Romance Me: A Collection Of Standalone & First In Series Books

by Florella Grant

  “I’m sorry for your loss too,” he said. Bishop looked up and the tears in his eyes were unmistakable. They both nodded their heads and remained silent for a moment. Dean tried to keep his thumbs from circling each other. There were so many questions he had, but none of them surfaced. Finally, he asked, “Do you know why he did this?”

  Bishop lifted the envelope that sat on the desk. “It’s all in here. Take it home,” he handed it to Dean. His hands trembled as he reached for it. “Read it in private,” the lawyer added. “I’m sure Neil would have preferred to tell you himself, but as you know, death is never planned.”

  They finished their meeting. Bishop’s office would file the papers and they would settle the estate in a matter of weeks. Soon Dean could tell anyone he wanted, but the attorney suggested that he wait.

  Dean understood and vowed to keep his lips sealed. The only person he wanted to share his news with was Reagan, but she had enough on her plate. More than ever, he wanted to make her his, but Dean worried his newfound fortune would only cloud her judgement. I want her heart pure and won’t settle for less.

  REAGAN DIDN’T SEEM like herself during the next few weeks. She arrived at the hospital earlier and earlier every day, which made Dean believe she tried to beat him there. During their operations, she focused on her work and said nothing that didn’t relate to the task at hand. She avoided him at lunch time, and he became concerned.

  The phone calls started to pour in. Newspaper reporters wanted to know if the rumors were true about Oswald’s estate. Strangers called and claimed to be family members, though Dean knew they were just scams. He received a voicemail from one of Oswald’s nieces, telling him she’d like it if he came to meet the family. Dean remained in a dazed state for hours after hearing it. What do they want from me?

  He wondered if the attorney was wrong about them accepting the estate being his. He wanted to tell Reagan why he had to step away from her to answer his cell phone, or to silence an incoming call during the few times she talked to him. But he convinced himself, the less she knew the better. When the dust cleared, she could know the truth. Until then, he needed to guard her the best he could. Even if she was avoiding him.

  What if she already knows? They were close friends, Dean wondered if the newspaper reporters reached out to her. It would upset her if she heard it from them and not him and could be the reason she chose not to speak. No, you’re being paranoid. There’s no possible way she could know.

  Dean was assisting the Chief of Surgery. Landon Cromwell didn’t operate as often as he used to and only picked up major surgeries. He meant business when in the operating room.

  Landon had a no talking rule while inside his OR. Other doctors discussed their personal lives, told stories, humored each other, but not the Chief and that was fine with Dean. Reagan’s stare burned into him. He glanced her way, but she looked straight ahead at Landon. Dean would need a tool and she’d slam it into his hands.

  What is going on with you, Reagan Fowler?

  The clock on the wall ticked as the tension in the room built. Finally, the Chief stepped back and told Dean to close the patient. Dean looked over at Mercy, who’d been circulating and shrugged his shoulders. She shifted her eyes to Reagan and grinned. Mercy knew what was going on, but she wouldn’t say anything. Dean planned to pull the circulating nurse aside when they exited the operating room, but Reagan beat him to the punch.

  She grabbed Mercy’s arm and pulled her out the door. From the small window, Dean could see the girls arguing. Reagan threw her hands into the air as Mercy stormed away. A breath of relief hit him as he realized he wasn’t Reagan’s only friend in hot water.

  After drying his hands, Dean left the scrub room intending to catch up to Reagan. What kind of friend would he be if he didn’t ask her what bothered her?

  When he reached the nurse's station, Dean found a group of women cooing over a bouquet of red roses. They laughed and giggled but Mercy cleared her throat when Dean stepped closer to them.

  Reagan's face reddened as she read the card that came with the flowers. Her hands shook and her eyes began to water. Dean knew they were from Matt. Who else could make her cry the way he does? She looked up and saw the frown on his face then looked down at the vase.

  Reagan picked it up and some nurses leaned in to smell the roses. She tossed the arrangement in the garbage before storming away. The other nurses scrambled to the trash can and divided the flowers among themselves.

  Dean took off after Reagan. She leaned against a wall and wept. He knew she battled between letting her ex-boyfriend go or allowing him back, but he sensed more.

  “Hey,” Dean said as he approached her. “Something is up with you, what is it?”

  Reagan spun around and whipped the hair out of her face. “Oh, you mean you have time for me now?”

  What did that mean? “What?”

  “I wouldn’t want to keep you from all your important phone calls,” she snapped and marched toward the lounge. A nurse pressed herself against the wall until the hurricane passed.

  Dean rushed over to her and tugged on her arm. Reagan turned her head, her eyes glared into his. “This is about phone calls?”

  “No,” she said and sealed her lips tight. “Who am I to complain? I gave my blessing and now I’m living with it. Leave me alone,” she ordered and began walking away again.

  “What do you mean?”

  Dean caught up to Reagan as they stood just outside the on-call room. Reagan didn’t face him, but he could see her shoulders slump. A deep sigh expelled from within her. “She asked if she could call you. I said yes, but I didn’t think it would bother me this much.”

  Dean’s throat constricted as he spun her around. Tears puddled in her eyes and she tried her best not to look at him. “Are you talking about Zoey?” It was the only thing that made sense to him. “Reagan, are you jealous?”

  Chapter 14

  DID HE JUST ACCUSE me of being jealous? Reagan accused herself of the same thing, but it was different hearing it from Dean. Her hand flew up to her forehead, it burned. She wanted to hate him for being with another, but somehow, she let her feelings show instead. He pressed for an answer. Her heart rate skyrocketed and breathing came to a halt.

  She didn’t have a chance to answer him. Dean pulled her into the on-call room and locked the door behind them. Reagan reached for the door handle; she couldn’t talk to him. His hand reached over her shoulder and his strength refused to let the door open. Reagan paused, prayed for an escape until his next words caught her off guard.

  “How could you think I let some other woman call me?”

  “Why not?” she asked instead of answering him. “You’re on your phone all the time since she asked me if she could hit on you.” Oh God, now he will want to know why she would need my permission. She needed to get out of the room and far away from him before she said something she wasn’t prepared to say.

  Dean grabbed her waist and turned her body toward his. “It never occurred to you I could have calls from other people? Business calls maybe?” His eyes locked in with Reagan’s and she could feel the perspiration beneath her scrubs. “You don’t know that you’re the only woman I care to talk to? The only woman I think about?”

  Reagan shook her head and lowered it.

  Their heartbeats echoed in her ears. Dean inched closer until she could feel the pounding in his chest. Reagan tried to look away but couldn’t. Her mouth opened, and she gasped for air. “Damn it, Reagan,” he breathed into her ear. “You’re all I’ve thought about since moving to Bay City. But I’m too much of a gentleman to pursue a woman who can’t decide if she wants her ex back or not.”

  Her heart fluttered, and she thought she’d fall over. I don’t want him back. Damn it, why don't I speak?

  Suddenly everything made sense; the kiss and the way he would drop everything to run and keep her company. She needed to tell him the truth, but words would be meaningless.

  Reagan turned her face until thei
r eyes locked again. His hands still braced the wall behind her, pinning her in place. She held the back of his head and pulled it in toward her. Reagan closed her eyes and brushed her lips against his. The smell of his Sauvage drifted to her nose; she inhaled the masculine scent. Pressing a little harder, Reagan’s lips melted with his.

  Her hand wrapped around his neck, and they fell back onto the wall. Dean opened her mouth with his and explored its depths. His hand fell to her waist. Reagan couldn’t breathe, didn’t want to breathe. Her hands untucked his shirt and slid up to feel his heated skin.

  Dean groaned and trailed kisses from her mouth to her earlobes then down to her neck. The room grew hotter by the minute. Sweat poured from both of their brows. Reagan didn’t know how much she wanted him until she had a taste of Dean Everly. Now she wanted more, much more.

  His hands pulled her top off, and she mimicked his every move. They stood face to face, lips locked together, with nothing on besides their underwear. His hardness press into Reagan as she looked into Dean’s eyes. They sparkled and her nervous stomach relaxed.

  Dean took her hand and led her to a cot. I can’t believe I’m about to become a hospital statistic by having sex in this room! This is where doctors come to get hot and heavy. It’s not just fiction.

  Dean laid Reagan down and covered her body with his own. Her hands ran up and down his torso and along his arms, the muscles flexing with her touch. Reagan arched her back as Dean undid her bra and threw it onto the floor. His mouth covered a nipple less than a second later and his hand caressed the other. Reagan moaned, haven’t felt a man’s touch for far longer than she cared to admit. Even during the final days of her relationship with Matt, they didn’t have time to be intimate. Reagan erased the thoughts from her mind. She wasn’t with Matt anymore and Dean was a strong reminder.

  His hand slid down into the side of her panties. Dean’s touch sizzled, and he flicked her swollen bud. He removed the panties then began to pleasure her again. His finger slid inside of Reagan and she cried out in anticipation. Her breasts heaved as Dean dipped in and out of her folds. His thumb circled her sweet spot until she couldn’t take anymore.

  Her body weakened from the climax. Dean ripped his boxers off as she watched. She bit her lip, remembering how it felt when she first felt his hardness in The Waiting Room. Seconds later, the weight of his body pressed against her. Dean used his knees to separate her thighs, and Reagan held his shoulders tight. She shifted her body and guided him in.

  They made love for what seemed like hours. Their mouths opened and tongues found each other. Both their pulses raced like they’d been running a marathon. He filled her with his girth and Reagan welcomed him. Dean dove deep inside of her and she begged for more. Their eyes locked as she tightened up around his thickness. He brought her to ecstasy just mere seconds before his release.

  They laid there, too tired to speak, catching their breath. When their heads turned toward each other, they burst out laughing. Reagan became the latest on-call room girl but didn’t care, Dean was worth it.

  Dean reached for the pillow and pulled the cover off. He used it to wipe their bodies while Reagan stared at him. A smile spread across her face as he leaned down and licked her lips. Was it the start of a new relationship, she wondered? Reagan shield her naked body with a sheet and sat up. She caressed his arm and poured kisses on his chest, but words still failed her. He needs to know how I feel about him.

  As they stood to dress, Reagan’s phone buzzed. Dean watched the blood drain from her face as she read the incoming text. It was from Kennedy. “Where are you? They just brought Matt in the ER. He’s been in a horrible accident. Urgent.”

  They threw their clothes and Reagan ran out into the hallway. Dean wasn’t far behind. “Slow down,” he called out to deaf ears.

  Guilt ate away at her heart. She loved Matt for years but then gave up on him without giving him time to change his errors. He tried to win her back, but she’d already fell for another, pushed him away so she could jump in the cute doctor’s arms when the time came.

  Reagan pushed her legs when they tired. The corridors never ended, she thought she’d collapse before she made it to the ER. Dean wasn’t far behind her; she heard his footsteps gaining on her. She wondered how she could look him in the eyes. Matt was in an accident as Reagan got screwed by the new pediatric cardiac surgeon. Her heart broke, this changed everything.

  Chapter 15

  REAGAN SAW MATT AS soon as she entered the emergency room. They him on a stretcher, doctors and nurses surrounded his bloody body. A neck brace kept his head from moving but she saw his hands trying to reach up to his face. A team of nurses held him down.

  Let me do that! He’d listen to her, she knew it. Reagan leaped toward her injured ex-boyfriend, but Mercy stopped her. “No,” she pulled Reagan’s arm. “Come on,” she said.

  Mercy pushed Reagan’s body away from the stretcher when she wouldn’t go. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kennedy flashing a light in Matt’s eyes. Kennedy ran the emergency room; he must have identified Matt. Reagan’s body broke down and head fell on Mercy’s shoulder. “What happened,” she cried.

  Mercy held her tight as Reagan kept her focus on the team of doctors hovering around Matt. “Car accident,” she said. “He just arrived a few minutes ago. Let them examine him.”

  A hand touched the back of Reagan’s head. She turned and through her blurred vision saw Dean. He rushed toward Matt and the rest of the doctors. Her hand covered her mouth as Reagan stood motionless.

  She trembled as she tried to listen to every word being said between the doctors. Pressure dropping, victim going into shock, and the victim appears to have chest pain echoed in her ears. It seemed like hours, though only a few minutes passed as they examined Matt.

  “Sounds like a ruptured thoracic aorta,” someone called out.

  Reagan squeezed Mercy’s hand. “It can’t be,” she mumbled. “He’s still alive, doesn’t that kill?” Hearing her say it caused Reagan to bawl. He couldn’t die, she thought, she treated him like shit when she found out what he’d done. She needed him to know she forgave him.

  A rush of other doctors stormed in the tiny space they occupied. “He needs surgery, now,” Landon Cromwell called out. Reagan stood, her legs wobbled, but she needed to be in the OR.

  “I’ll do it,” Dean informed the team. “I’m the only cardio surgeon here,” he continued.

  Reagan watched him take over and order the team to prepare Matt for emergency surgery. She ran to prepare. Mercy begged her to sit still. “I’m Doctor Everly’s scrub nurse. It’s my job.” As she made her way across the room, a pair of hands pressed into her chest and stopped Reagan in her tracks.

  “You’re sitting this one out,” Faith said. Reagan objected, but the Nurse Manager held firm on her decision.

  “No, let me in,” Reagan shouted. She didn’t know how she’d perform under the most stressful operation of her life, but she had to be there.

  Dean approached the group and whispered something in Landon’s ear. Landon gave Reagan a sympathetic look but shook his head. “I’m sorry, Reagan. Stay out here or watch from the observation deck, but you’re out.”

  “Mercy, scrub in.” Faith hollered.

  Mercy raced passed her and headed into the scrub room. Reagan’s eyes burned into Dean as she pushed Faith’s hands away from her. She bolted passed the Chief of Surgery then ran toward the deck. I’m not missing a second of this surgery.

  DEAN KEPT HIS CALM as he performed Matt’s life-saving operation. He sensed Reagan staring down on him from the observation deck and wished they didn’t allow her to watch. She’d seen things like this before, but not to someone she loved. No one spoke in the OR while they worked as a team and saved the man’s life.

  Matt was lucky, or he had a good reason to fight. Most victims of automobile accidents died at the scene with a traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta, less than fifteen percent lived to tell about it. Matt appeared to be in that p
ercentage. Though he wasn’t out of the woods yet, they made the right call and Dean repaired the tear. It took hours, and they worked late into the night.

  Dean thought about what could have happened if him and Reagan left after their last surgery. If they went home, he wouldn’t be there to perform the surgery. Not that another doctor couldn’t do it, but the attending cardiac surgeon was away and by the time they found someone else, or contacted him, Matt would have died from his injuries.

  Reagan leaned into the window above, tears streamed down her cheeks. Dark circles developed around her eyes, eyes that sparkled during their time in the on-call room.

  Forgive me, Reagan, I knew you couldn’t handle this.

  Kennedy sat beside his sister and her head fell on his shoulders. Dean tore his eyes away and focused on Matt.

  When he finished closing Matt’s chest cavity, he looked up to the observation deck and noticed Reagan’s absence. Mercy and Dean remained with Matt until they wheeled him out to recovery. They cleaned the operation room together. Dean knew he didn’t need to, but he couldn’t face Reagan just yet. Matt survived by some miracle.

  A group of doctors and nurses clapped and cheered as they entered the scrub room. The others left and revealed Reagan standing by the door. Her body shook, tears still rolled down her nose. “It will be a slow recovery,” Dean said, “but he’s going to make it.”

  Reagan said nothing, only pierced her lips and studied Dean and Mercy. Mercy stepped forward and took her hand, but Reagan pulled away and ran toward the recovery room.

  Dean washed his hands and arms and avoided looking at Mercy. “She’ll be okay,” Mercy said. “Being in the OR is all she knows, not being allowed in this one must have torn her to pieces.” She smiled the best she could and patted Dean on the shoulder. “Give her some time.”

  After Mercy left and Dean dried himself off, he headed upstairs to Oswald’s photo. His heart ached for different reasons than Reagan’s, but it hurt just the same. He would have been proud of me. He stepped up to the plate, with supervision from his superiors, and saved a man’s life. It didn’t matter that the man held the heart of the woman he loved; a life was a life. As Dean leaned back and stared up at Doctor Neil Oswald, a sense of pride seeped through his veins. He was more like Oswald than he thought.