Sizzling Nights with Dr. Off-Limits

by Janice Lynn

  And yet, for all the past, he wanted her even now. Just without the golden rings to choke out everything good between them, without that stress they’d put upon their once fantastic relationship, without the tears and the fights. He wanted what they’d had those first few months they’d been together and she’d been his best friend, his confidant, the person who had brightened his life in so many ways.

  So long as they didn’t put the expectations upon each other their wedding vows had burdened them with, they should be just fine.

  In his mind, it all made perfect, logical sense, but when his gaze met Emily’s across the table, he knew his logic and her logic weren’t anywhere near on the same page.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  EMILY WANTED TO SCREAM. Why did Lucas keep staring at her that way?

  A way that had her questioning his motives.

  A way that made her think he wanted to have her for dessert.

  As if.

  He paid for their food by tossing down a couple of large bills that no doubt made their waitress’s night.

  “No change? Really?” The young woman smiled hugely. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for dinner, too,” Emily added, standing. “I need to be going. I have to work tomorrow.”

  She needed to get away from Lucas. Seeing his kindness, his generosity, to the waitress bothered her. Not that she didn’t want him to be generous. He could certainly afford to and generosity was a good thing. She just didn’t want to witness any more “good guy” behavior. Nor did she want to make any more comparisons between Richard and Lucas. Richard was a “to the exact recommended percentage only” tipper and would have been appalled at what Lucas had given to the young woman. Just as he was appalled at how much Lucas had bid for tonight’s “date.”

  “I’ll walk you home.”

  “No.”

  “Emily,” he began, but she shook her head.

  “Lucas, you aren’t going home with me.”

  “Walking you home and going home with you aren’t the same thing.”

  “Either way, I walked myself here and I can walk myself back.”

  “You offend my gentlemanliness.”

  “Too bad, but you aren’t getting anywhere near my apartment.”

  “Is being around me that bad?”

  Why had his voice sounded off when he’d asked his question?

  “Being around you isn’t good.”

  “I’d like to prove that you’re wrong about that,” he said as they stepped outside Stluka’s and onto the sidewalk. Although the street wasn’t that crowded, at the end of the block they could see the hustle and bustle of Broad Street. “I think our being around each other could be good for both of us.”

  She paused walking. A man behind her excused himself and went around her as she glared at Lucas. “Why would you possibly think that?”

  “We had a lot of passion and strong emotions between us that we were too young to deal with and we let our relationship fall apart. Life has thrown us back together for a reason.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  “Yeah, maybe I am, because right now all I can think about is how much I’ve missed spending time with you. I suppose there are a lot of people who’d say that’s pretty crazy.”

  “For the record, I’m one of those people. The only reason I’m spending time with you is because you won the auction. Don’t mistake my being here as anything more.”

  “I don’t believe you, Emily. I feel the vibe between us.”

  She glanced down the street, considered making a run for her apartment. How dared he call her bluff?

  “You’re still as attracted to me as I am to you.”

  “I’m not attracted to you at all. Whatever vibes you think you’re picking up on all have to do with the past, Lucas. There’s nothing between us in the present. Nothing at all. Good night.”

  Head held high, she walked away, praying her feet didn’t trip up and make her land on her face because she felt his gaze on her retreat.

  * * *

  Some of Emily’s patients truly broke her heart. Jenny Garcia was one. The four-year-old girl had been rushed to the emergency room after she’d been abused by her mother’s drugged-out boyfriend. The child had sustained multiple injuries including broken ribs, a busted lip, blackened eyes and bruises all over her tiny body. She’d also suffered from a concussion and brain injury that had the emergency physician opting to admit the child onto the unit where Emily worked.

  Lucas was the physician assigned to her case and he’d shown up on the floor just minutes after Emily got the unconscious girl checked onto the unit.

  “How bad is she?”

  “She’s pitiful,” Emily admitted, her eyes watering. No, she was not going to cry. She wasn’t. She would not lapse into crying in front of Lucas. She was beyond that life phase.

  “Some people shouldn’t have children.”

  Some people didn’t.

  Emily flinched. Nope. Not going there. La. La. La. Not allowing those thoughts to enter her head.

  “I agree.” She handed him the computer tablet with the girl’s information pulled up.

  His wince tugged way deep inside Emily. Lucas sighed, then raked his fingers through his thick hair. “Where’s the mom?”

  Emily shrugged. “I’ve not seen her. One of the ER nurses said she was there for a while, but that she didn’t stay.”

  “How could anyone leave their child after something like this happening?” Lucas asked, truly looking shocked.

  Emily had had the same thought when the ER nurse had told her the girl’s mother had left. Emily tried not to judge, but sometimes it was darn hard not to.

  Lucas nodded. “Go with me to check her?”

  Emily didn’t want to go anywhere with Lucas, but she couldn’t refuse the unit’s medical director.

  When his eyes touched on the child in the hospital bed, his disgust emanated.

  “There are several consults already in the system besides yours,” Emily told him. “The ER physician just felt having you look over her brain scans and getting her ICP down was the most imperative once they had her otherwise stabilized.”

  “She’s going to need surgical repair of some of her injuries.”

  Emily nodded. “Jeremiah Franklin reset a bone and closed a few wounds prior to her transfer to the floor. He plans to take her back to surgery once you feel it’s safe for him to do so.”

  “Noted.” Lucas did a neuro check on the child from head to toe so he could assess the extent of her injuries. Emily had already completed a similar examination but watched Lucas’s highly efficient but gentle exam. The child was unconscious and yet, still, his touch was nurturing and caring.

  The girl moaned in pain, the sound barely above a tortured whimper.

  “I’ll kill the guy myself if he ever shows his face here.”

  Emily nodded. She felt the same. The absolute protectiveness Lucas was showing over the child stunned her, though.

  He’d have made a great father.

  A tortured whimper escaped her own lips at her thought and she turned away.

  “I’m sorry, Emily. I shouldn’t have said that out loud.”

  Forcing herself to face him, she shook her head. “No, for once, we agree on something. I’d like to introduce him to my dad’s baseball bat.”

  A small smile toyed on Lucas’s face. “I’ve heard about your dad’s baseball bat.”

  Emily’s gaze flickered to the child. “Yeah, well, too bad she doesn’t have a dad with a baseball bat to have protected her from the world’s bad guys.”

  “Agreed.” He touched her shoulder, then let his hand fall away as if realizing he shouldn’t be touching her. “I’m off to get prepped for surgery to release the pressure in her head.
Pray all goes well and I have her back to you before your shift ends.”

  * * *

  With more wires and bandages than she’d left with, Jenny returned to the unit about an hour before time for Emily’s shift to end. She got the child settled, with all vitals checked and recorded.

  Lucas looked over the information in the computer, then went to the girl’s room and found Emily standing next to the child’s bed and holding her hand.

  His heart squeezed at the image, at the compassion on Emily’s face. The look that said had this been her child she’d have protected her until her dying breath.

  Once upon a time, Emily had wanted a child. His child. Did she plan to have children someday still?

  As much as she’d talked about having a baby and starting a family, he was surprised she hadn’t already.

  Any child would be blessed to have her as a mother.

  If only they were meeting now for the first time, without the past between them, how different would things be? Would he be looking at her right now and admiring her beauty, her compassion, her heart, and wondering at the emotions she elicited within him?

  Would he ask her to dinner and commiserate over life’s injustices that a child would suffer such a cruel fate? Would they bond and hold hands, hug each other, share their first kiss? Would they—

  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Emily interrupted his thoughts, pulling her hand free from the child’s and moving away from the hospital bed. “She’s resting peacefully at the moment and her ICP pressure has improved a lot from prior to surgery. You used your new procedure on her. It seems to be working.”

  “So far, at any rate. She has a long way to go to recovery.”

  Emily nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check my other patient.”

  Lucas watched her walk across the room. Just as she made it to the door, he stopped her. “Go to dinner with me, Emily.”

  He hadn’t known he was going to ask her, but more than anything he wanted her to say yes.

  “I can’t,” she told him. “I already have plans.”

  “With the pharmacist?”

  Not meeting his gaze, she nodded.

  “Will you understand if I don’t say to have a good time?”

  Her gaze lifted to his. “Not really.”

  He sighed. “Go, Emily. Have a good time. The best.”

  * * *

  Emily didn’t have the best time. Richard was quiet, sulky, wanting her to pay penance for having dinner with Lucas the night before. She kept having to remind herself that Richard wasn’t the problem. Lucas was.

  She smiled across the dinner table, forced herself to listen to him recount a story one of his pharmacy customers had told him that day. She hadn’t had to force herself to listen to Lucas the night before. She’d soaked up every excited word he’d said. He’d talked with such passion about his career, about the new procedure and the research he planned to do at Children’s.

  “Emily?” Richard cleared his throat loudly. “I asked what you thought about that.”

  “Sorry.” She was even more sorry because she had no clue what he was referring to. No matter as he launched back into another recount of the tale. Emily tried to remain attentive to what he was saying, but instead her thoughts drifted back to Lucas.

  Where was he? Still at the hospital or had he perhaps made plans with someone else?

  Why had he asked her to go eat? They’d worked together amicably enough that day. She hadn’t run off when he’d shown up on the unit, which was what she gathered his purpose in buying her bachelorette date had been. What would be the point in going to eat a second time?

  Her phone buzzed in her purse that sat in the chair beside her. While keeping her gaze trained on Richard, she slid the purse into her lap and removed the phone. With a quick swipe of her finger she opened the screen, glanced down and hit the message button. She didn’t recognize the number, but she knew who the message was from.

  You look bored.

  How do you know? she typed back.

  Just hungry and ended up at the same place as you.

  Hard to believe that’s coincidental.

  Yet it is.

  “Emily, am I boring you?”

  She glanced up at the man across the table from her. “Sorry, I had a message I needed to answer.”

  “Work?”

  Heat flooded her face. “Yes, someone from work.”

  Oops. Sorry. Someone looks upset. Guess I better quit bothering you.

  Yes, you should.

  You should have said yes when I asked you to dinner.

  Why?

  Because you’d be having a better time.

  With you? I don’t think so.

  We should test that theory. Don’t make plans with him tomorrow night.

  Leave me alone, Lucas.

  Please.

  Ugh. There was that word again. When had he learned to use it so proficiently?

  “Everything okay?” Richard asked, causing her to glance up from her phone.

  “Yeah, just had a long day today.”

  “Anything you want to talk about?”

  “No,” she admitted, realizing she didn’t want to tell Richard about her day.

  “Were you out that late last night? No one forced you to participate in the fund-raiser,” he reminded her, his voice full of condemnation. Again.

  “No, I wasn’t out that late last night, and no one forced you to let someone else win my bid.”

  Ouch. Had she really just said that out loud? She hadn’t meant to. She’d meant to keep her feelings quietly under wraps. Even if Lucas had pointed it out. Even if Lucas was probably watching her argue with Richard.

  Richard’s lips compressed into a tight line. “If you’d wanted me to buy your bid, you should have told me.”

  Practical. Logical. Infuriating.

  “Really? I shouldn’t have to tell you that I wanted you, the man I’m dating, to win my bid.”

  His voice had taken on a truly confused tone. “Then how was I supposed to know?”

  “You shouldn’t want me going to dinner with another man.”

  “I don’t want you going to dinner with another man, but you went anyway.”

  “Then you should have bought my date so I wouldn’t have had to.” She pushed her plate away. “I’m tired and ready to go home.”

  He frowned but put his napkin down. “We can leave as soon as I pay the bill.”

  “Good. Great. The sooner the better.”

  Why, oh, why did it bother her so much that he tipped their waitress to the exact penny of the recommended amount?

  She’d barely had a couple of conversations with Lucas and he’d already managed to make her question her relationship with a man she’d been quite content with.

  Content?

  Since when was life about just being content?

  When did she stop wanting happily-ever-after and the full-blown fairy tale?

  She knew. She’d stopped believing, stopped dreaming, when her marriage to Lucas had fallen apart.

  She fought to keep from looking around the restaurant to spot Lucas. Where he was didn’t matter.

  She and Richard walked back to her apartment in silence. She turned to him. “I’ll just say good night down here.”

  “You’re not letting me come up?”

  She shook her head. “It really has been a long day.”

  “This isn’t working for me, Emily.”

  She blinked at him. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you going on dates with other men and then sending me home. I’m supposed to be the man in your life.”

  He was right. He was supposed to be the man in her life. Only, she wasn’t sur
e she wanted him to be. Surely she deserved better than just the status quo.

  “I think you need to reconsider or we need to consider taking a time-out from our relationship.”

  What? “If I don’t invite you upstairs, we’re through?”

  He didn’t answer, just stared at her with an expectant look on his face that was answer enough.

  Well, at least he was making this decision easy.

  “You’re right. We do need a time-out from our relationship.”

  Surprise flittered across his face. He’d thought his ultimatum would result in an invitation into her bed?

  “If you’ve set your sights on that doctor, Emily, you’re wasting your time. You’re throwing away a good thing for a man who’s never going to take someone like you seriously.”

  “Someone like me?” He made it sound as if she weren’t good enough for Lucas, as if she were lucky Richard found her appealing.

  He shrugged. “You’re not in his league.”

  Ouch.

  Emily’s lips curled into a forced smile. “Thanks for an enlightening evening and for making what could have been a difficult moment into an easy one. Goodbye, Richard.”

  * * *

  Emily was assigned to Cassie and to Jenny the following day. Cassie had continued to decline, but Jenny was holding her own. It would probably be a couple of days before the four-year-old regained consciousness, which was probably a good thing. Perhaps some of her injuries would have subsided a little.

  “Her vitals remained good during the night.”

  She turned to the man entering the room. The man she’d lain in bed and thought about way too much the night before. Shouldn’t she have been thinking about the man she’d just ended things with instead?

  “Yes, she’s stable.”

  “That’s good news.” He examined the unconscious little girl, then turned to Emily. “Give me more good news.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Tell me you didn’t make plans for tonight.”

  Emily sighed. “I’m not going to go to dinner with you, Lucas. There’s no point.”

  “Is there a point to you going to dinner with the pharmacist?”

  “Richard has nothing to do with why I won’t go to dinner with you,” she answered honestly. “I’m no longer seeing him.”