Protecting Emma

by ML Michaels

  ***

  Emily

  Guns & Ships was a bar that I frequented multiple times a week. I couldn’t explain why I did, but something about it made me feel right at home. Maybe it was the military decor. All of my childhood had been spent hopping from country to country as my parents served as engineers for the army. As a result, I was always around military bases and spent time with soldiers. Most of my friends had been military brats like me, so up until I went off to college at eighteen, the military had been my life. Maybe that was why I want to that bar—it reminded me of when I was a lot younger and life was a bit easier.

  Because of the nature of the bar, I felt like I knew most of the regulars even if we’d never actually met. Most of them were middle-aged men who had developed a boner for war as children and, while they were far too chicken to serve, they had never quite grown out of that phase of their life. But today, I noticed a complete stranger sitting at the bar. He had his back to me, but from what I could tell, he was a well-built man with close-cropped black hair. His broad back was pushed into a leather jacket. I slid into the seat next to him, and he turned to look at me. I saw the most attractive stranger I had ever seen in this town. He had a strong jaw and sharp green eyes that stared at me in fascination. I noticed that there was something else behind his eyes, but I was certain that with time, I could figure it out. I just had to keep him talking.

  Almost instantly, he was flirting with me. It was completely expected. Most strangers did. Most of the time, I just drank my alcohol and completely ignored them, but there was something about this man that made me encourage it. Not only that, but I decided to match him in the amount he was drinking. It was completely insane. This man looked like he could drink endlessly, but something made me want to get him talking and in my experience, when men got really drunk, they tended to talk. Besides, I liked scotch, and I liked men who had good taste.

  Five drinks in, he says, “So you from around here?”

  “I’m from a lot of places, but I’ve been here two years.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear because I’m new, and I might need someone to show me around.”

  I smiled and knew instantly what he wanted. It was a common line men used on me, and it usually failed, but like everything with this guy, he seemed to be an exception. “Maybe I can find some time in my busy schedule, but first, I came here to drink, and you’re welcome to keep drinking with me.”

  I watched him slowly lean in towards me until we were in each other’s personal space. I could smell the warm scent of his cologne, and a wave of arousal washed over me. I picked up another shot of scotch, and pushed it back. Then, I slid my hands along his forearms. They were firm under my palms. I could tell he paid a lot of attention when it came to his body. Slowly, I leaned it and pressed my lips to his. He kissed back, all strength, and roughly pushed his hand into my hair. I kissed him firmly, needing this man on top of me, in me, all over me. Maybe it was the alcohol talking or maybe it was because I hadn’t been with anyone in some time, but I wanted to take him back to my apartment and let him ruin me. I finally pulled away from him and said, “Let’s get out of here,” I gasped, desperately restraining the moan that was threatening to burst forward.

  He smirked. “There’s nothing I’d want more.”

  I grabbed his arm and practically pulled him out of the bar. The cold night air hit my face, and I reflexive wrapped my arms tighter around myself. I made a beeline over to where I had parked my bike, periodically looking back to make sure that the sexy stranger was still following me. When we made it over to my bike, I heard him say, “Wait, is this your bike?”

  I turned back towards him with a proud grin. “Yup, this is my Harley. His name is Clark.”

  “My Harley, Lulu, is parked over there,” he said, pointing across the parking lot. I look over and just like he said, another completely amazing bike was parked there. I didn’t understand how I could have missed it on my way in. I looked back at him and stared at him with a renewed appreciation. A man who was gorgeous, had an appreciation of the military, drank scotch, and drove a Harley? There was no way I wasn’t going to have sex with him tonight.

  Suddenly, I felt my pager vibrate in my pocket, and I pulled it out. The text read, “Emergency surgery needed on Peter Stern. We need you here as soon as possible.” I groaned. One of my residents must have called for the surgery, but without my approval, there was no way it could happen. I needed to get to the hospital, which meant that I wasn’t going to be having mind-blowing sex tonight.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  I didn’t want to say what was about to come out of my mouth, but I knew I needed to. “I’m sorry. I was about to invite you back to my place, but work is calling. I need to go.”

  The man narrowed his eyes at me as if he didn’t believe what I was saying. I patted him on the arm and leaned up to kiss him once more. Then, I pulled myself away from him, even though every part of me wanted him to fuck him then and there. I hopped onto my Harley and pealed out of the parking lot. At that moment, I couldn’t have hated my job more.

  Dean

  I woke up in the late morning, and I felt like Satan was tap dancing on my skull. I hadn’t thought that I had drunk that much the previous night, but then again, it had been a while since I’d had any alcohol. I didn’t recall noticing that I was drinking a lot. But then again, maybe I had been distracted.

  I remembered that beautiful babe who had approached me at the bar. She had been one of the most attractive women I had ever seen. Her body was absolutely stunning, and I’d wanted so badly to bring her back to my bed. It wasn’t every day that a man met a woman like that. I still felt disappointed and a little bit angry that just when I thought I’d managed to get her to come home with me, she had sped away. I still remembered watching her straddle her Harley and disappear down the road. It seemed her reason for leaving might have been genuine, but I was still peeved. You didn’t get a guy all excited, and then pull back at the last minute. I also would never know whether or not I had been toyed with. She hadn’t told me her name. I realize now how stupid the whole idea had been.

  But in the end, I supposed it didn’t matter. Yes, she had been ridiculously hot, and I imagined that if I had slept with her, it would have been some of the best sex of my life. But in the end, she was just some woman. There would be more. It’s not like I wanted to get serious and settle down with her. So many of the guys in the army have shacked up with their high school girl friends and had brats or were expecting them. Those guys, when we had vacation days, would fly home to their wives and miss out on drinking with the rest of us. I couldn’t imagine not spending my vacation days the way I did. I was going to stay single as long as I could because I’d never want to have to answer to another person. I had no idea why these guys had sold away their freedom. They claimed it was because of love, but that just sounded stupid.

  I got out of bed slowly, my entire body screaming in protest. The worst of my pain came from my leg and not my head. I guess it hadn’t dealt with my binge drinking well.

  I splashed water on my face from the bathroom sink, willing myself to wake up. I had my first doctor’s appointment today. There was nothing I dreaded more, but the faster my leg healed, the faster I could get back to the army. As stupid as this was, I had to appease the bosses.

  The VA hospital was only a five-minute drive away from my hotel. I dragged myself inside and traveled up to the fifth floor where my orthopedic doctor was. A pretty receptionist greeted me. “Hi, there. Are you Mr. Dean Peters?” she asked with a bright smile. It took all of my willpower not to groan in response.

  “Yes, ma’am, here to see Dr. Reynolds.”

  “Alright, sir. She’ll be with you in a minute. Please have a seat in the meantime.”

  So the doctor was a woman. This was going to be interesting. I sat down in the seat as the receptionist instructed and looked at the walls of the waiting room. They were fairly bare. On the table
were a bunch of boring-looking pamphlets. The chairs had seen better days. All in all, the office was depressing. I had no idea how the receptionist could be so perky in this environment.

  The door next to the receptionist opened, and a nurse in bright pink scrubs appeared. “Dean Peters,” she called out. I followed her out of the waiting room, and she led me into the doctor’s office. She asked me for my medical history, took my blood pressure and then looked at my file briefly. “Alright, Dr. Reynolds will be in to see you shortly.” With that, the nurse disappeared out of the room, and I was left alone.

  With nothing to do, I started getting antsy. I hated this more than anything. I wanted to be with my unit where I belonged. Since that wasn’t going to happen, I decided that I was going to go back to the bar tonight and bathe my body in alcohol again. If that would help me make it through this entire bullshit healing process, then so be it.

  Suddenly, the door opened once more and in came the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. My mouth fell open as I stared at her, and I watched her eyes widen in response to me. I would have recognized that beautiful body anywhere. No matter how drunk I had been the night before – and I’m still certain I wasn’t that drunk no matter how my body felt this morning – I would have remembered her.

  There, in front of me, stood the Harley riding, scotch drinking, unbelievably attractive babe from the bar. Suddenly, I wasn’t as opposed to this doctor’s visit as I had been.

  Emily

  I stood in the doorway, feeling my stomach clench with shock. The last person I would have expected to waltz into my office was the stud I had met the previous night at the bar. He had been so unbelievably attractive, and I couldn’t believe my luck at having run into him. I had been so ready to go home with him, something that would have surprised my friends and colleagues.

  I was committed to helping the men and women who served our country, and I was good at it. But that didn’t leave much time for dating and relationships. The truth was I never expected to find love and live in a house with a white picket fence.

  What happened last night was something I wouldn’t have imagined in a million years. I remembered how disappointed and upset I felt as I drove away. I had thought it would be a long time before I would see a guy that ridiculously handsome again.

  But I guess it hadn’t been all that long after all. Because here he was, ready to be treated for a leg injury.

  “Hello, Mr. Peters,” I said, turning on my professionalism. “Anything in particular bothering you about your leg?”

  “Well, well. I never thought I’d see you again,” said the man – wait, no. Dean. His name was Dean Peters. There was a sexy, lazy grin on his face. I was not going to think about that.

  “Yes, well, here I am. And I’m your doctor so let’s take a look at that leg, shall we?” I said, giving him the signature smile I gave my patients.

  “It’s not really a big deal so why don’t you get on with the treatment so I can get back to the army. Or, if you’d prefer, you’re welcome to come to my bed with me and make sure I give my leg some proper rest.” He stared at me with seductive bedroom eyes. I was not going to let this get to me, no matter how attractive he was.

  “Listen, you’re my patient. No matter how we initially met, that still doesn’t change things. I need to treat you, and these taunts are inappropriate. So please show me your leg, and tell me how you got this injury? Because otherwise, I can’t clear you to return to combat. And if we let it heal without monitoring it, then it might heal incorrectly, and then you’ll never be able to return. Is that what you want?”

  He chuckled. “You’re no fun. Where’s the babe I met last night?” But he threw up his leg onto a stool, and stared at me expectantly. I pulled up his pant leg and unwrapped the bandage. The gun wound was still fairly fresh, was there was evidence that it was healing nicely. According to his chart, the bullet had damaged his muscles and tendons before hitting bone. It was my job to make sure that Dean healed fully and quickly and that he regained full mobility.

  “Well, your injury seems to be doing well. I’m going to recommend that you come to our rehab unit three times a week for physical therapy and wound therapy. I’ll be there to supervise your treatment and monitor your progress,” I said, as I rewrapped the wound with fresh bandages.

  “I’m sure you’d like to see me, doctor. Maybe we can make it more often then that. I’m thinking some house calls might be in order on top of that,” said Dean with an annoying smirk.

  I resisted the urge to blush. He was beginning to get to me. I wanted nothing more than to pin him down and kiss him senseless, but I knew I couldn’t do that. He was my patient. It would be ridiculously inappropriate. It didn’t matter how attractive he was. It was still wrong in so many ways. “Listen, Dean. Doctors don’t really do house calls anymore so something like that isn’t going to happen.”

  I almost said, “If you want to see me, you’re going to have to come here,” but I resisted. I knew how to be professional. It was second nature. And I had never had trouble remaining professional with all the wounded veterans I treated. But now, it took everything in me to keep myself from throwing my professionalism right out the window. Instead, I said: “If you want treatment, you’re going to have to come here.”

  Dean frowned. “That’s a pity. I really think we can do some great work outside of this office.”

  “I’m sure you do,” I said, wondering how to get this relationship on the right track. A professional track. “But I’m the medical professional, so I think I know best how to help you heal,” I said, trying my best not to make it sound snippy. “So can I expect to see you here on Friday?”

  Dean sighed. “I guess if that’s the only way I can see you.”

  “Can you tell me how you got the injury? It might make a different in how we treat you,” she said.

  Dean faltered for a fraction of a second before pasting a confident grin on his face. “No, doctor, I think I’ll save that for another time. I know doctors like to stay on schedule, and our time is up.” With that, he stood up and shuffled out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I noted the treatment plan in his medical record, then left the examination room and walked rapidly to my office. I gratefully closed the door and went to sit at my desk. I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes and rubbed my temples hoping to ease the pounding in my head from too much whisky.

  My next instinct was to get angry. Off all the darned luck. I had met the most attractive man at the bar, and I had been so ready to have amazing sex with him. But instead, work pulled me away from him. I had planned on going back to that bar to see if he showed up again. Instead, the worst thing possible had happened. He showed up to my office as my patient. Now, I could never have sex with him. I was going to have to treat this man for the next few months and not lay a hand on him no matter what. Or at least not lay hands on him in the way I really wanted to. It seemed like the universe was playing a cruel prank on me.

  I pulled a water bottle out of my mini-fridge and started to drain it. I needed to calm down before my next patient arrived. Treating Dean was going to be challenging. If only he had done what any decent man would have done. Pretend he didn’t recognize me at all and make no mention of the previous night. Not only had he mentioned it repeatedly, he seemed to enjoy watching me squirm. How the heck was I going to get through this?

  I slammed the empty water bottle down on my desk and shook off the frustration. It was time to see my next patient.

  ***

  Dean

  The hours dragged until Friday. I returned to the bar a few more times hoping to see Dr. Emily Reynolds again, but unfortunately, she never showed up. Instead, I ended up bringing another girl home. She was cute, and the sex relieved some of the tension I was feeling, but she wasn’t Emily. No matter how much I tried to get my new doctor out of my head, nothing seemed to work. I knew I needed to get her into my bed. Otherwise, I would drive myself insane with lust.

&n
bsp; I drove to the VA hospital once more mulling over what I would do when I saw her again. Even though she had taken my advances negatively at my last appointment, I was going to try again. I could tell by the way she held her body so stiffly and professionally that underneath she was a wild animal ready to pounce. The lust under her eyes had been unmistakable. Professionalism be damned, I knew that if I kept trying, eventually she would crack.

  I walked into the rehab area, ready to storm in and woo her. But instead, I found myself in a large open area where many vets were working with physical therapists and having the dressings on their wounds changes. I ended up sitting there for almost half an hour, staring at yet another barren wall. Finally, a young woman called my name and brought me to a private exam room where Emily was talking with a young woman, who smiled at me as she left the room.

  “Hello, Dean. How are you today?” Emily said with a friendly, somewhat distant tone. I decided to ignore it.

  “Now that you’ve shown up, my day is immediately better,” I said.

  She rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, let me explain what happens here. That was Marissa, one of our best physical therapists. She is going to measure the strength of your leg and then take you out to the main room where she’ll help you do some light exercises to help you regain strength in your leg.”

  I resisted the urge to snort. Light exercises? I was in the military. It wondered if she was purposely making fun of me. “Whatever you say, doc.”

  “You know Dean, at the VA, we treat the whole solder. If you would tell me what happened, it would be a lot easier for me to make sure you get the care you need.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “What, they didn’t tell you?”