a way to find out what the fuck was going on. I needed to spend some time wandering around the halls of Boston General. I'd find a needy nurse or maybe an old med school friend.
"Fuck me, didn't Terrance Mills end up at Boston Gen?" I pulled on my helmet and drove to the hospital with my old friend on my mind. Funny and full of life, Terrance had been one of the only reasons med school hadn't been a complete bore. I had almost convinced myself that he was in Boston by the time I pulled up to the hospital parking lot.
A sleek crimson Lexus sat in Ansley's spot, the sight of it making me smile. She was going to give me shit over parking in her spot and not saying anything, but it was an accident. I'd make it look like part of the game, but it was just a coincidental win on my part.
After finding an unmarked spot, I parked the bike, locked my shit up and walked languidly up to the front door. I stopped by the reception desk and smiled down at the two older women sitting there. "Morning, Ladies. I'm Doctor Parks, visiting from New York. Do you have a Doctor Mills here by chance? Big, ugly black guy with glasses and a nasty under bite?"
I did the under bite just to be cute, but somehow my charm fell flat.
"If you're referring to Terrance Mills, he's in the ER this morning, and I wouldn't think he’d enjoy your description of him." The thinner one stood and pressed her hands to the table in front of her. "New York, hm?"
"Yes, Ma'am. I was just teasing, but thanks for the info." I waved and walked off. "Note to self. Humor is not appreciated in these parts."
"Grab a gurney and move the patient in room two-ten over to two-twenty. Stat." Terrance rounded the corner, barking out an order as I walked up behind him.
"So bossy, Mills." I smiled and stopped as he jerked around, his eyes going wide.
"Fucking Jacob Parker." He reached out and pulled me into a warm hug. "Dude. I heard you were coming, but I figured I'd run into you in an OR room with your dick tucked into some cute nurse."
"Hey. I'm getting there. Give a fellow a little bit of time. I just got here yesterday at lunch." I moved back and smiled. "Man, it's so damn good to see you."
A tall, jangly nurse hustled by us. "Dr. Parks, you were expected ten minutes ago in OR room twelve. Might want to hurry. Doctor Crawford is in a mood this morning."
"When is she not in a mood," I mumbled and turned back to Terrance. "Alright man. Let's catch up over beers or some shit. I want to see what's been going on with you."
"Sounds great, and keep your nose clean. Ansley is one of the best surgeons in the world, and she doesn't put up with any shit from what I hear."
"Good thing you're just hearing about her." I patted his shoulder and moved around him. "Same digits as you had in school?"
"Hell yeah. I didn't have a million stalkers like you." Terrance laughed, and I couldn't help but smile. I had a list of stalkers longer than all the hallways combined at Boston General, but it was all part of the deal. I fucked around, and I got to pay the piper. Sometimes the lay was worth it, but most times? Not in the slightest.
I picked up my walk to a jog and caught up to the nurse who'd called me out moments before. I extended my arm across my chest and opened my hand. "Parks."
"I'm Kate. Nice to meet you." She shook my hand and gave me a stern smile. "I'm not sleeping with you, and I don't flirt, so... there's that."
"Alright. Nice to meet you Kate who doesn't flirt or put out." I laughed, and thankfully she did too.
"I'm sorry. We've all been warned about you." She pulled her hand back and pressed the button on the wall to open the Operating Room.
"Really? Wow. By who?" I walked down the hall and breathed in deeply. I loved the smell of the hospital. It was clean and felt like a second chance at life to me.
"By everyone." She pointed down the hall. "O.R. twelve. Hurry up and make a good impression."
"Not a possibility. I fucked things up with her yesterday." I winked and walked toward the OR. "Where can I put my bag?"
"Drop it, and I'll put it in the nurse’s station for you."
"I like you already, Kate. You sure about that lay?" I turned and lifted my hand to the side, giving her an innocent smile as I walked backward.
She blushed and waved me off. "Stop it. You're ridiculous."
"You like it though. I can see it all over your face." I stopped by the door and laughed as she put her back to me and let out a soft giggle herself. She was cute, but not at all my type.
"Doctor Parks?" An older nurse walked up and stood in front of me.
"That would be me. And you are?" I walked to the scrub station and washed my hands. My eyes lifted to see Ansley and her team already working hard. She was bent over the patient on the table; her body angled perfectly for me to envision all the things I wanted to do to her.
"Nancy. You're late." She helped me with my gloves as I smiled at her.
"I'm aware of that now, but no one gave me a time to be here, so I'm not sure how to respond."
"Then don't. Just get in there and show them what you're made of." She turned and picked up a pair of goggles and a face mask. "Actions speak a lot louder than words around here."
"That's anywhere in the world, actually, but thank you, Nancy. I appreciate the pep talk. Honestly." I offered her a kind smile and put on the rest of my garb. When I was ready, I moved to the door, and she opened it.
"Good luck."
"Thanks?" I laughed and walked into the room, moving beside Ansley as she wielded the scalpel like it was a paintbrush and she was lost to her masterpiece.
"Doctor Parks." Her voice was soft as if she were daydreaming.
"Doctor Crawford. Forgive me for being late."
"Don't let it happen again. Stay quiet and out of the way. This is purely for observation on your part."
I pursed my lips to hold back my quip. "It's never fun to be invited to a party and then told you don't get to play with the toys."
A few snickers lifted around the room, and Ansley lifted her head and glanced around. Everything froze. I glanced around at what I could see of the nurses and attending doctors’ faces. They were scared of her.
What a lonely life to live.
I moved up behind her and pressed my chest to her back, leaning in a little, so I could see directly what she was doing.
"Back up, Doctor Parks."
"Not a chance. I want to observe from the best seat in the house. You're doing a beautiful job, by the way. Your skill reminds me of Aiden."
An older gentleman across the table spoke up. "I would agree. She has the same talent as her brilliant older brother." He smiled. "I'm Dr. Henry Bayes. Nice to meet you."
"Ah yes. I've heard great things about you, Doctor Bayes."
"Hush," Ansley barked and shifted a little, bumping me with her ass. "And back up."
"Nope." I leaned farther forward and pressed my left hand to the table to make sure she felt the pressure of my body against her, but knew that I wouldn't fall forward on her and harm the patient.
She smelled so damn good, like strawberries and cream. I turned my head a little and watched her work for a moment before letting my eyes shift a little farther. The long line of her neck had my cock growing thick and hard in my scrubs. She was exquisite, beyond fine.
"I can't concentrate with you so close." She was whispering so softly that I doubt anyone could hear her above the jazz music playing from the speakers above.
"Yes, you can. Get used to it. I'm an observer, remember? I need to be close." I moved back just enough that she would feel my cock pressed between the curves of her perfect ass, but that was all. If she shifted at all, she'd know that my mind was deep in the gutter.
I had her naked, legs parted, and my tongue was rolling through the sweet lips of her pussy in my mind. I'd never been attracted to someone so quickly, never felt so needy with another woman.
She glanced up toward Henry. "H
and me a scope I want to see something." She was breathless, her heart most likely racing. I was being a bastard, and I knew it. Aiden would have kicked my ass all over the hospital for pulling a stunt like that.
The thought of him poured ice water through my veins, and I moved back and took my place next to her. "It's wrapped around a nerve. Carefully unwrap it."
"Don't tell me how to do my job, Doctor Parks. I'm well aware of what's going on."
I barked a few things at her, trying to get her to try something new, but she wasn't having any of it. "It's going to work. Do what I suggested."
"This isn't an experiment in a bar." She glanced over at me and back to Henry. "Doctor Bayes?"
"I would agree with you, Doctor Crawford. Your expertise is this type of situation. Follow your course of action." The older man glanced over at me and gave me an apologetic look. "We're willing to review your comments post operation, of course, Doctor Parks."
"That's all a guy could ask for." I turned and walked out of the OR, knowing that I wasn't needed or appreciated. They would review my idea and realize pretty quickly that I was spot on. Ansley might be brilliant, but her unwillingness to listen was going to get her in a world of hurt one day. No one had all the answers. Even I knew that.
"Parks." She stood at the opening of my office as I reviewed a few patient files that Aiden had sent over earlier. Seems as though I was needed more back in New York than I was in Boston.
"What's up?" I leaned back and lifted my hand to the air, stretching.
"You shouldn't have left the OR."
"Thanks. Noted." I picked up a file and lifted it to my face. "When you need something from a fifth-year doctor, come get me, Ansley, otherwise, find an intern to blow your emotional bullshit all over."
The door closed, and I pulled the file down, half-expecting her to have walked out. She hadn't, and the look on her face left me wishing she had.
"I don't know who you think you are, or why my brother felt it necessary to send you down here, but you don't run this OR. I do." She pressed her fists to the desk and leaned toward me.
Every cell in my body woke up and screamed for me to pull her across the desk and kiss her until she forced me back.
"I'm giving my presentation next Wednesday. Unless you need something before then, enjoy your week." I pulled the file back up, ignoring her. I had a million problems, and she wasn't one of them.
She snatched the file from me. "That's not how this is going to work."
That was it. I stood up and walked around the desk. Her shoulders pulled back, and her eyes narrowed.
"Are you always looking for someone to fight with?" I moved closer until our chests almost touched. "You need to feel something, so anger is your first and last resort? I'm not the enemy here. I came to help offer new training and options."
"I don't need new options. Everything I'm doing is working just fine." Her voice shook.
"Who the fuck are you so angry at, cause we don't know each other, Ansley. It can't be me."
She took a step back, but her stance didn't change at all. "You have the new residents tomorrow. They'll be here at nine. You be here by eight."
"I'll be here at seven-thirty, Ans." I turned and walked around my desk, knowing she'd be pissed about me shortening her name.
"It's Doctor Crawford or Ansley, and don't park in my fucking spot again."
I sat down and picked up the file. "I know a few counselors that might help with that anger issue you have there."
"Fuck you too." She turned and walked out, leaving the door to slam behind her.
"Hey! That's my line." I smiled and read through the file. Maybe my radar was way off, but she was hurting like a mother fucker. Something told me that it had everything to do with her divorce and very little to do with a cocky surgeon from New York.
There was no way I had that much power over her. Not yet at least.
8
Ansley
"You alright?" Nancy stopped by my office just before ten, her face pale and eyes so weary.
"Yes. You?" I stood and moved around my desk as tears filled her eyes.
"No." She started to cry.
"Nancy, what's wrong?" I pulled her into my arms and held her. I wasn't close to anyone at the hospital on purpose, but she'd been beside me since the beginning of my career. We were a dynamic duo of sorts.
"I got pulled into the ER tonight, and we lost a little boy from an accident." She leaned against me and shook as she cried. "I'll never get calloused enough to be down there. I just can't stand the sight of a child in pain."
"It's okay." I ran my hand over her silver hair and closed my eyes. Feeling her pain left me alive and wanting to make a change again. "You want to grab a bite to eat before you head home? We can talk about it."
She nodded and moved back. "I'd like that. The food. I don't want to rehash what just happened. It was horrible."
"You should have called me down there. I might have been able to-"
"No, Ansley. You couldn't." She shook her head as if reliving a nightmare and reached up to wipe her tears away. "Doctor York did all he could. Honestly."
"Tom is excellent at what he does." I walked around my desk to grab my keys and jacket. "They have broccoli cheese soup today. Come on. My treat?"
She nodded and wrapped her arm around the back of my waist as I wrapped mine around her shoulders. We walked down the hall that way, and I could honestly not care what anyone thought. I had a cold, hard persona that I usually kept up, but Nancy was hurting. Personas be damned.
"Do you mind if I ask you something?" She glanced up at me as we walked into the cafeteria and released our hold on each other.
"You can ask me anything." I moved up to the soup station and grabbed two cups, handing her one.
"Do you have a history with Jacob Parks?"
"It's actually Jacob Parker. He just goes by Parks for some odd reason, but no. I don't." I poured an oversized ladle of soup into my cup and reached for hers. "Why do you ask?"
"There's so much emotion between the two of you. He sets you off like no one I've ever seen before." She rubbed my back as I worked on her soup. "More than Nolan, Ans."
I nodded. "I don't know what it is. Maybe that I'm insanely attracted to him, and I know he's a wolf?"
"Maybe so." She took her soup from me and walked to the checkout, holding the conversation until we were seated at a quiet table just for the two of us. "Just be careful. You don't want everyone noticing. It's a little explosive."
I nodded. "I'll be careful. I need to figure out what it is about him. I'm thirty-five fucking years old. A young doctor shouldn't affect me as much as he does, but something about him sets me on the defensive."
"Maybe because he's attracted to you, and his reputation is the love 'em and leave 'em type?" She took a tentative bite of her soup and sighed. "So good. Thanks for doing this."
"I would do anything for you." I chuckled. "A cup of soup is the least I can do after you having to put up with me all the time." I took a bite of my soup and thought of Parks. My body ached for a long night beneath him, but at the same time, fury danced in the center of my chest. Odd.
"What are you thinking?" She tilted her head to the side.
"That I need to figure out what it is about Parks that makes me crazy." I shrugged. "You're right. I think about him and am instantly turned on and pissed. I feel like I'm sixteen again."
She laughed. "Well, that might not be such a bad thing."
"Yeah, except for the fact that I'm not sixteen. I'm grown." I glanced around to see Nolan walking out the front door. "And the man I loved and thought I was going to spend forever with turned out to be a liar. One that stole my youth and my child bearing years."
"What? Bullshit on that. You can still have a baby." She reached across the table and gripped my hand tightly. "Women can have babies up until menopause. You know this. You're a brilliant physician."
"The risk is too high. I'm too late." I pulled my hand from hers. "It's
okay. I really don't want to go down this road again."
"Ans."
"No, seriously. Please, Nancy." I let my gaze move up to meet hers. It was hard to do, but I let my facade down for a moment, just long enough to let her see my pain. "It's too late, and no one is at fault for that but me. I let the devil in, and when I discovered who he was, I was too afraid to kick his ass out."
"And now Parks looks like another Devil?"
"Maybe so." I glanced down at my soup and tried to let my thoughts go. If I didn't, I'd be up all night long, pacing the floor, and that wasn't good for me or my patients the next day.
I took a sleeping pill the minute I got out of the shower at home and crawled into bed. The sheets were cold and soft against my heated skin. Turning on my side, I let out a long breath and closed my eyes. Parks upset me because of who I felt like he could be. Namely my next mistake, and I was so fucking weary of making them that I fought him back regardless of how unstable and immature it made me feel.
"I'll call Aiden in the morning and tell him to pull Parks back to New York." I let out a long yawn, fully ready to open my soul to my older brother and ask for help. He loved me and had been protecting me and Gwen since our parents passed. He wouldn't let me down. He couldn't.
Sleep rolled in, and I gracefully released myself to the security it offered.
Soft piano music played somewhere in the distance, and the sound of it drew me in. I glanced down and took in the light pink nightgown I had on. Silky and tight, I felt like a princess in it, the type of woman a man would desire.
"Ansley." The deep voice behind me scared me, and yet it was too familiar.
I turned in time to watch Parks close the gap between us and crash into me. He was in slacks and nothing else. His strong hand slid up my back and into my hair. The look in his eyes had me captivated. He was going to have me. He was sure of it.
So was I.
"Forgive me?" I lifted to my toes and pressed my lips to his, offering him a soft kiss. He tilted his head and deepened it, the taste of wine on his tongue as it rolled past mine.
Captain Hotness: A Single Father Bad Boy Novel Page 20