D is for Doctor (ABCs of Love Sweet Romance Book 4)

by Brenna Jacobs

  Avery watched as he turned the stove on and cracked an egg into a skillet. “Do you cook?” she asked, hesitation in her voice.

  David tossed a grin over his shoulder. “Enough that you should trust me.”

  “Fine, fine. I surrender. Feed me what you will.” Avery had long since decided David was sexy in his scrubs. But David cooking in his scrubs? It did weird things to her brain. He could save her life and also make her breakfast?

  Avery blushed at the thought. She’d come over to chastise him. To ask him to butt out of her life, or at least be nice to her boyfriend. How had she wound up sitting at his kitchen counter, fantasizing about his finer qualities, watching him assemble what looked to be the most beautiful breakfast sandwich she’d ever laid eyes on?

  David slid the plate in front of her, a gleam in his eye. “Go ahead. Taste it.”

  Avery raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t you going to have one?”

  “Sure. But I want you to try yours first.”

  Avery looked at the croissant, laden with bacon and a fried egg, over easy just the way she liked it. Avocado peeked out from underneath the egg and there was some sort of sauce David had drizzled over the bacon before topping the sandwich. She carefully picked it up, taking a bite that would have made her older brother proud. He’d always told her he loved that she wasn’t dainty about her food.

  Avery savored the flavors of the sandwich, at once wondering what the sauce was that made it all taste so different, so amazing. “What did you put on this thing?” she said, taking a second bite.

  “It’s amazing, right?”

  “I think I might cry.”

  “It’s tomato butter,” David said. “You reduce fresh tomatoes down to almost nothing, puree them, then mix in cream and melted butter.”

  “Oh! There’s a restaurant downtown that does something similar with their fried green tomatoes. It’s heavenly.”

  David nodded, finally assembling his own sandwich. “My mom adds it to everything. Burgers, pasta. She basically treats it like a traditional condiment.”

  “I bet it works great on a burger. Seriously. This is the best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever had.”

  “I’m glad you like it.” He smiled. “It makes me happy to see you happy.”

  A tiny twinge of guilt pinged in Avery’s chest. Was it right that she hang out with David so much knowing that he had feelings for her? He’d just admitted that very morning to feeling jealous of Tucker. What else could that mean but he liked her? She loved being around David, but she didn’t want to be that girl. The girl that basked in attention because it felt good when there was no chance of a relationship actually developing.

  Another twitch in heart made her think that last thought wasn’t entirely accurate. Was there truly no chance of a relationship with David? Were her feelings so determined? She pushed the thought away, afraid of what she might realize if she let her mind keep going.

  David finished his sandwich in a handful of bites. Apparently, he wasn’t dainty about his food either. He reached for her plate, placing it in the sink with his own. After throwing everything back in the fridge and giving his counters a quick wipe-down, he looked at Avery and smiled. “Now I really do have to go.”

  She nodded. ‘Thanks for feeding me.”

  “It’s the least I could do after you introduced me to oysters.” She followed him to the front door where he grabbed his keys from a table in the entryway. He held his front door open, waiting for her to exit before closing and locking the door. They walked together down his front porch steps, pausing at the door to his car.

  “Have a good day,” she told David as she backed away. She stood on the grassy strip that separated their driveways and watched as he pulled onto Marshall Boulevard. He waved one last time, then disappeared down the road.

  Avery glanced at her watch. She was going to be late for work herself if she didn’t hurry, but she stood there a moment longer, wondering why she felt so different. More importantly, what was she going to do about it?

  Chapter 10

  David pulled his sunglasses onto his face and sank low in the driver seat of his car. He didn’t think Tucker knew what he drove, but better safe than sorry. Not that Tucker had reason to suspect David might be lurking around his downtown office. Guys like Tucker didn’t worry about getting caught. They waltzed through life believing there wasn’t anything their money or influence couldn’t buy.

  An image of Avery snuggled up against Tucker flashed through David’s mind and his jaw clenched. He’d told Avery he’d be nice to Tucker if he ever saw him around, and he’d hold true to his word. It might even help him in the end. If he was nice to Tucker, maybe Tucker wouldn’t suspect he was being set up. Well, eventually he’d be set up. David was still in the information gathering stages of his whole entrapment plan.

  He’d nearly given up on the whole stupid idea. He was an Ivy League educated, top of his class, highly qualified physician. Medical News Monthly had named him the most promising young doctor of the year. And yet, here he was, parked behind a huge crepe myrtle outside Tucker’s office, hoping he’d catch him leaving so he could follow him home.

  It maybe wasn’t his proudest moment. But he’d sacrifice his pride if it meant leading Avery to the truth.

  Still, David wasn’t exactly sure what he expected to find even if he did follow Tucker home. What would he do then? Watch his house all night?

  David sighed and clicked on his phone, watching the time flip from 6:59 to 7:00 PM. His hand hovered over the gear shift. The whole plan was dumb. Avery had made her feelings clear. If forced to choose, she’d choose Tucker. The thought stung more than it should. Avery didn’t know Tucker was a cheating jerk and she did have more history with the guy. She hadn’t meant her choice to feel like an insult. But David did know what Tucker was, which made Avery’s words feel like a direct attack on his pride.

  David retrained his gaze on the door of Tucker’s law firm. He’d see this thing through and figure out a way to show Avery the truth, even if he couldn’t tell her.

  Minutes later, the hour David had spent waiting and watching finally paid off. Tucker walked out the front door of his firm, his keys jangling in his hand. He walked half a block down the sidewalk, away from David, before climbing into a fancy looking sports car David couldn’t identify. A Jaguar, maybe? It looked European. It for sure wasn’t the truck David had seen parked in Avery’s driveway. Which was maybe intentional? You couldn’t exactly visit your secret girlfriend in a car as conspicuous as a red Jaguar.

  David eased his car into drive and pulled out, following a few hundred feet behind Tucker. His best hope was discovering some sort of routine. Did he and Jessica go to dinner at the yacht club every week? Did they go to the gym together? If he could figure out some pattern of where they were at a specific time of the week, all he had to do was figure out a way to get Avery to the same place, at the same time.

  All the way across the Cooper River bridge and into Mt. Pleasant, David tried and failed to convince himself he wasn’t being ridiculous. Momentum and righteous indignation propelled him forward anyway, right up until he watched Tucker pull up to the front of a gated neighborhood where a security guard opened the gate and waved Tucker through.

  No way David could follow Tucker into his neighborhood, so he kept going, pulling off a mile up the road into the parking lot of a sleek-looking coffee house. He stared at the Velvet Undergrounds sign, recognizing the chain as one he’d frequently visited during med school. He and his girlfriend, during a particularly long study session, had visited three different times. The third time, the barista behind the counter had given them their drinks for free.

  It was a life that felt millions of miles away. He’d been a good boyfriend to Melissa. At least, he thought he had been. He’d tried to be attentive and present. He’d respected her, remembered her birthday, gone to multiple dinners and holiday events with her family. Their relationship had been fine. Normal. But in retrospect, was fine really w
hat he should have been going for? Fine was boring. Fine was safe.

  Nothing about Avery felt safe. Which is maybe why he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Why he’d just driven twenty minutes outside of the city to the see the neighborhood where her jerk of an ex-boyfriend lived. Because being around Avery made his life feel exciting in ways that he’d never imagined possible.

  David grabbed his cell phone from the center console and pulled up the text message Avery had sent him that afternoon. It was a picture of a baby seal recently born at the aquarium. The text that came in with the picture read: Obviously I’ve gotten tons of work done today. *Readjusts phone and takes seventy-fifth picture of most adorable baby seal ever.*

  He smiled, happy that she’d felt like texting him even after their semi-tense conversation the morning before, when she’d told him to be nicer to Tucker. He’d hoped sharing his breakfast had helped to smooth things over; it was nice to have the text validate that thought.

  David shifted in his seat. Following Tucker home and plotting a way to entrap him in his cheating probably didn’t qualify as nicer. But David knew more than Avery did. He was doing this for her.

  He responded to Avery’s message. That IS adorable. I could send you a picture of the patient that came in with a steak knife embedded in his leg, but I’m not sure it would have the same effect.

  She replied almost instantly. Yeah, probably not. I’m glad you get paid well.

  Before he could come up with another reply, Tucker’s red car slowed and stopped at the red light, just beside the coffee house parking lot. David’s heart jumped in his chest, and he tossed his phone back onto the console, ready to follow Tucker wherever he was headed.

  He didn’t have to go far. Less than a mile down the road, Tucker stopped in front of a row of posh condominiums. David pulled in behind him, parking several cars down so as not to be noticed. Tucker left the car running, only getting out long enough to knock on the door of the second condo from the end. Jessica emerged almost immediately, locking the condo door behind her before following Tucker to the car.

  David didn’t follow them when they left. He’d already pushed his luck following Tucker as far as he did. He didn’t want to give himself away. But he still called his expedition a success. After all, he’d figured out where Jessica lived, and she was the most important part of the whole plot. Because for Avery to figure out what Tucker was up to, Jessica needed to be present.

  ***

  Two weeks and four trips to Mt. Pleasant later, and David was mostly sure he’d picked up on a pattern. Tucker frequently went over to Jessica’s after work. Sometimes they stayed in, more often they went out. Two Tuesdays in a row, out had meant the Charleston Yacht Club.

  One more Tuesday, and he’d know for sure it was a pattern he could count on. He’d already swung by the yacht club on his way to Jessica’s condo and hadn’t seen Tucker’s Jaguar. His truck might have been there, but so far, he’d always driven the fancier car when taking Jessica out. David wasn’t proud that he knew this information about Tucker. He wasn’t proud about much of his behavior over the last two weeks. But he was too far in to back out now. Seeing Tucker’s car parked in front of Jessica’s front door, David pulled into his customary spot at the end of the row of parking spaces. He’d only wait a few minutes. Dinner at the yacht club started at seven, which meant if they were headed that way, he wouldn’t have long to wait. If they didn’t leave, he’d have to adjust his plan, see if he could find somewhere else he might set up a confrontation with Avery.

  It had killed him the last few times he’d seen Tucker at Avery’s house. They never seemed to go anywhere, which was surely intentional on Tucker’s part, but Avery didn’t seem to care. She’d rather grill out and relax on her back porch anyway. She probably hadn’t even noticed Tucker never wanted to be seen with her in public.

  The last time he saw them together, they’d been in the driveway when David arrived home from work. It had been a long day, punctuated by a car accident with multiple victims, only one of whom David had managed to save. His emotions were raw and close to the surface and Tucker kissing Avery right as David got out of his car was almost enough to send him careening across the strip of grass that separated their driveways to punch the guy right in the nose.

  David had never been a violent man, but Tucker was making him think that maybe he could be.

  After a few months of personal training.

  And some classes on boxing.

  And maybe also a personality transplant.

  So fine. Maybe he wouldn’t actually hit the guy. But he for sure liked thinking about it.

  Outside the window of David’s car, a boy on a skateboard flew by, going way too fast for the narrow sidewalk. What’s worse, the kid wasn’t wearing a helmet or any kind of protective gear on his knees or elbows. David tensed, feeling in his bones he was about to witness an accident. Sure enough, the kid clipped the curb with his board, flying up and backwards before landing on his side, his wrist taking most of the impact.

  David glanced at his phone, noting the time, and swore. If he got out and helped the kid, he’d be right in front of Jessica’s condo exactly when he expected the couple to leave for the yacht club. He watched a second longer as the kid struggled to push himself up.

  Instinct and training took over and he was out of the car without another thought. At least he was still wearing his scrubs. It might make the kid more likely to trust him. He crouched over the boy, already scanning his limbs for scrapes or other signs of injury.

  “That was quite a fall,” he said softly.

  The boy sniffed and nodded.

  “I’m Dr. Daniels,” David said. “I just happened to see you go down. Is it okay if I take a quick look at your wrist?”

  The boy nodded.

  “What’s your name?” David asked as he examined the boy’s arm.

  “DeShawn,” the boy said, sniffing again. “Please don’t tell my mom I fell.”

  David shook his head. “Sorry, man. Pretty sure you’ve got a trip to the hospital in your future. I think your arm is broken.”

  Tears welled in the boy’s eyes. “She’s going to be so mad. She told me to get my helmet, but I didn’t listen.”

  “Did you hit your head?” David asked. He ran his fingers over the back of the DeShawn’s head but didn’t feel anything alarming.

  DeShawn shook his head. “I don’t think so.” His lip quivered and he shuddered through a breath. “My arm really hurts.”

  “DeShawn?!”

  David looked up to see a black woman running toward them, her hand pressed against her chest. She stopped beside DeShawn and bent down. “DeShawn, baby? What happened?”

  The tears flew freely now. “I’m sorry, Mama. I should have listened.” He looked up at David. “The doctor thinks I broke my arm.”

  The woman’s eyes widened, and she followed DeShawn’s gaze to David. “The doctor?” she questioned.

  “Sorry,” David said. “I’m Dr. Daniels. I was sitting in my car and just happened to see him fall. I work in the ER at MUSC.”

  “Thank you for helping him,” she said cautiously. “You really think he needs to go to the hospital?”

  David nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. His right arm took most of the impact. The way it’s already starting to swell, I’m guessing it’s a distal radius fracture. That’s the bone just above the joint of the wrist.”

  She reached down and wiped the tears off of DeShawn’s face. “How many times have I told you not to ride that thing without your helmet on? And without your wrist guards? I love you, baby. And I’ll take you to the hospital and we’ll do whatever we have to do to fix you up.” She took a deep breath. “But you had this one coming.”

  David smiled. The woman reminded him of his own mom, the way she managed to both love and scold her child in the same breath.

  “Are you parked close by?” David asked.

  “Just right around the corner,” the woman said. “Come here, baby,” she
said, reaching for DeShawn. “Let’s get you up.”

  David picked up the skateboard, planning to carry it to the woman’s car, when someone behind him called his name. “Dr. Daniels?”

  He froze. It was inevitable, really. He’d known if he got out of his car, Jessica and Tucker would see him. He slowly turned around, meeting Jessica’s eyes. She was the one who had called his name. Tucker stood beside her, a question in the set of his brow, and the firm line of his mouth.

  “I thought that was you,” Jessica said. She closed the distance between them. “Do you remember us? We came to the ER a few weeks ago when Tucker sprained his wrist.”

  “Right. I do remember you,” David said. He ran a hand across his face and willed his nerves to settle.”

  David still held the skateboard in front of him. He glanced over his shoulder to see DeShawn’s mom coming back for it.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Excuse me just for a minute.” He turned and walked toward her, holding out the skateboard. “Go to MUSC Childrens,” he told her. “They’ll take good care of you there.”

  The woman nodded. “Thank you for your help.”

  David waved at DeShawn then walked back toward Jessica and Tucker, who still watched him from the sidewalk.

  “Someone you know?” Tucker asked, his tone pointed.

  “Ah, no,” David said. “I was just sitting in my car and I saw the boy fall.” David swallowed. “I’m pretty sure he broke his arm.”

  “Oh, no!” Jessica said. “I’m so glad you were here and could help him.”

  “Yeah,” Tucker said, nodding his head. “That sure is convenient. What, exactly, are you doing here?”

  “Oh.” David wiped his palms on his scrubs. Had it gotten hotter in the last thirty seconds? It suddenly felt hotter. “I was, um, just visiting a friend. A date. A date . . . friend. Do, um, you live here too?”

  “I do,” Jessica said, all sweetness. “Who’s your friend? Maybe I know her.”