Here And Now (American Valor 2)

by Cheryl Etchison

  “How long have you been on break?”

  Lucky glanced at his watch and back up at her. “Five minutes at best. Why?”

  “I forgot my lunch in the truck.”

  Immediately he hopped up from his chair and held out his hand. “Give me your keys and I’ll run out and get it. You don’t need to be walking out there by yourself at this time of night.”

  It was exactly what she expected him to do.

  “Or you could just walk out there with me instead.”

  He shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly. “Whatever you want.”

  She walked at a clipped pace to stay ahead of him, mostly so he wouldn’t see her face. Otherwise, he’d see the smile she couldn’t contain, the blush in her cheeks, and instantly know what she was up to. He finished his sandwich along the way and was still brushing the crumbs from his hands when they reached her truck. She grabbed his arms and spun him around, pinning him against the side.

  “By my count, you’ve got seventeen minutes. Do your worst.”

  His eyes widened along with his smile. “Are you serious?”

  “Absolutely.”

  With brisk efficiency, he took the keys from her hand, unlocked the driver’s side door, and practically tossed her inside. She was sitting in the middle of the seat when he slammed the door shut and fired up the engine.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We can’t do this right outside the hospital doors, so I’m going to find us someplace a little more private.” He was all business as he threw the truck into reverse, stopping just long enough to shift back into drive before he took off through the parking lot. He looked over at her with a smile like that of a cat who’d eaten the canary. “You better have those pants off and any other prep work you might need completed by the time I get this beast parked.”

  A man on a mission, he raced down the service road and turned out the back entrance, driving less than a block before he reached the darkened parking lot of a small church. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he’d done this before. Or at the very least, the thought had crossed his mind, too.

  “Sacrilege,” she said with a laugh as she kicked off her tennis shoes and shimmied her pants and underwear down her hips as the truck wildly bounced over the parking lot’s ineffective speed bumps.

  Lucky drove around to the backside of the building and killed the lights, parking where they wouldn’t be seen from the street. “Hopefully there won’t be any patrols coming by in the next few minutes.”

  As he slid across the bench seat from beneath the confines of the steering wheel, Rachel grabbed up the plastic bag from the floorboard. In it were provisions she’d purchased earlier in the day while picking up her father’s prescription from the pharmacy. Provisions originally bought for use after work, not during. But they sure came in handy now. She was tearing open the box when he shoved down his pants and his erection sprang free, capturing her attention.

  “Someone’s ready to go,” she said.

  “Shortcake, I think you underestimate the male anatomy,” he said with a smile so wide it could be seen in the near dark. “When a woman says it’s go time, it’s go time. That and I’m usually on ready alert whenever you’re near these days anyway.”

  As she straddled his lap she heard herself laugh, a sound that was becoming quite familiar whenever she was around him. She’d never done anything like this in her life. Well, almost. Sure she’d had sex in a car, but she’d never snuck out from work to have a quickie on her lunch break. But being with him made her want to do all kinds of silly and crazy things.

  His hand moved between her thighs as she worked at the foil packet, his fingers stroking and teasing her tender flesh. A sigh escaped her lips as he slid two fingers to the hilt inside her. “And you thought I was ready to go.”

  After she rolled on the condom, she knocked his hand out of the way as she lowered herself over him. The position brought them nose to nose and she stared into those deep dark eyes. “Hi.”

  His smile reached his eyes, crinkling around the corners as he rubbed the tip of his nose against hers. “Hi, yourself.”

  She kissed him then, her tongue stroking his as he held her hips, helping to match their rhythms, having her ride him harder and faster. Their earlier urgency came rushing back. In the background a maudlin country song played on the radio, but it was lost among the combined sounds of groans and sighs, the creaking of the truck, their shared laughter between kisses and heavy breaths.

  Lucky worked a hand between their bodies, pressing his thumb against that small bundle of nerves, giving her just that extra bit of friction her body required. And within seconds, he sent her soaring, only to closely follow.

  She collapsed upon his chest as the aftershocks made their way through the both of them. Their chests alternately rising and falling as they each tried to catch their breaths.

  He lifted his arm up, bringing his watch to face level so he could read it in the dark. “Ten minutes to spare.”

  “I wouldn’t brag about that.”

  He retaliated by smacking her bare ass. “You told me to do my worst.”

  She sat up then, held his face in both of her hands. “If that’s your worst,” she said, her thumb stroking his lips, “then I’m a very lucky girl.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her tenderly, once, twice, before he urged her to get up. “Hate to cut this quickie short, but it’s time to get dressed.”

  As she redressed, he took care of the condom, and within minutes they were back in the same parking spot they’d vacated only moments before.

  Rachel leaned across and kissed him again, whispering a thank you against his lips.

  “Get on inside. I’ll be there in a minute.” As she opened the passenger door to climb out, he called out to her. “Don’t forget your lunch.”

  She felt her face heat as she turned back to look at him. “I didn’t forget it. It’s in the break room fridge.” Before he could say anything else, she quickly shut the door and ran inside.

  LUCKY COULD ONLY shake his head and laugh as he watched her run across the parking lot and disappear through the automatic doors. He rested his head against the seat and closed his eyes for a minute, giving his brain and heart a chance to settle. Otherwise, he’d follow her in there and say something that she was nowhere ready to hear. Like the fact he could no longer imagine a future without her in it.

  But for now he would play by her rules, focusing only on today and not worrying about the future.

  When he finally made his way inside a few minutes later, Dottie didn’t even try to hide the grin on her face. “Did you have a nice lunch?” she asked.

  “Can’t complain.”

  “By the way.” Dottie waved for Lucky to come closer and he leaned one arm atop the desk so she could keep her voice low. “Hamilton is looking for you. The minute he realized Rachel wasn’t in the break room, he went on high alert looking for the two of you.”

  Lucky shook his head. “I can’t believe this guy.”

  “Now, now,” she said, patting his arm. “I told him I thought you went upstairs to check on some labs and that Rachel said something about running down to the convenience store.”

  “You’re a peach. But that wasn’t necessary. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

  She chuckled softly at that. “Lord knows that. If anything, you’re doing it right.”

  But this was exactly what Rachel was concerned about, their relationship becoming hospital fodder.

  “Can you do me a favor and not mention anything about the two of us to anyone? Rachel’s worried about the potential backlash any gossip might cause.”

  “Darlin’, if there’s any gossip about the two of you, I can promise it won’t start with me,” she said with all seriousness before her smile returned. “But I hate to tell you, anyone with eyes will notice simply because y
ou two can’t keep your eyes off each other.”

  Damn. Twice in one week they’d outed themselves. Keeping their relationship a secret might be harder than Rachel thought.

  “Well, thanks anyway, Dottie. I owe you.”

  It didn’t matter to him if other people noticed they were a couple. It didn’t bother him that Hamilton was looking for the two of them. But it would likely bother Rachel, because she worried about things like that. And the last thing he wanted was for her to be upset.

  He stopped at the computer to check on the lab results he’d been waiting on only to find out the system was down for maintenance for the next fifteen minutes or so. Since nothing else was going on, he headed into the break room where he found Rachel eating the last of her salad. The moment she looked up from her plate and her eyes met his, a pretty blush colored her skin.

  “I brought your keys,” he said, dropping them on the table in front of her.

  She ducked her head, trying to hide her smile as she stabbed another bite onto her fork. “Thank you.”

  He grabbed one of the chairs and spun it around, straddling it so he could rest his arms across the chair back. “Dottie says Hamilton was looking for us.” He waited a moment to see if she’d respond, but she just continued on with her meal. “How do you want to handle him? Because I doubt he’s going to let this go.”

  “I’ve changed my mind,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ve got nothing to hide. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

  The way she was stabbing her lettuce with her fork, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was imagining Hamilton’s face as she did so. After all, he’d watched how Doctor Dick followed her around all evening long. And just like he anticipated, good ol’ Rich wasn’t giving up so easily.

  “I went out with him once. Once!” This time she stabbed a cherry tomato and it squirted a seed across the table. “And I’d tell you what he said to me earlier if I didn’t think you’d kill him with your bare hands.”

  The words had barely left her mouth when the break room door swung open and, not surprisingly, Hamilton stood in the doorway. If looks could kill, Lucky would have been dead ten times over within the minute, not that he was scared by a little prick like Doctor Dick.

  “I’ve been looking for you.”

  At first, Lucky wasn’t certain if he was speaking to him or to Rachel, until Hamilton trained his eyes on him specifically. “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”

  Lucky made no move to leave. “Just waiting on a few lab results. They said it’ll be another five, ten minutes or so. And it just so happens—” he made a showing of looking at his watch “—I have another five minutes for lunch. So until then . . . nope.”

  Hamilton took a few more steps into the break room, letting the door swing closed behind him. “I realize you lack a formal education, so let me spell it out for you. I want to talk to Rachel alone.”

  Immediately Lucky rose to his feet, not to leave but to drill his fist into the arrogant bastard’s face. But Rachel was just as quick, wrapping her soft hands around his arm.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she whispered to him.

  “I don’t know who you think you are,” Hamilton bellowed, “but she’s spoken for.”

  “By who? You?” Rachel yelled back.

  Lucky took one look at the fire in her eyes and smiled. Doctor Dick didn’t have a clue of what was about to hit him. When Rachel looked over at him, he made a sweeping gesture in front of him, letting her know she had the floor and that he literally had her back.

  This was, in his opinion, going to be one hell of a show.

  “I went out on one lousy date with you. And I do mean lousy,” she began. “It was pretty much a pity date at that. I felt sorry for you because you didn’t know anyone in this town.” She took several steps, bringing herself almost nose to nose with Hamilton. “Let me make this crystal clear for you since you find it impossible to take a hint. Not only do I not want to skip dinner and go straight for dessert, I don’t want to go out with you ever again. Don’t call me. Don’t text me. And if you do, I will report you to Human Resources for sexual harassment.”

  She waited a moment to see if he would respond, and when he didn’t, she gathered her things and tossed them in the trash. And then, much to his surprise, she drove one final nail into the casket when she raised up on her toes and kissed Lucky on the mouth. “I’ll see you after work,” she whispered, then pushed her way past Hamilton and out of the break room.

  “You might have her for now, but it won’t last,” Hamilton spat. “Trust me. I saw how she looked at me that night in the bar. How she liked taking a ride in my car. Chicks always say they’d choose love over money. But that’s bullshit. She’ll be back when she realizes you won’t amount to anything more than what you are right now.”

  Lucky shook his head in disbelief. This guy would never get it. “You see her as a piece of ass, when she’s so much more than that. And I can promise you, she knows exactly the kind of guy you are. To be honest, I was scared I’d lost her forever when she went out to dinner with you. But you had your chance and fucking blew it. So really, I guess I should thank you for being such an arrogant prick.”

  “Fuck you, James. I hope you like shit work because I can guarantee that as long as I’m here you’ll be seeing a lot of it.”

  “Do you really think I’m worried about that? I’ve been dealing with assholes like you my entire life. And one thing is for certain, just because you might rate higher on the flow chart than me at the moment, doesn’t mean you know jack shit. Because everyone knows a doctor really worth his salt wouldn’t be doing interim work in a Podunk town like this one.” Lucky pushed past Hamilton and pulled open the break room door. “After all, you know the joke, right? What do they call the guy who graduates last in medical school?”

  Hamilton’s face screwed up, taking on a beet red color.

  “Yeah. I figured you knew the answer to that one.” Lucky laughed as he walked out the door.

  AS THE SUN came up and the roller coaster ride of a night shift finally came to an end, Rachel made her way into the employee lounge to gather her jacket and purse from her locker. And there he was, not looking haggard in the way she surely had to look after the night they’d had. Instead, Lucky just stood there with a smile on his face as if none of the drama had even happened.

  “I’m starving,” he said, taking her jacket from her arms and holding it open so she could put it on. “I’ve spent the past two hours thinking about a big, fat, juicy steak and an ice cold beer. How does that sound?”

  Rachel pulled her ponytail free from her collar. “I’ll probably just have a bowl of cereal. I need to throw in some laundry and hit the hay. I’m exhausted.” When she turned to look at him he did nothing to hide the surprised look on his face. “What? I really need to do some laundry.”

  “But you’re always saying that.”

  “And you’re always dragging me off to do something else and telling me to do it later. It’s reached critical mass now. I’ve got no choice but to do laundry.”

  Lucky took her hand in his and laced his fingers through hers as he led her out of the break room. He looked over at her, his expression that of a silent question as if to make sure this public display of affection at their place of employment was okay. She smiled back at him, squeezed his hand, and immediately his expression brightened. As they made their way through the ER and out to the parking lot, the way some of their coworkers smiled at them and others whispered to each other reminded her of high school.

  “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have steak instead of cereal?”

  Only once they reached her truck did she drop his hand so she could dig her keys out from the bottom of the purse.

  “At the moment, I just want to go to bed.”

  “Alone?” Something about the way he said it made her look at him as he leaned again
st the side of her truck. “Talk to me, Rach. Is this about Hamilton? Are you worried about him?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “Hell, no. Screw that asshole.” He stood straighter now and crossed his arms over his chest. “And don’t you worry about him either. You’ve worked here how long? Nine years? He’s just a temporary guy. If push comes to shove, you tell HR your side of the story, that you went out with him once, but that was it. You aren’t obligated to go out with him again. And if he doesn’t respect your decision, then that’s his problem. Not yours.” He stepped closer, invading her personal space while he tucked his hands into his pockets. “But let’s not talk about him anymore.” He leaned even closer, lowering his voice and speaking directly into her ear. “So . . . about your bed.”

  His whispered words sent a shiver down her spine. “What about it?”

  “Is there room for two?” The look she gave him must have been less than nice since he made some space between them now, holding his hands up in the air like an innocent man. “I’m not suggesting any hanky panky or anything. Because, to tell the truth, there’s this crazy woman I work with who took advantage of me last night and now all I really want is to be cuddled.”

  “Crazy woman, huh?”

  He smiled and took hold of her wrists, wrapping them around his neck. “Or should I say I’m crazy for this woman?”

  “Lucky . . .”

  “Dammit. Sorry. Did I break a rule there? I’m having a hard time keeping them all straight.” He pulled her closer and kissed her temple. “If so, let me make it up to you. I’ll run to the store and grab a few things. In the meantime, you decide if you want your steak now or later. I can always make it before we go to work tonight. Okay?”