by Margaret Kay
Diana took a sip and considered what he just said. “You can count on me for discretion and complete confidentiality. Knowing this now, it surely explains a lot.”
“And I hope it explains why I feel the need to remain here to handle emergencies, should they arise. Three hours away from the office for me to come to your practice is a big deal. We’re a twenty-four-by-seven operation. Right now, I have four teams in the field. That’s four potential opportunities for things to go sideways needing my immediate attention.”
“I’ll see what I can do to lessen the time you are away from the office going forward.”
Shepherd saw an expression pass over her face that disturbed him. She looked defeated or stunned from somehow being proven wrong. That had not been his intention. “Turn the heat down for a moment.” He pointed at the omelet pan. Then he held out a hand to her. He was surprised when she did take it. He drew her to him and pulled her to his lap. Her startled gaze met his. “Let’s get something else straight, while I’m being open with you. I know you were on a date last night, but I like you. I really like you and not just as my doctor. I enjoy spending time with you. I enjoy conversations with you.”
Diana hoped she didn’t look as shocked as she felt. Then she felt what had to be a goofy smile pull at her lips. “You do, huh?”
“Yes,” Shepherd said confidently. “Intelligent conversations stimulate me, and you are a very intelligent woman.” His eyes probed deeply into hers. “I have fun when I’m with you, unlike I have had in years. You have transformed my therapy sessions into a time for me to enjoy. I look forward to seeing you five days a week. I too am a good judge of character and Diana Palmer; you too are one of the good ones.”
“Anything else?” She asked, because frankly, she hadn’t processed his statement yet, certainly not enough to comment on.
“Yes, I liked waking up to find you beside me this morning. You have a confidence I find sexy as hell.”
She felt the goofy smile spread wider over her face. “Well, thank you. I like spending time with you too. And Mike, the man I was at dinner with last night is just a friend from class.”
Shepherd reached a hand up to her face. He traced her jaw with a soft touch from the back of his knuckles. His eyes scanned over her perfect female bone structure, landing on her incredibly soft, blue eyes. Seeing no warning glares to stop, no indecision on her part, he leaned into her and gently pressed his lips to hers.
Fireworks exploded in Diana’s head while her body simultaneously turned to mush, the warmth and energy from the kiss washing through her like a tsunami swallowing up parched land. The sensation of Sam’s lips on hers was soft and powerful at the same time. She returned the kiss with a single-minded focus, enjoying the emotions that she felt pass between them in the small act of pressing their lips together, which promised of much more to come.
When Diana pulled her lips back, she was breathless. “Wow,” she whispered. Then she remembered the stove. “The omelets.” Sam helped her stand. She still felt lightheaded from that kiss. She flipped the omelets. “It’ll be ready in just a minute.”
Shepherd rolled to the refrigerator. “Would you like some fruit with it?”
“Yes, thank you.” She watched Sam set two plates on the counter beside her, and then he put the silverware and the container of fruit on the table. She plated the omelets and carried them over. She took a seat in the same place she’d sat the other times she’d eaten with him. The thought that she felt she had a seat at the table that she considered ‘her chair’ brought a smile to her face. When her eyes met his, she saw that his gaze was focused on her. She couldn’t read the serious expression that was etched into his face. Her smile fell.
Shepherd reached his hand across the table and grasped hers. “I don’t want this to be awkward or uncomfortable. I don’t do anything without thinking of all possible consequences, Diana. I’ve already considered the changes that would result from a personal relationship between us.” His lips pulled into a smile. “I want you in my life, Diana.” He squeezed her hand and then he brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm.
An intense electrical sensation shot from her palm to the rest of her body. “I couldn’t read the expression that was on your face a few seconds ago,” she confessed. “I thought maybe you’d regretted kissing me.”
“No regrets,” he said softly, giving her hand another gentle squeeze. “I know I want you in my life. I know it will work well for me. But what about you? I don’t want to assume anything. And as I said, I don’t want it to be awkward or uncomfortable for you if you don’t feel the same way.” He chuckled. “I’ve been considering a personal relationship between us and I acted on those feelings without knowing if the thought had even crossed your mind.”
“I do feel the same way about you. I would never have acted on my feelings. I would have maintained an appropriate doctor-patient relationship.”
Shepherd snickered. “Crawling into bed with me last night was an appropriate doctor-patient relationship?”
Diana felt her face heat.
“You are blushing,” he teased, chuckling. He found it perfectly charming that she felt embarrassed. He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss, this time to the back of her hand. “You have got to be one of the sweetest women I have ever met.”
She smiled at him and then took a few bites of fruit. “Now what? I mean, how do you see this relationship working given that we both are so busy?”
“I want to spend as much time together as we can. You need to know what my work life is like to evaluate if the demand on my time is something you can live with.”
Diana was dumbstruck by the matter-of-fact tone of voice he spoke that statement with. “I think you’re forgetting how busy I am as well.”
“It’s not just being busy that I am talking about,” Shepherd said. He took a bite of his omelet. “This is good. You do make a mean omelet.”
“Thank you.” She took a bite as well. “So, what do you mean?”
“I am always on call, Diana. I run everything here.”
“You said that you have four teams in the field that you are responsible for. Isn’t there someone else who can run things even one day a week?”
Shepherd took another sip of his coffee and thought how to phrase his reply. “There are a few people I could delegate a few more things to, but the ultimate responsibility for my people and to the clients, rests with me. I don’t take that lightly.”
Diana reached across the table and took hold of his hand. “That is one of the things I like about you, that you have such a strong sense of duty and truly care for your employees.”
“They are my family. That is how I think of them.”
“I can tell,” Diana agreed. She flashed him another smile to indicate that she appreciated his mindset. “I wish I could afford to do for my employees what you do for yours.” Then she took another bite of her breakfast.
“I can afford to, and I feel it’s the right thing to do.” He knew that if this relationship progressed, he would eventually have to tell her the true nature of what Shepherd Security did. “A lot of what we do stems from how we did it in the military. That is where the majority of my people came from.”
“I turned the light off in your office last night. I saw your diploma from West Point. Getting accepted and graduating from there is impressive. My brother, Mark, applied to West Point. He got great recommendations, but his four-point-zero GPA and the community service he did wasn’t good enough to get him accepted.”
“The requirements for admission are high. He’s done well, coming up through the ROTC, which has produced a lot of great officers. I know that your brother is stationed at Fort Riley,” Shepherd said. “It came up in the background check we ran on you. He flies helicopters and has a high security clearance.”
“Yes. He did ROTC in college. He’s been active duty for ten years, loves it.”
“I enjoyed my years serving in the Army,” Shepherd said. “
And I enjoy what I do now.”
“I can tell,” she said. “Is that one of the reasons you don’t delegate as much as you can?”
“Partially. I promise, I will think about how I can free up some time. We need to get to know each other better so we can see if this will work.”
Diana frowned and shook her head. “You make it sound so, I don’t know, almost like a business transaction.”
Shepherd motioned her to come sit on his lap again. When she was settled, he spoke. “I am sorry if it sounded that way. I do not mean it to. I’m not egotistical enough to believe that you would have such feelings for me that the more frustrating facts of the attention my work requires would not cause you to decide it is not worth it. I do not want to hurt you, Diana, but what I do is important. I can’t be forced to make a choice between my work and anything else, including you. And that in no way, shows how I feel about you.”
“I don’t understand,” she admitted, becoming more confused.
“If I was not off on a medical leave this morning, I could have been called to Ops at any point overnight or this morning. Spending time with me when I am not on a medical hold may be very frustrating for you. If one of my teams needs me, I have to be on it.”
His voice was very matter of fact again. “I understand. It is the same for me with my patients.” She gazed across the room. “We may have very little, uninterrupted time together between both of our jobs.”
“It is worth it to me to try.”
She gazed back into his eyes. “For me too.” She pressed her lips to his. After a lengthy kiss, she pulled her lips back. “What now?”
“We go back to bed,” he whispered.
“Sam?” Now her cheeks really heated.
“Not like that. It’s not that I don’t want to make love to you, I do. But I also know there is a lot to be said for allowing for natural progression, and I don’t want to rush physical intimacy.” He paused and smiled sheepishly. “But when I woke with you in my bed, I so wanted to wrap my arms around you, hold you, and just talk.”
Diana embraced him. “That sounds nice.”
They finished eating. She watched him rinse the dishes. He left them in the sink to tend later. Without a word, they headed down the hallway to his bedroom. Diana was surprised to see that he had already made the bed. He pulled the covers back and motioned her in with a small smile beaming at her.
She crawled in, confident that he was a man of honor. That was one of the reasons she had not thought twice about sleeping in the same bed with him the night before. He would not confuse her lying with him as consent for sex. She watched him transfer himself to the bed and settle in beside her. He pulled the covers back over himself as Diana rolled in close to him. Her head rested against his chest and her arm looped over him.
Shepherd slipped his arm beneath her and pulled her close, reveling in the incredible sensation of holding her. “This is nice. So, what is on your agenda for today?”
Diana giggled. “This makes me want to forget all that was on my to do list.” She nestled in closer. “Seriously though, I do want to take a few x-rays of your spine to see if they confirm the pars fracture theory. My treatment plan will change if that is what it is.”
“Today? You want to take the x-rays today?”
“I have to. I have class all day tomorrow, so the next opportunity won’t be till Tuesday. Sam, do you understand what this means? If it is a pars fracture, I can pull your spine out from compressing the cord and alleviate all your symptoms. It may take a few weeks, but the sooner I get started on it, the sooner you will be symptom free.”
“And if it isn’t a pars fracture?” He tried not to sound cynical.
“I’m pretty sure it is. But if it isn’t, I continue as I have treated you. You’ve responded well to the treatment, having no pain at times and sensations of feeling that you didn’t have before. Last night you took steps unassisted. Could you have done that a few weeks ago?”
Shepherd knew she was right about that. “No, I could not.” He breathed out heavily. This conversation had not been what he’d envisioned when he thought about lying in bed holding her. “Okay, we’ll go do the x-rays later today.” He paused and centered his thoughts to just enjoy the moment. “What are your thoughts on spending as much time together as we can?”
Diana felt the smile pull at her lips, not that she needed an instantly forming facial expression to answer that question. “I think it is a good plan.”
“Just good?” Shepherd teased.
“Okay, a great plan.”
“How about after we go to your office for the x-rays, I drop you by your house? You can pack up things for a few days and then drive back here. I’ll get you access to our private parking garage and the building. I’d really like it if you stayed here for most of the week.”
It took a moment for his suggestion to fully register. Stay here with him for the week? She angled her head to look him in the eyes. He was serious. And his return gaze was filled with warmth and hope. “I could do that,” she agreed. “Do you really want me around that much?” She joked.
“I want you to get a good taste of what being with me means. I’d rather you test it out to know and decide if you can’t live with it. If not, we end it right away before either one of us gets too involved.”
His words were sobering. He was serious. She wasn’t sure if she could do that, end it. She already felt involved with him. And staying for a week was quite a commitment. “I’ll pack up some things. We can play it by ear. I could always go back home and get more clothes.”
Shepherd heard the lack of assurance in her voice. He would let it play out and see what happened. “Sounds good.” He drew her lips towards his and captured her mouth. The sensation was powerful. His entire body hummed, and his thoughts blanked out. He enjoyed the dueling of their tongues. His body responded, and he became rock hard. He couldn’t help his natural instinct to pull her body tightly against his.
Diana had no thoughts in her head except the focus on the lengthy kiss and how good it felt. She responded to the feeling of his erection against her when Sam pulled her into him. She tingled where his strong hands softly caressed. With no thought given, her hands explored his defined, muscular body.
His phone, which he had automatically placed on the nightstand, chimed a new text message. His mind snapped out of its intoxicated stupor. He broke from the kiss and reached his hand to his phone. He viewed the message. “Doc is on his way up.”
Diana rolled to her back and gave her mind a moment to disengage from the pleasure she’d been enjoying. “I need to get up,” she said aloud.
Shepherd chuckled. “Do or don’t. It doesn’t matter to me.” And to him it truly didn’t. The team would figure it out fast enough when she came back later with an overnight bag and he gave her access to the garage and building. If they didn’t figure it out then, they would when she stayed night after night. That thought brought a smile to his lips.
Diana pulled herself out from between the sheets. She straightened the pillow and the bedcovers on her side of the bed. Then she sat atop it, cross-legged. She felt confident it didn’t look too suspicious or intimate. She watched the amused expression on Sam’s face as he watched her.
“You don’t want to let Doc know you were in my bed?” His lips tipped into a flirty grin. He watched the blush creep up her cheeks.
Diana knew the look on her face was that of a sixteen-year-old girl caught by her parents making out with her boyfriend on the front porch past curfew. “Something like that,” she admitted.
Shepherd chuckled. “Whatever you are comfortable with.”
A few minutes later, through the open door, they saw Doc enter the workout room. Shepherd knew that he’d have to tell Doc about their relationship. He was used to having access to Shepherd’s apartment with little notice.
“Are you okay?” Doc asked, startled to see Shepherd still in bed. He crossed the room and came up to the bed.
“Yes, feel muc
h better this morning.”
Doc’s eyes bounced between the two of them. “Did you eat breakfast this morning?”
“Yes, Diana made omelets.”
Doc still looked perplexed.
“I’m going to take some new x-rays today,” Diana said. “That will confirm my theory that it is a pars fracture with spinal cord impingement that is causing his symptoms.”
“Please cancel the appointment at Walter Reed,” Shepherd told Doc. “We can always reschedule if Diana’s treatment plan isn’t successful.”
“Walter Reed?” Diana asked, her questioning gaze landing on Sam.
“Yes, before you began treating me, I had Doc make an appointment for me with the specialist because of the increased pain I was experiencing. That appointment is no longer needed.”
