In the Doctor's Bed

by Brenda Jackson

  “I believe that as well, Lucien.”

  She didn’t say anything else as she continued to eat her food and he couldn’t help wondering what she was thinking and how she was feeling. She had agreed to continue their affair and the selfish person in him should have been glad. But the part of him who knew she deserved better than sneaking around with him felt bad about it. And the last thing he wanted was for her to think or even consider the possibility that he was taking advantage of her. Because he wasn’t. But would others who knew the situation see it that way? He knew for a fact his sister would not. She was a romantic at heart and would want to read more into his and Jaclyn’s relationship than what was there. That was one of the main reasons he hadn’t told Lori anything about Jaclyn.

  “You’re not eating. You’re picking at your food.”

  Lucien glanced up. “I was just thinking.”

  “If it’s on my behalf, please don’t.”

  He wondered if she was a mind reader. “Why not?”

  “We’ve talked. Made decisions. And we know what we want to do and need to do. I’m fine with it.”

  “But—”

  “Please, Lucien,” she interrupted by saying. “No buts. Buts can begin leading in regrets and regrets then become doubts, qualms and misgivings. And I don’t want that.”

  He stared at her and she stared at him. “You’re sure?” he asked her for the second time that night.

  “I’m positive.”

  They changed the subject to talk about other things. He told her more about his life in Jamaica and she told him about her life in Oakland. When he updated her on the Matthews lawsuit she shared with him her own brother’s bout with drugs and subsequent rehabilitation and how he was doing fine now and happily married.

  “So you think there’s hope for Terrence?” he asked her after taking a sip of his wine. Dusk had settled and he’d already lit the decorative lanterns to light up his backyard. They were sitting on his screened-in patio which was keeping out uninvited mosquitoes. It was a beautiful night and he was enjoying it with a beautiful woman.

  “Yes, but first he and his family have to admit he has a problem.”

  Hours later after she had finished helping him clean up the kitchen, she glanced down at her watch. “It’s late and although I left Isabelle a note, she’s going to worry. I need to leave now.”

  He walked over to her. “All right.” But neither of them made an effort to move. They just stood there. Then within seconds they were kissing like there would be no tomorrow and he knew at that moment he couldn’t fight this. And when he swept her into his arms and headed once again toward the bedroom, he knew from the way she was returning his kiss that she couldn’t fight it either.

  And at this point in time, he didn’t want to.

  Chapter 13

  “If you happen to be on Corridor C tomorrow, please check on Mrs. Canady. She’s such a sweetheart,” Isabelle said of one of her patients as she downed the last of her coffee before grabbing the handle of her luggage.

  It was Isabelle’s parents’ thirtieth anniversary and she was returning home to the Bronx for a huge celebration and wouldn’t return until late Sunday. “I’m going to miss you,” Jaclyn said, walking her to the door.

  “Yeah, right. I don’t believe you as long as you’re keeping the identity of your mystery man hidden from me.”

  Jaclyn gave her best friend a wry smile. “You’re not going to let up with that, are you?”

  “No, not until I meet him. You claim he isn’t married, so there has to be a reason you’re keeping him well hidden.”

  Moments later Jaclyn stood at the window and watched Isabelle pull off, thinking about her best friend’s parting words. She hadn’t given a response because she wasn’t sure what response she could give.

  It had been a little more than three weeks since she had first gone to Lucien’s house that day where they’d made love and then later made dinner. Even now she could remember how it felt sitting across from him on his screened patio while jazz music played in the background and lanterns cast a dim light on all the beautiful flowers in his backyard.

  For her it had been the most romantic evening and even now she could still get goose bumps remembering how they’d made love again before she’d left. That night had been the beginning of many more to come.

  During the day at Hopewell, although it was becoming more and more difficult, they played their parts as Dr. Lucien De Winter and Dr. Jaclyn Campbell—both very much aware they were being watched by Nurse Tsang. On more than one occasion she had caught Dr. Dudley eyeing them suspiciously as well. They made sure they didn’t take the same days off and on those occasions when they did, they made sure they left town, far away from accusing eyes.

  Although Isabelle teased her sometimes about her “mystery man,” for the most part Isabelle didn’t ask questions anymore and Jaclyn appreciated her for that. Still, it was getting harder and harder to keep her secret from her best friend; especially those times when Jaclyn would smile for no reason after spending time with him.

  And they were spending time together. Sometimes they would travel all the way to Baltimore to meet and stay for the night. One weekend they had gone to New York. Right before he’d left town they’d returned to Wades Point Inn, which had become their favorite secret hideaway. The more time they spent together, the more they wanted to be together. It was getting harder and harder for her when they were apart.

  She moved away from the window and headed toward the laundry room to sort out her clothes. Lucien had left a week ago to attend that medical conference in Florida and would be returning sometime in the morning. Although he had called her every night, she still missed him. She couldn’t help but do so because they’d begun spending more and more time together.

  Jaclyn knew he was still bothered about the situation they were in and the secrets they were keeping from the people they cared about. But they had agreed they had too much at stake to trust anyone right now.

  Jaclyn had put in her first load of clothes when she heard the doorbell. Wondering who it could be, she made her way to her front door. She figured after doing her laundry she would curl up with a good book.

  She glanced out the peephole in the door and her breath caught. It was Lucien. She quickly opened the door. “Lucien? When did you get back? What are you doing here?”

  Instead of giving her answers, he reached out and pulled her into his arms.

  How could any man miss the taste of a woman so much? Lucien wondered as he pressed his mouth to hers and then as soon as she parted her lips, he slid his tongue inside her mouth. He needed to kiss her with a desperation he wasn’t aware that he could experience.

  And just as he knew she would, she reciprocated and her tongue began dueling with his as a rush of heated desire skirted through his system. He’d known to expect that as well. He was convinced he was incapable of ever getting enough of kissing her, of tasting her, of making love to her.

  He automatically deepened the kiss and pulled her closer to him. Not only did he need to kiss her, but he also needed to feel her all over. His hands ran down her back before cupping her backside. She felt so damn good in his arms and a part of him wished he would be able to touch her like this forever.

  Her heart was beating fast and he felt it, pressed against his own that was pounding just as furiously. Her taste could spur him to do some of the most outrageous things and it wouldn’t take much to push him over the edge. He wouldn’t hesitate to make love to her right where they stood.

  But now he just wanted to take his time to savor what he’d missed. And he definitely missed this, the feel of her soft and compliant lips beneath his that were goading him with an urgency that he felt all the way to his toes, stirring up sensations inside of him. She could ignite his passion in a way it had never been lit before he’d met her.

  Moments later when he finally pulled his mouth away, he heard her sigh of both disappointment and pleasure and it mirrored his own. He gent
ly cupped her chin in his hand so their gazes could meet, and he whispered in a deep, husky voice, “I missed you.”

  He wasn’t sure just how much he’d missed her until now. When she had opened the door it seemed as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Although they had talked every night while he’d been away, it hadn’t been the same. Even during the day when they were at the hospital, pretending to be no more than associates, at least he would see her. But for an entire week he had to endure the hardship of not seeing her at all. And now that he was here, he didn’t want to let her go.

  “And I missed you, too, Lucien.”

  His breath shuddered on her words. The last couple weeks with her had been the best he’d ever shared with a woman. Because they were limited as to where they could go and just what they could do, a lot of their time—in and out of bed—was spent talking. So he felt that he’d gotten to know her pretty well. And everything he had assumed about her in the beginning was true. Besides being devastatingly beautiful, she was smart, kind, a great conversationalist, confident, sharp, gifted…

  He could have gone on and on as he looked at her, standing before him with lips that still glistened from his kiss. Last time they were together he’d placed passion marks all over her body. He doubted they were still there, which meant it was time for him to place a few new ones on her.

  “Lucien, you took a chance coming here.”

  Her words reclaimed his attention. “You told me last night that Isabelle would be leaving around noon. It took all I had to wait until then to get over here.”

  “But—but what about your car parked outside?”

  A smile curved his lips. “I didn’t drive here. I caught a cab a few blocks from my house. And I had the cabbie put me off one street over from here.”

  She shook her head as if she was utterly amazed. “You went through all that trouble?”

  He reached out to snag her around the waist and brought her closer to him. “Yes, I missed you and had to see you. I hadn’t planned on coming home until tomorrow, but when we finished early, I got an early flight back.”

  He paused a moment and then asked, “Isabelle did leave, right?”

  She chuckled. “If she hadn’t, you’d be in a world of trouble. What were you thinking?” she admonished.

  “I told you. I was thinking of seeing you and being with you.” And then he leaned over and captured her lips.

  When Jaclyn tried to ease out of bed in the wee hours of the next morning, an arm reached out and grabbed her around the waist. Lucien then shifted on his back. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  She chuckled as she glanced over at him thinking the shadow on his chin made him appear sexier. “Some of us have to go to work today. Go back to sleep.”

  He reached out and grabbed the back of her neck to bring her face close to his for a kiss. He finally released her mouth and smiled at her. “You’ll come see me before you leave?” he asked in a deep, husky voice as he shifted to his side.

  “Only if you promise to keep your hands to yourself,” she said, trying to regain her equilibrium. His kisses could do that to her. “If you don’t, I’ll be late,” she added.

  By the time she had come out of the bathroom after showering, she saw he had drifted back to sleep. Not wanting to wake him, she left a note letting him know she would be home today around six. She was glad she and Isabelle had stocked the refrigerator that week. She knew that Lucien would wake up hungry.

  Jaclyn knew something was going on the moment she arrived on her floor at Hopewell. There was a buzz in the air and several doctors and nurses were in groups talking. She hoped there wasn’t any new negative development in the Matthews lawsuit.

  She saw Tamara St. John and quickly walked up to her. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  Her fellow intern pulled her off to a private spot. “I got here an hour ago and the hospital was swarming with security. It seems someone has hacked into the hospital’s fertility clinic database to get the sperm bank records.”

  Jaclyn lifted her brow. “Why would someone do something like that?”

  Tamara shrugged. “Who knows? But I understand the real concern is that back in the day a number of the med students and interns hard up for money sold their sperm to the clinic. I guess those guys are now wondering if they will be exposed as some baby’s daddy.”

  A short while later Jaclyn was heading to Corridor C to check on Mrs. Canady like she promised Isabelle when she encountered Ms. Tsang coming out of a patient’s room. She hadn’t seen the nurse for the past couple of days and she hadn’t been missed.

  “Ms. Tsang,” she greeted in a formal voice.

  “Dr. Campbell.” The woman paused and then said, “Is Dr. De Winter back from his medical seminar? The patient in C5, Nora Allen, has been asking about him. It seems he made somewhat of an impression on her.”

  Jaclyn lifted what came across as a nonchalant brow. “Really? And why would you be asking me about Dr. De Winter?”

  A smirk appeared on Ms. Tsang. “He’s your boss.”

  “And Dr. Dudley is yours. Do you know where he is twenty-four seven?” Her question actually made the woman blush. Jaclyn found that interesting.

  “No, of course not. I just assumed…”

  “And what did you assume, Ms. Tsang?” she asked, her annoyance with the woman clearly evident.

  “Nothing.”

  The woman quickly walked off and Jaclyn watched her go while easing out a deep breath. Kayla Tsang was determined to unravel something on her and Lucien, but neither of them intended to give her the chance.

  As she kept walking toward Mrs. Canady’s room she couldn’t help but think about what Tamara had told her. Lucien had been an intern here some years ago. Was he one of those men who had sold their sperm to the fertility clinic? Was there a woman out there who’d had his baby?

  Jaclyn felt a sudden jab of jealousy at the very thought and tried to shrug it off but couldn’t do so easily. She knew that what he did before he met her was none of her business. In truth, what he did now was no business of hers, either. Her only comfort was that he had labeled theirs an exclusive relationship. Secret but exclusive.

  She smiled when she thought how unknowingly Ms. Tsang had come to the truth. Not only did Jaclyn know Lucien’s whereabouts, but he’d also been in her bed all night. She didn’t want to think about what would happen if Ms. Tsang or anyone else found out about that. She guessed Ms. Allen would just have to pine for Lucien a couple more days because he wouldn’t be returning to work until then. She smiled at the thought of what Lucien would be doing on his off days.

  “You have such a pretty smile, Dr. Campbell.”

  She inwardly cringed when she glanced up and saw Dr. Dudley. “Thanks, Dr. Dudley.”

  She kept walking. There was something about him that made her uneasy. Maybe it was the way he looked at her with lust-filled eyes. And the man was married, for heaven’s sakes. Some people, especially men who were evidently going through some sort of midlife crisis, never ceased to amaze her.

  Lucien hung up his cell phone after talking to Thomas Bradshaw who’d called to inform him that someone had hacked the fertility database. Thomas was one of the men who’d once donated sperm and like others were concerned the information might get in the wrong hands. Fortunately, Lucien was not worried. Although a lot of interns had gotten together and gone over to the clinic that day, he hadn’t been one of them. The thought of his child out there without his knowing the mother hadn’t sat well with him. Possibly because he had thought of his own predicament while growing up without a father in his life.

  Thomas was hoping security found the culprit. Lucien was certain most of the men who’d donated sperm wanted to remain anonymous and he hoped that continued to be the case. He didn’t want to imagine the purpose of someone obtaining those records.

  He walked over to the oven to check what he had cooking. Jaclyn would be surprised when she got home to discover he had dinner already prepared for
them. He glanced around thinking he really liked her kitchen. It wasn’t as large as his, but he liked how she had things arranged, all within easy reach.

  By the time she got home she would have put in at least twelve hours today. He of all people knew how hectic an intern’s schedule was, but he worried about her. He glanced up when he heard the key in the door and moved quickly to be there when she opened it.

  “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself,” she said, entering the house and closing the door behind her.

  That was all she was given a chance to say when he pulled her into his arms. “Dinner’s ready,” he said, after releasing her mouth.

  She lifted a brow. “You cooked?”

  He chuckled. “You asked like you’ve forgotten that I can.”

  “No, I was wondering why you did. I figured you’d want to rest. We could have ordered out.”

  “But I wanted to do that for you. You’ve put in a long day. Interns’ hours are too long.”

  She grinned. “You’re the boss. Change it.”

  He gazed at her thoughtfully. “I would if I could, believe me. It’s hospital policy to cram all your training into two years.”

  “I understand. I was just teasing,” she said, taking her purse straps off her shoulder and placing the bag on the table. “Give me a minute to freshen up and I’ll be back. I’m hungry.”

  Then she said, “Ms. Tsang asked about you.”

  He frowned. “Any reason she did that?”

  “Just her typical nosy self. I think she was hoping that I’d slip up and say something I shouldn’t. And Nora Allen in C5 has been asking about you.”

  “The patient who didn’t want her nail polish removed?”