Dueling Drs: A Small Town Hospital Romance

As if I didn’t have two eyeball of my own that worked perfectly. No prescription necessary so I knew exactly how beautiful the woman was, inside and out. She was beautiful and funny, and sexy as hell. “We’re colleagues.” That’s all we could ever be. Colleagues and casual sex partners. Maybe we were even friends, a little.

Peyton groaned and rolled her eyes, dissatisfied with my answer. “That’s old people talk for there’s no good reason to be apart.” She pouted even more, looking at me with disappointment in her eyes. “I thought you were cool, Dr. Drew. You’re not.”

“I am cool,” I insisted. “The coolest.”

“Does cool mean something different when you’re old?”

The girl was a smartass. “Not old, wise.”

Peyton shrugged. “I still think you and Dr. Zola would be a totally adorable couple.”

“Yeah, thanks.” If this was what it was like to work with children all day, I was more than satisfied with my career path. “Do all kids talk this much?”

The little girl laughed and shook her head. “Nope, you’re just lucky Dr. Wright.”

Zola returned, finally, all smiles as she led Peyton up to laboratory where she would run a series of tests to determine the source or cause of the little girl’s heart problems. She explained each test, what it was, what it would measure, and any other question Peyton had. “We’ve done these tests plenty of times and some are a little uncomfortable but you shouldn’t experience any pain. Ready?”

Peyton looked up at me and I gave her a short nod, a supportive smile. “You got this.”

She nodded. “Ready.”

“X-rays first,” Zola announced with a smile. “We’re going to take some photos of your heart.”

“Do you have a boyfriend, Dr. Zola?”

Zola blinked. “I don’t. Do you?”

“No. Dad thinks I’m too young but I’ll be thirteen in like, four months. That’s practically a teenager already.”

“Enjoy being a kid. You’ll have the rest of your life to be a grownup and it’s not always fun.”

“It isn’t?” The girl gasped, almost oblivious to the protective gear being draped around her.

“No, I mean I don’t want to do my own laundry or cook dinner every night. Do you?”

Peyton shook her head.

“I wish I could spend my paycheck on what I wanted instead of paying bills and buying cleaning supplies. But that’s why I can stay up late, watch whatever I want and hang out with my friends on a weeknight.”

“Ugh, fine,” Peyton said with all the drama of an aging movie star. “I won’t date until I’m old and dead, like fifteen.”

Zola laughed. “All right, I need you to be as still as you can until I tell you to relax.” The X-ray technician took over and I stood directly behind Zola, close enough that I could touch her, but I chose not to.

“You’re very good with her.”

Zola’s breath hitched. “Thanks. It’s what I do.”

“You smell good,” I growled in her ear. Vanilla and coconuts, that’s what she smelled like today and it made me want to rent a cabin in the woods and stay there, naked with Zola, forever.

“Thanks.”

“Busy tonight?”

She shivered when my lip brushed her ear. “That depends. What’s your offer?”

I leaned forward until the front of my body was flush with the back of hers and whispered in her ear. “Enchiladas and orgasms. In whatever order you choose.”

“Two things I can’t resist.”

“Good, because there are plenty of both on the menu tonight. If you’re free.”

I smiled at the shiver she couldn’t suppress. “I’m coming for the enchiladas and staying for the orgasms. Just so we’re clear.”

“Of course.” I bit back a smile and pressed a kiss to her neck before I took a step back, not a moment too soon since the X-ray tech chose that moment to come inside the observation room.

I didn’t care why Zola showed up, as long as she showed up and I got to spend a few uninterrupted hours with her.

That’s all I cared about.

Why that was, I didn’t want to think about or examine too closely.

Zola

A thick band of sunlight spilled across Drew’s bedroom and right across my face. It wasn’t the most welcoming wake up call, but being wrapped in Drew’s big arms, his naked chest pressed against my back, one hand rested on my hip, the other cupped my breasts. His morning wood already starting to make an appearance. He was warm and delicious and I snuggled a little closer to him.

Then I froze as a I was gripped with a nasty bout of nausea. My stomached lurched and then flipped. The sensation came on fast and strong, and I was torn. Did I risk puking all over Drew’s room by making a mad dash to the bathroom, or should I close my eyes and hope the feeling fades? It was an important decision but I couldn’t make it, all I could focus on was trying to keep my stomach inside my body, or at least the contents of my stomach.