by Edwina Fort
“It’s no worries, sweetheart. I don’t mind at all. If not for you, there would be no laughter in Rachel’s and my life. You remember the time Asher arrested you for protesting outside of the Mabesko cookie factory?”
She nodded as her beautiful face broke into a smile. “Those bastard’s cut the chocolate chip ratio to cookie dough by thirty percent!”
Laughing, I shook my head. “I don’t even know what that means, but it sure in the hell was funny.”
Rachel and I still laugh about that till this day. Poor Asher had his hands full. How a chocolate chip protest ended in violence I will never know. But there was video of Oaklee screaming her head off about how the cooperation beast is ruining everything, her red cowboy boots in the air as she tried to kick and buck out of Asher’s arms. And the poor bastard who was completely obsessed with her wouldn’t let any of the other officer’s touch her, so she was truly his headache.
I was about to address the time she made Asher so mad that he took her out on his boat and threw her in Lake Michigan, but right then, Dr. Ross stuck his handsome head in my office, informing me that Dr. Kimbell’s twelve o’clock was here.
“How are you holding up?” I asked him.
Dr. Kimbell fell and fractured his spine two days ago, so he’ll be off for the next few months, leaving his caseload to be divided between Dr. Ross and me, who were both already swamped down with our own caseloads.
He exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t dare complain when I haven’t heard a peep from you.” He smiled and Oaklee and I were both reminded of how handsome he is.
I chuckled. “Well, let me make it easy for you…” I put both of my hands up by my head. “I’m going craazzzzyyy!”
He laughed for a bit before growing silent. I could tell he was trying to think of the best way to say something.
His gaze came to mine. “Do you want to grab a bite to eat after work?”
The smile left my face. Wow! Please don’t do this to me right now, Nate. Don’t do this to our relationship.
I cleared my throat. “Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said very carefully, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
However, I saw that I failed when the light left his eyes as he nodded. “Yeah…yeah, of course. If you need me, I’ll be across the hall,” he muttered as he turned and walked out of my office pulling the door closed behind him.
Oaklee waited to hear the sound of his door shutting before her gaze shot to mine. “I told you he wanted you! I told you! I told you!” This she said while doing a little silly dance in her seat.
I rolled my eyes. “Please, I am so done. I just want to get me a cat and grow old alone.”
She frowned. “Oh, stop talking foolish, Free. What’s wrong with Dr. Ross? He’s a nice guy…”
“Yep, I’m done with nice guys too. You see where the last one got me.” And on that note, I told her to show my next patient in.
By the time three o'clock rolled around, I was ready to cry. Because I had to cram extra patients into my day, I’d not left my office all day, not even for lunch. Rubbing my back that was sore from sitting in my chair for so long, I made my way to the water machine, taking a moment to get a drink before it was time to see my last patient.
Goodness, I couldn’t wait to get home and soak in a long, hot bath. As I was walking back with my cup in hand, I passed Oaklee coming from my office.
“I showed your last patient in, he’s sitting on the couch.” She was doing something funny with her eyebrows that caused me to frown at her.
“Are you okay, Oak?”
She giggled like a schoolgirl. “Wait till you get a look at the hunk of man that’s in there waiting for you. I bet you’ll start rethinking your vow of celibacy by the time you’re finished with him, honey.”
Shaking my head, I put my hand on her shoulder. “Sweetheart, if he’s here, it’s because he’s addicted to drugs. No matter how handsome a man is, it is never wise to date one with such a nasty habit. Until he gets clean, he will always put his drug first. Remember that…”
And then I turned to head into my office. I didn’t even glance at the man on the couch as I walked toward my desk to retrieve my notepad. I hate to say it, but I never really saw my patients as anything but very sick individuals who needed help. I’ve never been sexually attracted to any of them.
I turned the cup up to steal one last sip of water before the thirty-minute session ahead of me.
“Well, well, well…If it ain’t the girl in the yellow dress.”
The sound of that deep voice caused all the water I’d just taken inside my mouth to coming spewing back out all over the wall in front of me. I whipped around and my mouth dropped at the sight of the chocolate Adonis sitting on the couch with his powerful arms thrown across the back. He sat up, bringing his elbows to rest against his knees as he studied me before lifting one side of his mouth in a sexy grin.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Mean Tuck…” I gasped.
Chapter 3
The Silver Lining
If Given The Chance To Exact A Little Revenge…Would You?
Free
I don’t know how long I stood there staring at him with my mouth agape. Sweet Baby Moses! This man looked so damn good! My gaze went from his boot covered feet to the top of his gorgeous head. And yes, I had the answer to my question. Tucker the man, was a hundred times more intimidating than Tucker the boy had been.
He stood and my eyes only widened at how big he was. The muscles he now sported were hard and seasoned, not the new round ones of youth.
With a grin on his face, he took a few steps toward me and that was what snapped me out of my stupor. Muscle memory had me taking several steps back, nearly knocking my award off the wall in my haste to put space between him and me.
“Oh my God! What are you doing here?!” I cried as the panic I felt made my heartbeat sound loud in my ears.
He chuckled. “Damn, Free, you’re looking at me like I’m a monster or something.” This he said while holding out his hands in the way that one would when trying to calm a frightened kitten.
Is he serious? “You are a monster! The monster of my childhood! I still have nightmares!”
He slightly tilted his head. “Yeah, about that…I’m sorry for picking on you like that. You know how sh*tty little boys can be.”
My mouth dropped again. “Are you kidding me?! You think you can just waltz in here and give me that bullsh*t apology and I’m suppose to what? Forgive you?” He chuckled again, which was very irritating. What was with all the laughing?
“I mean…yeah.”
I exhaled, running my hands down my tweed skirt, welcoming the scratchy feel as I regained control over my emotions. I am no longer the little girl that had to put up with his crap. I am a doctor, dammit! And even if it killed me, I was going to act like one. I held my head up in a way that would make Dillion’s mom green with envy.
"How can I help you, Naphtali?”
He studied me for a second, trying to read my frosty demeanor before he too exhaled, rubbing his hand down his head.
“I think I’m your three o’clock. Your receptionist said my doctor had an accident and that you will be taking over for him.”
I blinked at him, trying my best to keep my composure. “You are aware that this is a clinic for drug addicts, right?”
As I asked my question, I took the time to study him a little closer. One of the things that separated me from most of the other doctors in my field was that I refused to profile my patients. Everyone was different and had a unique story.
With the expensive boots, name-brand jeans, gold chain, and watch, at first glance, Tucker didn’t come across as one who spent his money on opioids. But now that he’d brought it to my attention, there was something different about him.
He felt more chill and laid back and he was doing a lot of smiling and grinning. When he was a boy, I rarely saw him grin…for anything pleasant at least. I saw him laugh
at Jackson while they made fun of each other, but not for much else. He’d not stopped smiling since I walked in. My gaze went to his eyes, and yes, there was a slight tint of redness to them.
He put his hand to his chest. “My captain forced me to come because I may smoke a joint from time to time.”
My eyes narrowed. I’d been doing this long enough to know when one of my patients is lying to me.
“A joint?”
He held up his fingers to show me how small. “Just an itty bitty little joint.”
“Itty, bitty, little…Mm-hmm…will you excuse me for a moment?"
I forced myself to take normal steps as I exited my office. But as soon as the door was closed, I hurried to Oaklee’s desk and snatched her out of it by her arm, pulling her into our little kitchen, shutting the door behind us.
“Girl, what’s the matter with you?” she asked as she took in my panicked expression.
I put my hand on my chest, trying to calm my racing heart. “Oh my God, Oak! Do you know who that is in there?!”
She grinned. “Yep, my future baby daddy if I’m lucky.”
I shook my head at her as I tried to catch my breath. “No…No, you don’t want him. He’s a real bastard!”
She put her hands on my shoulders like I'd done her earlier. “Calm down, Doc…and tell me what’s going on.”
I pulled her over to the table and took a seat. “Okay, you remember hearing Rachel and me talk about the guy that used to bully me in high school?” Her eyes hardened as she nodded her head.
“Well! That’s him! That’s Mean Tucker!”
Her mouth dropped. “That’s the guy?”
“That’s him and you gave me his case.” I stood. “I can’t do this! He’s going to have to go!”
She grabbed my hand, snatching me back down. “Oh no you don’t! His agency is paying good money for him to be here. He’s joined the list of rare clients that can afford to pay full price. We need him, you can’t turn him away.”
I chewed on my nail, a habit that I’d not done since high school as I pondered over this. No, we didn’t turn away clients that could afford to pay full price for our services, but there was no way in hell I can counsel Mean Tuck. I would be a nervous wreck all the time and wouldn’t be able to focus on anything the man says.
When I was a girl, I couldn't be in a room with him without being hyper-aware of his presence the whole time. Picking up a folder from the table in front of me, I began to fan myself. Goodness! My body was already responding to his nearness. I felt hot all over…this wasn’t going to work!
“Fine, I’ll just have to give him to Nate!” I said slamming the folder down on the table.
Oaklee gave me the side-eye. "Really? After you shot him down? Now you're going to ask him for a favor. Yeah, that’s a good look. Plus, he’s already loaded down. He has a three o’clock in his office.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Free, you’re going to have to put on your big girl shoes and go and face your fear.”
“Big girl pants,” I corrected her.
She frowned at me. “What?”
“Big girl pants. The saying is put on your big girl—You know what, forget about it.”
What did it matter how she said it? She had a point. I felt tears burning the back of my eyes. What I was doing right now was completely unprofessional and went against the oath I took to help people who struggled with drug addiction. But God, this was Tuck… My tormentor! It was too much to ask of me to help him. I hated him! He’d broken me and ruined me for other men. He was the reason I have yet to have a successful relationship.
“Pluuuussss,” Oaklee continued as a devious glow came into her eyes. “What better position to be in to get a little revenge.” She was actually rubbing her hands together like every evil villain in the cartoons.
I’m ashamed to say my being did not instantly reject her words and against my better judgment, I asked…
“What do you mean?”
She pulled her chair closer to mine. “Obviously, you didn’t have time to go over his file. He’s on temporary leave from his agency because he can’t let go of Mary Jane.” Hmmm, so he was telling the truth. He was really here for marijuana.
“Whether or not he is reinstated will be contingent on your prognosis.” When I still failed to see how this will put me in a position to exact revenge, she exhaled loudly.
“Don’t you see? It’s you who will determine if he gets his job back!”
“Ohhhhhh! No, Oaklee…I couldn’t do that! Absolutely not!”
My goodness! What was wrong with my friend? How could she suggest I do such a thing? Just the thought of me stooping to a level so low was unheard of. To think she wanted me to use my power over him to repay him for all the dirty, rotten, and extremely embarrassing things that he’s done to me. Of course, I would never do such a thing…
However…
I’ve had a horrible week, so I’ll be lying if I said that the thought of torturing my childhood bully wasn’t causing me to feel a hell of a lot better. As a matter of fact, the longer I thought about it, the more appealing it became. No, I really mean it! Something amazing was happening inside of me. I felt years of frustration at the injustice of being a victim come rushing to the surface like an erupting volcano.
“My guess is, you can get him to do just about anything if he thinks it will get him back working. Just imagine, you can get revenge for all the cruel pranks he played on you when you guys were kids. Whatever you can think up.” She balled up her fist.
“Make his ass pay, Free! Do it for all the downtrodden. Do it for all the times the oppressor has railroaded the innocent, taking away their voice, cloaking them in a shawl of darkness. Snuffing out their light-“
I put my hand on her arm, stopping her. “Calm down, Che Guevara, I’ll do it.”
The level of excitement that shot through her was contagious. For the first time, I was experiencing the rush she felt whenever she was in the heart of a protest. And it felt great! I had Mean Tuck at my mercy!
Oh my God! I had that bastard at my mercy!
The fact that I could lose my license if it was ever discovered that I was even thinking about doing something like this to a client that trusted me to help them overcome their problem, didn’t darken my disposition.
And before you guys start shaking your heads at me, saying what I’m doing is cruel, let me remind you of cruel. Two weeks after that incident happened in gym class, where I’d been trying to run from him, and my skirt fell down. I’d made an excuse to leave swimming early, like I always did so I wouldn’t get caught by Tucker.
I went to the locker room and peeled out of my wet swimsuit before hurrying through a shower. When I got back to my locker to get dressed, I saw that my lock had been picked. Getting a bad feeling, I opened it to discover my clothes missing.
When I turned around, Tucker was leaning against the wall, watching me with my clothes in his hand. Clutching the towel to me, I rushed him and tried to snatch them from him.
“Give me my clothes back!” I cried with real tears in my eyes. I was so tired of him picking on me.
He held them up and away from me so that I had to stand on my toes while pressing against him to try and get them. Now keep in mind, the whole time, I only had one of the little thin school towels wrapped around me.
“Say please,” he growled before wrapping his other arm around me, holding me to him.
I bit my lip because I didn't want to say please to the bastard. He was always doing that, forcing me to beg him.
“Say please or I’m going to throw your clothes in the shower and turn it on, and you’ll have to walk around the whole day in just that towel.”
Of course, I knew that was crap, I would get dry clothes from somewhere. But the thought of anybody seeing me in only my towel was horrifying, including the gym teacher, who I would have to tell in order to get dry clothes.
“Please, Tuck…” I muttered, staring at his chest.
“I didn’t he
ar you.”
My gaze came up to his. “Please!” I spat through clenched teeth.
“Well now, that wasn’t nice at all. Now you’ve got to give me a kiss.”
My mouth dropped. I’d never kissed a boy before. I shook my head. “No!”
He shrugged and began to head toward the shower.
“Wait!” I cried, clutching his arm. He leaned back against the wall and I stood on my toes and gave him a quick peck.
“What the f*ck was that? Naw, that ain’t going to do it. Kiss me like you love me or I’m tossing your clothes.”
I still stood there in his arms staring up at him like he’d lost his mind. “But I don’t love you, I hate you.”
“Well, you better pretend that you do or your clothes take a dive.”
I was freaking out. My bully was forcing me to kiss him, and I had no idea what I was doing.
“I’ve never done this…” I muttered, not knowing why I was giving him of all people that kind of ammo.
He shrugged again. “You got to start somewhere.”
Nodding, I inhaled before I stood on my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck. With his arm that was still wrapped around my waist, he pulled me closer, so now it was just his chest against mine, holding my towel together. I was praying he didn’t realize that because the bastard would surely exploit that had he known.
Very carefully, I brought my lips to his. What started off as an innocent exploration quickly turned to something else. He began to coach me through the kiss, telling me what to do with my lips and my tongue. It didn’t take me long to get the hang of it and then I don’t know what happened. One minute I was standing in front of him on my toes kissing him and the next, we had somehow turned and it was my back pressed against the wall and he standing in front of me, pressing all his hard muscles against me. The sound of the bell ringing is what drew us apart.
“You kiss horribly,” he grumbled, handing me my clothes. “You’re going to have to practice more often.”
Now outside of the fact that his insult hurt my feelings, after that day, he proceeded to corner me and steal kisses all the time, always ending every one of them with an insult. By the time I graduated, I knew I was a professional kisser, thanks to him. Some days, he kissed me so much my lips were sore when I went home.