~ Tiffany ~
Shifting uncomfortably on the barstool, Tiffany sucked on her daiquiri.
Slinging his bar towel over his shoulder, Ace frowned before saying in a thoroughly annoyed tone, “Well, maybe she does, and maybe she doesn’t. How the hell am I supposed to know if she’s really into me or if she just blows all her patients?”
“Get real, Ace. Doctors never do things like that with their patients.”
Grinning, he shrugged. “Maybe that’s why the place was packed.”
Nearly spitting out her drink, Tiffany jerked in her seat, laughing. That would be a great way to get new patients and all, but she just couldn’t bring herself to believe a doctor would give a guy with a gaping leg wound a blow job. It literally didn’t make any sense.
Pulling herself together, she tried to explain the situation again. “It’s against the law for doctors to date their own patients. They could get sued or maybe even have their license pulled.”
“Well, just between you and me, I’m starting to wonder if she even was a doctor.”
Suddenly interested, Tiffany leaned over the bar. “What do you mean? She did a really good job on your leg.”
“She had this other lady helping her. Her assistant was the one who worked on my leg. Dr. Reynolds just kind of held my hand and talked to me. Well, she fuckin’ flirted her pretty little ass off, if you know what I mean.”
Tilting her head, Tiffany took his measure, then said, “Some ladies like bikers, and you’re pretty hot. I can easily believe it.” Thinking about what he’d said, she asked, “What makes you think the other woman was her assistant?”
“‘Cause she shut the fuck up and worked on my leg.”
“If she was a physician’s assistant who specialized in surgery, then her performing minor surgical procedures wouldn’t be out of the question. They can even prescribe medications.”
Ace shrugged. “That little lady was plain as fuck, but she knew what in the hell she was doing with my leg.”
Frowning, Tiffany wanted to bring him up short about judging women by their looks but decided against it in favor of learning more about the situation with Dr. Reynolds. “It’s unusual for a physician to defer such treatment to a PA when they’re right there in the room. Plus, you had more damage than PAs normally deal with.”
“She wasn’t there when I went for my checkup the following week. I got some dude with a sour face and shitty attitude. What do you think that means?”
“How am I supposed to know? I can’t believe you didn’t call her.”
Sighing, Ace’s eyes slid away. “I’m not really her type, now, am I?”
Tiffany didn’t know how to deliver what she was thinking with any finesse, so she just said it. “I don’t want to insinuate you’re slow or anything, but clearly you are if she had sex with you right there in her office in front of her assistant.”
Shock slid onto the man’s face. “After the other chick left, that’s when things got hot.”
Lifting one shoulder, she said, “It sounds like she’s really into you.”
Turning away, Ace sighed. “Lots of chicks want to have sex with me. I can guarantee most of them don’t consider me their type. Can you see me hooking up with a real doctor?”
Okay, now she felt bad. Reaching across the bar, Tiffany grabbed his arm. “I sure as hell can. I’m going to call the office and find out what her deal is.”
“Don’t.”
He could deny it all he wanted, but the man needed closure. Jerking out her phone, Tiffany mumbled, “Too late. What’s the name of the medical practice?”
Rolling his eyes and without missing a beat, he stated, “Reynold’s Medical.”
“Well, now, they weren’t working too hard on that name, were they?” she observed as she performed an online search.
When she found the number and hit call, Ace was still trying to dissuade her. “I don’t know what you hope to accomplish by sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Tiffany had watched Ace pull himself together over the few weeks she’d been in South Dakota with Ryder. In sharp contrast to when she first met him, he was well groomed, dressing nice, and the dark circles were disappearing from under his eyes. Granted, a great deal of that was because she and Ryder had stayed after him, forcing him to eat and take better care of himself. At first, he’d been pretty depressed and didn’t often talk. As the weeks wore on, Ryder argued with him constantly in an effort to pull him out of his shell and get him talking again. The ploy worked like a charm. They bickered back and forth like an old married couple most days.
A woman’s crisp voice came on the line. “Hello, Reynolds Family Medical. How may I help you?”
“Hello, my name is Tiffany Stone, and I’m an RN looking for work. Can you tell me if you’re hiring?”
“Are you kidding? Registered nurses are few and far between in these parts. We’ve had an opening for the better part of a year. I could get our human resources person on the line if you like,” the woman said happily.
“Well, I had a couple of quick questions. How many physicians are in practice there?”
“Just the two Doctors Reynolds are here full time.”
“Husband and wife?” Tiffany asked.
“Father and son. Why do you ask?”
Tiffany delivered the lie smoothly. “I met a really nice lady who said her name was Dr. Reynolds, and I just thought there can’t be that many doctors with the same last name in a small town.”
Laughing, the woman lowered her voice. “Dr. Barbara Reynolds is no longer married to Dr. David Reynolds, Jr. Barbara isn’t a medical doctor. She’s an archeology professor over at Dakota Tech. Tell her Shelby says hello if you see her again. We miss her around these parts.”
“I will do that. Do you have any PAs or anything like that?” Tiffany added.
“No, ma’am. We have Dr. Snyder, but she just fills in occasionally when one of the other two can’t come in.”
This was getting more interesting by the moment.
“How do I go about applying for the opening?” Tiffany asked, figuring she might as well continue with the lie in case she needed to pursue it further later.
“We have a section on our website for applications. Just attach a copy of your transcripts and license. If you’re selected for the position, we’ll need to see original copies of both with a raised seal.”
“Thanks, Shelby, I appreciate it.”
“No problem. Hope to see you soon.”
Shutting her phone off, Tiffany discovered that Ace had wondered off. She pulled up the website for Dakota Tech, and sure enough, Dr. Barbara Reynolds was scheduled to teach a night class beginning in three weeks. It was designed for adults wanting to broaden their horizons, and there were two ways to take the class: as a formal college course or audit it, meaning it would carry no academic credit or count toward a college degree.
Ace walked back into the bar carrying a box of vodka and began stowing it under the bar.
“Ace, what’s your real name?”
“Jeremy Strond. Why do you ask?”
“I’m ordering you a gift,” she told him.
“Great. I hope it’s a stripper,” he said unenthusiastically.
Tiffany pressed on. “Are you still using the clubhouse as your address?”
“Since I got no place else to go, yes. My birthday isn’t for five months.”
“Really, what day?”
“April first.”
Grinning at him being born on April Fool’s, she asked conversationally, “What are you, like, about fifty years old?”
Ace shot her an unamused look. “Thirty-six, smartass.”
“You don’t look a day over fifty,” she teased.
Sauntering over, he tipped a little more tequila into her daiquiri. “Maybe I’ll look differently after you’ve finished your drink.” Winking, he went back to putting up the alcohol.
Shoving her drink aside, Tiffany flew through the abbreviated application for him to audit her class and paid the fee. Almost seven hundred dollars was pricy, but Ace was worth it. She mentioned casually, “That PA was actually a part-time physician. Her name’s Dr. Snyder, in case you were wondering.”
“That woman was quick and competent,” Ace commented.
Reaching the end of the application, there was only one more thing she needed to do. “Hey, how do I print something out here?”
“There’s only one printer, and it’s in the office. You can grab it when the brothers come out of church. Just sign onto the Blind Jack’s Wi-Fi. The password is DarknessRules, all run together, and with each word capitalized.”
“Got it, thanks. You know, you guys really should go alphanumeric.”
Ace made a face and said, “They’re sticking with the password everyone remembers. All their secret shit is encrypted anyways.”
While she waited for church to end, Tiffany sent Ace’s course paperwork to the printer then cruised a used book site and picked up his textbook for twenty bucks. Whoever this woman passing herself off as a doctor was, her gut told her that she must have felt strongly about Ace to have done what she did. Since he didn’t seem inclined to call her, Tiffany did the next best thing by arranging for them to see each other once a week for several months. It was a risk, and no doubt she would never hear the end of it, but Ace deserved to be happy, and she had a feeling this was how to make sure it happened.
Unfortunately, that random act of kindness had left her pretty much tapped out. Heading back over to the medical office’s website, Tiffany completed the application. Digging through her old e-mail, she attached the documents they wanted and hit send. Making so many impulsive decisions all at once left her feeling a little anxious, so she sucked on her daiquiri until it gave her brain freeze and made her a little light-headed.
Another body slipped onto the stool next to her. Alyssa asked for a shot of amaretto and turned to her. “So, how’s it hangin’, sister?”
Tiffany laughed. “What kind of talk is that? You’ve been keeping company with foulmouthed bikers far too long for an expression like that to fall so effortlessly from your lips.”
Alyssa smothered a smile. “Guilty as charged. They may be foulmouthed, but unlike most of the attorneys and accountants I used to date, they can manage to do something with their mouths besides talk about themselves.”
“Oh, they get in their fair share of bragging, but you’re right about them having some talented lips.”
Shifting in her seat, Alyssa asked, “So what have you been up to, besides enjoying Ryder’s sweet lips?”
Pulling her hands into her lap, Tiffany answered quickly, “Not much. A little of this and a little of that. You know how it is.”
Winking at her, Alyssa whispered, “Shifty. I definitely like that in a new friend.”
Taking another sip of her drink, Tiffany decided to keep the whole setting-Ace-up shenanigans under wraps for the time being. “I applied for a job at Reynolds Medical.”
“Good for you,” Alyssa praised. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. Getting my career back on track seems like a good idea for me. Hanging around the clubhouse was fine for the short term, but it’s no kind of life.”
“I noticed they had a spot open for a receptionist. If you want to fill out their online application, I can talk you up when I go for my interview,” Tiffany offered.
“Thanks. It’ll probably take all the help I can scrounge up. I’ve been out of the workforce for a while, so I’ll probably need to brush up on my skills.”
“I don’t know much about being a receptionist, but I’ll help in any way I can.”
Alyssa nodded. “If we end up working, we’ll both be pretty busy.”
“I know. It would be great if we both got hired. We could ride together and have lunch together. It would make working in a new environment more bearable for me.” That was the truth. Tiffany always found work more tolerable when she had someone who understood and could blow off steam with.
“Me too. I have some social phobias.”
“We all have something. I suppose they’re not the worst thing to have though.”
“You’re right about that. I had a friend with some kind of panic disorder, and she couldn’t even make herself leave her house.”
“That’s rough,” Tiffany said sympathetically. “Sometimes, I meet people like that and can see myself getting to that point if I really let myself go. I tend to just lock my worries away in a dark little corner of my mind and leave them there. Every now and then, it really catches up with me.”
Alyssa nodded her agreement. “I try to keep myself distracted, so I don’t dwell on stuff. It’s the only thing that really works for me.”
Tiffany’s thoughts drifted to Ryder. “Well, when the guys get out of their little meeting, I’ll have my favorite distraction.”
Lifting her glass, Alyssa murmured, “I’ll drink to that.”