by B. B. Hamel
“Does it matter?” I asked. “We have right now.”
“I can’t think that way.”
“Try.” I stared into his eyes and kissed him.
He moved me to the couch, and he tried.
His mouth between my legs, his fingers, and lips. He gave me what I wanted. Everything drove me wild, until he slid himself between my legs and filled me on a single thrust, both our bodies together, and moans dribbling from my lips. He took me deep and slow, deep and slow, and we built into our own rhythm.
The world ceased to matter.
“From the first second I saw you, I wanted this,” he whispered. “From the first time I tasted you, I wanted more. And now, I know I can’t stop.”
“You think I’m ruining you,” I moaned.
“No, but I’m afraid I’m ruining you.”
“Good,” I said. “Ruin me.”
Sweat dripped down between my breasts as he fucked me. His body was immaculate, a gorgeous shrine to perfection, and I felt every inch of him, his skin, his hard cock sinking deep between my legs. I writhed my hips, moving with him, and I tumbled down into that dark pit of pleasure, where nothing else mattered except for the sounds he made and the pleasure I felt.
I rode him and his tongue rolled around my nipples.
He turned me around and spanked me hard, until my ass was red and raw.
And when I finally came, pleasure exploding through my body like an anchor dropped through the sea, writhing along the full length of his hard shaft, I knew he wasn’t kidding: when this was done, there’d be more.
He came next, deep inside of me, and we collapsed onto the couch together, breathing hard.
I kissed his chest, then his chin. He kissed me back and cupped my ass. I straddled his leg, feeling that incredible floating stillness that always came over getting off.
“There has to be another way,” he said, staring up at the ceiling.
I moved up and bit his shoulder gently. He smiled and pulled my hair. I nuzzled against him. “There’s got to be someone willing to help.”
“Someone that doesn’t want to be a part of Caroline and Gina falsifying papers.” His breath was a steady rush of air in my ear. The apartment felt so tiny then, sunk down to the space between us. “The Tippetts won’t care.”
“What about that private investigator?”
He paused, and it sounded like his heart skipped a beat. “He doesn’t have any reason to lie for them.”
“I was kidding. They’re his clients.”
“But he wouldn’t be willing to break the law for them. I mean, would you do a surgery you knew was going to hurt someone, even if they wanted it?”
“No,” she said. “But it’s not the same thing.”
“Maybe it is.”
I sat up on one elbow and looked at him thoughtfully. “You want to approach him.”
“I want to try.” He shrugged and grinned at me. “Want to help?”
“Of course,” I said. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight.
I wasn’t happy that he’d gone behind my back to make a deal with Rees. It felt like shit, actually, that he considered leaving my life entirely.
But as soon as he looked at me with those pleading eyes, so wracked with guilt and desire, I knew I couldn’t hold out for very long.
There had to be another way through this, and if anyone was going to find it, I had to trust it would be him.
28
Piers
“How, exactly, do you plan on finding that private investigator?” Lori asked.
I crossed my legs at the ankle and stretched. Doctors, nurses, and patients bustled past. I got more than a few strange looks, and I probably deserved it—usually, when a doctor got suspended, they didn’t come back and sit outside of the hospital on a bench.
But I’m not just anyone.
Although I did feel strange. There was some small part of me that was actually ashamed to have been suspended—even if it was not my fault at all, and there was nothing I could have done to avoid it. My coworkers didn’t know that, and coming back like this probably looked more than a little weird. In fact, I bet some of them thought I was going to make a scene.
That wasn’t remotely my plan.
“He was hired to follow me,” I said. “I don’t think I have to find him at all.”
She laughed and shifted her body to face me. “So let me understand this. Your whole plan is we sit here until he shows up.”
“Yep, pretty much.”
“Genius. The simplicity is almost too much to handle.”
“I know, I’m pretty amazing.”
She sighed and leaned back, kicking her feet back and forth.
I told her not to wait with me. I figured I’d call her when Theodore showed up, and we could all go talk somewhere private together. She didn’t need to be seen with me right now, but she was insistent, and if I was being honest with myself, I wanted her around.
After everything, it was becoming clear that I couldn’t walk away. Even if it would be better for her. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She deserved better, of course—deserved a man that wasn’t tainted by whatever political bullshit was happening around me—but she’d made it clear that she had a say in all this, and I wasn’t going to deny her that right.
If she wanted to sit with me, I wouldn’t stop her.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long. I spotted Theodore after about fifteen minutes of hanging around, enduring awkward glances from the staff, and more than one double-take from some of the doctors.
“That’s him,” I said, nodding toward his bland baseball cap mingled in a crowd lining up to cross at a nearby intersection.
“Good thing,” she said. “I’m pretty sure the hospital’s going to send security out to drag you away from here.”
“I’m tempted to go in there and make a scene for real.”
“Save it. Caroline and Gina would thank you, that’d make their jobs easier.”
“Fair enough.” I stood up and held out my hand. “Coming?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” she said, and I helped her up. Together, we met Theodore halfway down the block. The private eye didn’t seem too surprised to see us there, approaching him in broad daylight. He stopped and stepped aside to allow the flow of pedestrian traffic to keep moving past him unencumbered. We stood in the entryway to a noodle place beneath their awning, the smell of fryer oil and broth sweet and savory and thick in the air.
“I’m glad we ran into you,” I said to him, extending my hand to shake.
He seemed surprised, but took it. “What can I do for you?” he asked.
“I thought we might talk.”
He glanced at Lori then back to me. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“Really? What brought you down here?”
He frowned a little and looked at Lori a second time—then I realized he was looking over her shoulder, down toward the hospital. He seemed nervous, like he was afraid someone might spot us talking, and he didn’t want that. I tried to wrack my brain for anyone that might care about this, and could only come up with Gina or Caroline, and most likely Caroline.
“Maybe we should talk,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go this way.”
He turned and set off. I followed, and Lori caught up. She gave me an uncertain look, and I shared her hesitation. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it, trying to reassure her through that simple touch, but I found myself drawn closer, my shoulder pressing against her own, like our bodies needed that physical contact to keep moving.
Theodore seemed on edge about something. Maybe it was about meeting with me like this, or maybe it was over whatever reason he had for skulking around the hospital. If he wasn’t there to spy on me, I had to guess that he was there relaying information from the Tippett family to Caroline. I figured he was very much a part of what was going on, but I was relying on one simple fact.
The Tip
pett family didn’t give a damn about him, and he didn’t have a position of power to protect himself. Caroline was the hospital administrator, and all the privileges of that job meant she could pull some strings to keep herself safe and clean. But Theodore was just a private investigator, and if it came to needing someone to take the fall—well, it wouldn’t be Robert Tippett, and it wouldn’t be Caroline, and it most likely wouldn’t be Gina.
Theodore took us several blocks away to a quiet Au Bon Pain. It wasn’t crowded—too early for lunch, too late for breakfast, and the good bread wasn’t the best place for brunch—and it was easy to find a table in the far corner, away from everyone else. Theodore sat with his back to the wall, eyes scanning the other patrons.
“Want something?” I asked before sitting. “Coffee? Pastry?”
“No, thanks,” he said. “Let’s talk.”
Lori beamed at the both of us while I took a seat. “I’m going to grab some coffee. I’ll bring you both one.”
Theodore didn’t argue, and she set off after giving my shoulder a quick squeeze. I felt thankful for her—she seemed to know that we needed a few minutes alone together. I felt as though Theodore might open up to me, but couldn’t guess how her presence would affect things.
“What were you doing, hanging around the hospital?” Theodore asked.
“Waiting for you,” I said. “I figured we had some things to discuss.”
“You’re right about that.”
I leaned toward him. “And what were you doing?”
He cleared his throat. “I was going to talk to Caroline.”
“I figured. Running messages for your employer.”
“Not exactly,” he said. “This was on my own initiative.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And what would you need to talk to the hospital administrator about, if it’s not coming from Robert?”
“There are some things I noticed, over the last couple weeks.” He cleared his throat again. He was nervous, twitchy almost, and he kept glancing to the side, toward the window, at the people walking past. Sweat dampened his underarms and darkened his light blue dress shirt. I couldn’t recall seeing him like this before, not even when I’d first confronted him. Back then, he seemed so cool and calm—but now, he was a mess.
Something was happening with him.
“I think I can guess what,” I said. “I’m betting it has to do with my notes.”
He coughed the nodded. “That’s right.”
“You know they’re fake, don’t you?”
“I have my suspicions.”
A long silence fell between us. My heart raced as I tried to come to grips with that. He knew, damn it, he knew the truth—he knew that Robert was setting me up, and that Caroline was in on the whole thing. They faked my documents, and somehow Theodore had found out.
Lori returned with three coffees in paper to-go cups. Theodore took his with a polite smile and placed it down to the side. I sipped mine: strong and black. Lori sat down and glanced between us, but didn’t say anything.
“Theodore was just telling me that he knows Caroline and Robert Tippett are trying to set me up,” I said.
“I didn’t say that.” He frowned only a touch, but I noticed that he didn’t disagree with my statement.
“You know those notes are faked,” I said. “I don’t know how you figured it out, but you did. And you were headed to Caroline to, what, confront her about it?”
“I wanted to talk to her,” he said. “That’s all. I wasn’t sure what I knew, at least until right this second.” He let out a bitter laugh, like it clawed its way up from his throat. I could only guess at how he felt: foolish, angry, and worse. If I could see how Tippett was going to throw him under the bus, then I was sure he could see it, too.
“You believe me,” I said.
“I do.” He looked at Lori. “You believe him too, don’t you?”
“I know he didn’t make those notes,” she said. “He had me mess with his filing system early on during my residency, and I’m absolutely positive he wouldn’t have made any inappropriate comments.”
“That’s the impression I got as well,” Theodore said. “You might be difficult to work with, but you’re meticulous.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I am extremely careful.”
“It’s strange, really,” he said, leaning back in his chair and seeming to loosen up a touch. “Why would they choose you, of all people?”
“I could guess,” I said. “But I think you know better than I do.”
He laughed softly. “You overestimate me.”
“You’ve been following me around. Take a guess.”
“You’re not well loved at the hospital,” he said. “Although I noticed that you’ve been trying to do better. I applaud that.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Few people would stick up for you though,” he continued. “You act as though professionalism is below you—although I’m aware that only extended to your coworkers, and that your bedside manner was surprisingly good.”
“That’s a good analysis,” Lori said, “but I think you’re missing one important thing.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“He’s very, very good at his job,” she said, glancing at me, then back to Theodore. “Of all the doctors, this would affect him the least. He’d be able to find a new position somewhere else, and the sting of getting thrown under the bus would be a little less sharp.”
“That’s a good point,” I said. “Except they underestimate how badly I’d want to stay.”
Theodore pursed his lips and studied the two of us. I tried not to look at Lori, but I couldn’t help myself. I kept thinking if she hadn’t shown up when she did, I think I would’ve walked away already. Nothing would’ve kept me at the hospital, nothing important, anyway. My routines, my patients, they were important, and I’d fight for them, but to a point. Sooner or later, I would’ve given up, found a new job, and moved on. It wouldn’t have been so hard, not really. She was right, I was very good.
And that was a benefit to the administration.
But then she came into my life, and she showed me there was more to being a doctor than performing operations. She was the wild card. Caroline never should’ve allowed her cousin to place her beneath me.
I’d have to thank him for that one day.
“This leaves me in a tricky position,” Theodore said. “It’s against my code to turn my back on an employer. I’m not supposed to go against them, not for any reason. Except right now, I feel as though I don’t have much choice.”
“They’re the ones falsifying documents,” Lori said. “You didn’t have a hand in that.”
“But they’ll say you did,” I said, and I saw a flash of recognition in Theodore’s eyes. He knew it, I was sure, and now it was only a matter of time, of hammering out the final details, but he’d come around.
“They might,” he agreed, and we lapsed into silence again. I let him chew on that, let him picture what might happen if he didn’t take steps to protect himself. Robert Tippett, destroying his career— that rich, smug bastard, getting away with destroying lives in order to get whatever he wanted, as if he didn’t already have enough.
There was a part of me that knew how Theodore must’ve felt about rich clients like Tippett. It was probably how I felt about my own rich patients: a sense of distance, as if they were different kinds of humans, from a whole different world.
“What can we do about it?” he asked finally.
“We need proof that they faked the documents,” I said. “You’re the person closest to them. Robert would trust you.”
He shook his head. “Robert’s smart. If he caught me sniffing around, he’d figure it out.”
“Gina then,” Lori said.
I frowned at her. “Really?”
She nodded, glancing at me. “Think about it. Caroline is close enough to Robert that she might be aware Theodore doesn’t know about the documents. But I doubt they’
re telling Gina much of anything. I bet if Theodore asked her about what she knew, she might spill something without realizing, and I bet she’d give him whatever he asked.”
“I think you’re right,” I said, glancing back to Theodore. “Can you do it?”
“Wouldn’t be hard,” he said. “I wouldn’t even have to lie. She’d make her own assumptions.” A short pause as he picked up his coffee and took a sip. “But it’d be a risk for me.”
“Bigger risk then letting Tippett do whatever he wanted?”
He shook his head. “Hard to say.”
“What do you want, then?” Lori asked, surprising me. I didn’t think she’d go right to trying to buy him off, but the girl wasn’t messing around. I appreciated that.
“I don’t want money, if that’s what you mean,” he said, then looked at me. “I want to be your patient.”
I sat back, trying not to let my surprise show. As far as I could tell, Theodore was a healthy man—but appearances did not always mean much in my business. I dealt with the unseen, the hidden problems that lurk below the surface, went undiagnosed, unnoticed for years and years, and might eventually explode if they went unfixed. Maybe Theodore had one of those issues.
“What exactly is the problem?” I asked.
He frowned a little, then laughed and shook his head. “No problem,” he said. “But I’m not a young man anymore, and one day I might need an operation. I want you to perform it if I do.”
“Even after all this?” I asked.
“You’re the best.” He pushed back and stood up. “Do we have a deal?”
I stood and shook his head. “You get that proof, and I’ll do whatever surgery you want, on the house.”
“Let’s hope I never need it,” he said, and shifted around the table. He shook with Lori then left. I watched him go with trepidation—we hadn’t hammered down details about when he’d go to Gina, or what he’d do with the proof once he did.
But I didn’t think that mattered. He’d do it sooner rather than later. He couldn’t wait too long, or else Tippett might spring his trap and ruin Theodore in the process.
“What do you think?” she asked once Theodore was gone.