“You always wear a long shirt under your scrubs,” she blurted, glancing meaningfully at the tattoo running from his shoulder to his forearm. “Is that because you’re trying to hide that?”
His eyes narrowed for a split second, then he seemed to relax once more. “Maybe a bit. But it’s more because we have to keep the room cold. I get hot at times, but normally, it’s a chilly room and I don’t like being cold.”
Roxanne made a noncommittal noise and turned away, not wanting to think about him being hot. He was. But she didn’t need to think about it. Bad idea, thinking about him being hot. Or heated. Or…whatever!
Bad!
“Joe, can you get the lady a glass of wine?” Abe called.
The bartender nodded once and started to reach for something, but Roxanne wasn’t regressing. “I don’t want wine,” she decided. “How about a whiskey?”
The bartender hesitated, then glanced at Abe.
Roxanne gasped, horrified. “Seriously? You’re looking to him for permission to pour me a whiskey?”
Roxanne stood up, prepared to leave and get drunk somewhere else! “Fine!”
Abe laughed and grabbed her arm, pulling her back into her seat. “Slow down, Roxy. He wasn’t asking permission to pour you a drink, honey. He was looking to me to see if I was going to give you a ride home. Joe doesn’t allow anyone to drink and drive.”
“Oh,” she replied, her anger deflating as fast as it had exploded. “Well….that’s good then. I mean…,” she sighed, rubbing her forehead as she looked at Joe. “Please, could I have a whiskey? I will call a cab tonight. I just…” she glanced down at the papers, then away again.
“What’s in the papers that’s so upsetting?” he asked gently.
Roxanne eyed the papers as if they were a snake. “Nothing important.” There was silence for a moment. “Do you like cats?” she asked.
Abe eyed the woman that had fascinated him since he’d hired on with the hospital a month ago. The strawberry blond hair and golden eyes, pale, almost white, skin plus that wide, sexy mouth were a combination that was enough to light any man’s imagination. Add in her saucy comebacks, her take-no-prisoners way of getting things done, and her long, long legs…he’d been a goner since the first time she’d turned her back on him.
Ironic that the other female staff in the hospital were annoying in their attempts to ask him out and yet, the one person he would actually consider violating his rule about dating in the workplace for rejected even his friendship overtures.
“Cats?”
She smiled as Joe put the small glass of whiskey in front of her. “Yes. Cats. Do you like them?”
Actually, he was more of a dog person. “Since I’m at the hospital about eighty hours a week, sometimes in surgery for twenty-four hours straight, I don’t think it would be fair to own any pets.”
She sighed, nodding her head. “Understandable.” Then she glanced at the documents again.
“Why? Do you have a cat?” he asked, prompting her for information.
She cringed. “No way! No pets here!”
He laughed. “Not an animal person?”
Roxy took a brave sip of her whiskey, cringed slightly, then shook her head. “I love animals. And I love cats and dogs equally. I’d love to have a whole bunch of pets and kids and…” she looked at him self-consciously, then at his tattoo again and clammed up, turning back to the bar. “Well, I don’t have any.”
“But you want a cat?”
Roxy laughed and Abe’s stomach tightened with the sound. Her laugh was deep and rich, filled with humor! Damn, she should laugh more often. Roxy was always so serious at work. Although he understood. She had a great deal of responsibility at her job and any mistake would cause the surgeons and nurses to rant furiously at her. But still…that laugh was practically lethal!
“Actually, I just inherited a cat.” She tilted her head slightly and Abe looked at her neck. He wondered what would happen if he kissed her neck. That skin was so pale, so delicate, he’d bet that it was extremely sensitive. Again, his body tightened at his wayward thoughts.
“How did you inherit a cat?”
She sighed, looking up at the ceiling as she blinked rapidly. His gut tightened when he realized that she was trying to keep herself from tearing up. “My mother died recently.”
That piece of information startled him and he eyed her thoughtfully, thinking back through the last few days. She’d never missed a day of work, and yet, her mother had just passed away? What the hell?!
“Roxy?” he prompted.
She laughed, a stilted sound that was more of a hiccup and his heart lurched. She picked up the napkin and angrily wiped away an errant tear. “My mother’s will,” she explained, tapping the papers on the bar. “She left her house and all of her money to her cat. I got her collection of glass figurines with the stipulation that I have to dust them every week.”
There was a long silence as Abe absorbed that information. Her mother had died and left…glass ornaments to her daughter and everything else to…a cat?!
That was ludicrous! “You’re kidding, right?”
“It’s pathetic, isn’t it?” She sighed and took another sip of her whiskey. “My mother never approved of anything I did, so it shouldn’t be a shock that she didn’t leave anything to me. But,” she sniffed, “well, it would be one thing if she hadn’t had anything to give away. But she had a bloody fortune! Over half a million dollars, plus a house that was fully paid off…everything, all of her money as well as the proceeds from the sale of her house, is going to the cat.” That’s when Roxy turned to look at him, obviously forgetting that she hated Abe. “That cat is horrible! I mean, he’s vicious, evil, and aggressive at every opportunity! He hates everyone but my mother.”
Abe chuckled. “That bad, huh?”
Roxy took another sip of her whiskey, only wrinkling her nose a little this time. The flavor was beginning to grow on her. “Worse. He’s evil.” She rubbed her forehead. “And now, I’ve inherited a very wealthy cat.” She took another sip. “And a bunch of cheap, tacky glass figurines.” She turned to face him and Abe had to concentrate when her knees brushed against his inner thigh. He knew that he was man-spreading, but it was just easier to watch her in profile this way. Well, easier until she turned to face him. Now her legs were between his and…damn, she looked hot!
“Every week in high school, my mother ordered me to dust all of those damn bits of glass. It took hours! I had to lift every one of them up, dust it with a feather duster, then wipe off the shelf underneath. One at a time. She didn’t trust me to take all of them off, dust the stupid shelf, then put the stuff back on it. Nope! One at a time!”
“Sounds tedious.” She was on a roll now and it was interesting to watch her let loose. Roxy was always serious, always in control at the hospital. She was alert and aware of everything, more than ready to take on whatever challenge came her way. Obviously, the whiskey and the beer were helping her ease up.
“And another thing!” she snapped, holding the glass and pointing at him with the same hand. “She has money! A lot of it! Why couldn’t she have helped me get through college? Not that anyone is entitled to a college degree. I understand that. But a few bucks for books or something when she was sitting on all of that money would have been greatly appreciated!” She took another sip and Abe debated cutting her off versus letting her vent.
“Of course, it’s her money and she should do what she wants with it. But how about a vacation? She didn’t take vacations because only hussies take vacations! Or lazy people who have no self-discipline,” she said, obviously mimicking her mother’s voice. “And college? She taunted me with college all through high school, telling me I was too stupid to get in. Then she ridiculed me for getting into college with a full scholarship! She said I didn’t deserve it and that I was going to fail out in the first semester. When I got straight As that semester, she sniffed and surmised that I probably cheated!”
The woman sounded like a fi
rst class bitch, Abe thought, but kept his mouth shut. He understood that Roxy had been holding back on this for a while.
“I dress like a prude, you know!” she told him, leaning forward as if telling him a secret.
He was fully aware of her prim outfits. They were part of her allure, in his mind. She might dress like a librarian, but with her round hips and full breasts, there was no way she could hide behind the stiff fabrics. Roxy was hot! Not skinny or fat, just rounded and soft in all the right places. His hands ached to touch her, to feel what was hidden underneath those horrible outfits. He took another slug of his beer, but shook his head when the bartender silently asked if he wanted another. A moment later, ice water appeared at his elbow.
“Why did she make you dress like this?” he asked, referring to the ugly, wool dress. Why the hell was she wearing black wool in August anyway?
“She said that only insecure hussies wear revealing clothes. ‘Hussy’ was her favorite term.” She sighed. “Once I came downstairs in a short sleeved shirt with long pants for a school picnic in July. She ordered me right back upstairs to change, then she took the shirt and shredded it.” She smiled slightly, but Abe suspected that what was to come next wouldn’t be very funny. “She even poured lighter fluid onto the shirt and lit it on fire, telling me that I was going to burn in hell if I exposed skin like that.”
She sounded like a lunatic! “So, now that she’s gone, are you going to continue to follow her guidance?” He thought about Roxy in clothes that fit her, something that might flatter her soft, sexy figure and his mind blanked for several moments. She was beautiful and…damn if she wore nicer clothes, he might just lose his mind.
Roxanne considered his question for a moment. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I’d really love to go out and get a new wardrobe, things that she’d hate. Unfortunately,” she sighed, her shoulders slumping even more, “it’s difficult to get her voice out of my head.”
Abe knew that she’d had enough to drink. “Why don’t we go play some pool and you can tell me more about this cat that has inherited so much money?”
Roxy glanced at the pool tables, then at her drink. “I need to pay for my drinks,” she muttered, pulling back on his grip as she reached for her wallet.
“Don’t worry about it. The bartender put your drinks on my tab. I’ve got it covered.”
“I can’t let you pay for me, Doctor McCullough!” she asserted with stiff dignity that was a bit lost since she was digging into her ugly purse.
“Sure you can. Just think of it as your first defiance against your mother’s…” He almost said “abuse” but pulled back at the last second, “…strict rules. I think it’s time that you broke every one of her rules and got your life back.”
She stumbled a bit when she slid off of the bar stool, but Abe didn’t mind at all. It gave him the opportunity to wrap his arm around her waist, holding her against him. As he led her to the pool tables, he was amazed at how good she actually felt. But he kept his hand on her waist, refusing to violate her trust. She didn’t need a guy to cop a cheap feel tonight. Roxy needed someone to help her get through the next twenty-four hours and maybe a shoulder to cry on.
Abe thought that he was just the man for the job!
Chapter 2
Roxy opened her eyes and blinked, not sure where she was. It definitely wasn’t her apartment. Nor her mother’s house since her old bedroom had been converted into another shrine for stupid glass figurines the day after she’d left for college. There was no bed, just a bunch of stupid, ugly, glass animals, elves, fairies, and whatever. Each was stupider and more tacky than the other.
So…if she wasn’t in her apartment. And she wasn’t in her mother’s house, which was a good thing because that horrid cat would be hissing and trying to steal the blanket, where was she?
“Good morning sunshine!” a deep voice called from the doorway. Roxy rolled over, towards the door, and cringed as pain shot through her head. “Here. Drink this.”
Roxy opened one eye, flinching at the bright light coming from the huge window. “What is that? And why would I drink it?”
“It’s to help with your hangover,” he explained, lifting her hand and placing the cold glass filled with something greenish in it.
She stared at it for a long moment, then looked up at Abe. Uh…Doctor McCullough!
Pushing his hand away, she kept as still as possible, trying to keep the pain from slashing through her brain again. “I’m not drinking that.”
He laughed softly and, for some reason, the sound made her insides quiver with awareness and…a whole lotta other feelings that she definitely didn’t want to examine.
“I’m a doctor, Roxy. Do you really think that I’d give you something that would be bad for you? If I did, I’d just have to cure you.”
She huffed a bit, cringing as she tried to scoot higher on the bed. “You’re a surgeon.”
“Still a doctor,” he argued, then crossed his arms over his chest and, darn it, that tattoo was there, peeking out from underneath the short sleeve of his shirt and all the way down his forearm. She’d almost forgotten about the tattoos.
“Want to touch them?” he asked, his voice silky soft and sexy.
“Touch what?”
Another chuckle and her toes curled as images flashed through her mind. Naked images!
“Roxy, you can touch anything on me that you like. But at the moment, I was referring to my tattoo. You seem to be pretty fascinated with it.”
Pulling her feet and her curling toes up underneath her, she shifted so that she was more balanced. Not that she ever felt fully balanced when this man was around, but it helped. Slightly.
“I am not fascinated by your tattoo,” she told him with that stupid, prim voice that she hated so much. She sounded like her mother!
“Liar,” he replied with a soft laugh. “Drink up. We have things to do today.”
With that, he turned away, walking out of the room and Roxy noticed how firm his butt looked. Was it?
She almost dropped her drink onto the bed as she thought about touching Doctor McCullough’s butt!
“Uh…Doctor…?” she stopped when he turned and looked at her with that forbidding glare.
“After everything we did last night, are you seriously going to call me Doctor McCullough?”
“Uhhh….!” What had she done?! She shouldn’t have even gone to that stupid biker bar, but it had been across the street from her mother’s lawyer’s office. It had been convenient. Who would have thought that the brilliant and annoying Doctor McCullough would be in a biker bar?!
“Drink that before you speak. I promise it will make you feel better. Then come on out to the kitchen. I’m making breakfast and I’ll give you our agenda for the day.”
She thought about yesterday’s conversation with that lawyer. Her mother’s will. The cat!
Without shaking her head, she pushed her legs over the side of the bed. “I’d better head out now. I haven’t fed my mother’s cat.”
“You should eat something first. You didn’t have dinner last night and it’s already nine o’clock this morning.” He saw the panic in her eyes and shook his head. “Relax, Roxy. It’s Saturday. You don’t have anywhere to go today.”
Her shoulders drooped with that news, but then stiffened again. “But…don’t you need to do your rounds?”
“I got that covered. Bill is going to cover my rounds today and tomorrow. Hurry up,” he ordered, tilting his head towards the glass. “We have important things to get done today.” And then he was gone, leaving her alone to drink or not drink the slimy looking concoction.
Roxy looked down at the drink in her hand, grimacing. But in the end, she knew he really was a good surgeon. So she inhaled sharply and took a sip. When she pulled back, her eyes widened. “Not too bad!” she whispered, and drank the rest.
Sliding over to the side of the big bed, she looked around. This was obviously a guest bedroom as there were no personal items anywhere arou
nd. But the furniture was expensive and the layout well-thought out. There was a king sized bed, a dresser and a chair in the corner, with a big mirror over the dresser. The dresser was stocked with small toiletries. She took the toothbrush and toothpaste, discovering that her teeth were disgustingly fuzzy after last night.
Roxanne brushed her teeth and finger-combed her hair, wondering where the pins that had held her hair in place yesterday had gone. She felt significantly better, although she wasn’t sure if that was due to whatever he’d given her to drink or because her teeth were no longer fuzzy. Picking up the now-empty glass, she stepped out of the room and looked around, stunned by the beauty of the Spanish style house and furnishings. Yes, that was normal in Colorado, but for some reason, she hadn’t anticipated that Doctor…uh, Abe, would have this style of decor. The leather sofas looks soft and comfortable. There was no television, but lots of books and medical journals littered the coffee table. The house looked clean, but lived in. Obviously, his home wasn’t just a show-house.
Her mother had never allowed anything to be out of place in her house. Even Roxanne’s room had to be spotless before she could go to school each morning.
Sighing, she turned to find the kitchen, and ran directly into Abe’s chest. She yelped, and stumbled as she stepped hurriedly back.
Thankfully, he grabbed her or she might have fallen on her butt.
“Careful,” he soothed, his strong arms pulling her close again. “You can’t fall on your first day of freedom.”
She blinked, looking up at him. Roxanne had never been this close to him before and she was surprised at how tall and solid he was. Yes, she’d known that he had deliciously broad shoulders. But now that she’d seen them up close, they seemed somehow bigger still. Harder. More enticing!
What had he just said? It wasn’t anything like, “Feel free to explore my shoulders.” More’s the pity. “Freedom?” she asked, her voice cracking slightly.
“Yup. You’re going to start the journey to free yourself from your mother’s rules today.”
Over Heated (On the Wild Side Book 3) Page 2
