by CJ Turner
Manu put his arm around Alister. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a crush on the good doctor.”
“I’m taken, not dead, sweetheart. Of course, I will look. And his Southern accent is to die for. But my eyes will always wander back to you.”
Chase had a strange moment when he briefly considered what it would be like to be so casual and free with a lover in public. Sure, it was the 21st century, but in the Louisiana backcountry he hailed from, being gay was still the subject of outrageous gossip. You can take the man from the country, but you can’t take the country out of the man.
Manu’s mouth twitched, and he did not appear appeased.
“Don’t worry, Manu,” said Chase. “Patients often find their doctors attractive. It has been a problem since ancient times. That’s why we vow not to seduce our patients when we take the Hippocratic Oath.
“Oh, the burn,” said Alister. He fanned his face once again. “I never had a chance.”
“Good,” said Manu. “Because I have no intention of raising our children in a broken home.”
“Children?” said Theo with surprise.“What is this? Are you holding out on me, Alister?”
“We’re talking and considering our choices. We’ve discussed adoption and surrogacy and haven’t decided. But we’re not in a hurry. It’s not like our biological clocks are ticking.” He fanned his face again.
Theo and Lennox both snorted. “The things you say, Alister,” said Theo.
Alister pressed his hand against his chest. “It’s why you all love me.”
Theo shook his head with disbelief written on his face. “You. A Father?”
“And why not? With the options available, it’s not a thing anymore. You’ve seen that married interior design couple with the two children on TV? They found surrogates who gave them two beautiful children. I think my mother would be pleased her son decided to reproduce. Only, unlike my sister, I needn’t suffer stretch marks.”
Theo smirked. “That’s not the issue. Does Manu want another child to raise so soon after acquiring you?”
“Brat,” said Alister. “Just for that, you are paying for the whiskey bar tonight.”
“As if I weren’t already.”
The men laughed at what sounded like an ‘in’ joke, and Chase searched for a graceful exit from this cozy group. The venue and the guests were far above his pay grade. When Chase donated to the cause, he’d slip away and rendezvous with the cold pizza in his refrigerator. “Um, who do I give my contribution to?” he asked.
“Aren’t you adorable?” said Alister. He waved his friends away. “Go. Dr. Chase and I have personal business to discuss.”
Manu chuckled. “You’re in trouble now, Chase. Come on, folks, let’s find more champagne.
What did Manu mean that Chase was in trouble? Alister wrapped his arm around Chase’s.
“Is there something about you that puts my life in danger?” said Chase.
“Manu exaggerates. You’re in no danger at all.” Alister spoke with such innocence in his voice that Chase got an inkling that Alister didn’t invite him to this event for a bit of cash.
“That’s good,” said Chase. He didn’t believe what he said for a second. He got the sensation that the hammer would fall on him soon.
“You see, Doctor, what St. Croix needs now are doctors. They are terribly short-staffed, and things are an utter shambles there.”
“Sorry to hear.”
“And you can help. I’ve checked with your administrator, and she told me you hadn’t taken a vacation in two years. I shouldn’t have pried, but men like you aren’t happy unless you are working. What would you think of a four-week working vacation in lovely but hurricane-ravaged St. Croix?”
“I couldn’t. My job—”
“But you can. I cleared it with that lovely Miss Grace. She’s agreed to move the schedule around to accommodate this humanitarian cause.”
Chase groaned inwardly. Whatever arranging she did meant working double shifts when he returned.
“Isn’t this a little outside the scope of a fundraiser?”
“We own a home on the island, but neither of us can get away to check on the property. I would consider it a personal favor if you stay there and tell me what repairs it needs.”
Chase sighed. He could see it was impossible to say no to Alister Grant.
“But,” said Alister, “you have another reason to go to St. Croix.”
Alister tugged on the hook bracelet on Chase’s wrist. It had belonged to Chase’s father, who, along with Chase’s mother, passed two years ago.
“Pardon?” said Chase.
“Didn’t you tell me that you promised your parents to spread their ashes in St. Croix where they met?”
Did he? What presence of mind did he lose to speak about his personal life with a patient?
“You haven’t spread their ashes, yet. Have you?”
“No. I didn’t expect—”
Alister smiled. “You’ll do us a HUGE favor if you check out how our house fared. And the people there would love you forever.”
“Mr. Grant—”
“Alister.”
“Your offer is generous, but—”
“But nothing. I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer.”
One week later, due to Alister Grant’s indomitable will and his ability to play a situation to maximum advantage, and an administrator who didn’t understand why he wouldn’t drool over this trip, Chase stood in the Denver airport. He waited to get through one of the half dozen security checkpoint lines that seemed choked to a crawl. Chase checked his watch, concerned about the slow-moving line and the long walk to the boarding gate to catch the flight to Miami. There he’d take a connecting flight to St. Croix.
This would be a worthwhile trip. Seeing a different part of the world and lending a helping hand had to be good karma, right?
Flying was not his favorite activity. He didn’t hesitate to grab a man’s heart in his hands to resuscitate it, but sitting in a tin can to fly to a destination gave him pause.
Peering at his watch again, Chase scanned ahead of several people in the line to spot the holdup. There were too many fliers trying to get through the same bottleneck.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” said a rumbling voice behind him. Then the man bumped into Chase’s back.
Chase glanced over his shoulder and sucked in a breath to find a broad-shouldered brunet dressed in a business suit and staring ahead in annoyance. Impeccably dressed in a charcoal gray suit and cranberry tie, the man’s eyes were the color of smoke. He was on his phone, perhaps making one last call before boarding his plane. For an unfathomable reason, Chase found the curl of the big man’s hand around his phone supremely sexy. Chase tried to breathe and found he couldn’t. The ground under his feet no longer seemed solid.
“Sorry,” said the man offhandedly in a gravel-wrapped-in-honey voice. Chase swallowed hard as the timbre of the man’s voice strummed through his body.
He blinked as his heart hammered in an unexpected reaction to this man behind him. Chase shook his head in disbelief at his inappropriate response.
“No problem,” said Chase. But the man had already turned away as he spoke into his phone.
You need to get a life, Chase. Maybe if you dated, you wouldn’t be undressing a total stranger with your eyes.
Yeah? And who would you date? Someone at work? No. A person you pick up a bar? Double no. As a doctor, Chase was all too conscious of the different diseases a stranger could pass on. Not that he was a germophobe, but he wouldn’t dive into personal contact without some assurances the activity was safe.
And if Chase were honest with himself, following his natural attractions would irredeemably label him as gay, and he was on the fence about assigning that label to himself. But it was true that except for one ill-fated relationship with a girl in college, he hadn’t dated. And he did find men more attractive than women.
Chase, all too aware of the man he found fatally
attractive standing behind him, swallowed hard and tried to ignore the stirring in parts south.
Hurry, he thought. The sooner he moved away from the gorgeous man, the better.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Spoiler Alert:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
BONUS EPILOGUE
Message from CJ
Sneak Peek
Also by CJ Turner
The Doctor and His Billionaire
