Treat her Right: A New Zealand Sexy Beach Romance (Treats to Tempt You Book 2)

by Serenity Woods

  “Earth to Maisey?”

  She refocused on him. “What?”

  “It’s a crazy idea. Nobody’s going to agree.”

  “You leave everyone else to me,” she said firmly. “But what we do need is a photographer. Come on, it’s every woman’s dream to have a sexy photograph taken. You always know how to bring out the best in people, how to make them look good. It’ll be fun.” She gave him her best pleading eyes.

  “I’ll think about it,” he said as Annie came back with a mop and bucket. “Now go away. Clearly, I have more important matters to contend with.”

  Maisey sighed and turned. She heard Kole open the studio door, then a yell from inside. She caught sight of a white blur out of the corner of her eye, but it was too late to do anything about it. The dog shot out and bowled straight into her. Maisey squealed, took a step back, fell over a chair, and tumbled to the floor.

  Chapter Four

  The last patient in Joss’s morning surgery left his room at eleven thirty. He sighed as the door closed, and turned to his computer. He had thirty minutes to himself before he had to do his home visits, and about six hours’ work to catch up on. Where was Hermione and her Time-Turner when he needed her?

  He’d just opened the first file when his intercom beeped, and he sighed and picked up the phone. “Sandra…” he complained before she had a chance to speak. “If I don’t get some time to myself soon, the patients won’t be able to get through the door because of the paperwork.”

  “I know, Dr. Heaven, I’m so sorry, but it’s a friend of yours. Mr. Graham?”

  “Kole?” Joss frowned. “He wants to see me?”

  “Yes. Apparently his sister’s had an accident, and he wonders if you have a moment for her?”

  Joss stood up so fast, his chair fell over. “Is she badly hurt?”

  “I don’t think so. They’re here, and she’s walking.”

  “I’ll come down.” He hung up and walked to the door.

  He glanced in the mirror and automatically checked his hair, then cursed himself. Heaven, you are NOT interested in Maisey Graham. But he had to face facts. The poor girl had been in an accident, and all he could think about was her lacy bra.

  He shoved thoughts of Maisey’s underwear to the back of his mind, not wanting to flaunt an erection every time he saw her, and walked along the corridor to the waiting room. After the incident in the shop, he’d made a mental list of all the things he was determined not to think about. That hadn’t worked, so he’d then made an actual list, typed out with bullet points, and taped it inside his private diary. Top of the list was Don’t think about Maisey’s bra. So far, it hadn’t worked, but he lived in hope.

  Immediately he rounded the corner and saw her, however, concern overrode everything else as he looked at her face. She sat in a chair, cradling her right arm. Pain had drawn lines around her mouth, and she’d lost her usual sparkle. The black shirt she wore emphasized the dark circles beneath her eyes.

  “What happened?” He dropped to his haunches in front of her. One glance at her swollen wrist told him it was badly sprained at the very least.

  “Shitsu,” she said.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “I fell over one. I know it’s hard to believe…”

  He smiled. Even injured, she was still trying to crack jokes. “No, I’m not surprised, Miss Clumsy.”

  “I was worried it might be broken,” Kole said. “Knowing Maisey, she’d probably sue me for negligence.”

  Her skin was already beginning to bruise. “You should go to the hospital and get it x-rayed,” Joss stated.

  “It’s not broken,” Maisey protested.

  “Sorry, which medical school did you go to again?”

  “It’s not broken,” she said firmly. “I just need an ice-pack or something. I didn’t want to come here. I know you’re very busy.” Twin spots of pink appeared on her pale cheeks.

  He pushed himself up to look at Kole. “You should take her to Accident and Emergency, just in case.”

  “She won’t go. You know how stubborn she is. I practically had to force her into the car seat like a two year old. Just check her out, will you? She fell quite heavily and jarred her shoulder.”

  Joss hesitated. Examining Maisey’s shoulder would mean taking off Maisey’s shirt. That was almost certainly one of the things he’d written on his list. And if it wasn’t, it should have been. “I shouldn’t. You know I don’t like treating friends or family. It’s unethical.”

  Kole glared at him. “Dude, she has an injured shoulder. She doesn’t need an internal or anything.”

  Over at the desk, one of the receptionists emitted a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort of laughter. Joss refused to look over, still fighting with himself.

  Kole rolled his eyes. “Come on, just check her out, will you? If you think it’s broken, I’ll take her to the hospital. But my schedule’s completely full today, and I don’t want to cancel unless I have to.”

  Joss sighed and looked at Maisey. “Are you okay with me taking a look?”

  She shrugged, then winced. “Sure.”

  “Come on then.”

  He held out a hand, and she took it with her good left one and let him pull her up. Her skin was warm, and her hand felt finer-boned than he’d expected, small and slender in his own.

  He turned and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. “Come on, invalid. Let’s check you out.”

  They walked back to his room, and Joss held the door open for her, then closed it behind her. You’re a doctor, he told himself firmly. Think doctor stuff. Not bra stuff.

  He cleared his throat and gestured to the bed. “Perch on there, and we’ll take a look.”

  She lifted herself up onto the bed and sat quietly, watching him as he collected a couple of pieces of equipment and came back to her. He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen you be a doctor. It’s weird. I thought you might have fibbed about going to med school.”

  “I can even stick on Band-Aids.” He gestured to her wrist. “Let’s have a look.”

  She held out her arm, and he took her hand in his. The wrist was obviously swollen, the puffiness extending down into her hand and up her arm a few inches to beneath her long-sleeved shirt. “What happened?” he asked as he began to touch the area lightly, testing for a break.

  “The dog ran beneath my feet. I stepped back and didn’t see the chair, and I fell over it. I put out my hand to save myself, and a sharp pain shot through my wrist. Then I landed on my elbow, and it jarred my shoulder.” She sighed. “I don’t know why I’m so clumsy.”

  He chuckled. “I bet you were hard work as a kid.”

  “Funnily enough, I never broke a single bone. Do you think my wrist is broken now?” Her brow furrowed.

  He turned her hand over carefully. She winced, and he apologized. He pressed lightly with his thumbs at the base, then moved up a little. “I don’t think so. I think you’ve sprained it badly. It’ll need cold compresses and some strapping up for a while.” He hesitated, not sure whether to say what was on his mind. Doctor first, Joss. “I’m more worried about your shoulder. You’re carrying yourself oddly, and I should take a look at it.”

  “It’s a feeble excuse to get me to strip for you.” Her eyes twinkled, in spite of her obvious pain.

  He ignored her flirty words. “I can examine you through your shirt, but if you were any other patient, I’d ask you to remove it. I can ask one of the nurses to come in, though, if you feel uncomfortable.”

  Maisey rolled her eyes. “Don’t be daft. You’ve seen me at the swimming pool in a bikini enough times over the years.”

  Yes, but that was before I SAW you, Maisey.

  But he just said, “True,” and smiled.

  She started to unbutton her shirt, then gave a genuine cry of pain as her wrist automatically turned to pop the buttons through the holes. “Ouch.” She dropped her injured hand and fumbled with her good one. “Sor
ry.”

  “Here.” Trying desperately not to think about the list—of which this was right at the top, highlighted in several different colors—he unbuttoned them swiftly for her, making sure the back of his fingers didn’t brush against her breasts. “There. Can you take it off yourself?”

  It was a cotton shirt, close fitting, and she got it halfway down her good arm before crying out again as she tried to contort her body to slip off the rest. “Shit, I’m sorry,” she said. “This is so stupid.” To his surprise, her eyes filled with tears.

  “Hey.” Concern forced away any other feelings he was having. “Come on. Seriously, I am a doctor.”

  “I know.” She blinked a few times, pressing her lips together. Her eyes met his, large and wide. She suddenly looked very young and defenseless, not at all the madcap, fiercely independent girl he was used to. Her vulnerability took him by surprise.

  He fought against the affection that flooded him. She’s your best mate’s sister, and a patient. They’d known each other a long time, and even though they’d flirted a little, this was hardly a sexy situation. Of course she was embarrassed at undressing in front of him.

  “Let’s focus on this shoulder.” He spoke to her as if she were six years old. “You might have torn a ligament or something, and we wouldn’t want that to go untreated, would we? Come on, move that arm up a bit—that’s right, and slide that down, no—get your elbow out first, that’s right, and then bring it down this side.” He drew the shirt off her bad arm and then gave it back to her. She pressed it to her chest with her good hand, covering her bra, and shot him a grateful look.

  “Okay.” He kept his gaze firmly on her right shoulder, put his right hand on it, trying to ignore the black bra strap, then took her elbow in his left hand. Slowly and carefully, he rotated her arm, noting when she winced, but pleased she still retained mobility in the limb. “Does this hurt?” He gently squeezed her upper arm.

  “No.”

  “This?” He squeezed higher, around her shoulder. Her warm, supple skin gave a little under his gentle pressure.

  “Ouch.” She bit her lip. “Please don’t tell me I have to go to the hospital. Kole’s so busy—I don’t want him to have to cancel his appointments.”

  “I understand, but today you’re more important,” Joss said firmly. He pressed around the area, trying to concentrate on the joint. It was difficult, though. As he rotated her elbow in a circle, the shirt slipped to reveal the smooth, silky-looking, pale skin beneath her arm that ran into the edge of the black lacy bra.

  Black underwear. Fuck, yeah.

  Dragging his gaze away was as difficult as dragging a donkey in a direction it didn’t want to go, but he managed it and focused again on her shoulder. He lowered her arm and cleared his throat. “It doesn’t look as if you’ve done any significant damage.”

  “So I don’t have to go to the hospital?”

  “I can’t force you to go, Maisey. But it’s possible that even if you haven’t broken your wrist, you may have a hairline fracture.”

  “If I had, they’d only strap it up, wouldn’t they?”

  “You’d need a cast for any serious damage. But yes, you’re right. There’s not a lot we can do if it’s just a sprain. Are you sure I can’t persuade you to go to Whangarei? I can see if there’s an ambulance available if you don’t want to bother Kole.”

  Her eyes widened. “God, no. Honestly, I’m sure I haven’t broken anything.”

  Very few people liked hospitals, but Maisey looked genuinely alarmed, maybe even panicky. Joss remembered what Kole had told him ages ago, about when their older brother had died. The accident had happened near their house, and although they’d been under strict instructions not to go out, Kole, Maisey, and their sister Skye had watched through the window as the ambulance pulled up and took away their brother’s body, covered in a blanket. Was that image going through Maisey’s mind now?

  He smiled. “Okay. I’ll get a wrist support, prescribe some painkillers, and then you have to promise to rest it. And if it gets even a tiny bit worse, you have to go to the hospital, understand?”

  She nodded. “Yes, doctor.” Her eyes met his, and her lips curved.

  He picked up the phone and dialed the nurse. “Can you bring in a wrist support for me?” he asked when she answered.

  “I’m giving a family their flu jabs. I’ll be along when I’m done,” she said.

  “Sure, thanks.” He hung up, sat at his desk, and found Maisey’s file on his computer. “I’ll give you a prescription for some fairly strong painkillers, as I think you’re going to be sore tonight.” He checked to see what medication she was already on to make sure the ones he prescribed didn’t clash with anything she was taking. Then he stopped, surprised. “You’re on antidepressants?” He looked over his shoulder at her, making it a query. Did he have the right records?

  She nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  He studied her for a moment. Bright, cheerful Crazy Maisey, depressed? The thought shocked him more than it probably should have. But it was the first time he’d thought of her as anything but a playful girl, eternally youthful, carefree, and fun-loving, too shallow to have real feelings about anything, let alone deep enough to make her depressed. How unfair that assumption had been. Her brother had died. She was a real woman with real feelings, and he hardly knew her at all.

  She still didn’t say anything, however, just dropped her gaze and picked at the stitching on her shirt. Eventually, he nodded. “Sorry, it’s none of my business.” He turned back to the screen and typed in the name of the painkiller, adjusted the dose, and printed out the prescription. “Two of these four times a day, and don’t miss a dose, not for a few days, anyway.”

  Chapter Five

  Maisey watched Joss take the prescription off his printer and sign it with his left hand. A lefty! How strange. She’d not realized that before.

  He stood and brought the paper over to her, and she took it and placed it in her handbag, continuing to hold the shirt to her chest with her injured arm. She needed to get dressed again, but she wouldn’t be able to pull the shirt on without his help.

  She glanced up at him and caught an odd expression as it passed briefly across his face. It looked like a strange mixture of pity and affection, and her throat tightened.

  She’d known that if she ever went to see him as a doctor, he’d pick up on the fact she took antidepressants. That was the main reason she’d tried to talk Kole out of taking her to the surgery, because she didn’t want anyone finding out. None of her friends except Tasha knew how bad she’d been after Harry had died. She’d shed enough tears to convince them she was dealing with his death, but it hadn’t been long before she’d stopped sharing her thoughts and feelings with her parents and friends. What was the point? No amount of talking could bring Harry back. She’d long been used to playing the game, saying what everyone wanted to hear, and hiding her fears and feelings beneath a veneer of high spirits. It was when she was alone, when the world went quiet, and she was left with her thoughts, that the problems started.

  Well, at least Joss was a doctor. That meant he couldn’t breach patient confidentiality, didn’t it?

  He hesitated. “You know if you ever want to talk to anyone, I’m here, don’t you?”

  “As a doctor?”

  “As a friend.” His blue eyes were open and clear.

  She pressed her lips together and nodded. She would never take him up on it, but she appreciated the offer. Still, she hoped he wouldn’t pass on what he’d learned. “Don’t tell anyone,” she whispered.

  A frown flickered across his brow. “Of course I won’t.” He studied her for a moment. “Are you saying nobody knows?”

  “Only Tash.” She lifted her chin. “I’m fine.” Oddly, she felt more vulnerable with him knowing about her one weakness than she did sitting there without her shirt on. It made her uncomfortable, and she dropped her gaze.

  He moved away from her without another word and began to tidy up
his desk. Was he as affected by this strange situation as she was? She’d flirted with him in the shop, and she’d even made the decision to try and tease him out of his seriousness, but sitting in his surgery she’d suddenly been overcome by shyness. She’d known he was a doctor for ages, of course, but this was the first time she’d seen him in action, and it took her breath away. Clearly, he’d decided to keep his professionalism between them, and she’d been relieved, thinking it would make it easier to get through this. But instead, his calm and authoritative manner, his gentle touch, and his gorgeous, deep blue eyes, had done something to her.

  She’d felt acutely conscious of him as a man. His hands as they’d encircled her upper arm and held her shoulder had been warm and tanned against her pale skin. The room, although tainted with a slight tang of disinfectant, smelled of his aftershave, and there were signs of him everywhere, from his jacket on the back of his chair, to his handwriting on files on the shelf, to the photo of his nieces and nephews on his desk. He moved around the room confidently, comfortable and at ease, strong and capable. She felt as if he were a caveman and she were a woman he’d kidnapped from another tribe and dragged to his lair.

  He turned, catching her in the middle of imagining Caveman Joss ripping off her animal pelt before he had his wicked way with her in front of the fire. Heat flooded her face.

  He frowned and picked up a thermometer. “You look flushed. I’d better check you don’t have a temperature.” He fitted the end with a plastic cap and carefully inserted the tip in her ear.

  Maisey froze, mortified he’d noticed her embarrassment. But she couldn’t stop her brain thinking lewd thoughts. She was acutely conscious of the inside of his wrist pressed against her cheek, how the cuff of his shirt had risen to reveal his watch. The way his aftershave, warmed by his body, was rising to ensnare her. Her body felt over-sensitized and aroused, and it wasn’t only her wrist that was throbbing.

  The thermometer beeped. He removed it and examined it. “It’s normal.” He looked back at her, frowning, and touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Do you feel okay?”