“We’ll put some antibacterial ointment on the wound now, but you’ll need to apply more twice a day, and change the bandage daily. Do you have someone who can help you?”
“How about dinner?” he asked.
Abby laughed, impressed with his tenacity. “You’re going to be asleep in about a half hour. The blood you lost is going to take your body a while to regenerate. Your body is working overtime.” She pulled her prescription pad out of her pocket and started writing. “I’m giving you a prescription for pain pills and antibiotic ointment. And absolutely no physical exercise for at least five days.” She looked at him pointedly. “No exercise of any kind.”
He laughed and her body perked up at the sound. Was it just her imagination, or was his laugh almost sensual?
Tearing the page off the pad, she handed it to him. “Cathy is going to put a bandage on your back.”
“What about dinner?” he called out just before she stepped out of the curtained off area.
Abby snorted, but paused with one hand still gripping the curtain. For a moment, she looked a bit exasperated, but one look back at the man changed her mind. “I’ll tell you what, if you’re still awake tomorrow evening, I’ll have dinner with you.” She smiled, shaking her head. “Let your body heal, Colonel.” With that, she moved on to her next patient.
Zeke watched her leave, impressed and aroused. He was glad she hadn’t noticed because his body’s reaction to her challenge might have scared her away.
Then the bustling nurse returned, carrying a pair of scrubs and several bandages. “I brought these for you. Your tee-shirt was trashed and I’m guessing you don’t want to walk out of here in those pants.”
He blinked down at the cute nurse who was probably in her forties, but with a look in her eyes that warned him that she wasn’t going to take his crap. He almost laughed at her business-like tone, which didn’t match the teasing glint in her eyes.
“Why’s that?”
She snorted, laying the scrubs on the bed behind him. “You seriously have no idea how much blood you lost today, do you?”
Zeke shrugged, then hissed as a streak of pain shot through his back and shoulders. “I’m fine.”
The nurse rolled her eyes. “Right. Well, we’ve already heard about your heroics today. Apparently, you saved the lives of several soldiers when you tackled the guy using live rounds. So, we’re all impressed with you. But seriously, the ‘scratch’ on your back is a big one. Take it easy for a while, Colonel.” She moved behind him. “I’m going to bandage this up so your clothes don’t rub against it. You should keep a bandage on this for two more days. After that, you should be healed enough to go without, but keep applying the ointment for the next ten days to prevent infection.”
By the time she finished with her instructions, she was also finished bandaging up his back. “You’re all set,” she announced. Then moved to stand in front of him, hands fisted on her hips. “Don’t give up on her,” the nurse murmured. “She’s been here for six months and hasn’t dated anyone!”
Then she was gone.
Zeke looked out at the bustling emergency room, absorbing that tidbit of information. No one in six months? That meant she hadn’t had sex in six months either. Damn, that must be hard! Zeke liked sex. A lot!
Carefully, he tugged the scrubs top over his head, trying not to pull on the stitches. It was difficult, but if he moved slowly, it wasn’t too bad. As soon as he got back to his apartment, he’d cut the damn shirt off and find a shirt that buttoned in front. Zeke didn’t like to admit it, but maybe the bullet had done more damage than just a scratch. Thankfully, it was over and he could leave the hospital.
But even as he went, he scanned the area, searching for and eventually finding the pretty Doctor Fisher. She must have felt his gaze because she was writing something on a chart, but stopped and looked up, right at him.
He nodded and she blinked. The connection made, Zeke walked out, ignoring the idiot PFC who hurried to his side. Yeah, he was going to have “words” with Mike for assigning some idiot PFC to watch over him. Like he needed a babysitter! Although, if Zeke were honest with himself, if Mike hadn’t ordered Jones to accompany Zeke to the hospital, he probably wouldn’t have gone. So…okay, good for Mike. If Zeke hadn’t gone to the hospital, he might not have met the lovely Doctor Fisher. And now that he had, Zeke had a mission.
Not to anyone would Zeke admit that he’d been a bit bored lately. Yeah, he’d gone on several missions to places that a normal person wouldn’t have survived the first five minutes. Just last week, he and his team had been waist deep in a crocodile filled swamp. Thankfully, the crocs had stayed away long enough for his team to get through the muck, finish the mission, and get out again.
So the prospect of convincing the pretty doctor to have dinner with him seemed like an excellent way to keep busy.
Chapter 2
“You get shot at and then get a date out of it?” Mike demanded.
Zeke had just entered Mike’s office but stopped short at the abrupt question. Looking behind him, he spotted PFC Jones who had accompanied him to the emergency room. The guy had the audacity to grin.
“He’s going to be in hell this afternoon!” Zeke muttered, stepping deeper into the office and slamming the door behind him.
Mike threw back his head, laughing at his friend. Normally, Zeke didn’t mind being the butt of a joke. Members of the team took the teasing as just part of the job. But his back hurt like a mother…! And it itched. From experience, Zeke knew that he couldn’t do anything about the itching because it would pull at the stitches. So last night, he’d struggled to sleep, torn between bouts of intense itching and, when he finally fell asleep, intense lust as he dreamed about the pretty doctor with the long, dark curls and big, green eyes. He hadn’t gotten a good look at her figure because of the scrubs and doctor’s requisite lab coat, but knew that she wasn’t too thin. The good doctor had lots of enticing curves on her figure.
While Mike laughed, Derick and Joe meandered into the office, wanting to find out what had their boss so amused.
“What’s going on?” Derick asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Derick was shorter than Zeke, but not by much. He was six feet, three inches tall. Joe was about the same height as Mike at six, two, but both were just as buff as Zeke. All four were neck to neck in the muscle department, thinking that it was their duty to be stronger and more adept than the men they led. Which meant that their teams worked harder to be just as strong, which pushed the officers even harder.
Mike muffled his laughter long enough to explain. “Zeke…he gets shot by a gravity defying bullet then refuses to let the doctor work on his back until she agrees to go out to dinner with him.”
Joe chuckled, and Derick filled in the rest. “From what I hear, he was shot down by the fair doctor. No deal. No dinner with the gorgeous woman.”
Just to annoy Zeke, Joe spoke up with, “Maybe she’d like someone who isn’t built like the Hulk.” He grinned when Zeke glared. “Perhaps Joe and I should try our luck. If she’s as pretty as Jones says…”
Zeke moved in, cringing only slightly when his tensed-up muscles pulled at the stitches. “Stay away from her!” he warned with a low, threatening growl.
Joe and Derick’s mouths fell open, then they burst out laughing. Mike was the only one able to speak and said, “So, that’s the way it is? Another of the mighty has fallen?”
Zeke shrugged his shoulders slightly, trying to alleviate the tense muscles. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he grumbled and moved back to the opposite wall. “But the doc is mine.”
“Ah!” Mike replied, leaning back in his desk chair, hands laced over his flat stomach. “So that’s the way it is.”
Zeke paced slightly, but there wasn’t much room in the small office, especially with four, huge men in it. “I have no idea what you mean by that, but…” he paused, shaking his head. “She interests me. That’s it.”
Joe chuckled. “It’s been
a while since any woman has interested you. So who is she?”
Zeke stared at his friend. “What the hell does that mean?”
Derick explained. “You haven’t shown interest in a woman in far too long, Zeke. We were starting to worry about you.”
Zeke thought back to their nights out over the past few weeks. But not a single woman came to mind. He thought back longer. And then a few more months. He’d just been thinking that going six months without sex would be misery. But now that he thought about it, Zeke couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d last had sex!
“Well, hell!” he muttered, but for some reason, the idea that he’d just gone a long time without a woman made him feel better. It put his obsession with the pretty doctor into perspective. At least he wasn’t losing his mind, he thought. So last night’s interrupted sleep and his lustful thoughts, his almost immediate attraction to the lovely woman, was only because he hadn’t had sex in way too long. That made much more sense!
“I think it’s more than just his lack of recent interest,” Mike muttered. “But we have more important issues to deal with.” And with that, all four men leaned forward, ready to listen to the latest world issue that needed their intervention skills.
“So?” Cathy whispered when Abby stepped up to the nurses’ area of the emergency room. “Did you see him last night?”
Abby felt her cheeks heat up, but she kept her head down, writing in her patient’s chart. “See who?” she asked, even though she knew exactly who Cathy was referring to. Lieutenant Colonel Zeke Jeffers, hero at large and wannabe Hulk.
Cathy snorted. “Oh please! I was ducking out of the way from all those sparks flying between you two yesterday!”
Another doctor walked up to the counter. “What’s going on?” he asked, handing Cathy the patient’s chart.
“The patient in exam three needs to head down to X-ray,” Abby explained, finishing her notes before handing the chart to Cathy as well. “I think his leg is broken.”
Abby walked away, but not before giving her friend and co-worker a meaningful look to not gossip.
But as soon as Abby was out of earshot, the other doctor, Tommy Calips, leaned forward conspiratorially. “Did she go out to dinner with him?”
Cathy shrugged. “No idea,” she whispered back. Cathy thought it was cute that Abby thought she could keep her soon-to-be relationship with the handsome and oh-so-buff officer a secret here in the ER. This place was like a gossip petri dish! Everyone knew everyone’s business. Thankfully, no one was malicious about their whispering comments, but everyone knew each other’s business. And everyone had heard about Abby’s interest yesterday. Not just that, but everyone had also heard about the guy’s heroics as well. The officer had a bullet graze across his back and had still sprinted across the training fields to tackle the enlisted man before he shot another round. Which had probably accounted for the extraordinary amount of blood loss.
The doctor watched Abby step into the next patient’s curtained-off area, greeting the person with an encouraging smile. “She definitely needs someone,” he said, then sighed as he turned to greet his next patient, taking his cue from Abby and smiling in greeting.
Chapter 3
“What are you doing?!” she muttered to herself.
Standing in front of the apartment door, she lifted her hand to knock, then dropped her hand and scurried back toward her car.
She’d made it all the way to the stairs when she stopped and closed her eyes. “This is ridiculous!” she snapped.
Turning back towards the door, she froze. The man in question, Zeke Jeffers, was standing in his doorway, watching her curiously.
Was he laughing at her?
Damn it! She hated making a fool of herself. Abby looked down at the keys in her hands then, with a resigned sigh, walked back to stand in front of the enormous man. She still paused for a long moment, then looked up at him.
“I came by to help you with your stitches,” she announced with an almost belligerent tone.
His slow grin was devastatingly sexy. “I’d love the help. I haven’t changed the bandage and it’s driving me nuts!”
Abby looked at him with horror, struggling for words for a long moment. “But it’s been three days!” she gasped, stepping forward and glaring up at the man. “I told you to change the bandage every day and to apply the ointment!”
He grinned down at her, completely unaffected by her dire tone. “Easier to do when I have help.” And with that, he stepped back to let her into his apartment.
Abby huffed, hiding behind irritation at his lack of concern. But it was all a façade. She really just…darn it, she’d wanted to see him again and prove to herself that he wasn’t as big or as handsome as she’d remembered! And that she wasn’t as affected by the man’s presence either!
Unfortunately, neither was the case. As soon as she stepped into his apartment, she knew that her visit was a mistake. Instantly, she felt overwhelmed by the man. He was just so big! And tall! And so…overwhelming! And clean! How could she smell the soap on him from this distance?
It was all just her imagination, she told herself.
Deciding that she was procrastinating, she nodded sharply, needing to get down to business. “Right. Well, why don’t you pull your shirt down and I’ll…check out your wound. I can apply the ointment that you should have been applying for the past several days, then I’ll change the bandage.”
Did the big brute just pull down the collar of his shirt as she’d expected? Nope! Not just a simple tug? Oh no! He had to take his shirt off entirely!
For a long moment, Abby stood there, stunned by the muscles rippling along his chest. His arms. Good grief, she hadn’t known that biceps could get that large! She didn’t think her hands could even circle those massive biceps!
“Doc?” he prompted. “As much as I love having you admire me, I’d love to have your hands on me too.”
That brought Abby’s eyes up to his with a sharply indrawn breath. Staring into his gorgeous blue eyes, she…stopped thinking. “I wasn’t…” she stammered, shocked at how her fingers tingled at the thought of touching him! “I’m only here to check your back and…” she tried to remember the other part of her mission. Looking up into those enigmatic blue eyes, it took her several moments to remember the reason she was here. “And….” Another blink and she shook her head slightly. “And change your bandage,” she finished, relieved that a few of her brain cells had kicked in and saved her.
Apparently, they hadn’t kicked in fast enough if the heated look in his eyes was any indication. But the man simply walked over to one of the big club chairs and sat down on the arm, presenting his back to her. “Check away, doc.”
Abby looked down at the bandage. There were only a few places where the blood had seeped out from the stitches, which was good. It meant that the majority of the stitches were holding and the big brute hadn’t done any heavy lifting, which would strain the skin around the wound.
Still, she hesitated to touch him, remembering her reaction at the hospital several days ago.
“You won’t hurt me,” he told her, his voice deeper and huskier than it had been moments ago.
“I wasn’t worried about hurting you,” she admitted honestly.
His response was to stand up and look at her. “What are you nervous about?”
Abby tilted her head back, staring up into his surprisingly blue eyes. “I’m not…” she couldn’t finish the lie. He was just so big and so…male!
He cupped her jaw and she felt the warmth of his skin, the rough calluses. Everything about him was just so powerfully masculine, sparking her nerve endings and making her skin simmer with a heat she’d never experienced before.
“What are you doing?” she asked nervously, wishing that her voice was louder than a whisper. And that she had the strength to pull away. But good grief, she liked the way his hand felt on her skin! She liked how strong he felt when he stood so close. Abby had never been someone who lik
ed to be protected, but she’d never be afraid of walking down a dark alley with someone like Zeke!
“I’m going to kiss you,” he announced.
The jolt sent her heart into panic mode. “You can’t!” she told him, and yet, she didn’t pull back. “I’m your doctor.”
Slowly, he shook his head, those blue eyes staring into hers, conveying a message that she both loved and…knew was very wrong. “You’re a woman who came to my apartment, Abigail.”
“Abby,” she corrected. “No one calls me Abigail unless I’m in trouble.”
He smiled slightly, and bent lower, brushing his lips over hers tantalizingly. “Shut up, Abby.”
Abby almost laughed, but the way he kissed her felt…wonderful! Scary, but amazing.
Yeah, she was in big trouble!
“I really need to look at your back,” she murmured when he lifted his head slightly.
“In a minute,” he countered, lifting her chin with a fingertip and covered her lips with his, deepening the kiss.
Abby gasped when she felt his tongue against her lips, but she couldn’t have stopped herself from responding even if she’d wanted to. He was just that potent!
Moving closer, her hands slid slowly up his chest. That’s when she felt his arm wrap around her waist, pressing her against him and her mind blanked as instinct took over. She was mesmerized by his kiss, feeling her body tingling all over in anticipation of…!
The hissing pulled her out of the lust induced haze and Abby pulled back, blinking up at him with surprise. Then she realized what happened and gasped, stepping out of his arms. “I’m so sorry!” she whispered, her fingers moving to her lips that were still tingling.
He laughed softly and pulled her in again. “Not your fault, Abby,” he assured her. “It was my fault. I’m the one that tried to pick you up.”
She blinked, her hands resting on his shoulders as she tried to make sense of his words. “Why did you try to pick me up?”
Zeke Page 2
