Dating Dr Notorious

by Donna McDonald

  Ben lifted Regina into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He lay down with her on the couch and tucked them together. She barely struggled anymore no matter how macho he acted with her. It was incredibly arousing and incredibly loving.

  Ben hugged her tight and sighed against her.

  Regina snuggled closer, sighing herself at the comfort Ben brought to her. “I’ve thought about fading back a little in my field, Ben. The problem is my work isn’t done yet. Being out front in my field draws a lot of publicity bullets, but it also draws hundreds of people to hear what I have to say. I am helping people. I know I make a difference. If I wasn’t so sure, I would find other work and just be content to be your wife.”

  Ben tightened his jaw as he stroked a hand down her back. Lauren had been absolutely right. He was never going to be able to have Regina without taking Dr. Logan as well. Fine, Ben decided. He wanted all of her anyway.

  “Now that I know you, I could never ask you to give up your work. I admire all you’ve accomplished. You handle the press badgering you or a room full of doctors arguing with you the same confident way you drive a car. I find all of it sexy and wouldn’t change any of it. You’ve fought too damn hard to get where you are to give your work up for anyone,” Ben said logically, “including me.”

  It was amazing, Regina decided, just how much she had longed for those words from someone in her life, and equally amazing the effect hearing them from Ben had on her.

  She wanted to cry, and cry hard, but crying wouldn’t help either of them. So she swallowed the tears, promising herself she’d indulge later. She cleared her throat against Ben’s chest.

  “Yeah, you say that, Benjamin, but this guy I’m involved with is not like normal guys. He’s really—well, he’s really hung, you know. He’s an animal in bed and has made me his sex slave. I’d do a lot to keep him in my life,” she said sincerely, laughing into Ben’s shoulder as he groaned and rolled her under him.

  “No man is worth so much sacrifice, even if he is a sex god.” Ben smothered her laughter with his mouth, his tongue dancing against hers.

  When Regina could finally free her mouth, she laughed and exclaimed loudly, “I definitely did not say the man was a sex god.”

  “Yes, you did. In fact, you call me one all the time,” Ben informed her sincerely, kissing her again and pulling off the yoga pants she wore even while she squirmed under him, still laughing.

  Once he had them completely off, Ben moved down her body, kissing her stomach, her thighs, and finally the area he most wanted. He licked inside her, taking more advantage when she arched up against his mouth.

  “Oh my god—Ben!” Regina called, made delirious by the talent of yet another surprisingly large feature of his body. She laughed and wondered what else she had yet to learn about him.

  Ben stopped a moment to laugh against her. “See? I told you. You call me a sex god all the time.”

  Regina groaned at being caught with her own words, and laughed even as his tongue delved deep inside her, intent on plundering all her secrets.

  It rarely happened, but Ben had verbally bested her. Regina laughed and arched, calling his name over and over, laughing harder at how careful she had to be to not say more.

  Now and again she felt Ben chuckle in the middle of what he was doing. Regina laughed and climaxed at the same time, wondering how in the world such a thing was even possible. Ben’s talents exceeded her research.

  Maybe he was a sex god, she thought, laughing even more.

  Ben freed himself from his pants and was moving hard inside Regina before her laughter faded.

  “You absolutely own me, Ben Kaiser,” Regina told him, wrapping her legs happily around him, encouraging him to take what he needed, to find what he wanted within her.

  Ben watched Regina building to another climax, her face flushed still from the first one. And with every long, possessive stroke, he promised himself he was going to find a way to marry his notorious woman without harming anyone else he loved.

  Chapter 17

  Jim Gallagher stood on a 30-ft extension ladder in the main warehouse of Ben’s company with sweat flowing freely from every pore, his tee shirt drenched. He held one end of a cable trough that would hold the wiring for the new security alarm Casey had chosen.

  Ben stood on another ladder about 12 feet across from him, handling a massive 18-volt half-inch hammer-drill like he did it every day. The sweatier Ben got, the more his tee shirt revealed some surprising facts to Jim.

  “Kaiser, can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Sure,” Ben answered, shrugging. “I need to get used to having my privacy invaded. What the hell? Ask away.”

  Jim laughed. “Well, now I see you’re so open, I’m rethinking my original question. There’s actually a lot I’d like to know about Regina.”

  Ben smiled wickedly. “Right, like I’d talk about her. Have you ever seen Regina mad?”

  “No, but I’ve seen her drive a car,” Jim told him with an exaggerated sigh, smiling broadly at Ben’s low laugh.

  “I begged, but Regina wouldn’t date me,” Jim lied, teasing him.

  Casey stood below them laughing at the conversation, but also hoping neither of them fell off the ladders. They were both older than he was and not exactly used to this type of manual labor. Still, he wasn’t going to risk climbing on a ladder, not after getting run over by car a few months ago. The hip replacement surgery had gone well, and his physical therapy was giving him more mobility than he’d had since he got hurt the first time.

  If he was going to go up to the ceiling of 30-ft warehouses for a living, he’d buy a damn cherry picker and install it on a utility pickup.

  Ben finished his side and climbed down. “Hang on. I need to move the ladder closer to you.”

  It took Ben about two minutes to go down and back up. He was loading a screw on the magnetic drill bit when he noticed Jim staring at him again.

  “How old are you?” Jim demanded of Ben finally.

  “Turned 50 on my last birthday. Why?”

  “I’m forty-two. You sure as hell don’t look 50. You look as good as Casey.” Jim looked down at the man standing below them.

  “Thanks.” Casey said, and then put his hands on his hips when he thought about it. “Wait, was that a compliment or were you being sarcastic?”

  Jim and Ben both laughed. “It was a compliment,” Jim told him.

  Ben put in the first screw. “I work out with weights a few times a week, been doing it for several years now. I don’t do it now for the same reasons as when I started, but I still like the results.”

  “Seeing you makes me want to put a weight room in my house,” Jim said.

  “Muscle tone comes back faster than you think once you get started,” Ben told him, loading another screw. “There. You can let go now. I’ll get the other two.”

  Jim was immensely relieved to lower his arms at last.

  Ben made short work of the last two screws and climbed down the ladder to a point where Casey could reach him. “Pass up the sensor. We’re ready.”

  Sensor in hand, Ben climbed back up. Jim helped secure the wiring in place, while Ben secured the small motion sensor to the outside seal of the skylight.

  “What’s the sensor do out there?” Jim asked.

  “Hopefully it will shock the hell out of would-be thieves. Opening the window won’t activate it, but if anyone drops through the window, it will set off the alarm. Because the sensor is not on the seal of the window, it lets us open the skylights for ventilation during the day while the building stays secure. It’s a much better design than we had before.”

  Ben hooked the drill on the ladder. “Done, Casey. We’re ready to test.”

  Casey walked to a laptop computer plugged into a new electrical box mounted near the main warehouse door. He tapped a few keys to activate the alarm. “Now wave your hand about a foot in front of the sensor.”

  Casey looked up to watch Ben stretching out over the ladder a
bit to do as he asked. He should have asked Jim, who was a good half foot taller than Ben to do it, but Jim looked like he was barely hanging on. He prayed the sensor worked the first time so the men could both climb down. They had no safety equipment. OSHA would have Ben’s or his ass if they caught them working without it.

  And on top of all that, Casey was getting gray hair just watching them.

  An ear piercing noise like a hundred car horns and police sirens filled the air. Casey laughed and typed quickly to turn it off. “Good job up there. Now get the hell down. I’m too young for a heart attack.”

  When the older men hit the floor, Casey walked over to take the drill from Ben, grinning as several others in the warehouse rushed forward to grab the ladders. He hadn’t been the only one concerned for Ben’s safety. Benjamin Kaiser was beloved in his company, as much father figure as CEO.

  Working in the warehouse for a couple of days, Casey had learned Ben just about single-handedly made the goals of the founders come true times ten in the business. The very successful business was run by family and hired family first. If they didn’t work out they were made history fast, but if they performed well, they had a job for life. It was the damnedest setup Casey had ever seen.

  “Bring on the thieves,” Ben said gleefully, rubbing his hands together, jazzed by the work more than he imagined he would be.

  Casey typed a key code into the security program, wrote it on piece of paper, and handed it to Ben. “Here’s a code to both set and stop the alarm. I’ve already installed the program on Tom’s computer. He can hook up to the junction box with a USB cable and reset the code when needed. As soon as you feel your employees are able to handle the change, make one code to set the alarm and a different one to turn it off.”

  Casey closed his laptop and pulled the USB cable from the bottom of the junction box. All anyone would see at first glance would be a box that appeared to connect electrical wiring throughout the warehouse. The motion sensors looked like brackets, and the tiny laser in them was nearly undetectable. It was simple and just right for this type of facility.

  Casey felt a sense of pride in how well it had all worked out.

  “The alarm sounds for twenty minutes, and then shuts off automatically. A 911 break-in message is sent to the local police at first activation. Tom’s cell number is the default call-back when the police need to talk to someone. He can change it later to let somebody else have the honor when he gets tired of being the go-to person. Can you think of anything I’ve left out?”

  Ben shook his head no, pulling his wet shirt away from his chest. “Sounds done to me. Let’s eat. I had Janet order lunch for us. Jim and I need to dry out anyway. It’s hot up there by the ceiling. I had no idea.”

  “You really liked climbing that tall-ass ladder and hanging the alarm, didn’t you?” Jim couldn’t believe how happy Ben was about it all. “I don’t know why, but it surprises me.”

  “It’s the clothes,” Casey said matter-of-factly. “He dresses like the cover model of some men’s magazine. Kaiser doesn’t look like the physical type who knows what a drill is, much less how to use one.”

  “Who do you think helped build this warehouse?” Ben said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Thirty years ago, we didn’t have the money to pay to have it done. Catherine’s father and I built it with his crew at the time.”

  “You built this building?” Jim looked at the warehouse with new appreciation. No wonder Ben didn’t mind being on the extension ladder. He shook his head in wonderment. For years now, his idea of Ben Kaiser was a man who never got his fingernails dirty. Now it turns out he built a building.

  “I don’t know why it’s a big deal that I like nice clothes. Why does everyone think it’s a crime? Besides, Regina likes the way I look.” Ben walked ahead of them to punch the elevator.

  “The way you look isn’t all Regina likes.” Casey said with a smile as they stepped inside, waiting until the elevator door closed behind them to continue. “I’ve heard a dozen times from Alexa how you asked Regina to dance before you knew who she was, and then ended up making out with her five minutes later.”

  Ben flushed and swore. “Close, but not exactly how it happened. Anyway, Regina got in her car and drove away from me that night.”

  Casey and Jim just looked at him, waiting for the rest. Ben swore again, but laughed at the eager looks on their faces.

  “So a couple weeks later, I went to Norfolk to hear her speak. I pretended to be a doctor to get in to see her,” Ben confessed.

  Both men laughed, and nodded approval at his cleverness. “With you in your dress clothes, I can see that working perfectly,” Jim said in admiration.

  Casey crossed him arms and took a longer look at Ben. Kaiser was an easy man to underestimate. In a way, Ben was a lot like Alexa, composed and confident on the outside, and full of surprises on the inside. Maybe at age fifty people just got really interesting.

  “Yeah, I thought it was pretty slick too. No one questioned me being a doctor, but some of the doctors there warned me not to try to date her. They told me Dr. Logan didn’t date other doctors because one stole her work. Later I asked Regina about it and she said it was true.”

  Jim grinned, envying Ben his memories as it was obvious he enjoyed his thoughts of that day. “So what did you do to get Regina to go out with you? You have to finish the story,” Jim demanded.

  Ben laughed. “We never really went out. I told Regina I was glad I wasn’t a doctor because I’d followed her to Norfolk hoping to get laid.”

  Casey and Jim both laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.

  Casey shook his head in disbelief. “A week ago I wouldn’t have believed you, Ben. Seeing you on that ladder today, I absolutely believe it.”

  Jim smacked his forehead. “If only I’d known! I thought women were offended by that kind of honesty. What about subtlety and flirting?”

  Ben snorted as they exited the elevator and headed into his office for lunch.

  “Regina Logan isn’t even in the same category as other women. She will say anything to anyone at anytime, and you can never anticipate what will come out of her mouth. In Norfolk, she was giving a talk on self-gratification to several hundred of her peers. Most were male and many had a long-time thing for her. Being anything less than direct would not have worked. My only edge with her was I knew for sure she liked kissing me.”

  They sat at one end of a large polished conference table. Casey’s contract and invoice were off to one side. Giant meatball subs and soft drinks were waiting for them. They dug in as companionably as if they ate together every day.

  “To get the conversation off my sex life and onto someone else’s, I noticed you went walking in the garden with Lauren McCarthy the other night,” Ben said to Jim between bites.

  Jim winced. “A short lapse in judgment.”

  “Hers or yours?” Ben asked easily, never ceasing to eat as he talked.

  “Both.” Jim kept his eyes on his sandwich, having trouble eating now with thoughts of kissing Lauren on his mind. He put the sandwich back on the wrapper. “It can’t go anywhere. I’m not free to date her. My personal life is not a great situation, but I’m not willing to change it. I have my reasons.”

  Ben shrugged at the news as if it was nothing much to worry about it. “Doesn’t stop me from thinking you’re a good man, Jim. I’ve not known you well, but I’ve known you a long time. You’re as ethical in business as a person can get. I wouldn’t do business with you if I didn’t believe it. Regardless of what’s going on in your life, never doubt you deserve to be happy. We all do.”

  “Don’t look now, but you sound like Dr. Logan,” Jim told him, and then realized he just more or less revealed to Ben and Casey he’d been a client of Regina’s.

  “I am going to take the comparison as a compliment because I believe Regina sincerely helps people and only wants the best for them. Now before Casey gets concerned we’re going ask him about his sex life with Alexa, let’s
look at his contract.” Ben picked up the papers.

  “Wait. If I’m going to be the money guy for Casey, I need to be honest with him about something. I dated Alexa a few times,” Jim confessed, picking up the sandwich and taking a big bite as he saw the jealousy come into Casey’s eyes. “Nothing happened. So you don’t have to worry.”

  “Jim, I was a Marine. I know how to kill a man. I’m not worried about you or any other guy,” Casey replied. He finished his sandwich and smiled wickedly at Jim across the table.

  Jim laughed and looked relieved, exaggerating it for effect. “Well, I’m glad I barely kissed her then. If you don’t believe me, you can ask her yourself. Alexa’s very honest.”

  Casey laughed, knowing personally how true it was, but he wasn’t worried about Alexa’s past anymore. If he could handle learning her gay ex-husband was the great love of her life before him, he could deal with knowing Jim was some guy she barely dated.

  Casey looked at Ben.

  “Don’t look at me with evil in your eyes, Carter. You know I never dated Alexa. You were with her when I met her,” Ben teased, laughing at Casey’s eye roll and frustrated sigh. “All right, before Casey decides to use his Marine training on us, let’s talk about his contract.”

  He passed copies to both Jim and Casey. “I deducted the labor Jim and I did, and the material costs for the system itself, which leaves the bottom figure. This is the balance of what my company owes Casey for the consulting and technical setup. It also includes six months of follow-up in case modifications are needed. Look it over and let me know if there’s anything we need to change.”

  Chapter 18

  While the current CEO of Winslow-Kaiser Builders, Inc. was having lunch with his new security firm in his office, his COO and CFO were in a large plush office on the floor above his, having lunch together and plotting a coup.

  “You should have seen Ben tearing out of his place half dressed to chase Dr. Logan down the hall.” Daniel shook his head remembering. “When Ben finally catches her, he drags her back into the apartment with us. She’s wearing this short leather skirt and knee boots, looking as hot as ever, but she’s looking at Stacey thinking she’s there with Ben. Then she finally sees me and figures out who we are. She sat on the couch for a long time with her face in her hands. I thought at first she was going to cry.”