“Sure.” She giggled, already feeling tipsy.
He started a fire in the center of the stone table and put on some soft music. The wind blew Isabella’s soft curls and sent a shiver down her spine.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“No, it’s perfect.”
She curled up next to him on the wicker loveseat, her drink in hand. They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying each other’s presence.
“It’s nice to finally have someone here to enjoy my home with.”
“It’s beautiful,” she gushed.
“Yeah,” he said wistfully, “But it gets lonely.”
Feeling the result of half of a bottle of wine and a cocktail, Isabella excused herself to go inside and use his restroom. Having a moment to herself, she did a little light snooping and took a minute to look at the pictures on his walls. He had several frames filled with a woman who could have been his mother at his college and medical school graduations. A man, who was probably his father, was featured in others, on a fishing trip, and one where he was beaming with pride after a soccer game. His parents were never in the same picture.
“Are those pictures of your parents in there?” she asked, returning to her seat outside.
“Yep, that’s them. They’re good people and have always been very supportive of my dreams.”
“For some reason, your dad looks really familiar.”
“I’m not sure why.” He laughed. “I guess he is a pretty generic looking middle aged man.”
“Are they still together?”
“Goodness, no. They divorced when I was really little. My mom married her current husband a few years later. My dad’s married several times since then.”
“Sounds like my mom. I’m starting to lose track of her husbands.”
“I know how that goes. I’ve given up on becoming close to my stepmothers. They never seem to last for long.”
“You’ve got to be the first person I’ve ever met who has experienced this too,” she said.
“Same,” he said, putting an arm around her. “One time, I made a comment to a classmate in passing that my dad was getting married during exams. He was shocked that I was missing it.”
“I know how that goes.” She laughed. “It doesn’t matter, though, because you’ll spend a few holidays with the new spouse, and then they’ll be gone.”
“What does your mom do?” he asked.
“She used to do some interior decorating. Now, she’s a career wife. What about your dad?”
“He’s an architect. Actually, my mom is too. They even had a business together. It was a nightmare when they had to split assets.”
She chuckled. “I bet. My dad was never really part of my life. I don’t really care, though. I’ve never been a very family-oriented person.”
“I’m fairly close with my parents,” he said. “It just gets hard to see them when I’m busy with work and they’re busy with their new lives.”
“Despite this, we both seem like we turned out to be fairly normal,” Isabella joked.
“Yeah, besides the fact that I choose women with logic instead of feelings and I have unrealistic expectations for my love interests.”
“And my ideal man is poor and cool with my never being around.”
“Maybe we are a little fucked up.” He smiled, leaning in closer to Isabella.
“Maybe we are,” she echoed, moving closer to James.
They kissed, gently at first, taking the time to enjoy the moment. He put his hand at the base of her head, pushing his face a little closer. He took in her scent, sweet and clean, like she just stepped out of the shower. She was effortlessly beautiful.
She pulled herself onto his lap, taking his face in both of her hands, kissing him harder. She parted her lips for his tongue to enter, intertwining them. She could feel him growing hard underneath her.
“Do you want to go inside?” she whispered.
He nodded, scooped her up, and carried her inside. James dropped her on his bed, and she slithered into his silky sheets.
“This is so much better than the on-call room’s bed.” She sighed. “This may even be the most comfortable bed I’ve ever been in.”
“I hope that means you’ll sleep in it more often,” he said, climbing onto the bed.
He unzipped her dress and she hastily undid the buttons on his shirt. She loved the way his skin felt against hers. He pulled off his pants and climbed under the covers.
There was no need to rush things in the privacy of James’s home, so for once, they took things slowly. He used his mouth to explore every inch of her body, and under the soft shadows from the hallway lights, she observed every curve and every muscle of his body.
James leaned over Isabella, touching her, and she closed her eyes and gave soft moans in return. He teased her, bringing her right to the brink of orgasm and then backing off.
“How are you doing this?” she asked. No one had ever made her feel this good with such little effort.
“I guess studying anatomy for so many years has finally paid off,” he said with a devilish grin.
“You’re too good,” she groaned. “Make me come.”
He obliged, entering her slowly. He alternated fast and slow movements, sending waves of pleasure through her body. They kissed gently as their bodies moved in synchronized rhythm.
The buildup was worth the wait. They came together, Isabella moaning loudly with no one to hear but James.
Afterward, they held each other, in no hurry to be anywhere but with each other. They kissed tenderly, and Isabella traced his toned chest and rippled abs with a finger.
“Honestly,” she sighed, still high from pleasure, “No one has ever made me feel that good.”
“Me neither,” James said. “I want you in my bed more often.”
“I can’t stay forever,” she cooed.
“I know. I’ll take you home.”
“Do I have to? What if I just sleep here and you drop me off in the morning?”
“Deal,” he said, smiling. “That would be perfect.”
He found her a spare toothbrush and a shirt to sleep in. He pulled on a soft college t-shirt.
He spooned her, and they both fell asleep within minutes.
In the morning, she woke up alone in James’s bed. She fanned a leg over to his side. It was still warm. He hadn’t been up for long.
She padded out to the kitchen to see James pour two cups of coffee.
“Morning,” he said. “What do you want for breakfast?”
“I’m a little hung over this morning,” she said. “I think I’ll skip breakfast if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure,” he said, handing her a bottle of ibuprofen. “But next time, I’m making my world-famous waffles.”
She smiled and washed the pills down with her hot coffee.
“If you want to get dressed, I can take you home now.”
“Yeah, I should probably be going.”
She slipped back into her wrinkled dress and gathered her long hair into a ponytail.
“I had a really good time last night,” James said as they drove the short journey to Isabella’s apartment. “I’m glad you gave me a chance.”
“I had fun too,” she said, wiping the stray mascara from under her eyes.
“Do you think,” he said hesitantly, “that you would want to do this again sometime?”
Isabella grinned and nodded. “Yeah,” she said shyly. “How about next weekend?”
“I can’t next weekend,” he said, looking disappointed. “I have to go to a conference out of town. Can we do this the next weekend?” he asked.
“Okay. This time, I’ll pay for dinner.”
“Deal.”
Before Isabella got out of the car, he grabbed her hand.
“Wait,” he said. “I need to tell you something.”
“Yes?” she asked, a little nervous about where this was going.
“I really like you. I know we’ve both got our issues, and
we work together so things are complicated. But I want to be with you, Isabella. I want to try to make things work. Do you?”
“I can’t promise you that it’s going to end well,” she said after thinking for a moment. “But I’m willing to give it a shot.”
James was relieved. “Great,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Isabella gave him a quick peck on the cheek and retreated to her apartment. She ran a lukewarm bath, poured herself a glass of ginger ale, and soaked the excess wine from her system.
She was still dazed by the quick turn of events. One moment, she was accepting a date with her attending out of curiosity, and they next, she was agreeing to be his girlfriend, or at least that’s what she thought he meant. What started as some harmless fun turned into something serious. It scared Isabella.
She was also excited at the prospect of getting to spend much more time with James outside of work. At the hospital, they couldn’t talk about anything other than their patients, and they certainly couldn’t act like a couple. The other interns would raise hell so quickly.
It was a risk, but maybe it was one worth taking. For Isabella, friends were so hard to come by, and here was someone she meshed with so seamlessly. She knew she had to go for it before the opportunity was gone.
The next day was business as usual. The guys were bragging about the surgeries they were in the previous week, and Jordan was rolling her eyes at them.
“How was your weekend?” she asked Isabella.
“Pretty good,” she replied. “I mostly stayed home and studied.”
“Same,” Jordan said.
It was hard to lie to her friend when in reality, she desperately wanted to tell someone about her new relationship. That was just something she’d always wanted to share with a female friend. However, Isabella knew that it was best to keep this a secret for the time being.
“I have an announcement,” James said at the start of rounds. “Dr. Jensen is finishing up his study, so he will be leading you again, starting tomorrow.”
Isabella’s heart fell. She wanted to see James every day.
“I’ll still be filling in for him a few days here and there, so you won’t miss me too much,” he joked. “Okay, let’s get started.”
After Isabella answered his question on hysterectomies correctly, he sent her to surgery with a secret wink. Her stomach fluttered. It was a great surgery. She noted that she would have to thank him later.
At lunch, she met up with the interns. They had spent an awful morning in the ER and were tired and cranky. Jordan asked how surgery was, and Isabella went into full detail, gushing about how fascinating it was.
“If I fuck the boss, can I get in on surgeries too?” Martin mumbled under his breath. The other boys quietly snickered.
“What did you just say?” Isabella asked.
“That’s a messed up thing to say,” Jordan scolded.
Martin got up and stormed away.
“Don’t listen to them,” Jordan said. “He’s just jealous.”
“I know. I just don’t know why he said that,” Isabella said nervously.
“He’s an ass. Forget him.”
Isabella couldn’t forget it. Maybe she had made a mistake. It was bad enough that she was falling for a guy, but even worse that the guy was in charge. If she could not ensure his discretion, she wasn’t sure she wanted the hassle of the relationship.
She sent a quick text to James:
Let’s meet up after work. I want to talk.
Sure, everything okay?
7:00 at the coffee shop by my apartment?
Sounds good. See you then.
Chapter Eleven
Isabella arrived at the coffee shop on the corner across from her apartment building a few minutes early to scope things out. It was nearly empty, so she ordered two caramel lattes and sat down at a table in the back. He arrived right on time, and she waved him over.
“Thanks,” he said, taking a coffee from her. “How was your day?”
“Okay,” she said, not one for small talk. “Let’s cut to the chase. I need to know that this” —She waved her fingers between the two of them— “will be a secret.”
“Of course. Did someone say something?”
“Martin made some offhand remark about me fucking you, but I think that was out of jealousy and not so much knowledge.”
He clenched a fist. “That little weasel. I can’t stand him. I hope he enjoys working in the urgent care clinic, because I’m banishing him there.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything. We have to keep our work life and relationship separate.”
“That’s easier said than done when work is our life.”
“How about a compromise? Let’s tone down the flirting and favoritism during the work day, and then on the weekends, I’m all yours.”
“Sounds good to me. Does that mean I can’t check out your ass during the work day?”
She giggled. “Yeah, you should probably try to quit. I promise that if we keep this secret, I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Yeah?” he raised his eyebrows.
“I still don’t know how to navigate this relationship thing. How do we take things slowly when we want to be around each other all the time?”
He chuckled. “I don’t know the answer to that. We hooked up in the on-call room shortly after you started here. I wouldn’t exactly say it’s been a conventional courtship.”
Isabella smiled. “What’s your stance on talking on the phone?”
“I’m not a big fan. I’d rather just talk in person.”
She nodded in agreement. “Same.”
“What about PDA?” he asked.
“I think it’s gross, in most cases.”
“You heartless woman,” he joked. “Not even handholding?”
“On occasion. Everything else is off limits until we’re alone.”
“Ok, fine,” he conceded. “Anything else I should know about you?”
Isabella thought for a moment. “Sometimes I snore a little. Mostly when I’m really tired.”
“I noticed.”
“Sorry. Anything I should know about you?”
“I like to play video games to relax. If you’re around while I’m doing this, I will ignore you and probably yell at the TV.”
“I’m glad we’re getting this out of the way now.” She laughed.
He reached across the table for her hand, then quickly drew it back.
“Sorry, already forgot.”
“I wish you weren’t going away this weekend,” she groaned.
“The time apart will be good. You can get some studying done, and I will stay out of your business. I don’t want to be a distraction.”
“Too late,” she said. “It’s a welcome distraction, though. It helps break up the monotony of my day.”
He looked at his watch. “I need to run back to the hospital and finish up my dictations.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You might not.” He grimaced. “You’re with Dr. Jensen for the rest of the week, and then I’m leaving for the conference. I might not see you until next week.”
Isabella’s smile dropped. “Oh,” she said quietly.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I knew what I was getting myself into,” she said. “I completely understand.”
“Good,” he said, getting up from the table. “I’ll see you later.”
She sat and sipped her coffee in the quiet shop, watching him walk back to his car from the wide window.
Work without James just wasn’t the same for Isabella. She never realized how much she looked forward to seeing him until he wasn’t around. In the rare instances where they passed each other in the halls, they could hardly do much more than wave and say hello. Even then, they were in danger of seeming too friendly with one another.
Working with Dr. Jensen again was good for Isabella. It felt good that he remembered her name when he struggled to tell the other
interns apart. Also, no one could accuse Isabella of sleeping with him when he chose her for surgeries because it would only sound ludicrous.
James certainly knew his stuff, but Dr. Jensen held more clout in the medical community. Isabella was learning a lot and didn’t have the added distraction of the sexy attending.
Late Saturday night, Isabella was sitting on her couch, glass of wine in one hand and a medical textbook spread out on the adjacent cushion, when her phone rang.
“Hello?”
“I know we don’t do phone calls,” James said. “But I’m alone in a hotel room and can’t sleep.”
“Nothing good on TV?” she asked.
“Nothing that I can get for free,” he said. “What are you doing?”
“Just catching up on my reading.”
“What are you wearing?”
“Sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt.”
“Ugh,” he groaned. “Stop, it’s too sexy,” he said sarcastically.
“You asked. Was I supposed to lie?”
“I wouldn’t know the difference.”
“In that case, I’m wearing a thin, silky slip and no panties.”
“Nice try, but it’s too late.”
“Fine,” she said. “What are you wearing?”
“Nothing. I’m lying here, thinking about your sexy body and touching myself.”
“Really?”
“No, I’m just showing you how it’s done.”
She laughed. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll make sure to do better next time.”
“I can’t wait to see you next weekend,” he said softly.
“Me too.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I thought I’d take you out to dinner, and then we could go back to your place. We could go to my place, but my bed is smaller and not as comfortable.”
“I think there might be some new movies in theaters this week if you want to do that too,” he added.
“If I’m going to be in a dark room with you,” she said, “I’d rather not be in public.”
“What would you rather be doing?”
“I’d rather be pulling your clothes off and touching every surface of your body. I can’t do that at a movie theater.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “There’s no need to go out. I have a TV in my bedroom.”
Forbidden Prescription: A Stepbrother Romance Page 7