CHAPTER 5
Tessa
Lucy and I began our daily run to the park and back. The evening weather was perfect—there was a comfortable breeze in the air and it was neither too warm or too cool. The only unfortunate thing was that the perfect weather conditions permitted my mind to wander in ways I wished it wouldn’t. And by that, I meant it kept wandering in the direction of Dr. Evan Sholly.
Once again, his delicious features drifted through my mind. Unfortunately, they were also accompanied with Molly’s words regarding my less than satisfactory love life.
She was right. Although I loved Lucy dearly, it would have been nice to occasionally have some company of the human male variety. But I’d been so engulfed in my work, I’d dutifully pushed dating off the menu. While I tried to pretend it didn’t bother me—that my decision to remain single was entirely by choice—I knew that deep down, a part of it was because I was still so scarred from my ex. The heartbreak he’d forced me to endure was part of the reason I had wanted a dog in the first place; I had been desperate to find unconditional love in whatever form I could get it.
Tyler. He had been good looking too, albeit not as hot as Evan Sholly. Nevertheless, I had been so smitten with him that I hadn’t seen, or perhaps had ignored, all the warning signs. Tyler had been very charming in the beginning, showering me with roses and chocolate, romantic dinners, and fun outings. And then suddenly, he began to change.
It started because he hadn’t been supportive of my career ambitions. It had become apparent that he viewed me as the marrying type, but he had also made it quite clear that if we were going to be together, he fully expected me to give up my dreams to instead be a dedicated house-wife. Now, I know there’s nothing wrong with being a house-wife; raising a family is one of the most important jobs in existence. So many women dedicate their lives to it and I have nothing but respect for them. But that’s just wasn’t the lifestyle I envisioned for myself.
For as long as I could remember, I’ve always wanted to work in the medical field. I was obsessed with hospital-themed television shows and had known since I was a little girl that it was the lifestyle I craved. So when suddenly given an ultimatum between a man and my career, I gladly chose my career.
Of course, the choice became a lot easier when Tyler turned violent about my decision, apparently deciding that he literally wanted to try knocking some sense into me. When it happened the first time, I tried to convince myself it was an accident and he hadn’t meant it. When it happened the second time, I figured he was the problem, not me. He was the one who needed help and I had contemplated whether I needed to stick around to ensure he received it. But then one night, I’d had a dream about my grandmother. It was so vivid. I could practically smell her home—a mixture of baked goods and lavender. We’d been sitting at the dining room table, and she’d been giving me the warm smile she always reserved specifically for her grandchildren. Then she reached across the table, took my hand and said, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, then I’m the damned fool.”
When I woke up, I knew without a doubt that she was watching over me and trying to send me a sign. I knew then that I’d most certainly be a fool if I didn’t take her advice. Hence, I broke up with Tyler shortly thereafter.
Oh boy, did he try to win me back. He made every pretty promise in the book—swore he would never lay a hand on me again for as long as he lived. I can still hear his voice pleading with me. “Tessa, baby, I won’t do it again. You know how much I love you. I will never hurt you again, I swear. I swear, baby. I swear. I’m not going to hurt you again, as long as I live.”
I smiled, looked him straight in the eyes and said, “No, you won’t hurt me again for as long as you live because this is the last time you’re going to see me in your pathetic life. Goodbye.”
It was one of the smartest and most satisfying decisions I had ever made. Sometimes, I still shudder at the thought of what my life would have been like if I hadn’t left him. I would have probably been living behind a white-picket fence with an unhappy household full of kids—all of us afraid and terrified each night when Daddy came home. I had certainly dodged a bullet by leaving Tyler.
Nevertheless, I’d become lonely in the aftermath. There hadn’t been a single man to catch my eye though. Not until Dr. Evan Sholly. Yet, something told me he had caught my eye for all the wrong reasons. The thought of him coincided with a random man in a parked car catcalling at me. At the sound of his whistle, Lucy halted for an instant and growled.
“Good girl,” I said. “Let’s go.” We were halfway to the park.
Looks. Just like the creep who’d just whistled at me, my attraction to Dr. Sholly was all about looks because I hardly knew anything else about him. And the little I did know about him hadn’t been exactly flattering. I could still recall his haughty tone in the way he had chastised me while working on the gunshot patient. The mere memory still made my blood boil. It was people like Dr. Sholly that gave doctors a bad name.
As we reached the park, I looked around, checking to see that the area was empty. It usually was during this time of evening, which I was always grateful for. It allowed me to unhook Lucy from her leash so that she could walk around, stretch her legs, and do her business.
“There you go girl,” I said, releasing her from her leash. She wagged her tail and happily trotted off, while I took a seat on the bench, careful to keep my eye on her nonetheless, just in case someone happened to cross our path.
Molly had claimed I’d just gotten the wrong impression of Dr. Sholly, but I wasn’t so sure. She had blamed his biting personality on the fact that he was ex-military. Yet, that excuse didn’t work for me. I had an uncle who’d been in the army. He was rigid, but stoic and noble. I had a hard time imagining those traits in Dr. Sholly.
I sighed, already not liking how much of my mind Dr. Sholly was occupying after just one day of knowing him. I hated people judging me for my looks, so it certainly didn’t sit well with me that I was being such a sucker for a handsome face. Yet, even as that thought crossed my mind, I recalled how it had appeared that Dr. Sholly hadn’t been able to resist peeking at my chest. The thought brought a flush to my face.
Right on time, Lucy trotted back to me. I hooked her leash back on and we set off for our run back home. I even managed to push thoughts of Dr. Sholly from my mind, at least until I went back home to take a shower, where I unfortunately started imagining him in the shower with me…
“Tessa, you seriously need help,” I told myself in the foggy bathroom mirror.
Or to at least think about what Molly said and give him another chance, a voice in my head counterargued. Everyone is prone to having a bad day every once in a while.
CHAPTER 6
Evan
If I’d thought day two of working the day shift was going to get easier, I was so damn wrong. This became more than evident when the gaze of a feverish seven-year-old girl was making me sweat. I squirmed in my chair as she continued to unflinchingly stare at me.
Her mom had stepped out to take a phone call that was lasting far too long. I didn’t have kids of my own, so I tried to refrain from judging parents too harshly. Yet, some of them really threw me for a damn loop. This little girl was sick and had a terrible fever, yet her mother saw it more important to put me on hold so that she could run her mouth on the phone. Not only was this rude, for I could be needed for another patient at any moment, but it also just seemed careless. I drummed my fingers on my knee as the girl continued to stare at me.
“What’s your name again?” I asked.
The girl blinked with her peaky eyes. “Sarah.”
“Sarah. Right. Such a pretty name.”
“Then how come you couldn’t remember it?”
It was my turn to blink. Little smarty-pants, I thought to myself. I forced a smile. “Because it’s really early and I should still be sleeping.”
“It’s not early. This is what time I go to school.”
“Well, I haven’t been in school for a very long time, so this hour just isn’t practical for me.”
“How old are you?”
“Old.”
“How old is old?”
“Grown.”
The girl crossed her little arms across her chest.
I was reminded of yet another reason I preferred the night shift; I was no good at working with or entertaining children; they were few and far between during the night shift.
I sighed. “So…do you like stickers, Sarah?”
“What kind of stickers?”
“Well, let’s see what we can find here.” I stood from my seat, trying to recall where I’d seen the nurses retrieve stickers from. I knew a stash was kept somewhere in the examining room for the children that came in. However, I had never needed to find the stash before, so I’d never really paid attention to it.
“Where’s Mommy?” the girl asked in a slightly sad tone.
My thoughts exactly. “I’m sure she’ll be back any moment now.” I paused in my search for the elusive stickers, and glanced back at the girl. Tears streamed down her face. Upon finding me looking at her, she hastily wiped her eyes. A lump developed in my throat at the sight of her wrists—or the marks on them, rather.
“Sarah…?” But before I could say anything more, someone drew back the curtain to our room. For a second, I thought it was the girl’s mother. But instead, Tessa Kennery peeked in at us. Our eyes instantly met for a second that felt like an eternity before Tessa shifted her gaze to the little girl. “How are we doing in here?” she asked.
The little girl was still rubbing her eyes. Tessa’s brow wrinkled; she was still beautiful even with a frown on her face. I stood frozen on the spot as I watched her approach the child and kneel down before her.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Tessa asked.
“I don’t feel good,” she said.
Tessa glanced back at me.
I shook my head and cleared my throat. “Sarah has a fever. She’s going to need some antibiotics. We’re just…waiting for her mom to return.”
I saw it this time—the slight flash of panic that appeared on Sarah’s face when I mentioned her mother.
“I see,” Tessa said. She met my eye again, and I struggled to figure out how to discreetly indicate the marks on the child’s wrist.
“Sarah tells me that she enjoys stickers. I was just trying to find some for her, but they seem to be hiding from us.”
“Is that so?” Tessa said, standing up. “Well, I’m sure those stickers can’t hide from me.” She winked at Sarah and crossed the room toward me. “Excuse me, doctor.” I thought I detected the slightest bit of snark in her voice, but there was no time to contemplate it. She brushed past me and our arms just grazed each other. My cock twitched in anticipation. Dammit. This was getting worse by the second.
Behind me, she opened a cabinet I hadn’t made my way to yet. When she opened it, she pulled out a jar that contained not only stickers, but lollipops as well. She turned back towards Sarah with a smile on her face as she shook the jar at her. “You see—I told you they couldn’t hide from me!”
Sarah giggled through her tears. “He couldn’t find them.”
Tessa glanced at me. “Well, that’s because he’s a boy. You know, boys don’t always know as much as they think they do.”
The significance of her comment wasn’t lost on me and I was forcibly reminded of how rude I’d been to her the day before. “I won’t deny that,” I said. Tessa glanced at me once again, as if she could decipher the thoughts behind my words.
“Here you go, sweetie,” she said, offering the jar to Sarah. “Pick whichever ones you want.”
Sarah reached into the jar to get a green lollipop and a sticker of some kind of Disney princess.
Tessa gasped.
“What?” Sarah said.
But I already knew what had caused Tessa’s gasp; she had spotted the marks on the girl’s wrist as she reached for the sticker.
Tessa cleared her throat. “Oh nothing,” she said. “It’s just…you remind me of someone.”
“Who?”
“A princess, of course. That’s how I knew you were going to pick that sticker.”
Tessa carefully screwed the top back onto the jar and crossed the room to place it back in the cabinet. She met my eye along the way though, and I nodded, letting her know that I too had seen the marks.
“What princess?” Sarah asked.
“Well, let me tell you all about her.” Tessa settled down into the seat that I had previously occupied. She then launched into a story.
“There was once a beautiful little girl who didn’t know she was a princess. One day, she woke up not feeling too good. And she was so afraid because she didn’t know what was wrong with her! So she ended up having to go to the doctor. When she got to the doctor, he checked the little girl’s eyes. And he looked into her ears. And then he checked her nose.” Tessa paused to wiggle Sarah’s nose, making the girl giggle again. “And then he placed his hand on her forehead, and he jumped. He said, ‘Why little girl, you’re burning up! Do you know what that means?’ The little girl shook her head, because she didn’t know what that meant. So he leaned in and whispered to her, ‘That means someone has put a spell on you.’”
Sarah’s eyes widened; she was thoroughly riveted by the story.
I, on the other hand, was thoroughly riveted by Tessa. Her ease at connecting with Sarah was astonishing. I could easily tell that she related with patients on a personal level because she cared so much. I stood there, hating myself for the way I had spoken to her the previous day.
And my god, was she gorgeous. I found myself staring at her lips as she spoke. They were so shapely, and looked so soft, they’d be perfect around my cock.
“The little girl asked who in the world could have put a spell on her,” Tessa continued. “And the doctor told her, ‘Someone who is very jealous of you, because you are so young and beautiful and will one day have a handsome prince who wants to take you as his bride!’”
“Yuck!” Sarah exclaimed.
Tessa laughed, her face brightening and those impossibly blue eyes of hers sparkling. “Oh, you won’t be saying ‘yuck’ to that in a few years!”
“What happened next?” Sarah asked, apparently done considering whether she’d someday want a handsome prince.
“The doctor asked the little girl if she knew anyone who wanted to hurt her, or had tried to hurt her before in the past. And the little girl—she was nervous because she was afraid she would get in trouble if she told the truth. So she decided she would have to keep it a secret. Besides, she wasn’t even sure if the people who had tried to hurt her before could do magic. So she convinced herself that she didn’t have to tell. ‘I don’t know,’ the little girl told the doctor.
“ ‘I guess I’m just going to have to figure this out for myself,’ the doctor replied. But he knew he couldn’t really do it all alone. So he called a few of his friends and asked if any of them had psychic powers to figure out who had put a spell on this beautiful little girl. But unfortunately, none of them were psychic. So you know what they had to do then?”
“What?” Sarah asked.
“They had to play detective!”
“Like Inspector Gadget!”
“Yes! Exactly like Inspector Gadget!”
“Did it work?”
“Well, the doctor and his friends, they searched all around the kingdom, trying to figure out who was casting evil spells. They went from door to door. But they couldn’t find out who did it. So they started to feel discouraged, and feared they would never know who hurt the little girl. And this worried them all a great deal, because they hated seeing such a beautiful little princess feeling bad. They wanted her to be happy and healthy.”
“Did they ever find the bad people?”
Tessa exchanged a quick glance with me, letting me know that she too, had caught on to the fact that the little girl asked about bad people, not a bad person.
“Well, the little princess could see how worried the doctor and his friends were. And she saw how hard they were trying to help her. So she eventually decided that maybe she needed to go ahead and let them know who had tried hurting her before because deep down, the little girl knew that these people probably really were the ones casting spells on her. So after thinking about it for a long time, the little princess finally went up to her doctor and said, ‘I think I know who did it. I remember now!’ And she told the doctor and his friends about the bad people who had been mean to her and hurt her before. She told them that more than likely, these were the people who were jealous of her, and they had probably found ways to cast evil spells meant to hurt her.
“The doctor and his friends were so happy the little princess told them, because she was right! So they found the bad people and made sure the little girl never got hurt again. And then the little girl grew up, met a handsome prince, and lived happily ever after.”
Sarah had stopped crying completely now and seemed to consider the story. We all sat in silence for a moment until Tessa spoke again. “Sarah, I want you to be brave like the little princess, okay? You have to be brave while Dr. Sholly and I figure out how to make you feel better, and make sure nobody can put any evil spells on you, all right?”
“All right,” Sarah said, nodding her head. “Can you open my lollipop for me?”
“Of course.”
Just as Tessa opened the lollipop, the curtain was drawn back once again. This time, it was Sarah’s mother.
“Sorry for the wait, doc,” she said in a half-hearted apology. “So, what I miss? What’s wrong with her?”
I glanced at Tessa. “Thank you, Tessa. Can you give us a moment?”
“Sure thing, Dr. Sholly,” she said, and then made her exit.
CHAPTER 7
Tessa
“Yes, she’s seven-years-old and has suspicious markings on her wrist,” I said over the phone. “And she seemed a little bit uncomfortable with her mother. She was just here a couple hours ago. She was suffering from a viral infection and fever.”
“Thank you so much for filing the report, Ms. Kennery. We will be investigating the case shortly.”
“Okay. Thank you.” With a heavy sigh, I ended the call just as Molly entered our break room, carrying her lunch with her and looking like she wanted nothing more than for the day to end.
“How’s it going, Molly?” I asked.
“I was about to say it’s going too busy, you look even more worn out than me. What’s wrong now, doll?”
I crossed the room and sat beside her at the table. “I just had to report a case of possible child abuse. I was just on the phone with Child Protective Services.”
“Oh no. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. This sweet little seven-year-old girl has scarring on her wrists. I just saw her this morning. I was assigned to help Dr. Sholly again, and he was examining her. She was brought in for her fever.”
“It’s always hard when you see kids getting hurt. Any idea who’s abusing her?”
“Not really, although she did seem a little uncomfortable with her mom. Her mom wasn’t even in the room with most of the time though.”
“Where was she?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t get a chance to ask. She eventually returned and Dr. Sholly sent me out.”
“Well, rest assured you did the right thing.”
“I know. The important thing is making sure she’s going to be okay.”
“Exactly.”
“Guess I may as well take my lunch too. Be right back, Molly.” I stood up and headed to the refrigerator to get my lunch.
“So—you were assigned to Evan again today, eh?” Molly called out to me in a teasing voice.
I tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smirk as I made my way back over to the table with my lunch. “So.”
Molly laughed. “So did the two of you behave today?”
“We had no choice. The little girl was there.”
“Oh sure. Blame it on her.”
“You saw how he treated me yesterday. What else do you think contributed to his sudden ability to be cordial?”
“The fact that he regretted how he treated you yesterday.”
“How on earth do you know that?”
“I ran into him in the parking lot before I left yesterday.”
My ears perked and I paused midway before taking a bite of my turkey sandwich. “And…?”
“And he asked about you.”
“Really? What did he say?”
Molly laughed, and I had to resist the urge to slap myself for sounding like an overly excited schoolgirl. I tried to remind myself that Dr. Sholly was not my type, so I had no reason to be so concerned with what he said about me. I had already dated a handsome jerk before, so I wasn’t about to fall for another one, even if he was a successful doctor.
Upon entering the hospital that morning, I paused in the hallway and for the first time, took a good look at the various plaques of excellence for doctors among the hospital staff. Evan Sholly’s name had plenty of appearances on the wall. It was surprising I’d never noticed before, but I supposed I just hadn’t paid attention. Seeing all the good work he’d done over the years, I had actually started to regret my own behavior a bit as well, particularly since I had more or less implied he didn’t know what he was doing. But in my defense, he had started it by insulting me first. So I didn’t have to feel entirely too guilty about it…
“He just asked me how long you’d been working here. I told him you’d been here as long as me, and that you were one of the most dedicated nurses in this building.”
“Hmm,” I said, attempting to feign disinterest, but once again failing, judging from the smirk on Molly’s face.
“Speak of the handsome devil…”
“What?”
But my question was answered by the door opening and none other than Dr. Sholly appearing. My heart skipped a beat and I almost choked on my sandwich.
“Good afternoon, ladies,” he said.
“Good afternoon, sugar,” Molly said. She eyed me for a second, like a mother scolding her child to be polite. But my vocal chords didn’t seem to be working. Pressing his pretty lips together upon seeing that I couldn’t be bothered to speak, he gave me a curt nod before rolling up his sleeves and approaching the vending machine. My eyes trailed over his muscular arms, intrigued by the tattoos covering them…
Until he turned around with his bottle of Gatorade in hand and caught me staring, causing me to choke for real this time.
Molly gave me a rather hard thump on the back as I reached for my bottle of water. Thank goodness I hadn’t unscrewed the top yet, or I would have drenched myself.
“Tessa.”
I raised my eyebrows at the sound of him saying my name. My skin was on fire. He made me feel things, things I didn’t want to feel.
“Dr. Sholly?” I said.
“Can I speak with you for a moment?”
“Uhm…Sure,” I said. “Now?”
“If it’s all right,” he said. “It won’t take long.”
“Okay…”
He headed to the door and I realized he wanted me to follow him out of the break room.
Panic-stricken, I glanced toward Molly. Her eyes were wide with amusement. “Go ahead. I’ll keep your sandwich company, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Dr. Sholly chuckled.
As I stood, I ‘accidentally’ kicked Molly in the foot, which only made her goofy expression grow more prominent.
“I’ll let you get back to your lunch soon, I swear,” Dr. Sholly said, still standing in the doorway, holding the door open as he waited for me.
“No, it’s fine I was done anyway,” I lied.
I took a deep breath as I stepped out into the hall with Dr. Sholly. To my surprise, he set off down the hall. Upon realizing I wasn’t following him, he paused and looked back at me over his shoulder.
I recomposed myself and caught up to him, wondering where on earth he was taking me as we reached the end of the hall and rounded the corner.
“Woah!”
Dr. Sholly came to an abrupt halt, startled by a couple of technicians hurriedly rounding the corner as well, wheeling an empty hospital bed and nearly crashing into us. Instinctually, Dr. Sholly held his hand out, catching me right at the waist and preventing me from slamming into the hospital bed right at the last second.
“Sorry, doc,” one of the technicians said.
“Slow down. The air isn’t in a hurry,” Dr. Sholly said. Realizing his hand was still on my waist, he removed it, although I felt the ghost of his touch long afterwards. A shiver went down my spine.
“You all right?” he said, running his hand through his luscious dark hair, looking somewhat awkward.
I nodded. “Yeah,” I said, displeased to hear that my voice sounded too high. “Uhm…where are we going?”
“Right here,” he said. We came to a stop at the on-call room, which was empty at the moment. He held the door open for me and I entered, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the way I walked because I felt like my hips were swaying with minds of their own no matter how much I tried to stop them.
My heart stuttered again, this time right along with the click of the door as Dr. Sholly closed it. He shook his head. “Sorry—this day shift. I just can’t seem to think straight. I guess you could have brought your lunch here if you wanted.”
“It’s fine. I was done.” With the worse timing ever, my stomach gave an embarrassingly loud growl. I crossed my arms over my torso, as if that would help muffle the sound. It felt like someone had lit a match over my face.
Dr. Sholly cleared his throat, laughing a little at my rumbling stomach. When I could get the nerve to look up at him, I could see a smirk lingering beneath his expression and knew he was trying hard not to laugh at me further. It almost made me want to turn right on the spot and leave the room.
Why did this man make me feel so unsure of myself?
“I called Child Protective Services,” I said, feeling desperate to fill the empty room with sensible discussion. I couldn’t take too much more of the silence in his presence. Besides, I needed an excuse for staring at him, his smoldering dark eyes seemed to be holding my gaze captive.
He nodded his head, briefly looking down to the floor. The amusement I’d thought I’d seen on his face had vanished entirely, replaced with barely concealed sadness. “Yeah. Thanks for that.” He looked up at me. “That’s what I really wanted to say to you. Thank you for helping out with Sarah. I’m not so good with kids. I’m glad they sent up someone who is.”
I nodded. “You’re welcome.”
“Do you have kids? I mean…you don’t look like you do…” His eyes not-so-subtly roamed over my body before he caught himself and glanced away. “But uhm…you were just so good with Sarah earlier, I wondered…”
I stood there, stunned to see that for the first time, Dr. Sholly actually looked flustered. It was my turn to chuckle. “No, I don’t have any kids, Dr. Sholly.”
“You can call me Evan.”
I nodded. Evan. His name even sounded sexy. Shit, this was going to be a problem. A long stretch of silence passed between us. Feeling unnerved by it again, I cleared my throat. “So…is that all?”
Evan ran his hand through his hair again, and I stood there, wishing I could run my own fingers through it. Wondering if it felt just as silky as it looked…
“Tessa, the real reason I brought you here is because I want to apologize for yesterday.”
I blinked. I certainly hadn’t seen that coming. I opened and closed my mouth a few times, not sure what to say. When I finally could manage to speak, all I said was, “Oh.”
Evan lowered his head and shook it, as if in shame. “I had no right to speak to you that way. I’m not sure what came over me. I’m not usually like that, I swear.”
“Well, Molly told me that. She said that you weren’t yourself yesterday.”
“And what else did Molly tell you?”
“That you were ex-military.”
“NAVY doc actually.” He smiled. I noticed for the first time he had dimples. Then again, it was probably the first time I had seen such a genuine smile from him to begin with. I couldn’t help the way my own lips curled into a smile at the sight of it.
I gave a start at his sudden nearness. Disoriented, I couldn’t figure out if I had involuntarily moved closer to him, or if he had moved closer to me. The fresh scent of his skin drifted to my nose.
God, did he smell good…
“You’re a very impressive nurse, Tessa,” he said. “You’re impressive in a lot of ways, actually.”
“I can say the same to you…I mean, as far as doctors go.”
He smirked. There was another stretch of silence. Suddenly, Evan sighed. “Look—the reason I treated you that way, is because I know you’re the kind of person I could, you’re the type of person that could very easily hold my interest. And I can’t risk that sort of thing at the moment. I’m not delusional enough to think I actually have a chance, but still, I can’t get close to anyone. Besides the no fraternizing with superiors policy is pretty clear.”
Evan laughed at shook his head again. “Sorry I’m being so lousy with my words right now. I guess, I’m just trying to say that I hope you accept my apology. And I hope we can get off to a fresh start since it looks like we’ll be together quite a bit. Professionally, I mean.”
Crap. He meant we couldn’t take advantage of the on call room being empty, or the fact that I had noticed his cock twitch under his scrubs. He was right of course, the policy was absolute.
And I loved my job.
But it literally hurt not to touch him.