Dueling Drs: A Small Town Hospital Romance

“We weren’t going at it, not how you mean,” I clarified. “She doesn’t like to listen, so we often butt heads over that little fact.”

Casey laughed, finally pulling my attention from Zola as she and the girls sidled up to the bar. “She doesn’t have to listen to you, Drew. She has her own privileges at JRMC, and word around the hospital is that someone is falling down on the job and it isn’t Zola.”

I blinked and felt my brows lower in fury. “Bullshit. I’m excellent at my job.”

“Maybe,” Casey conceded. “You can work on a heart like nobody’s business, but correct me if I’m wrong, but Suzie wants JRMC to get more fellowships, to prove our doctors can not only perform, but also teach the newest medical minds. Right?”

He was, of course, right. Suzie would be furious if and when she heard about the latest fight between Zola and I, but I couldn’t help it. The woman drove me crazy, and now I couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said to me earlier.

The best sex of your life.

It was true, dammit. That night with her was the best sex of my life. She was sexy and confident, and completely unafraid to ask for what she wanted in the bedroom. And she was a giver, which was why neither of us had gotten any sleep that night.

But the truth of that night made me feel like I was being disloyal to my wife, Sarah. Sarah who I was still angry with for going on that stupid trip without me, and dying while I was too far away to save her. How screwed up was that?

Completely. I knew that, which was why it was impossible to work with Zola. To be civil to her.

“Yeah,” I finally answered Casey with a reluctant nod. “I know that’s what Suzie wants, but you can’t get along with everybody.”

“True,” Antonio agreed. “I worked with some real dick heads in kitchens up and down the Pacific. But let me tell you, none of them were hot and smart and eager to soak up my particular brand of genius. Besides, isn’t hot and smart exactly your type?”

“I don’t have a type,” I reminded him. Which was the absolute truth. I loved all women. All shapes and sizes and colors. Since Sarah died, I kind of hung my heart up in the back of the closet and mostly I kept to myself.

“Obviously.” Casey shook his head and followed my gaze, again, to Zola laughing with Cy, who leaned over the bar smiling as they chatted.

“I don’t, and even if I did, it wouldn’t be her.” Their unusual silence pulled my gaze from Zola to each of their frowning faces. “What?”

“Is it because she’s half black?” Antonio looked ready to kick my ass and though I was bigger, he spent more time maintaining his physique than I had time to do regularly. Plus, he looked really pissed off.

“What? No, don’t be ridiculous! She just grates on my nerves, that’s all.”

“Sounds to be me like you’re mad at her because you want her. Did she turn you down?” I shook my head, but Casey kept right on talking. “Because that doesn’t mean she’s not interested. I told you how Megan went back to sleep when I first proposed to her, right?”

“Only about a million times,” Antonio answered and rolled his eyes before he finished off his beer.

“The point is, maybe she has her reasons. Like that you’re a jerk most of the time. Or because you work together.”

“Probably the asshole thing,” Antonio’s tone gravely serious.

“I said jerk,” Casey clarified.

Antonio shrugged. “Same thing, just nicer wording.”

“She didn’t reject me,” I growled and stood. “I’m going to get another round of beer.” My friends, men I’d known just about all my life, were wrong. I wasn’t a jerk, I just expected my colleagues to follow the rules. To do as they’re told, and to do it to the best of their ability.

“I’ve been hiking before, plenty actually, but rock climbing? I’m not sure I’m brave enough for that.” Zola’s raspy voice was all I could hear as I waited for one of the bartenders to notice me and take my order. “It seems like you’re asking for an injury.”

Cy’s deep laugh sounded at one end of the bar and I turned just as he leaned in with a flirtatious smile aimed right at Zola. “Injuries are always a risk, as you know, but it’s not just fun, it’s also great exercise.”

“I’m intrigued, but I have to do some research before I agree to anything.”

Cy’s smile slipped, but only a little as he pulled back and nodded in my direction. “You know how to find me.”

“I do. Let me know the next time you decide to scale a rock, maybe seeing it in action will help boost my courage.”