“Well, I have to be good to someone right?”
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Serena’s smile slowly faded. The moment she had been dreading for the last couple of days was finally here. She was going to have to face the one person she had sworn to herself she would never have to see again. She could almost hear her heart threatening to beat out of her chest. When she got to the office, she put her purse and coffee on her desk before she carried the strong black coffee and one bagel to what used to be Dr. Strauss’ office. She knocked softly on the door and took a long deep breath.
“Come in,” she heard Jake’s familiar voice say.
“Good morning sir. I brought your coffee,” she said as she walked into the office.
“Good morning. I hope it’s black,” he said without looking up.
“It is,” Serena said in a soft voice.
“Good. That’s just how I like it.” He was still looking down at a file on his desk.
“I know,” Serena said and he looked up. He had a smile on his face at first but it slowly faded when he saw her. “Just like you like your women, right?”
There was a long silence before he finally spoke.
“Yeah,” he said in a whisper.
“Hi Jake,” she said forcing a smile.
“Serena…what are you doing here?” he asked as she put the coffee on his desk.
“I work here,” she said as she took a step back. “I am your new secretary.”
“Wait…what?” he asked shaking his head. “I thought you did something about accounts.”
“I did and quite honestly I don’t want to talk about it,” Serena said. “I was Dr. Strauss’ secretary but since he resigned I automatically got signed to whoever was taking his place. Ergo me being here and you being…well, there.”
As Serena stood there looking into his blue green eyes, enduring the long uncomfortable silence, she could not help but notice how much hotter Jake had grown. His hair seemed fuller and his shoulders broader. She could tell from his buff chest that his gym membership was up to date. He had on a crisp black custom made suit and a light blue tie that matched his eyes perfectly
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him pushing his chair back and then stood up. He walked round his desk and slowly made his way to where she was.
Her mind was screaming “What are you doing?” but her throat was dry. She just couldn’t talk even though she really, really wanted to. Her lips were slightly parted probably from the way she was struggling to get some words out and her feet felt heavier than they had ever felt before. She couldn’t do anything. Talk. Move. Blink.
“You look…beautiful, Serena,” Jake said in a whisper. He was now standing right in front of her. “So damn beautiful,” he added as he pulled her into his arms and enveloped her in a hug. She gasped silently as he held her against his body. She closed her eyes and inhaled his rich musky scent. It was almost too perfect to ignore. She didn’t know why she felt so paralyzed a moment ago and yet now she was standing there with her own arms around him.
“We can’t…” she said after a long hug. “We can’t do this.”
“What? What is it?” Jake asked and she shook her head.
“This.” She waved a finger between them. “This is a mistake that cannot happen. Not ever.”
“Wait.” Jake put his hands up. “Is there something I am missing here?”
Serena rolled her eyes and sighed. It was all she could do not to just slap the living daylights out of him.
“Listen, Jake…I mean, Dr. Alexander,” she started as she rubbed her temple and Jake’s eyes grew wide.
“Whoa. Dr. Alexander?” he asked. “Way to keep it formal.”
“Well, we have to. This is a place of business,” Serena went on as she slowly took a few steps back creating what she thought was a healthy distance between them. “And we are not the only ones who work here so…” her voice trailed off when she realized she couldn’t think of any other words to say.
“Hey Serena, wait…” Jake started.
“Ja... Dr. Alexander, working here is the only thing that has kept me going after the whole not following my dream thing and I will not allow you to ruin this or me,” Serena said in a tougher voice than she had intended. “I hope you can understand that.”
“Of course I do,” a confused Jake said. “I would never dream of ruining anything for you.”
Serena nodded.
“Good. I passed by the Starbucks down the road. Strong and black like you like it and I even got you a bagel. If you need anything else I will be at my desk,” she said quickly before she walked out. She could feel him looking at her as she made her way to her desk. And if she was not a hundred per cent sure that her cheeks were going to give her away, she would have turned around if for anything, to just look into those eyes that once drove her wild. Those eyes that still made her feel a tingle down her spine.
*****
The day was better than Serena expected it to be. She had managed to stay off Jake’s radar as much as she could except for when she walked into his office to help him out with some of Dr. Strauss’ files and surgical privileges at the nearby Liberty Memorial Hospital. By the time she was done with Liberty Memorial it was almost five in the evening.
“I should have just brought my purse with me,” she thought as she walked into CWC. She made her way to her desk and switched on her computer. She had just begun composing a new email to Jake to update him on his surgical privileges when she saw him walking towards her desk.
“I didn’t think you were coming back today,” he said and she shrugged.
“I left my purse,” she said as she went on typing. She suddenly stopped and looked up at him. “You know, I am actually writing an email to you…I might as well just tell you what’s up.”
“Okay,” Jake said before she walked up to her desk.
“I went to Liberty Memorial Hospital, that’s where CWC takes all the critical cases,” she started.
“CWC?” Jake asked.
“Calabasas Wellness Center. The practice you now work in,” she said matter-of-factly.
He shook his head.
“Sorry. Everyone else has just been cutting out the center. They are calling it Calabasas Wellness,” he said and she nodded.
“Yeah, that was kind of out my name with Dr. Strauss,” she said. “Anyway, I sorted out everything but they are going to need a photo ID as soon as possible. If you have one I can drop it by there tomorrow on my way here though you will also need to make your way down there at some point because they have this whole biometric system and everything.”
“Maybe I should just go down there tomorrow morning and just sort everything out once and for all,” he said as he looked at her.
“Yeah, maybe it would be better that way,” she said. “That way you get to know the who’s who too. Chief of surgery, head of cardio who I believe is the person you should be getting acquainted with.”
“Yeah, I believe we will be rubbing shoulders a whole lot with him…or is it a she?” he asked raising an eyebrow over the other.
“Actually, it is a woman. Dr. Madeline Chang. She is pretty cool actually,” Serena said as she switched off her computer and began straightening out her desk. “We catch the occasional drink or two.”
“Maybe you would want to catch a drink with me or something,” Jake said and Serena looked up at him. “You know, for old time’s sake?”
Serena grabbed her bag and quickly put her keys and iPad in before she stood up.
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” she said as she looked at him.
“Give me one reason why that is a bad idea,” Jake said and she shrugged.
“Honestly I can think of a million but the one that really bothers me is that a college stud lied to an innocent nineteen year old and then he just left.” She hung her purse on her shoulder. “That is not just cold, it’s frosty.”
She began walking towards the door before Jake held her hand.
“You k
now that I never wanted to leave, right?” he asked and she pulled her hand away.
“Honestly. I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“You need to hear my side of the story, Serena.”
“No, I don’t. Not now anyway.”
“If not now, then when?” he asked as he looked at her. “We have to work together and I need to know that you are okay with seeing me around the office.”
“Well, did I do something to make you think I am not alright with having you in the office?” she asked. “Because I did my job today and I don’t know whether you had a chance to catch up on office gossip or not but I am the best secretary in this office. Hell, in the building and I have done more for you on your first day than most secretaries would have done in your first week.”
Jake nodded.
“I didn’t say you weren’t a good secretary. You have actually made my first day here very easy but you look like you have something you are holding back on and I think I know what it is all about,” he said. “All I need is time to explain myself.”
She looked at him for a long minute before she shook her head.
“Not this time, Jake,” she said before she walked out of the office as fast as she could. She was breathing hard and heavy as she waited for the elevator doors to open which seemed to be taking forever. She could feel her eyes tearing up and for a minute, she wanted to bang her head against the wall. She had been waiting to hear an apology or an explanation from Jake for nine years and now that he was ready to give it, she was not willing to give him a chance.
“What the hell is wrong with me?” she wondered as she rode in the elevator to the basement.
Chapter 4
Jake
“It’s official,” Jake thought as he walked back into his office on Tuesday evening after a long day at Liberty Memorial. “This is the hottest place on earth.”
He walked over to his mini fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He opened the bottle as he walked over to the window. He took a long sip and sighed as he looked out into the lit city. From where he stood at that time of night, everything looked so perfect, so peaceful. He took another long sip and smiled to himself. Despite the fact that he’d had a long day, it had been a pretty damn good one. He’d done a cardiomyoplasty procedure and even though the chances of the patient’s survival were slim, the patient had survived. And he had even stayed a few extra hours to do hi post-op check-up and everything looked good by the time he left. It all kind of reminded him of Seattle, how he was almost always on his feet. It was strange but he actually missed it. It had been two weeks and he already felt like he had made the biggest mistake of his life. It was probably bumping into Serena that made everything so different because as far as he was concerned, private practice had always been his thing. But seeing Serena, knowing that she still had a heavy heart over something he had completely no control over…it was killing him.
Back then, he would have stayed if he could but he got a full scholarship and it was either stay for Serena or follow his dream. He would have done anything to be able to explain himself to her especially the fact that he had to leave on the very day he and Serena were set on having their first official date.
He had just taken another sip of his water when he heard the elevator doors open. He slowly walked over to the door just in time to see Serena walking towards her desk. He looked at his wristwatch and frowned. It was almost eight and the clinic was almost empty. He could not think of a reason why she would have been back there.
He opened the door and leaned against the doorpost.
“Hey,” he said as she approached her desk.
“Hey, you’re still here?” she asked smiling at him. He couldn’t tell whether it was a real smile or she was just forcing it, trying to look more pleased than she really was.
“I just got back from Liberty Memorial,” he said.
“Oh yeah, you heard that cardiomyoplasty today,” she said and she nodded. “How did that go?” she asked as she grabbed her keys.
“Good…great actually,” he said.
“Good,” she said as she looked at him. “I just came back for my keys”. She waved her keys in front of her face making them jingle.
“But what have you been doing for three hours?” he asked, concern written all over his face.
“I didn’t leave till around six and I was meeting a friend for dinner. I didn’t realize until I got to my place,” she said, still smiling.
“You still keep your house and car keys separate?” he asked, trying hard not to smile.
“Well, after that time in college I haven’t really been in a mood to tempt fate,” she said.
“The odds of that happening again are almost impossible,” he said and she shrugged.
“Still, I’m not taking a chance,” she said. She was just about to walk away when he sighed. He had to get it off his chest. If ever there was a time, it was now, he thought.
“Serena,” he said before he took a long sip of his water. “Would you come in here for a minute?”
“Sure,” she said as she walked towards his office. Jake knew that he was taking a risk coming clean about his past. He knew that it was a sensitive topic with Serena but he had to let her know that it was not something he wanted to do.
“Do you maybe want to have a seat?” he asked. She shook her head as she walked to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow over the other.
“No….no,” Jake said frowning. He replaced the bottle top and put the bottle aside as he sat down. “Why would you ever think that?”
“My boss just asked me to come into his office with this serious look on his face,” she said as she put her bag in the empty chair next to her. “I think I have a reason to worry.”
Jake shook his head and forced out a laugh.
“Do me a favor, Serena. Talk to me like we used to. Like the old days.” He leaned forward and looked into her eyes. “Talk to me as Jake and not…fucking Dr. Alexander.”
She shook her head and gently pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I didn’t think…we talked about this. The only way for us to have a normal working relationship is if we keep it strictly professional.”
“You know I can’t do that, Serena,” Jake said.
“Well, that’s your problem.” She grabbed her purse and stood up. “I am not taking a trip down memory lane with you. It already hurts me enough that I have to see you on a daily basis.”
Jake stood up and quickly walked up to her before she could open the door.
“I need to leave,” she said in a soft voice.
“No, you don’t. At least not before I tell you why I had to leave on that day.”
“Well, I was a silly stupid teenager, then. I am twenty eight now and I have put it all behind me,” she said.
“Well, I haven’t because what I did that day…Serena, it’s haunted me.” Jake looked at her.
“Well, too bad for you.” She hung her purse on her shoulder and tried to turn around but Jake put his hands on either side of the door so she couldn’t move.
“There was a letter, a scholarship…a full scholarship to Stanford that my dad had been keeping from me and when I found it…I had to report the very next day.”
“The day after we were supposed to meet for dinner?” she asked and he nodded.
“I tried calling you but for some reason I couldn’t reach you. But I left you a voicemail message and I tried calling you afterwards but you wouldn’t pick my calls let alone return them,” he went on explaining. “I didn’t want to leave but if I ever was going to have a reputable college on my resume, I had to.”
She shook her head.
“I didn’t know you had applied to Stanford,” she said.
“I did. I applied for their scholarship program and my dad never wanted me to go for some reason,” he said.
“You were the only one who ever bothered to make sure
he wasn’t using,” Serena said in a soft voice.
“No, I was the only one who was careless enough with his cash for him to find.”
“So if you hadn’t gone, you wouldn’t have been a doctor now?” she asked and he shook his head.
“Most probably not.”
“And what about…” her words trailed off. She shook her head. “Well, you should have looked for me.”
“I did. I came back to Seattle and Lena told me that you had moved out and even she didn’t know where you lived,” he said. “And through the years I tried finding you…especially when I got married…”
“You got married!” she exclaimed as she looked into his eyes and he nodded.
“But only for a few months. Eighteen to be specific,” he said.
She shook her head.
“Jake…this is too much for me…” she rubbed her temple. “Anything else I should know about. Kids maybe?” she asked and he smiled before he shook his head.
“That was the main reason we divorced.”
“You didn’t want kids?” she asked.
“No, I did. She didn’t and when she got pregnant, she got rid of it,” he said. Recounting his past was almost as hard as the decision to move put to Calabasas.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a soft voice.
“It’s alright. I’m over it,” he said.
“But I have to say, I don’t think this is right. It can’t happen…I…” her voice trailed off when he raised her chin with his finger to look into her eyes. “Please, Jake. You were my stepbrother.”
“Not anymore. My dad and Lena got divorced years ago,” Jake said, hating the fact that he was pointing out the obvious. “Besides, we used to hook up at home, with our parents upstairs.”
“Yes and it was not right back them.” She shook her head. “It sure doesn’t seem right to do it now either.”
“I asked you this question once and I am going to ask you again,” Jake started as he slowly moved closer and closer to her. “How can something that feels this good be so bad?” He was now gently pinning her against the wall using his own body as leverage. He lowered his head and kissed her softly all the while expecting her to push him off but she never did. “All you have to do is tell me to stop and I promise you, I will.”
PARANORMAL ROMANCE: Shapeshifter Romance: The Vampire's Stolen Bride (BBW Fantasy Alpha Male Romance Books) (New Adult Vampire Fun Mature Young Adult Billionaire Steamy Love and Romance Novella) Page 19