by Leigh, Jo
A cocky grin told her he was ready, and a surprise finger inside her told him her condition in return. He didn’t waste another second.
When he entered her, she’d been prepared for hard and fast, but what she got was hard and achingly slow. Enough for her to want to kick off the pants that dangled from her left ankle so she could kick him into gear. He had to know that she was in no mood for slow, but it clearly didn’t matter.
“Come on!”
“Shh,” he whispered. “We’ll get there. I promise.”
“When? Next year? Hurry. Before someone comes.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’ve been watching the clock since I locked the door,” he said, his whisper a lot more controlled than her own. “I know precisely how long we’ve been in here.”
He pushed into her and in her attempt to be quiet she’d bitten her lower lip so hard it was amazing it didn’t bleed. Besides, she was distracted from the pain by the way Daniel was revving up, making her work for it.
He thrust again, harder. Another, one nearly lifting her from the crinkly paper she was destroying. Holy hell, three in a row.
“What are you doing?”
“You can still speak? I need to take it up a notch.”
She moaned into his chest, liking his smell. She doubted it was his body wash, either. It was too real for that. No, it was the man she was smelling. Big, strong— “Oh, God.”
One slow, four fast and now his thumb was on her clit. She pretty much stopped breathing because—his thumb. It was— Oh, God. She was resting most of her weight on one hand, the other was on his back, and the way he was hissing reminded her to keep her nails to herself.
The only way she managed to stay quiet as she was masterfully taken apart was by smashing her face harder against his chest. But this time, she licked him. Bit him. Not hard. Well, not too hard.
He was going to bruise like crazy tomorrow. But that didn’t stop him. He kept working her clit, his thrusts coming at a punishing pace, and she was on her way to a spectacular orgasm.
“Oh, Christ, I’m going to come,” he said, his voice wrecked and sexy as hell.
“Me, too,” she mumbled before she let her head loll back. “Right there, right there, God, mphhh...”
He came as she was still jerking around like a badly strung marionette.
At least she was only panting now. Panting as if she’d just run ten miles.
“You okay?” he asked, his breathing as deep as her own.
“Great. Now I have to learn to walk again.”
“Can’t help you there. I’m barely able to take care of...things.”
“You’re a good man, Daniel. Thanks for that. What’s our time?”
“Twenty-two minutes.” He pulled out and then made sure she was sitting far enough back that he could bend over and rescue the lower garments still dangling off her left foot. On his way, he nipped her inner thigh, and she might have blown the whole deal by squealing.
It wasn’t easy, but she managed to dress while he washed up. She wasn’t about to ask what he was going to do with the condom. Frankly, she didn’t give a damn. She was swimming in endorphins and euphoria.
“Can you stop grinning like the Cheshire cat for a moment and tell me if I look like a professional physician?”
She cleared her throat. “You look very good. For a day when you were almost shot.”
“You, I’m sorry to say, do not. But you can stay a little longer in the room. You might want to check your hair. Maybe stop smiling so hard?”
“Fine. I’ll make myself presentable, but I don’t see why I can’t be happy for the rest of the day. I mean, I did just take out a gun-wielding maniac without a single shot being fired.”
His smile was much softer than it had been earlier. This one was safer, closer to the one he used for patients. “You’re right. Smile all you want. Besides, as soon as you’re done in here, I’m shipping you home.”
“What, you’re embarrassed about me already?”
“No.” He sounded highly insulted. “For God’s sake, I am a real doctor, and you’ve been through a traumatic event. You need to go home. Take it easy. Maybe you have a therapist...?” He paused to study her and she wondered if he thought she’d learned the defense moves because she’d been victimized. But no, then sex would’ve been off the table. “This isn’t something to treat lightly, despite, well...” He waved between them.
“I don’t need therapy, thank you. And I don’t know about going home.” The adrenaline ride had reached its peak. “I’m fine.”
She could see exactly how much he disagreed with her plan. “I’m calling a cab for you. No arguments.”
“Oh, all right. Although I’ll have nothing to do at home except work.”
“Improvise.”
She hopped off the table, fixed her clothing then went to the mirror. Behind her, Daniel was tidying up. She looked ravished. “Oh, my God.”
“What?” He was at her side in seconds.
“We had sex.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t... It’s just...”
“Are you sorry?”
“Not at all. Surprised. But I guess that’s appropriate. Although, I had sort of thought we’d start by meeting for coffee?”
He kissed the side of her head and smiled. “I think we can still manage that.”
Now that she was getting back to normal she’d have to think about it. God, she’d actually had sex with him. She finger combed her hair, but it still looked pretty crappy. “You might consider a therapist.”
He reared back. “Are you serious?”
“You’ve been through a traumatic experience yourself.” She turned to him, pulled him close by his lab-coat pockets. “My advantage is that I’ve been trained in martial arts. I know how to calm myself. No one got hurt, so that’s another plus, but I’m guessing you haven’t been faced with something like this before.”
“Uh, medical emergencies?”
“Not the same. Your life was at risk. It’s a big deal. Don’t play it down. Having expertise in one area doesn’t mean you can ignore a trauma. I’m sure if you diagnosed you, you’d agree.”
“Yet you don’t need a therapist,” he said, looking entirely too curious.
“I have someone if I need to talk.” She went on tiptoe to kiss him. She couldn’t deal with questions about herself, not now. Maybe never. “Now, I need to leave this room, and so do you. We should walk out as if we hadn’t...”
“Right. Together. But check again. Do I have your lipstick on me?”
She looked, tempted to kiss him again. “Nope. Do I look appropriate for the circumstance?”
“Yes. Does it smell like sex in here?”
She winced. He bent at the sink, pulled out a fragrance-free air cleaner, which actually did have a fragrance, but since it wasn’t sperm, it was fine.
“Just, before we go out, please note that I’d like to have that coffee at your earliest convenience.”
“Me, too.” She sighed and touched his face. “I’ll remember this for a long time.”
“Me... Okay, now we’re looping. Let’s head out.”
He opened the door for her, and she left the room to find a very appreciative and concerned group of staff and patients in the waiting room. Mrs. Washington was still there, and she was holding Daryl’s hand. “You all right?”
Lisa nodded. “I was rocketing with adrenaline and shock, but Dr. Cassidy was right there for me. So, I’m going to go home, and get some rest, but I’m fine. How about you?”
“We’re good. Mostly ’cause of you. But there’s a pediatric therapist coming here shortly, and she’s gonna talk to Daryl.”
Lisa crouched in front of the somewhat clingy young man. “You were so, so brave,” she said. “
I am so proud of what you did. I bet your grandma is, too.”
“Granny,” he said.
“Right. Good to know. Do you have any questions for me?”
He looked down, then up again, hiding a little behind his granny’s arm. “Do you know Spider-Man?”
She put on a thoughtful face and then shook her head sadly. “No, I don’t. I wish I did, though. He’s a great hero.”
Daryl nodded.
“Go on,” Mrs. Washington said. “You can tell her. She won’t bite.”
Daryl dragged his sneaker on the linoleum. “Thank you for saving me. And you is—”
“You are,” Granny said, a gentle correction.
“You are real pretty and brave, too.”
She held out her hand. “We were both brave today. I think we should shake on it.”
He took her hand and pumped it twice, harder than Lisa was expecting. Laughter followed, and that was a very good sign.
When she stood up, Daniel wasn’t there, but he came from the back office a few moments later. “I’ll walk you out.”
“You don’t have to,” she said. “I’m fine. Thanks. You must have a lot of patients who haven’t been seen yet. If I feel shaky, I know who to call.”
“Good. I’m glad. I’ll speak to you soon?”
“Soon. Yes. Oh, great, where’s my purse...?” She glanced around, then felt someone shove it into her hands.
Daniel was still watching her.
God, what the hell had she just done?
7
TWO BLOCKS FROM the clinic, Lisa walked out of the café sipping her go-to comfort drink, a hazelnut double shot latte. It was early, just after nine, and she’d stayed up late last night writing reports so she’d be free to come to the clinic.
Not only to see Daniel, but to find out if Valeria was going to kick her out on her ass. How could she have been so reckless? What on earth had she been thinking, having sex in an exam room? With all those people just outside in the waiting area?
That was the thing—she hadn’t been thinking at all. The adrenaline-rush excuse could only go so far. She knew better. That clinic was a hotbed of gossip. And yes, she did care what the folks there thought of her. Then there was Daniel. If he’d been accused of something unethical, and it was her fault? She’d never forgive herself.
But the real kicker? Once she’d finally crawled into bed last night she’d stayed up for hours picturing how Daniel had looked when he’d had her up on that exam table. She should’ve been drowning in humiliation, not getting hot for him all over again. Anyone could have heard them. Everyone could know.
She should turn around and go back home. Do her job like a regular person. Forget Lisa Pine ever existed.
Unfortunately, she didn’t think the ache in her chest had anything to do with the clinic. Daniel Cassidy had been her first step out of the prison she’d created for herself. He’d awakened hope. Courage. A new beginning. Which sounded great, but the fall would be far and crushing if yesterday had been the mistake she feared.
The moment Lisa walked into the clinic she knew right away no one had heard anything. Some might suspect, but she definitely didn’t have anything to worry about at the moment. Not when there were a ton of people in the waiting area. Standing. Applauding her.
It was humbling and wonderful and it choked her up until she could barely hold back tears.
Waving her hands in an attempt to get everyone to stop was useless. Mrs. Washington was there along with her grandson. In fact, there were a lot of patients she’d seen yesterday afternoon. Ah. She’d left, but it couldn’t have been business as usual after all that drama. The only person she didn’t see was Daniel.
“Sit down.” She had to raise her voice three times. Even so, no one sat, but at least they did stop clapping.
“Where’d you learn to do all that kung-fu stuff?”
Lisa recognized the voice coming from the reception area. It was Melanie, one of the nurses on rotation. “Aren’t you supposed to be working? Is anyone seeing patients?”
Melanie laughed. “It’s your fault half the folks here didn’t get seen yesterday.”
“Oh, no.” Lisa inched toward the hallway. “Don’t lay the blame on me. I was minding my own business—”
“You took that boy down so hard he don’t know which end is up anymore.”
Lisa slid Mrs. Washington a look. “You got a pretty good whack in there yourself.”
The grand dame of Moss Street made her way through the crowd. She looked down at Lisa. “Little thing like you, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes. Where’d you get all that fancy footwork from?”
“Self-defense classes. I told you—”
“Hold on ’bout that. First I want to give you somethin’. Daryl?”
Her grandson was right behind her, using both hands to hold a covered plate. She took the dish and handed it to Lisa. “Thank you for protecting my baby. For protecting all of us. This here’s my world-famous cracklin’ corn bread. Old family recipe I ain’t never told a living soul.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Washington.” Lisa took the plate and almost dropped it, it was so heavy. “I’m glad I was able to help. You were the first person to welcome me to the clinic, and you were so friendly, I went and signed up to volunteer.”
Mrs. Washington puffed up even larger than her big hair. “I said Dr. Cassidy was good, didn’t I? He knowd how to fix you up just right.”
Lisa almost dropped the plate and her purse. If Mrs. Washington knew about what she and Daniel had done in the—
Of course she didn’t. Dr. Cassidy had fixed up her headaches. Lisa nodded in full agreement, taking tiny steps backward. “He is a very good doctor. You know what? I’m going to go put this corn bread somewhere safe. I’m not sharing this with anyone.”
“Smart girl,” Mrs. Washington said. “And honey, you can call me Mrs. W. All my friends do.”
Lisa really was touched, and she hoped it showed, but she couldn’t stand one more second in the spotlight. As she turned to leave, Melanie said, “Come on back and tell us more about that self-defense. I wouldn’t be afraid to go down to the bodega at night if I could kick ass like you.”
“I promise,” Lisa said, hurrying away from the chatter. She would talk to them about self-defense because they needed to know. But she had something equally important to do right now.
Instead of heading into the lounge, she scurried straight back to exam room 4. Just to check if she’d left anything. She didn’t think so, but still... It was occupied, but since it shared a wall with the filing room, she went there instead. After putting the dish on the gurney, she pressed her ear to the far wall. Nothing. She couldn’t hear a thing. But she wouldn’t be satisfied until she’d spoken to Daniel.
She’d moved two banker boxes that she’d left open the day before yesterday when the door swung open behind her. She spun around so fast, she almost lost her balance. “What are you doing here?”
Daniel blinked at her. “Me? What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming in today.”
“Making sure we hadn’t left anything incriminating behind and that we weren’t going to be tarred and feathered.”
“I checked exam room 4 earlier. There’s no indication that anyone has an inkling. In fact, they all seem to think I’m nicer now. Everyone is smiling at me.”
“Well, someone might get an inkling if you keep coming to the filing room.” She couldn’t believe he hadn’t left immediately. “Go. Now. Before someone catches you.”
“I’m going. But we need to talk.”
“Fine. Yes. I agree.”
“Dinner?” he asked, half a step out of the room.
“No,” she said. “Coffee. Now out.”
The second he’d closed the
door behind him, she wished they’d kissed when they had a chance.
God, she was hopeless.
* * *
FOR ONCE, THE waiting room was quiet. Except for the little kids, but none of them were making much noise. Most of the men were ignoring everything the best they could, but some of the younger guys had stepped out front. Lisa figured they’d learned self-defense the hard way.
That didn’t have to happen for the dozen or so women listening to what they could do to protect themselves in case of emergency. She’d already spoken about listening to your instincts, being loud and what she meant by that, which had scared the bejesus out of several doctors and patients. “So, if you don’t do anything else, please get a whistle. The loudest one you can find. Get used to wearing it all the time. And even if it feels like you’re overreacting, if the little voice in your head tells you something’s wrong, listen! It can save your life.”
Valeria, who’d joined the group along with a few other nurses, said, “My instincts say you need to teach us a lot more.”
That was met by a lot of nodding heads and a few claps.
“I’m not a teacher. I went over the places you can sign up for classes. I’ll type it up and hand out flyers, okay?”
“That’s a fine idea, but there aren’t classes in this neighborhood. There was a free one at the YMCA, but that closed,” Valeria said. “What we need now is to learn those moves you just talked about. The basics. Shouldn’t take all that long. One afternoon, I imagine. And I know just the place. It’s about four blocks from here. Peterson Park.”
“That’s great, but I can’t teach it.” Lisa wasn’t going to back down on this. She already had a job and a volunteering commitment. “A good course on self-defense runs for weeks.”
Mrs. W.’s voice shushed the mumbling. “Honey, after what we seen you do, there ain’t nobody gonna teach us how to do all that krave magrave jitsu stuff but you.”
Twenty minutes later, Lisa caved.
* * *
DANIEL CAUGHT UP to Lisa in the lounge. Still trying to forget the feel of her in his arms, he focused completely on pouring his coffee, not even daring to look at her. “I’d really prefer we go someplace that isn’t a busy coffeehouse. I know a restaurant that’s quiet and private. So, dinner?” He glanced around the lounge, making sure they were still alone. “No one will bother us. Will you think about it?”