by Joan Hohl
“John invited him into town for the grand tour, which shouldn’t take very long.” Sue smiled. “I suppose they’re in the clinic and he and Seth are having a gabfest.” She glanced at the clock. “It’s five now.” Her smile turned into a laugh. “I suspect they’ll be here in time for dinner.”
“They’d better be,” Becca said, holding a strainer under running water, rinsing the grape tomatoes inside the bowl. “This is going to be one hummer of a salad.”
It was a fine September Sunday afternoon, the perfect weather for a stroll around the town of Forest Hills. After making the circuit, John invited Seth back to the clinic for a cup of coffee and some conversation.
Seth sat in the chair beside John’s desk. They were sipping John’s strong coffee, getting to know one another, biding time until they were due to return to the house for dinner.
“You know, I’ve heard of your father,” John said out of the blue. “It’s said he’s one of the best heart surgeons in the world.”
“You heard correctly.” Seth smiled. “In the operating room, my father’s a power to be reckoned with. He beats the odds more often than he loses.”
“I heard about you, too.” John smiled at him. “You started up the hospital in Africa your father and a few other doctors built.”
“Correct again.” Seth laughed. “I presume you heard of me because of all the attention Becca received when I sent her back to the States.”
John shook his head. “Oh, yes, I couldn’t have missed that as it was all over the news. But I had heard of you before, in connection to the hospital, as well as the reputation you’ve built in your own field of expertise.”
Seth shrugged off the praise, addressing only his work in Africa. “I didn’t do anything spectacular. A doctor was needed in that village and I offered to go. No big deal.”
“You did nothing spectacular except bring much-needed hope and medical care to those people in that town,” John said.
“Yeah, but my dad and his friends made it all possible by financing the hospital,” Seth said. “Becca’s the heroine of that story.”
John nodded in agreement. “From what I read, she gave her all to those people and her profession.”
For a moment, Seth felt a twinge of the familiar fear. “She damn near killed herself.” His quavering voice betrayed his feelings. He cleared his throat and said, “And even so, she argued about leaving.”
“You like her, don’t you?” John said, obviously noting the concern hiding behind his rough tone.
“Yes, of course,” Seth answered, thinking, no, like didn’t even come close to the depth of what he felt for Becca. It was a feeling he wasn’t about to confess to John, or anyone except Becca—maybe.
“She has been a great help to me here since she arrived,” John said. “After she leaves, I’ll be back on my own…unless I can talk Sue into taking Becca’s place. Sue is a nurse, you know.”
Seth shook his head, frowning. “I don’t…wait a minute. The letter Becca received did mention that Sue was a nurse. I suppose I thought she had retired from nursing, and was supplementing her income by being the housekeeper for the person who owns that lodge they dare call a cabin.”
John laughed. “Yeah, some cabin, huh?” Still chuckling, he clarified, “Sue had retired from nursing to come home here to take care of her mother after her father passed away.” He sighed. “She had been helping me out in the clinic now and then before she was offered the job of housekeeping the cabin, keeping it neat part-time between visitors and full-time while someone was there and…at a salary you wouldn’t believe.”
Seth grinned. “Yeah, I would. Whoever this person is who owns the place has to be a multi-millionaire or even a billionaire. That dump is something.” He chose not to mention that his own father had a place that put the so-called cabin to shame.
John grinned back at him, and said in a soft, conspiratorial voice, “I have spent a few nights there with Sue when nobody was in residence.”
Seth laughed, both at John’s naughty-boy tone, and in a bid to conceal the shudder rippling through him at the vivid image of he and Becca sharing that big bed in the master bedroom.
Seth felt the stirring in his lower body. If he got hard now, John would think he was as horny as a teenager. Instead, John saved Seth’s pride by glancing at his watch.
“We’d better be going,” he said, standing. “Sue said six and it’s ten of now. She won’t like having to hold dinner. Besides, I’m hungry.” Striding to the door, he opened it for Seth.
Seth was thinking he was hungry, too, but for Becca. His body calming down somewhat, he strolled from the room and the clinic to his car, which was parked right behind John’s ten-year-old vehicle.
Food first, Seth thought, then…Becca’s answer. He could only hope it would be the one he wanted to hear.
Sliding the tray of dinner rolls into the oven, Sue set the timer then glanced at the clock. “They had better get here soon,” she muttered.
Becca glanced up to smile at the frowning woman. “There’s time, it’s only ten minutes till six,” she said, glancing back at the table to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.
As Sue had decided to eat dinner in the kitchen instead of at the much larger and formal dining room, Becca had set the table with the everyday dishes, the ones she and Sue had used ever since Becca had arrived.
Everything was ready. The white wine was chilling. Becca had uncorked the red to allow it to breathe. The large salad bowl was set to one side, four smaller matching bowls next to it. A selection of dressings sat behind the grouping of salt-and-pepper shakers and a crystal butter dish.
Satisfied, Becca went to the counter to shake out and place a napkin inside a basket for the rolls. She looked up, her heart beginning to race as the doors of two separate cars were slammed shut. Moments later came the sound of footsteps up and onto the porch.
She turned as the kitchen door was opened, repressing a shiver as the men entered the room. The shiver grew, chilling her spine as Seth’s eyes immediately sought her out with a heated amber stare.
“We’re back,” John announced, voicing the obvious. “And with a few minutes to spare till six.”
“You two can go wash up,” Sue said, a warm smile on her lips for John. “Dinner is ready.”
“Yes, ma’am,” John said, his smile as warm as hers had been. “Let’s go, Seth.”
“Yes, sir,” Seth replied, shooting a grin at Becca. “I’m right behind you.”
His grin, both amused and intimate, played tricks with Becca’s senses. Heat flared in the deepest part of her body. She was at once uncertain of the decision she had made about the answer she planned to give him. When a mere grin was all a man had to do to turn her on…well…The men’s return to the kitchen scattered her already tumbling thoughts.
“Ahhh,” John murmured, inhaling deeply. “That smells wonderful, Sue.”
The Sue that Becca had come to know had seemed unflappable, but one minor compliment from the good doctor did the trick. Flushing, Sue set the large pie on the table and with a breathy “thanks” quickly turned to the stove to slide the tray of rolls from the oven.
Smiling in sympathy for the older woman, as Becca was still feeling a bit breathless herself, she retrieved the salad from the fridge. While Sue took a carafe of water from the fridge, Becca got the wine bottles and set them on the table.
To her surprise, the men waited to seat them before seating themselves. Becca assumed Seth had followed John’s lead, as he had never held a chair for her in all the years she had worked for him, and they had taken lunch and dinner together many times before.
The meal was wonderful, the conversational topics all over the place. Sometimes serious, more often amusing, they lingered over their coffee and the apple pie Sue warmed in the oven before plopping big slabs of vanilla ice cream on top of each large slice.
By the time they made a move, seemingly as of one mind to leave the table, it was nearly seven forty-five. Becca f
elt about to burst, but she also felt mellow from the delicious food, the wine and the sense of camaraderie and contentment.
Both men began to collect the dishes. Sue put an end to their efforts to help.
“Becca and I’ll do the clearing away,” she said, making a shooing motion with her hands. “You two go watch the news or a football game or something.”
“But you and Becca had the work of prepar—” That’s as far as she allowed John to go.
“And Becca and I will clear it away. Now go,” she ordered. “The sooner we get started, the sooner we’ll get finished.”
Neither Becca nor Seth said a word. They just stood by, smiling and watching. Well, Becca was smiling and watching Sue and John, but the sensation of the raised hairs on her arms, the tingle at the back of her neck, made her feel certain Seth was watching her. But while she felt as though she could feel his intent gaze on her, there was no way she could discern if he were smiling or frowning at her.
It was not a comfortable sensation. While doing her best to appear unaware of his stare, Becca lost track of the tug-of-war between Sue and John. She caught up with it just as John threw in the towel.
“Okay, okay, we’ll go into the living room.” John raised his hands in defeat. “Come on, Seth, let’s get out of here before this comes to blows.”
“As if,” Sue retorted, laughing.
John and Seth sauntered from the room. Becca exhaled in relief, glad to be out from under the microscope of Seth’s speculative gaze.
Starting to clear the table, she gave Sue a curious look. “Why were you so insistent on the men not pitching in to help out in here?”
“Because I wanted a minute to talk to you in private,” Sue answered, her cheeks growing pink again. She carried a load of dishes to the dishwasher.
“Okay,” Becca said, following her with the knives, forks and spoons. “About what?”
Sue straightened up from the dishwasher. “Becca, you’re a nurse and a mature woman, and I hope you’ll understand…” She trailed off, then burst out, “Oh, hell, Becca, I’ve asked John to stay over at my house tonight.” She grabbed a breath. “Will you be all right alone here again tonight?”
Now Becca did laugh, gently. “Of course I’ll be all right. And I won’t be alone, you know, Seth will be here with me.”
Hearing her own words squelched her laughter. She quivered inside, remembering how they had spent the night, and his proposal.
“Whew,” Sue said, beaming at Becca. “You’d figured out where I had spent last night, hadn’t you?”
Becca lips quirked in a half smile. “Well, I had my suspicions.”
“Oh, Becca, I have been in love with John for as long as I can remember.” Noting Becca’s quick frown, she hurried on. “Oh, don’t misunderstand, I loved my husband dearly, but a tiny piece of my heart always belonged to John. And now…” Tears misted her eyes.
“Now he has discovered you?”
“Yes.” Sue sniffed, followed by an uncertain smile. “We’re both in our fifties and we don’t want to waste any more time. Does that make sense to you?”
“That makes perfect sense, Sue.” Becca smiled. “How did that old line go…something about only going around once?”
“Yes.” Sue laughed. “You’re right, so let’s get done so John and I can get out of here.”
It required less than twenty minutes to put the kitchen back in order. Appearing casual, Becca and Sue joined the men in the living room. They were watching a football game on TV.
Seth glanced up at Becca, a wry smile on his lips. “The Eagles are playing the Giants.”
“Oh, that’s nice.” She didn’t give a rip about football, and Seth knew it. “I think I’ll get a book to read.” She started for her room, but turned back to give Sue a pointed look. “Did you say something about you and John going out for a while, Sue?”
“Yes, I did.” Sue returned the smile. “Are you about ready to go, John?”
“Whenever you are,” he said, pushing out of the chair’s deep cushions. “I’m a baseball fan myself.”
Seth moved to rise.
“You don’t need to get up, Seth,” John said, offering him a man-to-man grin. “We know our way out.”
“Well, ’bye now,” Sue called, leading John by the arm to the door.
Seth stared at the doorway with a “what did I miss?” expression. Stifling a laugh, Becca turned again to go for a book. But she couldn’t resist a mild teasing jab.
“You’re missing the game.” Before he could turn to her, she took off down the hallway to her room.
Seth was right behind her.
Although she didn’t hear him, she knew he was there. The tingle up her spine gave warning. Arching her eyebrows in question, she turned to look at him.
Once again he stood at the doorway, not entering without her permission, still wearing the slightly baffled look on his face.
“What was that all about in there?”
Not wanting him to see the smile flitting across her mouth, Becca turned away again, simply asking, “What was what all about?”
“That exchange there in the living room just now,” he said, impatience riding his voice. “That byplay between Sue and John…and you, too?”
The smile escaping, she slanted a sidelong glance at him. Umm, he looked sooo good, she thought.
“They were being coy, Seth. Sue and John are going to spend the night together.” She chuckled. “I suspect they did last night as well.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said, his voice low and much too seductive.
“I feel sure it would sound good to most men,” she murmured, expecting an argument as she turned fully to face him once more. He didn’t give her one.
“Have you reached a decision?” His voice was softer, his eyes wary.
Becca drew a deep breath. “Yes, I’ll spend the rest of the week with you.”
“Good,” his voice held a soft sigh of relief. Stepping inside, he crossed to her, halting abruptly when she held one hand up, palm out.
“But not tonight.”
His eyes narrowed and one brow lifted in skepticism. “You have a headache?”
Eight
B ecca gave him a wry look. “No, I don’t have a headache, Seth.”
“Then—” he began.
“But I ache everywhere else in my body.”
“Oh…” He frowned.
Becca could tell by the sudden chagrined look on his face that he understood she was sore from their sexual exercise through most of the night.
“Yes,” she said, allowing him a small smile. “So tonight I just want to read my book a while then get a good night’s sleep.”
“Of course.” Seth nodded, smiling sympathetically. “Will you bring your book into the living room, sit with me while I watch the game?”
“If you’ll recall,” she pointed out to him, “I said that’s what I was going to do.”
“Good.” Turning, he walked away.
Shaking her head in bemusement, Becca picked up the historical romance paperback from the bedside stand and followed him into the living room.
Earlier, Seth had been sitting in the butter-soft leather lounge chair. Now, he was on the sofa. He patted the cushion next to him when she entered the room.
“Come, sit beside me,” he invited, soft and low.
Becca arched her brows.
“I’ll behave,” he said, grinning, and again patting the cushion. “I promise.”
“Weelll…” she said, dragging the word out. “If you promise to keep your promise.” Becca grinned back at him, as she settled on the couch beside him.
“Hmm,” he murmured, appearing sad. “Does behaving include no kisses or hugs?”
His teasing and downcast look were so far out of character, it was simply too much. Becca burst out laughing.
“Is that a yes or a no?” His attempt to look and sound stern was pathetic.
She laughed harder. “I never knew you could be fun to be with
,” she admitted.
Seth jerked back, one hand flying to his chest, as if he had been shot. “You wound me, woman. Are you insinuating last night with me wasn’t fun?”
Still laughing at his antics, Becca covered her mouth with one hand and shook her head in the negative.
This time he managed a killer, sensual smile. “You are so sexy when you laugh, did you know that?”
“Sexy! Me? I am?” Becca was stunned. “I’m not at all sexy,” she declared, so thrilled by the compliment, the words seemed to tumble out of her mouth. “At least, no one has ever given me the slightest hint they thought I was sexy.”
“You’re not serious…are you?” One dark eyebrow arched in disbelief.
“You think I’d kid around about something like that?” she said, a tinge of annoyance in her voice, a cover-up for her sense of inadequacy. She made a move to get up, put some distance between them.
“Whoa, you stay right where you are,” Seth ordered, curving his arm around her waist. “Better yet, come here, closer to me.” He drew her stiffened body against him, raising a hand to turn her face to his.
Becca tried to move her head. He held her still, staring deeply into her eyes.
“To me, Becca, you are the sexiest woman I’ve ever set eyes on.” He moved closer, brushing his lips over her mouth.
Becca shivered in response and inched closer to him for more of the same. “Really?” she whispered, returning the favor by brushing her mouth over his lips.
“Hmm,” he murmured. “I’ve been wanting to get you into my bed, be inside you, ever since you became a member of my surgical team.”
Becca inwardly cringed against a pang in her chest. He wanted her, physically, nothing more. She closed her eyes against a rush of hot tears as Seth took possession of her mouth, and thrust his tongue between her teeth.
For a moment she went still in his arms, his kiss was physically thrilling and emotionally devastating. She wanted to push him away, but clutched him to her instead. He hadn’t lied to her, but had honestly admitted he wanted an affair, a week together of sexual fun and games.
