“All right, Molly. See you tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 4
Tessa
“Hey, there girl! How’s my girl?”
Lucy eagerly greeted me with a wagging tail as I walked through the door to my home. Lucy was a pit bull with a heart of gold who I had adopted from a local animal shelter four years ago despite everyone trying to talk me out of it.
“Do you know how dangerous pit bulls are?”
“That’s no dog for a pretty young woman like you. Get something a little more classy, like a poodle or a Yorkie.”
“Pit bulls are a lot to handle. Do you plan on having children someday? Do you want to bring them into a household with an aggressive animal?”
And on and on the criticism went. Yet, I couldn’t be deterred. From the moment I met eyes with Lucy, whose eyes were nearly the same shade of blue as mine, I knew she was my doggy soulmate. The moment the papers were signed and I brought her into my home, she had been nothing but a bundle of love and joy. And although she can be protective when necessary, I had yet to have any serious aggression problems with her. Lucy was living proof, as far as I was concerned, that with proper love and care, there was no such thing as a bad dog. The worst she had ever done was chew up a couple pairs of my old sneakers when she’d been left in the house too long while I was at work.
After jumping up and down and covering me with doggy kisses, Lucy spun around in a circle exactly three times before running to the back of the house to retrieve her leash. She seemed particularly eager to go for her run, or perhaps she sensed my need to blow off some steam. The day’s shift at the hospital had not only left me exasperated and irritated, but with plenty of pent-up frustration as well.
“Just give me a second to change clothes, Lucy,” I said, heading for my bedroom. She skipped behind me, her nails clicking on the wooden floor.
I pulled a t-shirt and shorts from my drawer and gratefully shed my hospital scrubs, kicking them into the corner of the room with the rest of my clothes that needed to be washed. Seeing how tall the pile had grown, I felt a twinge of embarrassment. Living alone had changed my habits quite a bit. Back in my younger college days, when I regularly had roommates and occasional booty calls, I wouldn’t have been caught dead with a pile of dirty clothes lying in a visible spot. But now, especially after particularly busy shifts in the emergency department, I would shed my clothes and sometimes could barely muster the energy to kick them into the pile.
While I loved almost everything about being a nurse, the one thing I considered the biggest inconvenience was the surplus of dirty laundry it regularly created. It seemed that wearing scrubs five days a week would reduce my laundry pile, but that was not at all my reality. I quickly learned that they were called scrubs for a reason; they needed constantly scrubbing. Every week, I was bound to come home with some kind of disgusting mystery fluid dried up somewhere on my clothing. Hence, nursing was not for those with delicate stomachs.
“No, Lucy,” I said, seeing that she had been just moments away from jumping into my ever-growing pile of colorful and dirty scrubs. “That’s not lady-like at all, you know.”
She tilted her head at me as I slid on my jogging sweatshirt. As I stepped into my running shoes, she excitedly jumped up onto her hind legs, knowing it was finally time to go.
“You certainly lack patience sometimes, girl,” I said, giving her a quick scratch behind the ear. “Okay, let’s go.”
CHAPTER 5
Tessa
Lucy and I began our daily run to the park and back. The evening weather was perfect—there was a comfortable breeze in the air and it was neither too warm or too cool. The only unfortunate thing was that the perfect weather conditions permitted my mind to wander in ways I wished it wouldn’t. And by that, I meant it kept wandering in the direction of Dr. Evan Sholly.
Once again, his delicious features drifted through my mind. Unfortunately, they were also accompanied with Molly’s words regarding my less than satisfactory love life.
She was right. Although I loved Lucy dearly, it would have been nice to occasionally have some company of the human male variety. But I’d been so engulfed in my work, I’d dutifully pushed dating off the menu. While I tried to pretend it didn’t bother me—that my decision to remain single was entirely by choice—I knew that deep down, a part of it was because I was still so scarred from my ex. The heartbreak he’d forced me to endure was part of the reason I had wanted a dog in the first place; I had been desperate to find unconditional love in whatever form I could get it.
Tyler. He had been good looking too, albeit not as hot as Evan Sholly. Nevertheless, I had been so smitten with him that I hadn’t seen, or perhaps had ignored, all the warning signs. Tyler had been very charming in the beginning, showering me with roses and chocolate, romantic dinners, and fun outings. And then suddenly, he began to change.
It started because he hadn’t been supportive of my career ambitions. It had become apparent that he viewed me as the marrying type, but he had also made it quite clear that if we were going to be together, he fully expected me to give up my dreams to instead be a dedicated house-wife. Now, I know there’s nothing wrong with being a house-wife; raising a family is one of the most important jobs in existence. So many women dedicate their lives to it and I have nothing but respect for them. But that’s just wasn’t the lifestyle I envisioned for myself.
For as long as I could remember, I’ve always wanted to work in the medical field. I was obsessed with hospital-themed television shows and had known since I was a little girl that it was the lifestyle I craved. So when suddenly given an ultimatum between a man and my career, I gladly chose my career.
Of course, the choice became a lot easier when Tyler turned violent about my decision, apparently deciding that he literally wanted to try knocking some sense into me. When it happened the first time, I tried to convince myself it was an accident and he hadn’t meant it. When it happened the second time, I figured he was the problem, not me. He was the one who needed help and I had contemplated whether I needed to stick around to ensure he received it. But then one night, I’d had a dream about my grandmother. It was so vivid. I could practically smell her home—a mixture of baked goods and lavender. We’d been sitting at the dining room table, and she’d been giving me the warm smile she always reserved specifically for her grandchildren. Then she reached across the table, took my hand and said, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, then I’m the damned fool.”
When I woke up, I knew without a doubt that she was watching over me and trying to send me a sign. I knew then that I’d most certainly be a fool if I didn’t take her advice. Hence, I broke up with Tyler shortly thereafter.
Oh boy, did he try to win me back. He made every pretty promise in the book—swore he would never lay a hand on me again for as long as he lived. I can still hear his voice pleading with me. “Tessa, baby, I won’t do it again. You know how much I love you. I will never hurt you again, I swear. I swear, baby. I swear. I’m not going to hurt you again, as long as I live.”
I smiled, looked him straight in the eyes and said, “No, you won’t hurt me again for as long as you live because this is the last time you’re going to see me in your pathetic life. Goodbye.”
It was one of the smartest and most satisfying decisions I had ever made. Sometimes, I still shudder at the thought of what my life would have been like if I hadn’t left him. I would have probably been living behind a white-picket fence with an unhappy household full of kids—all of us afraid and terrified each night when Daddy came home. I had certainly dodged a bullet by leaving Tyler.
Nevertheless, I’d become lonely in the aftermath. There hadn’t been a single man to catch my eye though. Not until Dr. Evan Sholly. Yet, something told me he had caught my eye for all the wrong reasons. The thought of him coincided with a random man in a parked car catcalling at me. At the sound of his whistle, Lucy halted for an instant and growled.
“Good
girl,” I said. “Let’s go.” We were halfway to the park.
Looks. Just like the creep who’d just whistled at me, my attraction to Dr. Sholly was all about looks because I hardly knew anything else about him. And the little I did know about him hadn’t been exactly flattering. I could still recall his haughty tone in the way he had chastised me while working on the gunshot patient. The mere memory still made my blood boil. It was people like Dr. Sholly that gave doctors a bad name.
As we reached the park, I looked around, checking to see that the area was empty. It usually was during this time of evening, which I was always grateful for. It allowed me to unhook Lucy from her leash so that she could walk around, stretch her legs, and do her business.
“There you go girl,” I said, releasing her from her leash. She wagged her tail and happily trotted off, while I took a seat on the bench, careful to keep my eye on her nonetheless, just in case someone happened to cross our path.
Molly had claimed I’d just gotten the wrong impression of Dr. Sholly, but I wasn’t so sure. She had blamed his biting personality on the fact that he was ex-military. Yet, that excuse didn’t work for me. I had an uncle who’d been in the army. He was rigid, but stoic and noble. I had a hard time imagining those traits in Dr. Sholly.
I sighed, already not liking how much of my mind Dr. Sholly was occupying after just one day of knowing him. I hated people judging me for my looks, so it certainly didn’t sit well with me that I was being such a sucker for a handsome face. Yet, even as that thought crossed my mind, I recalled how it had appeared that Dr. Sholly hadn’t been able to resist peeking at my chest. The thought brought a flush to my face.
Right on time, Lucy trotted back to me. I hooked her leash back on and we set off for our run back home. I even managed to push thoughts of Dr. Sholly from my mind, at least until I went back home to take a shower, where I unfortunately started imagining him in the shower with me…
“Tessa, you seriously need help,” I told myself in the foggy bathroom mirror.
Or to at least think about what Molly said and give him another chance, a voice in my head counterargued. Everyone is prone to having a bad day every once in a while.
CHAPTER 6
Evan
If I’d thought day two of working the day shift was going to get easier, I was so damn wrong. This became more than evident when the gaze of a feverish seven-year-old girl was making me sweat. I squirmed in my chair as she continued to unflinchingly stare at me.
Her mom had stepped out to take a phone call that was lasting far too long. I didn’t have kids of my own, so I tried to refrain from judging parents too harshly. Yet, some of them really threw me for a damn loop. This little girl was sick and had a terrible fever, yet her mother saw it more important to put me on hold so that she could run her mouth on the phone. Not only was this rude, for I could be needed for another patient at any moment, but it also just seemed careless. I drummed my fingers on my knee as the girl continued to stare at me.
“What’s your name again?” I asked.
The girl blinked with her peaky eyes. “Sarah.”
“Sarah. Right. Such a pretty name.”
“Then how come you couldn’t remember it?”
It was my turn to blink. Little smarty-pants, I thought to myself. I forced a smile. “Because it’s really early and I should still be sleeping.”
“It’s not early. This is what time I go to school.”
“Well, I haven’t been in school for a very long time, so this hour just isn’t practical for me.”
“How old are you?”
“Old.”
“How old is old?”
“Grown.”
The girl crossed her little arms across her chest.
I was reminded of yet another reason I preferred the night shift; I was no good at working with or entertaining children; they were few and far between during the night shift.
I sighed. “So…do you like stickers, Sarah?”
“What kind of stickers?”
“Well, let’s see what we can find here.” I stood from my seat, trying to recall where I’d seen the nurses retrieve stickers from. I knew a stash was kept somewhere in the examining room for the children that came in. However, I had never needed to find the stash before, so I’d never really paid attention to it.
“Where’s Mommy?” the girl asked in a slightly sad tone.
My thoughts exactly. “I’m sure she’ll be back any moment now.” I paused in my search for the elusive stickers, and glanced back at the girl. Tears streamed down her face. Upon finding me looking at her, she hastily wiped her eyes. A lump developed in my throat at the sight of her wrists—or the marks on them, rather.
“Sarah…?” But before I could say anything more, someone drew back the curtain to our room. For a second, I thought it was the girl’s mother. But instead, Tessa Kennery peeked in at us. Our eyes instantly met for a second that felt like an eternity before Tessa shifted her gaze to the little girl. “How are we doing in here?” she asked.
The little girl was still rubbing her eyes. Tessa’s brow wrinkled; she was still beautiful even with a frown on her face. I stood frozen on the spot as I watched her approach the child and kneel down before her.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Tessa asked.
“I don’t feel good,” she said.
Tessa glanced back at me.
I shook my head and cleared my throat. “Sarah has a fever. She’s going to need some antibiotics. We’re just…waiting for her mom to return.”
I saw it this time—the slight flash of panic that appeared on Sarah’s face when I mentioned her mother.
“I see,” Tessa said. She met my eye again, and I struggled to figure out how to discreetly indicate the marks on the child’s wrist.
“Sarah tells me that she enjoys stickers. I was just trying to find some for her, but they seem to be hiding from us.”
“Is that so?” Tessa said, standing up. “Well, I’m sure those stickers can’t hide from me.” She winked at Sarah and crossed the room toward me. “Excuse me, doctor.” I thought I detected the slightest bit of snark in her voice, but there was no time to contemplate it. She brushed past me and our arms just grazed each other. My cock twitched in anticipation. Dammit. This was getting worse by the second.
Behind me, she opened a cabinet I hadn’t made my way to yet. When she opened it, she pulled out a jar that contained not only stickers, but lollipops as well. She turned back towards Sarah with a smile on her face as she shook the jar at her. “You see—I told you they couldn’t hide from me!”
Sarah giggled through her tears. “He couldn’t find them.”
Tessa glanced at me. “Well, that’s because he’s a boy. You know, boys don’t always know as much as they think they do.”
The significance of her comment wasn’t lost on me and I was forcibly reminded of how rude I’d been to her the day before. “I won’t deny that,” I said. Tessa glanced at me once again, as if she could decipher the thoughts behind my words.
“Here you go, sweetie,” she said, offering the jar to Sarah. “Pick whichever ones you want.”
Sarah reached into the jar to get a green lollipop and a sticker of some kind of Disney princess.
Tessa gasped.
“What?” Sarah said.
But I already knew what had caused Tessa’s gasp; she had spotted the marks on the girl’s wrist as she reached for the sticker.
Tessa cleared her throat. “Oh nothing,” she said. “It’s just…you remind me of someone.”
“Who?”
“A princess, of course. That’s how I knew you were going to pick that sticker.”
Tessa carefully screwed the top back onto the jar and crossed the room to place it back in the cabinet. She met my eye along the way though, and I nodded, letting her know that I too had seen the marks.
“What princess?” Sarah asked.
“Well, let me tell you all about her.” Tessa settled down into the seat th
at I had previously occupied. She then launched into a story.
“There was once a beautiful little girl who didn’t know she was a princess. One day, she woke up not feeling too good. And she was so afraid because she didn’t know what was wrong with her! So she ended up having to go to the doctor. When she got to the doctor, he checked the little girl’s eyes. And he looked into her ears. And then he checked her nose.” Tessa paused to wiggle Sarah’s nose, making the girl giggle again. “And then he placed his hand on her forehead, and he jumped. He said, ‘Why little girl, you’re burning up! Do you know what that means?’ The little girl shook her head, because she didn’t know what that meant. So he leaned in and whispered to her, ‘That means someone has put a spell on you.’”
Sarah’s eyes widened; she was thoroughly riveted by the story.
I, on the other hand, was thoroughly riveted by Tessa. Her ease at connecting with Sarah was astonishing. I could easily tell that she related with patients on a personal level because she cared so much. I stood there, hating myself for the way I had spoken to her the previous day.
And my god, was she gorgeous. I found myself staring at her lips as she spoke. They were so shapely, and looked so soft, they’d be perfect around my cock.
“The little girl asked who in the world could have put a spell on her,” Tessa continued. “And the doctor told her, ‘Someone who is very jealous of you, because you are so young and beautiful and will one day have a handsome prince who wants to take you as his bride!’”
“Yuck!” Sarah exclaimed.
Tessa laughed, her face brightening and those impossibly blue eyes of hers sparkling. “Oh, you won’t be saying ‘yuck’ to that in a few years!”
“What happened next?” Sarah asked, apparently done considering whether she’d someday want a handsome prince.
“The doctor asked the little girl if she knew anyone who wanted to hurt her, or had tried to hurt her before in the past. And the little girl—she was nervous because she was afraid she would get in trouble if she told the truth. So she decided she would have to keep it a secret. Besides, she wasn’t even sure if the people who had tried to hurt her before could do magic. So she convinced herself that she didn’t have to tell. ‘I don’t know,’ the little girl told the doctor.
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