by Siera London
“So, do you want to take me on, Lina?” Her breath hitched. Knees weak, limbs even weaker, she reached for the strand of pearls at her neck for support. Don’t answer that. She and her man-fast were in trouble.
She wanted to take him on, but not in the way he was offering. Getting involved with another doctor she worked with was not a mistake she could afford to repeat. This was a possible win-win for her and Gideon.
“Which days are your clinic and what time would you need me in the office?” Heat flashed in his eyes, but it disappeared so quickly. She must have been mistaken.
“You will be with me five days a week, from eight to five.” She was the one to look surprised. His patient profile was that large?
“Ah, I didn’t realize your clinic was…,” What was the word she was searching for? “Robust.”
“Do you need more time to make your decision?” She would not start questioning her judgment today.
She swallowed at the thought of working with his taste bud teasing scent eight hours a day. That was five hundred and forty minutes of inhaling warm cedar and mountain air. Thirty-two thousand, four hundred-seconds being close enough to taste his flavor. She moistened her lower lip with a slow sweep, only to sink her teeth into her bottom lip to stop herself from smacking at the delicious thought. Gideon’s throat clearing pulled her back into the conversation.
“I’ll take the job.” The angles in his face relaxed, she hadn’t realized his tension until this moment. Did he really want her to work in his clinic? Was this about more than helping her out with avoiding Jace? She hadn’t forgotten their kiss at the Preserves fundraiser. True it was for charity, but there was nothing charitable about the way he’d taken her mouth. She’d been hanging around the smooch booth with Ava while she worked alongside Logan. Gideon had approached the booth with the bribe of a substantial contribution to the pediatric medical innovations project. A project that funded Logan’s Wound Care program. Gideon had his checkbook in hand when he approached the booth wanting a kiss from her.
The kiss started long before his lips made contact with hers. She heard the scrape of his shoes across the gravel as he stepped closer to her. Then she felt his heat when he closed in on her, the cool of his breath as it caressed her cheek, then he bent that six foot five frame to meet her six feet, willowy and waiting. Yep, she felt petite pressed into his mountain of packed muscle.
Thank goodness, she had worn her three inch sandals. She was at the perfect height when Gideon pulled her into his well-muscled, sun-kissed tan warrior, of hard man and closed his arms around her ever so gentle. Her nose settled perfectly at his neck, and then she tilted her head up and slightly back to claim her prize. And what a prize it was. If his big hands weren’t at her waist, she would have dropped every pound she carried like it was hot.
Her blood sugar sky rocketed kissing that man. He was a Georgia peach cobbler and a slice of Florida pecan pie all rolled into one.
“We’ll be good together.” His deep, panty wetting tone pulled her back to the present and had her stifling a moan. She forced the air back into her lungs. Did he know what he was doing to her? He regarded her a moment longer, before he turned his attention to Olivia.
“Let’s discuss the details of Lina’s transfer. She’ll be with me until…”
“Slow your roll, Dr. House. I’ll be involved in any discussions involving my assignments.” He might as well learn what he was getting. No one was making decisions for her. If he wanted a Florence, (the original) Nightingale, Florence of the Brady Bunch, or Florence from the Jeffersons, he needed to pick another nurse to work in his clinic, because she wouldn’t last one day.
“I meant no offense.”
“None taken, but I’m responsible for confirming my work assignments.” He studied her now. This was it, he was going to withdraw his offer. More of the same, would any man take her the way she was?
“I trust you to work out the details. Just make sure no one will take you away from me.” When both she and Olivia looked at him with wide eyes, he seemed to become aware of his word choice.
“The clinic. I mean.” He cleared his throat several times in succession. “Excuse me, I will inform the current nurse that she is to report immediately to Dr. Harper’s clinic.” Olivia wiggled a disapproving finger at him. “Point taken, I will inform her to call you for further instructions.”
“Thank you, Dr. Rice. I’m glad that we arrived at an acceptable solution for both you and Dr. Harper.” Lina grinned as Gideon looked at the woman. How would he handle this? Gideon nodded in acknowledgment.
“Lina, I’ll expect you within the next ten minutes.” A gentleman.
“You can count on me. I’ll be there for you.” His jaw tightened. Steely gray eyes bore into hers. Was it something she said?
Chapter 4
Gideon wanted to kiss Lina for giving him the best Monday clinic of his career. She was the perfect fit for the clinic. And his life. The woman on the other side of his office door warmed him more than the sunlight streaming through his window. She considered saying no to his proposition, a voice whispered in Gideon’s head. A sigh of relief left his body when Lina agreed to take the job. It felt like she was saying yes to him and the clinic. Sharing his day with her was somewhere between a godsend for his patients and an exercise in restraint for him. Images of him pressed into her full curves, suspended against his office door while he drove into her invaded his thoughts. Crazy as it was, his brain registered this as a step in the right direction. Lina James would be a permanent fixture in his life. He still looked at his life through the eyes of a Marine. Though he had only served one tour in the Corps, Marines went after what they wanted because life could be short. Short, sweet, and satisfying. Maybe he’d invite her for dinner. He wasn’t ready for their day together to end. Finished with the day’s medical documentation, he’d just settled back in his chair, when he heard raised voices at the print kiosk adjacent to his office.
“Go away, Jace.”
At the mention of the other man’s name, Gideon felt the tick in his jaw. He took in a breath, willing himself to remain in place. Confident Lina could handle herself. However, she was his now. His clinic nurse. He stood, and walked to open his office door. What greeted him when he rounded the partition wall made his breath stall. Lina was bent at the hips, lifting a file box. Jace stood behind her, his eyes wide in appreciation of her full derriere on display. A lavender purse, with a coordinating lunch bag were at her feet. The urge to throw a colleague out of his clinic had never been so strong.
“You working in this clinic is temporary. I’ll get you back one way or another,” Jace said at her back. Lina tossed an annoyed glance over her shoulder.
“And I want a sandwich, but you don’t see me harassing the lunch truck guy.”
“Dinner is an excellent idea. I could come over tonight. Cook whatever you like.”
“You are expecting me to cook for you?” Gideon looked on as Lina abandoned her task. She stood up, and spun on Jace.
“It’s not a requirement.” Jace was an arrogant dung pile.
“The only thing I’ll ever cook for you will be concocted in a cauldron with a league of Blair witches chanting around it like the Ya-Ya sisterhood.” Good girl. Gideon loved her sassy mouth. Time to dispense with the banter between the two.
“You have two men at your disposal. What do you need moved?” Gideon took in Jace’s offended expression that he was included in the daily man count for manual labor. Lina rose to her full height, and he smiled as each delectable inch stacked up perfectly over her rounded backside.
“Ah…Gideon, I should have realized you were behind Lina’s failure to report for duty. You needed another passenger on this train wreck you call a clinic.” Condescension filled his tone.
“Sore loser when another man beats you at your own game?” Gideon returned with a cool air.
“Think again, Rice,” he spat. “You are a ruse, and I can see through your facade.” A fissure opened in Gid
eon’s calm and the man he once was reached for purchase. The psychiatrist in him said to defuse the situation, but the Marine said bring it on.
“Join me in my office, Jace. I know we can reach an understanding if we put our heads together.” Gideon wasn’t a violent man anymore, but he silently urged Jace to make a move. Give him a reason to wipe that smug expression of his against the tile, stone, and hardwood surfaces surrounding them.
Jace paled and took a step back. Gideon had to admit, the psychologist in Jace was good at reading subtle changing in body language.
“I’m leaving, but this is far from over,” Jace said. The man knew when he was about to get a dose of Marine Corps medicine.
“Jace, RN James is a member on my staff.” More if she let him. “My expectation is all your interactions with her are to be of a professional nature. You make sure of that or you stay gone when you leave.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“No begging necessary, keep it professional or keep it out of this clinic.”
“Look, Gideon.”
Gideon advanced, until the other man was forced to take a step back. The look on his face communicated all he needed to know about Dr. Jace Harper. He never expected anyone to come to Lina’s aid. It was a miscalculation on his part.
“Don’t come in my clinic again upsetting Lina. Do we understand one another?”
“Lina and I have a history.”
“Exactly,” Gideon continued at the other man’s puzzled expression. “You are history.” They stood staring each other down. Jace broke eye contact, then stormed out of the clinic without saying a word.
He looked over a too still Lina. Was she upset with him?
“You okay?”
“Of course, thank you for standing up for me, but I can handle Jace.” She shouldn’t be thanking him. No man should stand by while a woman was bullied.
“I know you can, but you don’t have to fight every battle alone.” Her lips compressed as if she wanted to say more. Silence stretched between them.
“What does he want from you?” She released a sigh.
“He’s on a hobbit’s journey to get something he can never have.” He laughed. It had been too long since he heard his own laughter.
“You are a funny lady, Lina James.” She smiled up at him and his arousal shot from zero to sixty in under one nanosecond.
“You think so?”
“I do.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he hesitated before broaching the subject of the clinic. “Lina, about the clinic’s longevity.”
“We are not going to fail, Gideon.” The words held such conviction he found himself nodding in agreement. “I wouldn’t give Jace the satisfaction of gloating.” So it was about Jace, not them building something lasting together.
“You want him back?” Why had he gone there? Because the thought of her pining for Jace Harper had his fist clenching.
She frowned and he knew he overstepped a professional boundary.
“Not ever, but I wouldn’t allow him to snub you. It’s been challenging to remain in the department since Jace started wielding his authority against me.”
“You are trying to protect me,” he released a grin. A woman on his side–that was a first.
“I suppose I am,” she teased him. “Doctors are trouble left to their own devices.”
He reached for her hand. Manicured, square cut nails pressed into the backside of his hands. She was holding on to him, too. That had to mean he had a chance with her. “Let me take you out for dinner.” Interest flashed in her eyes at the exact moment her smile vanished. She pulled her elegant hands from his grip.
“I can’t do that,” she said backing away from him. The pained look on her face was a mirror of what he felt at her rejection. She was looking at him when her foot made contact with her purse. He reached for her, but it was too late. The contents of her handbag spilled onto the floor.
He bent his long frame to help gather her things.
“I don’t need your help.” Her tone sharp, too sharp for the situation.
“You don’t, but I’ll help just the same.” The purse had vomited the entire Nordstrom’s cosmetic counter. She hastily tossed items into her oversized bag. He gathered a sunglass case, her turquoise ear buds and tube of Kiss My Buns lip color. Heck yeah, kiss her buns, her lips, her…
Distracted with fantasies of tasting every inch of Lina he was delayed in handing over her belongings. By the time he regained his common sense, Lina gazed down at his bounty, then up to his face. What she saw had her drawing in a sharp breath.
“I’ll take that.” She took the objects he held in his hand, then rose to her feet.
“I’ll walk you to the elevator.”
“No, you won’t,” she averted her eyes, tossed her handbag over her shoulder, and power walked toward the elevator bank. How had he messed that up? He dropped his head and a purple sparkle caught his eye.
“Lina,” he called out. He heard the ding of the elevators ushering her away from him. Reaching down, he scooped up a rich purple, crocodile skin wallet with a smile. Had fate blessed him with an evening in Lina’s company, after all?
Lina’s hasty retreat to the safety of her man-fast bat cave came at a high cost. Her wallet with all her cash and one credit card was missing in action. It would either be on the clinic floor in the morning or one of the evening shift housekeepers would deliver it to lost and found. Either way she was screwed. Her gas tank was a hair’s breath from empty and a jar of mustard was the only edible thing in the house. The confrontation between Jace and Gideon had her mind reeling. After the way Gideon stepped up to Jace, it’s a wonder she hadn’t left her panties and her wallet. Gideon was pure sex on a jumbo peppermint stick. One hundred percentage edible. She had never seen the two men standing together. Gideon was about nine inches taller than Jace. He had an additional forty pounds of solid muscle attached to his frame in all the right places. Jace was fit. Next to Gideon, he looked like Steve Rogers, before the Captain America transformation. Gideon was masculine perfection. But right now, she really did need that sandwich she mentioned earlier.
Usually Estrella had a dish ready on the stove, but when Lina knocked on the neighboring door it went unanswered. Who could she call to remedy her temporary hobo status? Her mother was in the midst of a major audit at work. Glancing down at her watch, Lina groaned, it would be another couple of hours before her mom was home. How much mustard could she eat before she got sick? Who else could she call?
Lina padded back to her condo. Entering her unit she collapsed on the couch, hugging herself as a feeling of isolation washed over her. There was no one she could call to help her. Lina turned a longing gaze at the kitchen, then an option occurred to her. She could call Janna.
Navy Nurse Corps officer, Lieutenant Janna Williamson was the third link in the dynamic trio. She’d flown into Shell Cove from Okinawa, Japan to help with Ava’s engagement party. And Janna was scheduled to pick up Ava and Logan’s engagement party favors from the engravers at six. If she called now, Janna could bring a gas can and take out dinner before her appointment. An independent woman creates opportunities for herself. She grabbed the phone from the cocktail table and dialed.
Lina jumped when the musical chime of the doorbell rang out. If Jace had followed her home, she was going to take a bite out of him. She’d left a message on Janna’s cell before disconnecting the call. Placing the cordless phone back in the cradle she glanced at BETAS, before opening the door. Lina was not prepared for the man that greeted her.
“Hey, I thought you might need this.” Gideon’s powerful body filled her doorway and his long fingers had her wallet ensnared in his grip. Stay calm. Because of that dratted wallet, temptation had followed her home. His dark mane seemed to harness the sunlight. He looked like a fire god with sun rays silhouetting his body. Full lips and a chiseled jaw covered in a five o’clock shadow that softened the sharp lines of his goatee made her heart thud. His six foot five frame was clad in charcoal g
ray slacks with a light blue dress shirt hugging his broad shoulders. Perfect door ornament. She shook her head. Friends don’t stare at friends’ expansive chests. Her fingers tightened on the door knob. She forced herself to meet his eyes.
“Gideon, you brought my wallet.” She smiled tentatively hoping he hadn’t noticed her slow perusal of him.
“I didn’t want to leave your identification and credit cards in the office overnight.” She reached for it, only to have him pull it back.
“You gonna give it to me,” she joked with him. Poor word choice.
“I wanted to take you to dinner first,” he grinned showing pearl white teeth.
“You are funny, but I just ate some…” Her stomach growled so loud it rivaled a freight train leaving the tracks. Busted.
“I made reservations at Drury’s. Do you want to change?” Of course, he chose her favorite restaurant and piano bar. The place was owned by Rourke and Gage Alexander. Two brothers, smooth as gourmet chocolate and just as sinful. Drury’s boasted an open air terrace overlooking the northern coast of the city, which meant it was a hit with locals and tourists.
“Presumptuous much?”
“I’m rarely this close to the beach and I’m hungry. It’s a win-win.” He took a detour for her?
“I parked underneath the building, next to you. How long before you are ready to leave?” Her Camaro was three months new, how did he know what she drove?
“How do you know my car?”
“Are you serious? It’s a purple Camaro and the tags say DIVA904.” Should have seen that one coming.