Bad Boy Attraction
Chapter 1
“Things are getting busy around here,” Allen commented as he looked down at his clipboard. He was standing in the hallway, right outside one of the examination rooms. Marshall looked up from his own clipboard, momentarily prying his eyes away from one of the charts he was trying to decipher.
“What, are you cracking under the pressure already?” Marshall grinned at his partner, before taking a powerful step forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. Their eyes locked as Marshall’s hand squeezed the other man’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.”
Marshall made his way into one of the rooms where an elderly lady was waiting for him. As the door slowly closed shut, Allen could hear the barrage of questions she had for his colleague. It seemed every part of her body had some sort of ache she needed to complain about.
Allen shook his head, looking down at the paperwork again. They were booked full and the influx of work was only going to increase as their new clinic, A &M Medicine, became more known in the small town.
Since they were one of the only clinics in the area, all the locals were flocking to them. They wouldn’t be able to it all alone. Allen thought about this with a sigh before making his way to his next patient.
By the end of the day, both of them were exhausted. Marshall still wore a smile on his face, however, and looked just as fresh as he had when he turned up to the office that morning. Allen looked at him, trying to figure out how Marshall did it.
The tall man in front of him wore a tight fitting, purple dress shirt that showed off his amazing physique. His dark-brown hair was perfectly gelled to the side and his face seemed rather relaxed as he sat back in his chair in their shared office, nestled in the back of the small building.
“How do you do it?” Allen finally asked as he dropped his pencil on the desk and grabbed his coffee. While Marshall looked pristine, Allen sported a worn-out look from a long day at work and his face showed signs of wear.
His light-green eyes were tired and his short, sandy hair was ruffled from his constant toying with it in his moments of focus. Marshall chuckled as he crossed one leg over the other, his hands cupped around his knee. His eyes were intense as he noticed the coffee stain on Allen’s white lab coat.
“Do what?” Marshall lifted a well-groomed eyebrow in the man’s direction. It was obvious that Marshall was a lot more concerned with his looks than Allen dared to be. Allen often scoffed at Marshall’s playboy gimmick.
“Always look so put together,” Allen said, sighing as his hand reached up, rubbing the facial hair that had grown ragged along his jaw line. He was aware he needed to shave, but at the same time, he knew that once he got home, he would collapse on the couch and relax. Shaving would be the last thing on his mind.
“Call it a gift.” A grin spread over Marshall’s face as he got up and straightened himself out. Allen rolled his eyes at the answer. “I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Marshall declared after grabbing a cup of water and standing in the middle of the room.
He had one hand in his pocket while the other held the cup at chest level. In this stance, although relaxed, he commanded his surrounding area until Allen had no choice but look at him and give him his utmost attention.
“About what?” Allen questioned, this time supporting a quizzical face. The day had been such a blur that he could barely remember what he had for breakfast, let alone what their rushed conversations had been about.
“Us being so busy. I think I might just have the perfect solution.” Marshall took a step forward this time. He placed his cup down, before leaning forward and getting close to Allen, a sly look on his face, as if he were up to no good.
Allen clenched his jaw, expecting some ridiculous plan to come out of his partner’s mouth. It wouldn’t be the first time. The two men had gone to medical school together and during that time, Allen had learned first-hand that Marshall didn’t always make the best of decisions.
“Let’s hear it.”
“We can hire a nurse.” A grin spread over his face like an infection. His eyes were gleaming as he waited for his partner’s reaction. In his mind, the plan was fool proof and there was no way Allen would deny such a reasonable proposition.
“Why? So we can relive through what you did last time?” Allen shot an accusatory glance in Marshall’s direction as he got up. Taking a step forward, he closed the distance between them until he squared off to Marshall.
Allen was a few inches shorter than Marshall, but nonetheless, he made an effort to stand his ground. Marshall smirked slightly in response, thinking the show of dominance to be somewhat diminutive. Marshall had always been the leader of the two, and Allen the ever faithful follower.
“I’ll be good this time.” Marshall paused, as his lips curved into an almost seductive smile, flashing his pearly white teeth. Before he could say anything else, Allen bypassed him, stepping into the middle of the room.
“That only works on girls. Not me.” Allen retorted, trying to get the devilish smile out of his mind. He hated it when Marshall tried to make him bend to his will.
“But, if you promise to be good, it can’t hurt to put an ad out there.” Allen rationalized the plan in his mind, slowly coming to terms with what his partner requested.
“I promise.” The answer sounded painfully insincere, but Allen smiled to himself, believing that his partner would not go back on his word. “In fact, I’ll put in the ad myself.” His eyes crinkled with mischief as he sat down, firing up his laptop.
“Can’t you do this at home?” His voice expressed his fatigue. Marshall stopped his typing for a minute as if contemplating the choice.
“Okay.”