Caught in the Middle

by Kira Barker

  I shook my head.

  “Just the same one in another color.”

  “See, this is what I have to work with. How do people expect me to make you presentable!”

  “They don’t.”

  Ignoring me, she dove into her handbag and resurfaced with two elongated, small gel pads.

  “Here, put that into your bra. Much as I hate to admit it, you have the tits to make them work.”

  I took the proffered pieces from her, then examined them suspiciously.

  “I don’t think I need anything that will put even more emphasis on my boobs.”

  “And that’s why you don’t get laid!” she repeated, then forestalled me when I tried to object. “Just try them. For me, pretty please? Because I’m not envious enough of your rack as it is.”

  “You could try eating something once in a while. Maybe you’d grow your own then,” I shot back, but turned back around to start the long and enduring process of shimming around underneath the dress. Probably should have thought twice about dropping my panties just like that, but I was sure that she would have called me out for putting them on again now, and I was too strung out to have that conversation again. That woman simply had no shame when it came to fashion, which probably was the case for any girl Jack banged. Which now also included me. Not helping, either!

  When I finally had the stupid things where Kara claimed they belonged, I presented myself again, fake grin in place.

  “Better?”

  “Not half bad,” she agreed, then kicked a pair of terribly high heels toward me. Where she’d hidden those, I had no clue, but it was just my luck that we had the same size feet. Grumbling, I took off my socks, then slipped the shoes on. They instantly made me feel like a colt minutes after birth, but after taking two steps I found my balance. There was the usual discomfort of having my whole weight on the balls of my feet after being on them for way too many hours during the past two days, but it could have been worse. Studying myself critically in the mirror over the sink as best as possible, I had to admit that I liked the result.

  “Makeup next!” Kara ordered, and I was surprised when she only got busy with her trusty eyeliner and mascara wand. That woman could spend insane hours thrusting things into my face that I didn’t even know existed, let alone for what purpose, but today she was satisfied with what she referred to as the basics. Washing my face sounded basic enough, but she ignored me when I pointed that out.

  “You have such a healthy glow to your cheeks today, I don’t think you’ll need any foundation or blush,” she remarked casually as she stabbed the mascara wand toward my eye. At least to me it felt like stabbing.

  “It’s called being healthy.”

  “Yeah, like as if what you stuff inside your body is considered food,” she retorted, then narrowed her eyes critically. “I can do more but we’re already late, and I’m not in the mood for one of your diatribes about how makeup is clogging your pores. You’d need cement to even those out.”

  “Guess we can’t all be as pretty as you are! Gosh, that would make you look so drab and normal, you’d have to kill yourself if that ever happened!”

  Kara snorted.

  “Whatever. You know Dan, the guy I’m seeing right now, he has a couple of friends who aren’t half bad, either. Just say the word and I’ll set you up with one of them.”

  “Gee, thanks. I can do without your pity.”

  A frown stole onto her face, and she stopped checking her work and instead looked at me directly.

  “That’s odd.”

  “What is? That I’m not in the mood for you to pawn me off on one of your guy’s buddies so you can claim you’re the best matchmaker there is?”

  “No. Just the fact that whenever we’ve had this conversation, you always get in my face about being an emancipated woman and not needing a man in her life to feel fulfilled. You really are having sex with someone, only right now he’s not doing a good enough job making you scream.”

  “That’s not the problem,” I replied, maybe a little too fervently. Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment I wondered just how much she knew about what Simon liked to do for recreational activities, but then her features evened out again.

  “Suit yourself. If you don’t want to dish, I’m not going to pry. But why are you making such a secret out of this? Just call him—he can tag along. Unless it’s someone from the hospital… I don’t need another stuck up doctor raining on my parade. Plus then all anyone would talk about are horrible infectious diseases, and I’ve listened to you lecture Jack one time too many on that topic.”

  Shrugging, I got up and reached for the small handbag I’d brought along, but before I got to the door, Kara was at it again.

  “Ha, you didn’t even bat an eyelash on that! Is it Jack? I’m totally fine with you screwing him. I mean, I’m lending you my shoes, I have no issues with sharing my fuck buddy. Just not when I’m in the room—that would be too weird.”

  As if on cue, Jack stepped out of his room just as we were leaving the bathroom, crowding us all into the hallway. I had no clue how much of that he’d heard, but he had one of those shit-eating grins going on, so I had to do damage control before this could get out of hand.

  “Do you really think that such a prime example of the male species like Jack here would leave me almost insane with unfulfilled sexual need? No need to guess, just speak from experience.”

  Kara laughed, then pushed me toward the front room, almost unbalancing me on those fucking heels.

  “Nah, it can’t be him. He’s pretty good with the ladies.”

  “Only pretty good? You offend me! Deeply wound me!” Jack protested. “I think I need to refresh your memory. Care to step outside with me for a moment?”

  “You two are disgusting!” I huffed, then fled into the front room, happy that Jack had thrown Kara off my trail. That put me right in front of Simon who was waiting, leaning against the kitchen counter, delectable in dress slacks, shirt, and a sports jacket. He normally didn’t dress up like that, but he looked good in it. I might have been biased. He’d have looked even better naked, screwing me silly upstairs.

  Stomping down hard on those thoughts, I did my best to appear calm and confident, or lacking the former, I thrust my chest out, hoping those stupid pads really did something else than feel weird. Simon’s eyes roamed over my body, and I had a moment where all I wanted to do was race back into the bathroom and put on pants. The dress was too short, and considering that I could walk in heels but not too well, that sounded like a recipe for disaster—or at least flashing someone.

  “Does this meet your approval?” I said, aiming for haughty, but my voice sounded a little too strangled to pull it off.

  “It will do,” he shot back, adding just enough condescension to make me mad, saving me from glowing with pride.

  Yep, I was truly and utterly fucked.

  Kara and Jack spilling out of the hall saved me from having to come up with a reply, as did the timely arrival of the taxi. As usual, Jack took the seat in the front thanks to carrying the most physical bulk with him, while Simon had to make do with folding his long legs into the middle seat in the back. Kara squeezed in on his right, I on his left, and off we went.

  After giving directions, Kara continued the discussion with Simon until her phone rang, distracting her. I was surprised when my own phone chirped in my bag, signaling an incoming text message. It was from Simon.

  I approve.

  Thank you, I sent back, then, after a moment’s pause, I added, Sir.

  I got a grin for my effort that was both devious and strangely enticing.

  Good girl.

  That mollified me a little, but not enough to smooth my ruffled feathers.

  Just so you know, not wearing any panties, either, I texted back.

  He sent me a sidelong glance after skimming his phone’s display.

  Definitely approving of that.

  Because I never knew when to let things be, I had to have the last word.
r />   And how does it feel that you know, and can’t do a thing with that knowledge?

  I might have gloated a little as I watched him read my message, but that look froze on my face when he shifted and suddenly his hand was high up on my thigh, barely hidden underneath where I’d folded my jacket over my arm. Not enough that his warm fingers on my skin felt good, no, he had to slide his hand further up my leg, inch by enticing inch, until the heel of his hand bumped against my pussy. I sucked air in noisily as his little finger found my clit. Even squeezing my thighs together didn’t stop him.

  Then my phone chirped again, both a welcome distraction and a true annoyance. This time the text was from Jack.

  What the fuck are you guys doing back there? You just went beet red in the face?!

  Just breathing without letting out the moan building inside my chest was a feat, and I kept my eyes trained ahead in my attempt not to let distraction get the better of me.

  “None of your damn business,” I hissed under my breath, sure that the words would find the right recipient.

  Simon heard, of course, and besides grinning like a fool, he twisted his hand further so that now his middle and ring finger could join the party.

  Tension ratcheted up inside of me beyond what I could take, and my fingers closed around Simon’s knee, pretty much the only part I could reach with his arm now wedged in between our bodies. That was exactly the moment Kara ended her phone call, making me want to shy away before she could notice, but I simply couldn’t as it was the only lifeline I had left. The only thing I could do was nudge my jacket forward to try to hide it, but it felt like the most glaringly obvious thing, impossible to ignore.

  As if nothing had happened, Simon resumed his former conversation with Kara, all the while continuing to stroke me in that maddeningly steady, slow rhythm—and we were still several blocks away from our destination.

  I tried to clear my head of anything, and when that didn’t help, I tried to focus on something, but my phone chirping with yet another message sent that all to hell. It took me almost twenty seconds to swipe the screen saver away so that I could blink owlishly at the new text from Simon. How he could talk, text, and drive me insane all at the same time was beyond me.

  Just a little reminder, you’re still not allowed to come without permission. And I’m not granting you permission until you beg.

  For a moment, the messages seemed like my salvation, but then I realized that they truly weren’t. The interior of a car was not the space where I could hide a climax just like that, and one that felt like it had been building for two hours now no less. And judging from the glint in his eyes when he glanced at me briefly, I doubted that he’d even give his permission if I pleaded for it at the top of my lungs.

  “Are you even listening to me?” Kara complained, sounding annoyed.

  “I’m hanging on every single word you say,” Simon assured her, turning toward her as much as his position would let him. And oh, wonder of wonders, that finally dislodged his hand from where it had been tormenting me.

  I could have cried with gratitude, then again because the need to come was overwhelming.

  The rest of the drive went by in a haze, and my legs were still kind of unsteady when it was time to exit the car. As he followed me to the entrance of the bar we were aiming for, Simon rested his hand at my lower back in passing, making me even more conscious of just how I craved his touch.

  The people we were meeting here were already in evidence, evenly distributed around a couple of low tables. Smiles, greetings, and names were exchanged, washing in a wave over me that didn’t leave an impression in my mind. There was a free space at the end of one of the low benches that I fled to, happy to be off my feet quickly, only to find Simon taking the freshly vacated seat next to me. Jack took the single chair across from us, while Kara disappeared into the mass of well-dressed people on the other end of the group.

  At first I was afraid that Simon would keep up his game from the car, but he remained relaxed—and at a comfortable distance—beside me, soon letting himself get drawn into a conversation with two bankers sitting across from him. Jack oozed his charm all over the waitress until the impressionable git fled with a giggle and bright eyes, and I resigned myself to the fate of light conversation and equally light drinks. As much as the war zone between my legs called for tequila, I was scheduled for work at six sharp in the morning. No rest for the wicked.

  As the evening went on, I felt myself relax, even though the need to either wring Simon’s neck or drag him into the next half-hidden corner remained. Kara’s friends were less annoying than I’d feared, but more vapid than I’d hoped. Two of the guys made a move on me, but I needn’t have bothered trying to deter them. Between them, Jack and Simon took care of discouraging my would-be suitors, and with enough ease to make me wonder just how often they’d played that very hand in the past but I’d remained oblivious to it. I didn’t dwell on those thoughts, though, because they would have complicated matters that didn’t need complication right then.

  It was a couple of minutes after 9:30 p.m. when my phone rang. I knew the time because I’d checked repeatedly during the past hour, and decided that any moment now I could start excusing myself and claim my need for rest for my exit strategy. The number flashing on the display made my heart sink as I got to my feet, stepping around Simon to extricate myself from our merry round.

  “Hospital,” I explained, my voice sounding terribly dejected even to my own ears, and angled for the terrace just outside our sitting area.

  I picked up as soon as I was out of the perpetual noise pollution of the bar, my tone now hard and clipped. They knew I’d just come off a shift—if they called me in now, I was going to rip McGilles a new one… ignoring the fact that I was lightly intoxicated, and thus in no state to come in, anyway.

  “Slater.”

  “Erin? I’m so glad I got a hold of you,” Eliza piped up. I felt myself stiffen instinctively. We weren’t exactly friends, more like rivals from the day we’d both started our internships and then transitioned to our respective residencies, and as far as I knew, she’d ended her ER rotation the week before.

  “What’s up?” I asked, sounding as wary as I felt. If this had been a social call, she would have used her own phone, not one of the hospital lines.

  “You’re scheduled for day shift tomorrow, right? Would you mind… I mean, I still need a couple of…”

  Already I felt my heart sink, but before I could speak up, I heard a commotion on the other end of the line, then Zoe Tyne’s voice barked harshly at me.

  “Slater, you’re delegated to night shift tomorrow. Little crybaby Eliza here wants more practice, and whoever she’s blowing right now penciled her in for half the OR plan tomorrow. Besides, with only two nights until the next full moon, I’m sure that the ER will be flooded with lunatics again, and I need my best soldiers manning the stations. Any objections?”

  “No, ma’am,” I piped up, only marginally amused by the sound of her grumbling under her breath.

  “Make the best of it. Catch up on sleep. Eat. Read. Fuck whoever had you hightailing it out of this shithole this afternoon, I don’t give a shit. I’ll see you at six sharp tomorrow night.”

  “Yes, boss,” I pressed out between gritted teeth, not sure what I was annoyed at the most—that my bootie call routine was that obvious, that Eliza was stealing the few scheduled ORs I’d already had my eye on, or that chances were slim to none that Simon would even let me take care of that peskiest of businesses. Thankfully Zoe hung up before I could say anything else, leaving me fuming about her and the unfathomable unfairness of the world in general.

  In fact, I was so busy moping, if stealthily so, that I didn’t notice Jack stepping up to me until he touched my upper arm lightly.

  “Whatever that phone did to you, I doubt it deserves that death glare,” he remarked, beaming his best charming smile at me.

  “Guess not,” I admitted, then turned the screen off, casting us both in
to momentary darkness.

  We were alone on the terrace, but still close enough to the sitting area that there was enough light to illuminate his features. He was standing decidedly too close, but then being in the vicinity of anything fuckable would have qualified as such for me right then.

  Why the fuck did I let Simon do this to me?

  Ah, right—because it was as fascinating as it was frustrating.

  Either I had a worse poker face than I’d guessed, or Jack had picked up a few hints along the way, because the look he regarded me with turned shrewd.

  “Trouble at the hospital?”

  I shrugged.

  “Sneaky resident stole my day shift and all the ORs I’ve been penciled in to assist with.”

  “Do you still need any? You only have a few more weeks to go, right?”

  “Eight weeks on this rotation,” I agreed, then gave a noncommittal grunt. “Any hour in the OR that I can log is vital, but she definitely needs them more than I do. I got the night shift instead, boss told me so herself.”

  His eyes narrowed.

  “Let me get this straight. You’re complaining because you get an extra half day of free time and your boss calls you personally because she wants to make sure that she has her star pupil exactly where she wants her to be? Remind me again why you’re complaining?”

  Looking at it like that, I was left with remaining silent. Jack laughed softly but took his small victory in stride.

  “Seriously, why are you gnashing your teeth like that? And it’s not just the phone call. You’ve been terribly irritable tonight.”

  “Maybe because you and Simon have joined forces in your League of Extraordinary Cockblockers?”

  I got a snort for my troubles, but if that was even possible, he leaned closer without actually moving.

  “Just weeding out the sub-par offerings you would have rejected yourself. Last time I pulled Barry out of the equation, you didn’t complain that much.”

  “Not to you, maybe. I still remember complaining to Simon.”

  “And I remember that that ultimately ended with you writhing between us, which you seemed to enjoy a lot, so remind me again why you’re protesting now?”