“Sounds good, I’m thrilled you thought of me. I promise to find him the perfect place.” Hannah turns toward the door as a delivery guy walks in with a bouquet of pretty spring flowers. She picks up the card and cringes slightly while reading it.
“Unwanted admirer?” I laugh as she lets out a disgusted snort.
“Not exactly. You see I’m trying to get out there and, you know, date, so my brother has decided to help me out.” I know her brother is a cop in town, and I’ve met him a few times. He doesn’t seem like much of a cupid to me. I thought he was more the strong silent type.
“I wouldn’t have taken your brother for the matchmaking type. Now, some of your friends, maybe, but not Conrad.” She laughs and shakes her head.
“He’s awful at it, and after last night I’ve told him no more. You see I got on an online dating site and went on one date—it was horrible by the way. Conrad found out and showed up to only make things worse. He has since made it his mission to set me up with his cop friends and I’ve come to the conclusion, cops are not my type, or should I say the ones Conrad knows. They all treat me like a kid sister or a matronly aunt, it’s been awful.”
“Wait, I’m confused I thought you liked MaCee’s brother, Lee?” She looks like she might pass out after I say that. Damn, I reach out to grab her arm, scared she may hit the floor. What’s the big deal?
“Did MaCee tell you?” I shake my head no. Why would she be upset if MaCee had told me? Hell, I just assumed it was common knowledge.
“Damn, does everyone know about my stupid obsession with Lee Burkett? I’m going to have to get a grip. This is ridiculous!” She’s now pacing and throwing her hands in the air. Well crap, I didn’t mean to upset her.
“I don’t think everybody knows. I mean nobody has mentioned it to me. Besides, sometimes an outsider sees things others don’t.” I’m trying to calm her down and not doing a very good job of it.
“You think? God, I hope so. How embarrassing? It doesn’t matter now because I have decided to move on. I’m putting my childish crush behind me, although dating in this town with the brother I have isn’t helping much.”
“Hannah, have you told Lee how you feel?” She gives me a look as if I’m as dumb as a box of rocks, and I start laughing.
“Yeah, Ah no. What am I supposed to do? Walk up to him and say I’ve been secretly in love with you since I was five? How about we ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after?”
“No, I probably wouldn’t go about it quite like that. What I’m asking is have you ever let him know you’re interested? From what I’ve seen, you don’t talk to him and move away whenever he comes near you.” She plops down in the chair behind her desk and then puts her head down on the desk.
“I panic, and he usually has some gorgeous woman at his side. It’s like he can’t show up to anything alone. It’s annoying as hell, but I have to wonder if I would actually make a move if he was alone.”
“I’ve only seen him once, and you put that woman to shame. She was a plastic Barbie and I don’t know where this insecurity is coming from. You’re amazing, and he would be lucky to have you.” I can’t believe I’m giving dating advice to someone, and a woman at that. This is a first.
“Thanks. The problem is Lee is my brother’s best friend and has been since I can remember. They were inseparable growing up, and he sees me as a little sister. I don’t know how to break through that barrier.”
“It’s a pretty big obstacle, but if he doesn’t know you’re interested how are you going to know how he really feels?” She smiles up at me.
“You’re a good guy, Tyler. MaCee is a lucky woman. If Lee decides to show up at an event alone, maybe I’ll see how things go. Right now, I have to stop my brother’s good intentions. I can’t go out on another one of his setups.” I laugh at her and notice the time. I need to get going or I’m going to be late. After I bid Hannah goodbye I go across street to meet my girl for lunch.
I see MaCee pulling into the parking lot at the same time I get there and walk over to her car to give a hello kiss. I pull back, and she has a slightly dazed look about her. I’m so glad she’s as affected by this as I am. We link hands and walk into the restaurant. After we’re seated and placed our orders she looks at me grinning like she has been up to something, and it has me slightly worried.
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing now, but man, did I cause havoc last night.” I can only imagine what she’s done. Wait a minute, she was too busy to stir trouble last night.
“You were with me last night and I wouldn’t call what we did havoc. Amazing, but not havoc.” She smiles that sexy smile of hers, and I want to take her somewhere private.
“I saw Lee yesterday in town, he’s moving back in the next month or so by the way.” This surprises me, I thought he loved living in Baton Rouge. “Appears it was always his plan to move home, anyway, he was going over to tell Mama the good news yesterday evening and I knew her friend was going to be there. I consider it payback for the lies and meddling she did to get me home.” She looks so proud of herself, I love the way her family is with each other. They’re fun to watch, although I was shocked that her mother would go to the lengths she did to get MaCee home. Not that I’m complaining, I would never have met her had it not been for her Mama.
“I’ve gotten calls from both Lee and Mama this morning, both chewing me out for not giving them a heads up. Lee was properly shocked because he caught them in a rather compromising position, which according to him no son should see.” I can’t help but laugh. I imagine it was pretty embarrassing. “Mama didn’t know I saw Lee in town until I informed her of that juicy little nugget. I wanted her to know I’d gotten a slice of revenge pie.”
“Damn woman, that’s evil.” She laughs at this and looks awfully proud of herself. “What did your mom say to that.”
“Wasn’t much she could say. She understands completely, and had she been in my shoes, she would have done the same thing. Lee was just an added bonus, I always love it when I can get one up on him.” This I can understand, my brother and I were always doing this sort of thing growing up. This causes me to feel slightly nostalgic even though I saw my brother last weekend, I still miss him and my grandfather and hope to take MaCee for a visit soon.
We talk about her family some more and I tell her about Cash coming to town, which has her frowning. She’s as worried as I am about the lack of privacy his visit is going to cause.
“I went by and saw Hannah today and hopefully he’ll find a place soon. I love him, but I can’t have him encroaching on my MaCee time right now.” She laughs and leans over to give me a kiss across the table. After an hour or so, she notices the time and gets ready to go back to work.
“Can you come over tonight?” I know she probably can’t, but I ask anyway. Call me a pussy, I don’t care.
“I wish I could, but I have reports to file and I have work at the hospital tomorrow. How about I come over after work tomorrow night?” I like that idea.
“Plan on staying the whole weekend.” Now that I’ve had her I want her with me as much as possible. She promises to call later and leaves to go back to work. Yeah, I got it bad and I don’t care.
Chapter Fourteen
MaCee
It’s official, I have it bad. It’s only been three hours since I left his house and I already miss Tyler. It’s Monday, and instead of being at work, I wish I was still curled up next to him in his big, soft, comfy bed. It doesn’t help that he sent me a picture of himself with nothing on but a sheet covering his lower regions in said bed with “wish you were here” typed under it. Yeah, I wish I were there too, meanwhile I’ve been listening to pregnant women whine all morning about how they wish they weren’t pregnant anymore. Not that I don’t love my job, and I know I’m going to love being a nurse practitioner, it’s just I’m having a slight case of s
eparation anxiety from my boyfriend and his well-endowed cock and tongue and hands—okay I need to quit thinking right now.
I’ve gone from no sex to out-of-this-world-all-weekend-barely-taking-time-out-for-eating-and-sleeping sex. I’m slightly sore, and every time I move a certain way I miss him more. He’s basically all I have on my mind and thank goodness Dr. Collins checks what I order for the patients and reviews my assessments. So far, they’ve only assigned me healthy routine checks. I must be terribly obvious.
I arrived at his house Friday night after working all week and was greeted by a very-happy-to-see-me naked Tyler. He grabbed me as soon as I entered the house, stripped me naked and kept me that way until I went to shower this morning and get ready for work. I refused to allow him in with me because I knew I would never make it to the office on time. Thank goodness no one decided to make a surprise visit because they would have gotten more than they bargained for. We had several invitations to go to different events over the weekend, but the crazy man refused to leave the house and put on clothes. He even hid mine until I threatened his life if he didn’t give them to me this morning.
I’m standing in the hall daydreaming about Tyler bending me over his sofa and entering me slowly from behind when Dr. Collins clears his throat causing me to jump and then I blush uncontrollably. He smirks as if he knows what I’m thinking about, which is impossible. I know it’s impossible, but I can’t stop from looking guilty as hell.
“MaCee, I need you to do the pelvic exam on the next patient. She has some anxiety issues and the last time I attempted to examine her, well let’s just say we couldn’t perform the necessary tests. I thought maybe having a woman do her exam may help. She only needs a pap smear so hopefully, it won’t take long. Ellen will assist you.” This is not that unusual of a request. I’ve been doing exams since the first week of my training, but Ellen is Dr. Collins’ nurse and usually only assists him. I normally have Gina helping me, so that has me wondering what’s going on. I agree to see the patient and look over her chart before I enter the room. I go in to find a young woman in her mid-twenties lying on the exam table dressed in the standard paper gown and sheet. She’s average looking with brown hair and slightly overweight, but nothing out of the ordinary. I wonder what the big deal is.
“Hi, Jacquelyn. I’m MaCee Burkett, a nurse working with Dr. Collins, and I will be doing your exam today. Do you have any questions for me?” I ask as I wash my hands and don gloves to prepare for the exam. Ellen is standing off to the side adjusting the light. I sit on the stool and roll over to position myself between her legs that Ellen has already placed in stirrups.
“I’m going to be using a speculum to help me perform the test needed today so you’re going to need to relax. It will be only slightly uncomfortable, but I’ll be as quick and gentle as possible.” I say in my most professional voice. I touch the girl with my fingers initially, and she tenses immediately. “I’m sorry Jacquelyn, but you’re going to have to try and relax. Look up at the poster on the ceiling and try not to think about what I’m doing.” She looks up and smiles at the wild-haired cat poster we have attached to the ceiling for just such an occasion.
I manage to insert the speculum into her vagina and begin to spread the blades when she straightens out her legs and lets out a yell that scares the crap out of me. I jump back and fall off the rolling stool I’m on. Jacquelyn kicks out her legs, knocking the light Ellen was holding back and beaming the poor woman in the head, sending our tray of instruments flying back with items landing all around me. She then stands and screams for all she’s worth.
Dr. Collins burst onto the scene of a woman standing with straight legs at the end of the exam table yelling some weird battle cry of sorts, a silver medical instrument hanging out of her vagina, me sprawled out on the floor, and Ellen leaning against the wall holding her head. He comes in and takes over the situation, commanding the girl to lie down and quickly removes the speculum. Once it’s removed, Jacquelyn stops screaming, and all you can hear are mine and Ellen’s heavy breathing. My heart is pounding—she scared the bejesus out of me. Dr. Collins offers me a hand up, and I straighten my clothes and walk over to Ellen and inspect her head for any serious damage. Assuring myself she’s fine I turn to the patient and Dr. Collins.
“Dear, I’m going to prescribe a sedative for you to take an hour before your next appointment. You’re going to need someone to drive you to and from your appointment. We’re going to try and see if this will help calm your anxiety. If not, I may have to admit you to the hospital for stronger sedation. You really need to have these tests because of your history.” The girl is obviously embarrassed, and I can’t say I blame her. I mean just What. The. Hell?
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happens, it’s almost as if I black out.” Dr. Collins writes her a prescription with instructions for her to reschedule, and the three of us leave the room to give Jacquelyn her privacy to dress. Dr. Collins leads us down the hall into his office, and after he closes the door he bursts out laughing to Ellen and my stunned faces.
“Oh my God, that was the funniest thing I’ve seen in quite some time. Holy moly, MaCee was laid out on the floor with instruments spread all around her, Ellen was leaning against the wall holding her head, nearly knocked out.” He’s laughing so hard he’s having a hard time getting the words out, and I’m just standing there quite amazed by the whole situation. “And Oh Lord, the girl standing there, yelling like a banshee with a speculum hanging out of her vagina. How the hell it didn’t fall out is beyond me.” He collapses in his chair hardly able to breathe while Ellen and I just stare at him, shell-shocked from the what just happened to us. Suddenly Ellen looks at me and a smile breaks out on her face causing me to smile back at her.
“It was pretty funny.” And she then joins him in his hysterical laughter, which I find impossible to resist and before long we’re all laughing uncontrollably.
“Oh mercy, I haven’t laughed this hard in a while. Thanks, MaCee, you’ve made my day. Also, don’t take it personally, poor girl really does have issues. She has never had any trauma or history of abuse but for some unknown reason freaks out over exams. I hate to see how she’s going to be if she ever gets pregnant. I also wonder how she has sex.”
“Don’t ask me to do her exam! I did not enjoy hitting the floor to get away from her.” This causes us to break out into a new round of laughter. Once we’re somewhat under control we leave the room to continue with our morning of seeing patients.
I truly enjoy working with Dr. Collins and hate that I only have a little over a month left before I have to move on to my next clinical rotation at Dr. Perkins office. She is a local pediatrician. I’ve never really liked pediatrics, so I’m not looking forward to it, but it’s all part of the training I need to complete my course, so I’ll have to buck up and do what needs to be done.
My phone rings while I’m on my lunch break, and I smile when I notice it’s Cameryn. I haven’t heard from her in the last few days and feel slightly guilty because I was so busy having sex with Tyler I really haven’t thought about her that much either. I’m an awful best friend.
“Hey, stranger! I was planning on calling you tonight when I got off.” Hopefully, she’s all right and nothing else has happened. I’m worried about her since the breakup with her boyfriend. Yeah, I’m an awful best friend.
“Hi to you too. Can you talk now, or do you need to get back to work?” She understands how things are because she’s in the same line of business. We totally get it when we suddenly hang up on each other because something is happening that requires our immediate attention and don’t ever get offended by said hang up.
“No, I’m on my lunch break so I can talk. What’s up?”
“I need a favor and I know it’s short notice, but I don’t know what else to do. Friday is my last day at work, and I’m to be moved out of the apartment by Monday morning. My dad was supposed to come
, but he was called out of town on business at the last minute. Is there any way you could get that big strong boyfriend of yours and maybe Justin to help a sista out? I hate asking, but when Dad called I became a bit desperate.” I can hear the anxiety in her voice, and I don’t know why because I told her I would help in any way. Matter of fact, I tried to get her to let me help her move in the beginning and she said she had it under control.
“Girl you know I’m here for you. I would be pissed if you hadn’t called me. Let me call Tyler and Justin and I’ll call you back or better yet, just expect us. They will be there even if I have to hog-tie and drag them to New Orleans. So, you need us to be there Saturday morning and what about a truck?”
“I’ll have a truck here, and yes, Saturday morning would be awesome. I want to be out of here by that afternoon.” Her breakup must be worse than she’s led me to believe if she’s so anxious to leave town. She loved her job and living in the city, and now she seems to be over it.
“I’ll call the guys and be there. Looks like we’re taking a road trip this weekend. I can’t wait to see you, it’s been way too long. I’ve missed my friend.” I hear a sniffle on the other end and feel bad for making her cry. “I’m sorry, I made you cry.” I feel tears welling up in my eyes now. I’ll be so happy to have her close, so I can run over whenever I need to and give her a hug.
“It’s not you. I just miss my friend too, and it’s been hard lately going through all this without you. I’ll be glad for a change of scenery and to be home.”
Mama Knows Best Page 11
