by Mandy Morgan
Healed
An Alpha Insta-Love Romance
(Real Men Crave Curves #6)
Mandy Morgan
Copyright © 2019 by Mandy Morgan. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.
This publication contains sexually explicit material. All characters are 18 years or older and all sex is consensual.
Table of Contents
Summary
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
More Books
About the Author
Summary
A sweet and steamy insta-love medical romance…
Kayla
I was on the run and looking for a fresh start.
The last thing I needed was another complication in my life.
But an injury brought me to the ER where I met Dr. Bryce Daniels.
I caught one glimpse of his ocean blue eyes and I was hooked…
Bryce
Kayla had a haunted look and curves that wouldn’t quit.
I know she’s too young and troubled for me, but what can I do?
I wanted her from the moment I first spotted her…
And I wasn’t going to let anyone or anything stand in the way.
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Love a short romance that's packed with sweet heat? Sit back, relax, and get ready for a quick fix of HEA between a plus-sized heroine and a protective Alpha doctor that will do anything to claim her as his own…
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Prologue
Kayla
I pressed my back against the wall and wished I could disappear into it. My heart was hammering and I did the best I could to keep my breathing silent. I could feel hot tears threatening to break free, and I started to count to one hundred in my head, hoping to distract myself from the sobs that were begging to burst loose from my chest.
Why didn’t I just stay in bed? I should have known I’m not cut out for this kind of stuff…
Just as my heart was slowing and I thought I might get out this alley without being discovered, I heard heavy footsteps coming from the street in front of my hiding place. I felt icy fear rush through me and I held my breath. That’s when the prayers started.
Please, God, if you get me out of this, I swear I’ll leave here tonight. I squeezed my eyes closed and lifted my face to Heaven. Help me get away, and I promise I’ll start over fresh in a new city. I’ll be a blessing to other people and do as much good as I possibly can.
My stomach clenched as I heard the footsteps slow and the police officer’s radio crackle with static. Everything stopped in that moment. It felt as if I was drifting up above myself, and I looked down to see a terrified young woman cowering in a filthy alley behind a dumpster. It was a dismaying sight, and I knew right then and there that things had to change.
I’d gone so far off course since my parents died. I was alone and making stupid choices. I knew I had to get the hell out of this place, even if that meant I had to go to jail to make a clean break from the druggies and criminals I’d been surrounding myself with for the past year.
I couldn’t handle living in fear like this. I opened my eyes, stood up on legs that felt watery, and got ready to announce my presence to the cop who’d been hunting me for blocks. But just then a miracle happened.
“Dispatch, I’ve lost her. Headed back to my cruiser. Over and out.”
I couldn’t believe it. Figuring the whole thing must be a trick to flush me out, I sank back down to the ground and hugged my knees to my chest. I stayed that way for what felt like hours, straining to hear any sounds of the cop that must be lying in wait for me.
Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer, and I stood up to peek around the dumpster. I was so relieved to see the alley was empty, that I bolted without thinking about anything other than escape. I certainly didn’t take into account that my legs would be numb from crouching for so long.
For a few seconds, it felt like I was floating on air. My body tried to carry me away, but it ultimately failed me, and I crashed to the trash-littered pavement with a surprised cry, my arms outstretched in front of me to try and soften my landing. As I hit the ground, I both felt and heard the crunching of bone.
I laid there in misery, holding my shoulder and blinking away tears, watching the stars shining above me as they always had, even though I’d never really taken the time to appreciate them. I’d been too busy screwing up my life.
Yeah, it’s definitely time for a change…
Chapter One
Kayla
I squint against the blinding lights of the emergency room and gritted my teeth as my shoulder throbbed like a bad tooth. I’m sure that something’s broken. The pain lights up my entire left side as I make my way slowly through the packed waiting room.
“I need to see a doctor, please. There’s something really wrong with my shoulder and I’m in a lot of pain.”
The woman manning the reception desk doesn’t even look up from her computer screen. “Sign in, find a seat, and grab a magazine. It’s going to be awhile.”
I didn’t like the thought of using my own name. As far as I knew, I was still a wanted woman, so I scribbled down the first thing that came to mind. Chances were the cops wouldn’t be keeping an eye out for someone named Crystal Johnson. I hoped my best friend from elementary school wouldn’t mind.
Even though my shoulder was killing me, it was probably a good thing that the ER was so busy. I didn’t want to attract any more attention to myself than I had to at this point. I found an empty seat in a back corner and sank carefully down next to a scrawny man in coveralls with a dishtowel wrapped around his hand.
He grunted and nodded at me and then went back to his wrinkled copy of Men’s Health. I knew I should grab something to read myself, since it looked like I was going to be here for awhile, but I was starting to feel nauseous from the pain, so I just tilted my head back against the wall and closed my eyes.
Now that I’d actually stopped running, my mind went over the whirlwind events of the day. I’d gotten the hell out of that alley and snuck back home, looking around the entire time like a trapped animal. I thought for sure there would be a cop staking the place out, but I’d been pleasantly surprised to find my street empty.
I’d gone in and grabbed whatever I could fit into my biggest shoulder bag and then hit the road in my crappy car. I’d been driving for hours before the pain forced me to seek medical help and I’d wound up here at Pineview Memorial. I was still in a state of shock about being on the run.
Where did things go so wrong? I wondered as I dozed and the sounds of the bustling emergency room waiting area faded away. I was such a good kid growing up and now I’m a criminal. What would Mama think about that?
Of course, I
knew what my mother would think. She’d be sick with sadness and worry about her only daughter being involved anything unlawful. That wasn’t how she’d raised me. If she and Daddy hadn’t died in that car accident, she’d be reading me the riot act right now.
It had been more than a year since I’d lost my parents, but it still hurt like it was yesterday to think about them. Even now, my eyes filled with tears at the thought of them. I was sick of feeling so alone and adrift. I wasn’t doing anything with my life other than messing it up.
I’d managed to burn through the life insurance money so quickly it was scary, and then I’d hopped from one menial job to the next to try and pay the bills. But it was all for nothing. I’d lost the house to foreclosure, and the truth was I would have been kicked out by the bank before too much longer.
The horrible truth of the matter was that I had no family, no home, and at twenty-four years old, I was doing the best I could just to survive, let alone putting any effort into building a career or starting a family of my own.
The only men I seemed to attract were losers. All they wanted to do was grope me as they panted their beer breath into my face. Hell, I’d never had much success with guys, even back before I’d lost my parents and myself. I’d always loved how I filled out my size sixteen jeans, but most of the eligible bachelors in my hometown had ignored me in favor of the cheerleader types.
Before I could beat myself up anymore, an overhead announcement cut through the fog in my mind, and I jolted upright. It was apparently my seatmate’s turn to head back into the inner sanctum, and I watched him stand up and shuffle over to the secured door next to the check-in desk.
A male doctor was standing there with a clipboard in one hand, waiting to escort the man through the door. He was wearing a crisp white lab coat over navy blue scrubs. But neither of those could hide the muscle-bound physique lurking underneath.
I couldn’t hear what the doctor said to the gangly man with the wrapped-up hand, but I could see him well enough, and I liked what I saw. His face was ruggedly handsome and he had freshly cut dark hair. He held his hand out to usher the man through the door and I couldn’t help but stare in awe at such a perfect male specimen.
The sexy older doctor must have felt the weight of my gaze. He turned suddenly and swept the waiting room with blue-green eyes that threatened to set me on fire. They landed on me and pinned me in place, leaving me a trembling mess before he swept into the back with his new patient and out of sight.
Chapter Two
Bryce
“Ready for the guy with the hand laceration, Dr. Daniels?”
I rubbed my eyes and sighed. “Ready as I’ll ever be, Janice. There must be a full moon tonight, huh?”
“Something like that,” she replied with a laugh. “At least the shift is almost over and our relief will be here shortly.”
I was lucky to have Janice as my nurse. Her no-nonsense attitude was a good match for my own and she’d been in the trenches of the Pineview Memorial ER for years. In fact, she’d been around long enough to make me feel like a kid again at thirty-six. She didn’t offer anything in the way of eye candy, but that was the way I preferred it at work.
I wasn’t one of those docs that used the hospital as his own personal dating service. When I was on duty, I was focused on my patients, not putting another notch in my bedpost. I’d always been that way, but the older I got, the more I learned to appreciate the true professionals like Janice.
“You make a very good point,” I said as I held my hand out for the chart. “Let me take a look and then I’ll go grab him, so you can get the room prepped.”
Janice gave me a thumb’s up and hurried away. I ran my eyes over my newest patient’s information and created a quick treatment plan in my head. I didn’t need to meet the man to know what needed to be done. I saw wounds like his multiple times every week.
I thought about calling after Janice to tell her which supplies I’d like her to lay out for me in the treatment room, but I knew she’d just roll her eyes and tell me she was on it. Yet another reason to appreciate having an experienced nurse by my side, especially on crazy shifts like this one.
Just as I was about to head out into the waiting room to collect the man with the hand laceration, my cell phone buzzed in the pocket of my lab coat and I cringed. I knew I should have left it in my locker. It had been blowing up for the last two days, ever since I’d gone on my most recent (and disastrous) date.
I’d been single my whole life, other than a long-winded fling that some might call a relationship back in medical school. I couldn’t seem to have any luck when it came to women, and to be honest, I was fine with sticking to one-night stands. But the nurses I worked with had pushed me into trying a dating app, much to my chagrin.
I knew the ladies I worked with cared about me and wanted to see me happily settled down, but ever since I’d downloaded that damn app on my phone, I’d had nothing but trouble. All the women I met on there were either gold diggers or airheads, and I had no need or desire for either of those types.
I pulled my phone out and grimaced at the sight of Stephanie’s name flashing across the screen yet again. We’d gone out once for drinks, and she’d been calling and texting me regularly ever since. I’d done nothing to lead her on and had explained how busy I was, but Stephanie was apparently a pit bull disguised as a disturbingly skinny brunette.
“Alright, that’s it,” I mumbled to myself and blocked her number. I had better things to do than deal with a stalker in the making. As far as I was concerned, if I never went on another one of those torturous first dates, I’d be a much happier man.
I slipped my cell back into my pocket and picked up the phone by the door to the waiting room to call my patient’s name over the loudspeaker. As I swiped my ID card at the door to unlock it, I saw a thin man making his way toward me and I introduced myself to him.
Just as I was about to lead him back into the treatment area, my skin prickled and I knew someone was watching me. I glanced up and my heart shot up into my throat. Sitting in a back corner and staring at me was a beautiful young woman with strawberry blonde hair and sad hazel eyes.
I had a sudden urge to rush over to her and take her into my arms. There was just something about her that pulled me in like a magnet. It didn’t hurt that she had curves that wouldn’t quit and skin that looked as soft as silk.
I locked eyes with her for a moment and then turned back to my patient. But I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until I spoke to the curvy cutie with the haunted eyes, and got to know her much better than I’d ever known any woman before her.
Chapter Three
Kayla
“Are you Crystal Johnson?”
I jerked in my chair and looked up to see a stern older woman in pale pink scrubs standing next to me. She was wearing soft-soled shoes that had allowed her to sneak up on me, and she’d startled me out of my pain-filled trance.
“What? I—well, I…”
“Are you or aren’t you Crystal Johnson?”
Suddenly, I remembered that I’d given the name of my best friend from back in grade school instead of my own when I’d signed in, and this tired-looking nurse was probably there to finally take me back to be seen by a doctor.
“Oh, yes! Yes, I am. Sorry about that,” I said as my hand drifted up to my shoulder. “I’m exhausted and in a lot of pain.”
“Uh-huh, you and everybody else here, sweetie.” I could tell by her expression that she didn’t think much about me or my suffering. “Dr. Daniels told me to escort you into the treatment area for some unknown reason. Even though our shift is over. Come with me.”
I stood up and found my legs were weak. I reached out a hand to steady myself and ended up grabbing the nurse’s arm. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think I was that bad off, but I…”
My vision went gray around the edges and it seemed like the sounds of the still bustling emergency room were muted. The nurse tried to steady me with her other hand, but it was to
o late. I was sinking and the next thing I knew, the world had gone totally black.
~*~*~*~*~
There was paper crinkling underneath me and the sharp smell of rubbing alcohol in my nose. I groaned and shifted my position, hoping to get rid of the pain I felt in my shoulder, but when I moved, it felt like someone gave my arm a vicious twist.
I cried out and opened my eyes. I was surrounded by white, and there was a flimsy floral curtain drawn around the examination table where I was stretched out. I realized I was in the hospital and relief rushed through me. I’d thought for a moment that I was back in that filthy alley, cowering in fear with the police hot on my trail.
I groaned and tried to sit up, but a warm weight on my uninjured shoulder held me in place. I turned my head and saw it was a massive hand. And it was attached to the handsome doctor with the dark hair and incredible eyes I’d seen in the waiting room earlier.
“Easy now,” he rumbled in a voice that was somehow comforting and titillating at the same time. “Everything is fine. You’re in a safe place, I promise.”
My heart was hammering in my chest, and if I was being honest with myself, it was only partially due to the shock of waking up in a strange place. The man standing in front of me was totally swoon-worthy, and I could feel my head beginning to swim again, so I reached my hand out automatically to steady myself once more.
He instantly reached out and took it in his, swallowing mine completely and sending shockwaves of pleasure coursing through me. It was like his touch banished the pain. I gasped in surprise, and his gorgeous features twisted in concern. He removed his other hand from my shoulder and laid it on my forehead in a soothing gesture I hadn’t felt since I was child, and my mother was nursing me back to health.
“My name is Bryce Daniels,” he said as he searched my face with those unbelievable blue-green eyes of his. “I’m going to be your doctor this evening, Miss Johnson. Can you tell me what happened to your arm?”