In the Doctor's Bed

by Brenda Jackson

  A few minutes later, Lucien pulled into a parking spot in front of a quaint-looking café of red brick with shutters at every window. Day was breaking and the sun was just coming up over the horizon. Although her budget dictated that she live outside the nation’s capital, she enjoyed whenever she crossed the bridge over to D.C. And this neighborhood was the one she enjoyed the most. Georgetown, one of the oldest sections of town. She loved the tree-lined streets of old row homes drenched deep in D.C.’s history. She loved the numerous upscale boutiques, restaurants and cafés that lined the narrow cobblestoned streets. What she liked most of all was being surrounded by the beautiful flower gardens, where the cherry blossoms and gladioli were in full bloom.

  Moments later they were walking through the door of a café that had only a couple of patrons sitting at the counter sipping coffee and tea. Lucien led her over to a booth in the back, and a waiter, an older man with a beard who greeted Lucien by name, quickly gave them menus.

  “Nice place,” Jaclyn said, deciding that in addition to a cup of coffee she’d like to try an omelet on the menu called the George Washington. It had all the ingredients she liked. Lucien told her she would not be disappointed.

  Within minutes a waitress appeared to take their order. He ordered the George Washington, with coffee as well. After the waitress left, Jaclyn glanced at Lucien and smiled. “I take it you come here a lot.”

  He chuckled. “Practically every day. I live in the area.”

  “You live in Georgetown?”

  “Yes. My sister lived with an older couple while attending Howard. When the couple decided to retire to Florida they gave Lori the option of buying their home before anyone else. They even financed it for her. When she got a job offer to move to L.A. she talked me into relocating here from Atlanta. At first I thought she was crazy to even suggest a thing. Why would I want to leave Hot-Lanta for docile D.C.? But I came and stayed a week and fell in love with the area. Then I knew I had to live here. And I fell in love with the house. I thought it was just what I needed, real nice although at times I think it’s way too big for a bachelor. I ended up convincing her to sell it to me.”

  She bet his house was nice. Too bad she probably would never get to see it. “I need to apologize to you, Lucien,” she said, deciding not to put off saying what she needed to say any longer. Besides, that was the reason he’d brought her here. “I’m usually more together than that. I didn’t mean to start crying earlier today.”

  “It’s okay. You were frustrated and needed to let it out. It can happen to the best of us.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “But nothing, Jaclyn,” he said softly. “I can understand your frustration. I don’t know what the Matthewses are trying to prove by filing that lawsuit. The hospital will suffer unnecessarily when what they should be doing is getting their son the help he needs. Denying that Terrence has a problem isn’t helping the situation or him.”

  “But what if their attorneys demand to know who told you about Terrence?”

  “Like I told you, they can’t force us to give them the information. And as far as the staff trying to figure out who told, sounds to me they have too much time on their hands. But realistically, there’s no way to stop them from talking. Your secret is safe.”

  She certainly hoped so. They refrained from talking when the waitress returned with their food and set the plates in front of them. She hadn’t known the omelet was so huge and told Lucien so.

  He lifted an amused brow. “Didn’t you know that George was an important man in this town? Anything representing him can only be big.”

  “Then explain the dollar bill, Lucien.”

  With a very serious expression he said, “It was a lost bet. I understand that George and good ole Ben Franklin tossed coins to see who would get top dibs and George lost.”

  Jaclyn couldn’t help but laugh. It felt good to laugh and it felt good, for whatever the reason, to be sharing breakfast with the man she had fallen in love with. If anyone saw them it would appear as if they were on a breakfast date. But she knew they were not on a date. They were just colleagues sharing coffee and a meal.

  “So, do you get to go home often?” she asked him, trying not to notice how his mouth moved while he chewed his food. There was something downright sexy about it. He waited until after he swallowed his food to respond.

  “Not as much as I would like, and my grandmother and sister remind me of that every time we talk. Because of my work at the hospital, I haven’t been home in two years. I plan to go to Kingston for the holidays, though.”

  “I bet that will be nice.”

  Lucien nodded slowly as he sipped his coffee. “Yes, it will be and it will get my sister off my back for a while.”

  “The two of you are close?”

  “Yes, very. My grandmother raised me and my sister, as well as two of our cousins. We’re all close. My sister Lori is a practicing attorney in L.A. My cousin Martie is a surgeon in Seattle and my other cousin Danielle is an accountant in New York.”

  “All of you are spread out,” she noted.

  His mouth curved in a smile. “Yes, but we enjoy traveling to visit each other when we can get together. The four of us became naturalized citizens our second year in college, but we still consider Jamaica home.”

  “I bet it’s beautiful.”

  “It is.”

  He’d said it in a voice filled with love for the place where he was born. He might be a citizen of the United States now, but she could tell Jamaica was a part of his heart.

  The waitress materialized to clear away their plates and to see if they wanted more coffee, and because Jaclyn was enjoying their conversations and he hadn’t shown an inclination to leave just yet, they had refills.

  “You worked up an appetite during the past eighteen hours, so if you’re still hungry we can order you another George Washington,” he said over the rim of his cup as he took another sip of coffee.

  “You got to be kidding. If I eat another omelet you’ll have to roll me out of here,” she said chuckling. “I should not have eaten all of that. Now instead of going home and going straight to bed I’m going to have to find some physical activities to get into.”

  “And what kind of physical activities do you think you might be interested in, Jaclyn?” he asked silkily.

  The words flowed across her skin like a physical caress and her nipples suddenly felt tight and erect. She didn’t have to glance down at her chest to know they were probably poking through her blouse, a telltale sign that she’d gotten aroused by his question.

  He proved that point when his gaze slowly moved from her face to shift downward. She quickly picked up her coffee cup to hold it in front of her, trying to act natural, but from the look in his eyes, she knew she’d failed. She couldn’t help but shiver under the intensity of his gaze.

  His eyes then returned to hers. “There is something else I think we need to discuss, Jaclyn,” he said in a voice so low and sexy that it seemed to rumble out each and every syllable.

  “And what is that?” she asked thinking the coffee was only making her feel hotter. She needed something cold like lemonade or iced tea to cool her off.

  He continued to hold her gaze and she felt her pulse rate increase when he said, “The kiss that almost happened in my office yesterday.”

  Her mouth instantly dried and she struggled to swallow. She’d hoped he had forgotten about that. But there was no reason for her to deny it when she’d known the moment had been real. Had the 911 alert not gone off, they would have shared a kiss and they both knew it. If he could own up to it, then so could she.

  “I need to apologize for that, too,” she said softly.

  “Why?”

  His question surprised her. “Because I’m the one who called the meeting and I’m the one who let it get out of hand. The only reason you were comforting me was because I broke down in tears.”

  Lucien had been listening to her with his cup halfway to his lips. “Yes and no.”
He set down his cup.

  She raised a brow. “Yes and no? What do you mean?”

  “It’s true you called the meeting, but I’m the one who made the move to hold you in my arms.”

  “Because I was crying,” she said.

  His gaze darkened with a heat she felt in every bone in her body. “Because I wanted to hold you,” he corrected.

  Her nipples acted up again and felt achy as they rubbed against both her bra and blouse. And even worse, when his gaze shifted to her mouth, she felt tingling sensations in her lips. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? Was he admitting that he’d held her not because she was crying but because he’d wanted to?

  She must have had a confused look on her face because he then said, “I just wanted to clear that up.”

  She shook her head. If he honestly thought he’d cleared anything up, he was sadly mistaken. He’d only opened up a can of worms. Maybe this wasn’t the time or the place to ask, but he had brought it up. “Lucien, why would you want to hold me?” she asked in a whispered voice. The café was a lot more crowded now than when they’d first arrived, filling up with students and workers who needed a cup of coffee and breakfast to kick-start their day.

  He glanced around and noticed the crowd. When he looked back at her a smile played around his lips. That same smile played her insides like a string guitar. And his dark eyes had latched on to hers, almost making breathing difficult. “Let’s go and finish this discussion someplace else,” he suggested.

  She nodded. Would he invite her to his home? He did say he lived in the area. But no, that wouldn’t be right. Being alone in his office was one thing, but she had no reason to visit his home. “Someplace like where?” she heard herself asking.

  “I know it’s still early, but there’s a nice park nearby. The Georgetown Waterfront Park. I go there a lot when I need some me time.”

  Jaclyn thought it was good to know others needed alone time as well. She was definitely a stickler for it. Spending so much time in the hospital, tending to the physical and sometimes emotional needs of the patients could be somewhat draining and made her appreciate solitude. There was nothing like getting away for a few quiet moments.

  “So will you go there with me, Jaclyn? If you prefer not to, I’d understand. You pulled a double shift yesterday.”

  Yes, she had and so had he. There was something about being here with him that had her adrenaline flowing, and she wasn’t ready to put a cap on it. She smiled at him and said, “Yes, I’d love to go to the park with you.”

  Chapter 5

  Lucien knew he had no business spending time with Jaclyn Campbell, let along asking her to spend time at the park with him. What in the world was he thinking?

  He drew in a deep breath as he put the key in his car’s ignition, knowing just what he’d been thinking. How good she’d looked sitting across from him, with her creamy smooth skin, gorgeous hazel eyes and chin-length straight brown hair. And how good she’d looked when he’d seen her about to leave the hospital in a pair of khakis and a pretty pink blouse. But most of all he’d thought about making nights of endless love to that lush body of hers.

  He came to a stop at an intersection in the H Street Corridor and glanced over at her. He couldn’t help remembering the moment she had become aroused by something he’d said. Her body had responded right before his eyes. He had just finished asking her what kind of physical activities she might be interested in. He wondered if her mind had followed the path his had taken. The thought of that possibility gave him some wicked pleasure he shouldn’t be experiencing.

  What was it going to take to make him think rationally where she was concerned? He should be thinking with the head connected to his neck and not the other head that throbbed each and every time he glanced over at her.

  “It’s going to be a beautiful day.”

  He glanced over at her, finding it hard not to say that the beauty of his day had begun with her. The moment he’d seen her about to leave the hospital he was pushed into motion to do something. The E.R. situation had kept him busy, focused and concentrated on saving lives. But when he’d taken a moment to breathe when all the injured patients had been cared for, his gaze had immediately sought her out. She had been busy suturing a cut on a man’s forehead, concentrating intently on her patient. He hadn’t been surprised. When it came to taking care of those who came to Hopewell General, she was always on top of her game.

  “Yes, it is.” He smiled. “A great day to have a boat race.”

  She lifted a brow. “A boat race?”

  His smile widened. “Yes, but relax. I’m talking about remote-operated toy boats. A friend of mine and I like putting them in the pond at the park to see who is king of the waterways.”

  “And you have these boats with you?”

  He chuckled. “Just so happens that I do. Both his and mine are in the trunk. I’m sure he’ll feel that any woman who knows anything about what’s under the hood of car is entitled to use his boat. So what do you say, Jaclyn?”

  Jaclyn couldn’t help but return Lucien’s smile. He’d conveniently forgotten that they were supposed to be discussing the kiss they’d almost shared in his office yesterday. Evidently he wasn’t ready to go there again just yet, so she would indulge him for the moment.

  “Should I warn you that in addition to being an auto mechanic, my father loves boats as well? I did mention he bought one a few years ago and taught me how to operate it.”

  He parked the car in the park and glanced over at her as if he was sizing up the competition. “Should I remind you we’re talking about toy boats?” he asked, clearly amused.

  “And just for the record,” he added. “Maybe I should also remind you that I came from a place literally surrounded by water. Knowing how to swim and how to operate a boat were a must-do. In fact I worked on a boat dock from the time I was fourteen. I saved my money to apply for college in America.”

  “Impressive. So this friend of yours whose boat I’ll be using, are you sure he won’t mind?”

  “If he thought for one minute you’d use it to beat me, then I can tell you he won’t. And you happen to know him.”

  She lifted a brow. “I do?”

  “Yes. Dr. Thomas Bradshaw.”

  She nodded. There wasn’t a person at Hopewell who didn’t know Dr. Bradshaw. A pure workaholic if ever there was one, he was the youngest person ever to be named head of surgery at Hopewell. That made him the envy of a number of other surgeons. And she’d heard he was as arrogant as he was handsome. On the other hand, in comparison, she thought Lucien didn’t have an arrogant bone in his body. They were like day and night.

  “Dr. Bradshaw is a close friend of yours?” she asked surprised.

  He chuckled. “Yes. Why do you find that hard to believe?”

  Jaclyn would rather not say. She could see him and Dr. Bradshaw being colleagues. But close friends? Friends who would share time racing toy boats? “No reason. Okay, Lucien, bring on the race.”

  There was something about Georgetown Waterfront Park that reminded Lucien of parts of Kingston. Maybe it was the way the waterways stretched from one harbor to the other, or the flowering trees that lined the boardwalk.

  “Will we be racing our boats in the river?” Jaclyn asked, pulling his thoughts back to her, not that they’d fully ever left. The wind was blowing and her hair was like silk fanning around her face.

  “No, there’s a small pond on the other side that will be perfect,” he said, taking the boats out of the trunk of his car. She was standing beside him looking on and he thought she smelled good, definitely not like someone who’d pulled a double shift.

  “This one is yours,” he said, handing her a twenty-eight-inch toy replica of a speed boat.

  She took it and their hands touched. He had the same reaction that he had the other day when he’d handed her back the charts. Their gazes met and he felt a heat flow through him. He was aware of the intense ache in the lower part of his body and decided to pause a
moment. Inhale and exhale. He did so while desire coursed through his veins in a way it had never done before.

  “Let me see the boat you’ll be using, Lucien.”

  The sound of her voice invaded some outcropped part of his brain, made him realize he needed to get a grip. He hadn’t explained why he had wanted to kiss her yesterday and already he was fighting the urge to kiss her again. He knew she was probably aware of it and was trying to bring him back around. Let reality invade.

  Taking another deep breath he pulled his own boat out of the trunk. “So what do you think?” he asked, showing it to her.

  She smiled up at him. “It’s cute, but I like mine better.”

  “Cute? Hey, you won’t be saying that in a little while,” he said, closing down the trunk and trying to force back the desire he felt just from her smile.

  She shrugged. “We’ll see.” And without saying anything else she fell into step beside him.

  At that moment her presence next to him felt right.

  She liked walking beside him, Jaclyn thought as they made their way to the pond. She didn’t want to think of the way he had looked at her a few minutes ago. It was the same way he had looked at her yesterday after she’d dropped those charts on the floor and he’d help her gather them up. The same way he’d looked at her just before he’d almost kissed her. The same way he’d looked at her at the café.

  He led her over toward a grassy bank. It was a small pond surrounded by flowering plants off the side of a boardwalk. “I hope the ducks and geese don’t mind sharing today,” she said when she saw how many were in the pond.

  “Once we put the boats in the water and start them up, the birds will start scattering.”

  Jaclyn glanced over at him. “You sure?”

  “It happens each and every time.”

  Moments later after they set their boats in the water, the first sound of the humming from the boats sent the geese and ducks flying. “Do you ever feel as if you’re invading their turf?” she asked him.