He studied her features while breathing in her scent. It was a fragrance he doubted he would be able to forget. “What about you?”
He watched as she drew in her breath slowly before saying, “I wish…”
When she paused, he lifted his brow. “And what do you wish, Jaclyn?”
Her gaze connected with his. “I wished we didn’t ever have to leave here.”
He wasn’t sure if she meant the bed or the inn. Regardless, he was still feeling her. “I wish we didn’t have to leave, either.”
Beyond the door were things he wasn’t ready to deal with. Realities he preferred not to face. He much preferred being here, in this room, in this bed, with her.
But he knew that was impossible. They had a life beyond that door. In another day they would return to their jobs. And it was a job he rather liked doing and he knew for her it was the same. They were who they were. They had simply met at the wrong time.
When he’d left Jamaica many years ago his life plan had been set. From a child he had always known two things: he would one day make a life for himself in America and he would be a doctor. He had worked hard, finished top in his class and he’d played by the rules, refusing to break any.
Until now.
He wanted his job and he also wanted her. He wanted it all, but life decreed that wasn’t possible and they both knew it. And it was something he wasn’t ready to talk about right now. He just wanted to hold her in his arms and relish the memories.
Moments later he heard her stomach growl and couldn’t help smiling.
“Sorry,” she said apologetically.
He shook his head. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. We missed dinner. I’ll call and have something brought up to us.”
“Thanks.”
“And I still want to take that stroll tonight. I hear the grounds of the inn are beautiful at night.”
“And I’d love to see it…but at some other time.” And then she pulled his head down to hers. When she slid her tongue inside his mouth, he moaned deep in his throat and deepened the kiss.
And just like that, she had stoked his desires once again.
Jaclyn opened her eyes to the sunlight shining through the window. She heard Lucien moving around in the bathroom and shifted to lie on her back and gaze up at the ceiling.
It didn’t take much to remember last night. It had started with Lucien’s mouth on hers and things had moved quickly from there. When it came to kissing, he was a master, but then it was her opinion he was a master lovemaker as well. His strokes and his thrusts had been precise and had aroused her to a point of no return. Never had she been made to feel like that before. In the end they had both lost control. They had both gotten what they wanted. At that moment she didn’t want to think about the fact that yesterday and today were all they would have.
“You look beautiful in the morning.”
She glanced across the room. He was standing in the bathroom doorway, shirtless, with a pair of jeans hanging low on his hips. The man epitomized sex appeal.
She sat up in bed and smiled. “And you don’t look bad yourself, Doc.”
He chuckled as he began slowly moving toward her in what she thought was one sexy stroll. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms and she was ready for the kiss she knew was coming.
Moments later when their lips parted, she could only moan in protest.
“Hey, I need to feed you breakfast,” he said, joking.
She shook her head. “No, you don’t. We ate dinner late last night, remember?”
And they had. They had made love again before they’d finally ordered dinner delivered to their room. After eating they had gone out on the balcony to watch the fireworks over the bay. The way the prism of color had burst across the water, lighting up the skies, had been nothing short of spectacular. They had slipped into thick terry cloth robes, compliments of the inn, and Lucien had stood with his arms around her waist. She had leaned back into him and had felt like she was the most cherished person on earth. When the fireworks had ended, they had returned to their room, stripped and made love again.
“I still want to go for a stroll around the inn, Jaclyn.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re back to that again?”
He chuckled. “You’re going to thank me.”
She blushed, knowing exactly what he meant. Her body was sore and he knew it. If they remained in their hotel room all day, the soreness would only increase. “Okay, we’ll go walking.”
Surprisingly it didn’t take long for them to get dressed once they got out of the shower a while later. She’d known for them to take a shower together was a mistake as soon as he’d suggested it. But like everything else with him, she’d been tempted and the weakling in her had given in to it.
They enjoyed breakfast on the huge screened-in porch and then they walked around the inn, hand-in-hand, taking in the various sights and sounds. The inn was magnificent, the lawns well kept and the trees and shrubbery neatly trimmed.
Checkout time was at noon, but instead of driving directly back to Alexandria, they had decided to stop along the way and enjoy lunch in the quaint historical town of Evans. After they ate, they walked around the town, and they fell into silence, each one seemingly caught in their own thoughts.
“You’re quiet,” she said softly.
He glanced over at her and a smile touched his lips. “I was thinking how much I’ve enjoyed my time with you.”
“And I’ve enjoyed these stolen moments with you as well,” she replied.
“Stolen moments…” He seemed to test the words on his lips.
“Yes. Tomorrow we will be back in the real world.”
“At the hospital?”
“Yes.” They kept walking and then he stopped and turned to her, reached out and tenderly stroked a thumb across her cheek. “And what if I said I still wanted to see you away from the hospital?”
She met his gaze. “Then I would say you would be asking for trouble. You would be taking chances neither of us needs.”
He didn’t say anything for a while and momentarily broke eye contact with her to glance over the bay. When he returned his gaze to her, he said, “Can you look at me, Jaclyn, and say all you wanted was yesterday and today, and that our time together meant nothing but an affair to you?”
She drew in a slow breath and shook her head. Jaclyn knew her true feelings for him, knew there was no way she could say that. Although the past two days might not have been a turning point for him, it definitely had been for her. She loved him more now than before.
“No, but it doesn’t matter what we might want,” she said. “The hospital isn’t going to change its policies just for us. It is what it is.”
“But if I can come up with a plan, would you continue to see me?”
He was gazing at her with such tenderness and longing in his eyes that she knew what her answer would be. She would risk all to continue to see him. “Yes, I would continue to see you.”
He nodded. “That means we will have to keep our secret.”
She nervously nibbled on her bottom lip. Isabelle would be asking questions when Jaclyn returned. Her best friend was relentless when she wanted to know something.
“I know how you probably feel and what you’re thinking,” he said, interrupting her thoughts. “I don’t like sneaking around any more than you, but that’s how it will have to be to protect our careers at Hopewell, Jaclyn. The only other solution is one I’m not ready to do. I’m not ready to give you up and walk away. I’m not prepared to pretend the last two days, especially last night, didn’t happen. No matter the cost. You mean more to me than that and I refuse to treat it like it was some cheap hotel-room affair.”
Jaclyn didn’t say anything. He’d said she meant something to him. Granted it wasn’t what her heart declared he meant to her, but at least it was something.
“Jaclyn?”
“Yes?”
“So we are in agreement to continue what w
e started here?”
His mouth was set in a grim line and she knew he wasn’t overjoyed with his suggestion any more than she was, but for them that was the only way. They had their careers to protect and there was no doubt in either of their minds what would happen if word got out they were involved in an affair.
But then she knew what would happen if they weren’t involved in an affair. She would be miserable. “Yes, we are in agreement. I’ll continue to see you.”
With her words she knew a commitment had been made. And it was one she intended to keep. No matter what.
Chapter 10
“Good morning, Dr. De Winter.”
He raised a brow as he passed the nurses’ station. Was that a smile on Ms. Tsang’s face or was it a smirk? He wasn’t sure and he really didn’t care. The woman was known to cause trouble and he didn’t have the time or the inclination to wonder what she was up to now.
“Morning, Ms. Tsang,” he said as he kept walking. His day had started off badly. He had to change a flat tire before he could get to work and then got caught in traffic on the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The only good part of his morning was that sitting idle in traffic had given him the chance to relive moments of the two days he’d spent with Jaclyn.
He had taken her home around six yesterday evening and luckily for him her roommate’s car was gone, which meant Isabelle wasn’t home. But Jaclyn hadn’t invited him in because they hadn’t known how soon Dr. Morales would be returning. He’d had to kiss her goodbye in a corner of the doorstep where a huge plant had shielded them from possible prying eyes.
He checked his watch as he rounded the hallway to his office. He was eager to see how the patients from the multicar accident were doing. He hadn’t gotten beeped on his days off, which meant no emergency had come up while he was away.
Lucien was about to place his key into the lock of his office door but found it already unlocked. He frowned, wondering who’d been in his office. He opened the door to find Dr. Dudley sitting in one of the chairs. He wondered what would have the chief of staff waiting for him at nine in the morning. Had there been some new development regarding the Matthews lawsuit?
“Dr. Dudley, is anything wrong?” he asked, entering his office and closing the door behind him.
“I think we need to talk, Dr. De Winter,” he replied in a gruff tone.
Considering that his morning had gotten off to a bad start anyway, Lucien knew he should not be surprised that something was brewing with his boss. Although he hadn’t liked the fact that Lucien had fired Terrence Matthews, Dr. Dudley had been backed in a corner where he had no other choice but to support Lucien in his decision. Lucien hoped like hell that given the pressure the Matthewses were exerting on the hospital by withholding funding that Dr. Dudley wasn’t thinking about backing down on the stance the hospital had taken.
Lucien went to his desk and sat down. When Dr. Dudley didn’t say anything, Lucien glanced over at the picture of the older woman framed on his desk. His grandmother. He smiled before turning his attention back to his visitor. “I take it this meeting has something to do with the Matthews lawsuit.”
Dr. Dudley crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the swivel chair. “No, I’m here for another matter altogether.”
“Oh? And what matter is that?” he asked.
“Your behavior with one of your interns.”
Lucien’s stomach plunged. Keeping a poker face, he searched his mind to recall if at any point during the two days they’d spent together he and Jaclyn had run into anyone who worked at the hospital. When he couldn’t, he figured the man didn’t know anything but was merely fishing for information.
“And just what is supposed to be my behavior with one of my interns? And what intern are we talking about?” he asked in a remarkably calm voice. He leaned back in his chair, hoping there wasn’t anyone who had valid proof of his affair with Jaclyn.
“I understand you and Dr. Campbell were seen leaving the hospital together two days ago and her car was still here late in the afternoon.”
He inclined his head, seeing clearly now. He shouldn’t have been surprised that Ms. Tsang had run to him with her suspicions, just like he shouldn’t be surprised that he was acting on it. A part of him wondered again why Dr. Dudley always followed up on whatever gossip that particular nurse tossed him.
“And my leaving here with Dr. Campbell is supposed to be a crime?” he countered trying to keep the anger from his voice.
“It is if the two of you are breaking the hospital’s nonfraternization policy.”
“We’re not. Like a number of my interns she’d worked a double, taking care of the injured from that multicar collision. But before we got beeped for the accident, she’d come to see me to discuss the Matthews lawsuit. Rumors were going around and she was afraid somehow she would get connected to it. I felt I needed to assure her that wasn’t the case and preferred meeting her off-site.”
He paused a moment and then said, “And as far as her car being left here for a long period of time…” Like it’s really anybody’s business, he thought. “I offered to take her home when I saw how tired she was. End of story.”
Dr. Dudley didn’t say anything for a long moment as he studied Lucien. And then, “I hope for your sake, Dr. De Winter, that’s the end of the story. You have a promising future at Hopewell. You came highly recommended by Dr. Benjamin Norris, for heaven’s sakes. It would be an injustice for you to risk ruining your career by becoming involved with Jaclyn Campbell. I admit she’s a very attractive woman and all, but you need to ask yourself if she’s worth it.”
Lucien returned the man’s stare. He would never admit it to Dudley, but he had asked himself that same question last night when he’d gone to bed and this morning when he’d awaken. The answer had been the same: Yes, she was.
Lucien inhaled deeply. He didn’t fully understand what there was about his attraction to Jaclyn that he was willing to risk it all to be with her. But it was a risk for her as well.
Yesterday they had agreed to continue to see each other. It was their secret and he intended to protect it any way he could. Even if it meant lying outright to his boss and taking the position of the victim wrongly accused. The one thing that was genuine was his anger. First at the hospital for having such an outdated policy, and then at Dr. Dudley for believing everything he heard.
Besides, his boss, of all people, should not be calling him out on anything. Although Dudley hadn’t been accused of any extramarital affairs, he was known to have a roving eye, and Lucien had caught him checking out Jaclyn more than once.
The thought made his nostrils flare in anger and he leaned forward in his chair. “I appreciate your concern for my career, Dr. Dudley, but like I said, it’s the end of the story. Unless you have valid proof of any wrongdoing on either my part or Dr. Campbell’s, as far as I’m concerned this conversation is over. Now, if you don’t mind, sir, I have rounds to make.”
He stood up and walked around his desk, grabbed his lab coat off the rack and slid it on before opening the door and walking out. He didn’t have to look over his shoulder to know Dr. Dudley hadn’t appreciated his exit.
“If I didn’t know better I’d think you were avoiding me,” Isabelle whispered to Jaclyn as they sat up in the viewing room watching surgery being performed.
Jaclyn inwardly cringed. Yes, she had avoided Isabelle, which was why she had been pretending sleep when her best friend had come home last night and why she’d left early this morning long before Isabelle had awakened. The last thing she’d needed was her best friend grilling her about anything. Although she figured Isabelle’s questions would come sooner or later, she wanted to put them off as long as possible.
“I’m not avoiding you. Was there something you wanted?” she whispered back.
Isabelle glared at her. “Of course there’s something I wanted. I want to know how about your rendezvous with your mystery man. How was it?”
Jaclyn glanced around. Although Isab
elle had whispered the question, Jaclyn needed to make sure no one had overheard. She knew how much people enjoyed eavesdropping. Something was going on today, although she wasn’t certain what. She had been at work half a day already and hadn’t run into Lucien anywhere.
When Jaclyn had left home early this morning she had gone first to the gym to work out and had showered and changed. Lucien’s car was not in the regular parking spot when she arrived at the hospital which meant he hadn’t arrived yet. That was unusual because typically he was at work at seven every morning.
Dr. Bradshaw had needed an intern to assist him with surgery and she had volunteered. The surgery was supposed to last a couple hours and ended up lasting four. She’d heard from one of the other interns that Lucien had already made his rounds and was in some sort of meeting on another floor.
“Jaclyn?”
Jaclyn met her friend’s curious stare. “It was nice. I enjoyed myself.”
“I bet, but I’m not letting you off the hook that easily. Why are you still being so secretive about him?”
If only you knew, she wanted to say. Instead she said, “It’s complicated but I promise once I work things out to my satisfaction you’ll be one of the first to know.”
Isabelle looked at her strangely for a moment, as if she was a puzzle she needed to put together real quick. Then she smiled. “Okay, I’ll wait because I know you wouldn’t deliberately put me in misery.” Isabelle’s features went serious when she added, “But you better give me the scoop as soon as you…”
She stopped talking when her gaze latched onto something or someone beyond Jaclyn’s shoulder. Then she smiled and whispered, “Don’t look now but Dr. De Winter just came in. I swear that man looks hotter each and every time I see him.”
Jaclyn’s heart started beating furiously in her chest just knowing Lucien was near and she fought the temptation to glance over her shoulder to look at him. Because her back was to the door, turning around would be a sure indication that he’d been the topic of her and Isabelle’s conversation.
In the Doctor's Bed Page 11