I hadn’t found the Doctor’s secret garden retreat by accident. The truth was that I had seen him go out there after lunch the previous day and was intrigued as to what he was up to.

Without even thinking about it I had rushed out of the operating theater and out to the garden. I felt strangely comforted as I entered the private little world that Frank had built out here.

The smell of exotic flowers filled my head and I could hear running water so I guessed there was a fountain around the corner. I sat down heavily on a beautifully ornate bench and put my head in my hands.

Of course, I wanted him to find me. What I wasn’t sure about was what I wanted to happen next.

Was I hoping to be forgiven for doing a bad job or did I hope he would scold me? The physical attraction between us was clear but we needed to clear up the issues about how horribly my first important task had gone before we could think about going any further.

Had he lost faith in me?

I was also confused about my own reaction when he had walked into the changing area earlier. It was a strange thing for him to so but I had overreacted because I was nervous. He walked in on me undressed when I wasn’t ready yet and it had spooked me out a bit.

He didn’t seem like the sort of man who normally did that kind of thing, so I guessed that it was a sign that he wanted to move our relationship on to a physical level.

It was a shock to look up and see Frank standing there looking at me. He looked upset and seemed to lack the usual composure that made him who he was.

He took a couple of faltering steps towards me and I stood up. It was clear that neither of us knew what to do next and was waiting on the other doing or saying something.

We probably only stood and looked at each other for a minute or so, but it felt like hours.

“I’m sorry, Frank. I screwed up.”

“It was my fault, Janie. I rushed you into your first big job way too soon. Also, I shouldn’t have walked in on you getting changed.”

“I really wanted to impress you.”

“I wanted to impress you too.”

“Are you going to fire me now?”

Frank laughed and visibly relaxed a little.

“No way. I need you here now.”

“Even though I’m not the world’s best nurse yet?”

“You will be. We can do amazing things together.” He stopped, as though he wanted to go on but had to measure his words very carefully.

Astonishingly, I made the first move for the first time in my life.

I rapidly moved towards him so there was no time to change my mind. I put my head on his shoulder and it felt good. I didn’t know where to put my hands but ended up sliding them up his back to his shoulders. It felt good to touch his strong back and feel protected by him.

He was stiff and immobile at first. Had I just made the biggest mistake of my life? He probably just came out to talk about work matters and here I was running my hands all over him.

I was thinking about how to slink away in shame when I felt a hand caress my hair. Slowly and tentatively it ran down to the back of my neck.

I snuggled into him closer and felt the warmth of his body next to mine. Our bodies just seemed to fit together so well that it seemed natural to be with him like this.

My hands went down a bit lower and I heard him sigh.

It then all happened so suddenly. His hands went round to the front of my uniform and slowly started popping open the buttons of my uniform. I did nothing to resist, even though I was worried that someone might see us.

All I had on under the new blue uniform was the most delicate and prettiest white underwear that I owned. Daisy had cheekily advised me to wear my best underwear that morning and while I had laughed her off, that is exactly what I had done. In fact, for once I was one step ahead of her, as I had bought this brand new lingerie yesterday after work.

As he slipped the straps of my bra over my shoulders I shocked myself by running my hands down to his slim waist audaciously. He was very, very aroused so I opened his zip and loosened his belt.

Frank was now all over my breasts, kissing and nuzzling me like a possessed man. The sense of a connection between us was incredible. I had never felt anything like this with a man before. Everything now made sense.

He pushed me roughly to the ground behind a large shrub and I let out a little gasp. His hands were now sliding down the silky new thong I had bought yesterday, just as I had imagined when I put it on this morning. It finally reached my ankles and I kicked it away into the shrubs.

My hands ran over his strong, hairy chest while he bent over me. I needed a powerful, protective man like him in my life and this felt so good.

I was gasping for air as he moved rhythmically over me while I let my hands explore every inch of his body. He was in far better shape than any younger man I had ever touched – which were few in number, to be honest – and it was clear that he knew exactly what to do when alone with a woman.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and sensed that he simply couldn’t hold on much longer before exploding. The power surged through me and I felt capable of doing anything at the moment. I was a wild, desirable woman who could captivate a rich, successful man like this.

“Doctor Sanchez!” The spell was broken. I took one last look at his olive skin as he quickly pulled up his trousers and buttoned his shirt.

“Doctor Sanchez?” The voice was closer now and it clearly belonged to Heidi. What did she want that couldn’t have waited a few minutes longer?

Frank went to see her while I hid under the shrubs and tried to fix my clothing. I had to spend a few seconds looking for my underwear but found it eventually.

I heard them talk for a minute and then Heidi came round the corner, apparently to look at the flowers without knowing that I was there.

My clothes were now fixed, just in time, and I tried to walk around the shrub to the door without her noticing me.

“Ah, Janie. I didn’t realize you were there.”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh, were you here with Doctor Sanchez?” She looked me up and down as a thought seemed to slowly pop into her head... “Oh dear, he’s done it again, hasn’t he?” She shook her head from side to side.

“Done what?” Why did I fall into her trap and ask the question that she so obviously wanted me to ask?

“The doctor has something of a…reputation for taking advantage of new nurses here.” She shook her head sadly again. “I’m so sorry. I thought it might be different this time.”

The receptionist walked away and I felt my head spinning wildly. Was she telling the truth? Was I simply the latest in a long line of silly nurses to have crawled around in those shrubs looking for her discarded underwear?

I looked down at myself. I had felt like the most beautiful and powerful woman in the world a few minutes ago but now I felt small and insignificant. Frank Sanchez was rich, handsome, and famous enough to be with any woman he wanted.

Why would he be with me for anything other than a cheap, easy fling? And to think that I had built up my hopes of a serious, lasting relationship with this man, who was nothing more than someone who looked for innocent and naïve young women to take advantage of.

How many times had he unbuttoned a nurse’s uniform in this secret garden before he had done it to mine? He probably only designed this place to lure his new nurses in here knowing that they would be turned on by the setting and by being close to such a powerful man.

I should have known what kind of man he was when he had deliberately walked in on me getting dressed that morning. He only wanted cheap thrills from naïve women who looked up to him as some sort of guru.

I rushed in to change out of my uniform and cursed my foolishness for having spent a fortune on the best underwear I could find and that I could barely afford. He must have seen so many dozens of far more expensive pieces of lingerie in the past that he barely noticed mine in his rush to satisfy his needs.

With one last look at the clinic, I headed home. My first job and first time falling in love had added up to an utter disaster.