She sent him a grateful look and dug around in that big bag of hers for her phone while simultaneously attempting to push her skirt down. He couldn’t offer much help with a medical matter, but getting a woman in and out of her skirt? Different story. He took over the chore—and took his time with it—while she concentrated on her call. By the time she finished, he was really just entertaining himself, using the job of smoothing her skirt as an excuse to run his palms over the perfect handful of her ass.
“I’m sorry, Tyler.” She tossed her phone into her bag, avoiding his eyes, and got to work refastening her bra. “I have to go. A patient’s baby girl spiked a 103-degree fever. I’m meeting them at my office.”
“No need to be sorry.” Though he was, incredibly, as he watched her tuck her pretty little breasts away behind her pretty little bra. “Every once in a while it’s bound to happen—someone’s gonna need you even more than I do.”
He’d meant the comment as a glib reference to the minor medical emergency still straining the front of his jeans, but the whole “need you” part came out strangely serious. It gave him pause. Her, too, apparently, because her fingers fumbled on her blouse buttons.
“Thanks,” she said, giving the task of buttoning her blouse far more concentration than it warranted. “That’s sweet of you—a charming reaction to a distinctly un-charming situation. Unfortunately, we’re getting nowhere fast on my educational goals. If I don’t start mastering some skills soon, it’s going to be too late.”
Sweet? Had she really just called him sweet? He drove a Harley, for Christ’s sake. He got shot at in bars. Not on a regular basis, no, but if nothing else, taking a bullet in the ass ought to mean nobody called him sweet. Next she’d be calling him nice, and if that happened, he might as well tie a big pink bow around his balls and hand them over. On top of all that, what the fuck was up with the “too late” business?
He flattened his palms on the door, trapping her, and leaned in close. “Too late for what? Tell me, Ellie, before you scoot out my door. Is the world going to explode?” Unwanted images of her wrapped around Roger, and then Chief Bradley, burned in his mind, and set a nasty little fire in the pit of his stomach. “Or is somebody going to switch status from ‘available’ to ‘off the market’ before you can make a move?”
Wide, worried eyes flew to his, and then quickly shifted away. Bingo, he thought, for once hating to be right.
“I …” she swallowed and started again. “I have a schedule I want to stick to. Like any self-improvement effort, it’s important to
keep the momentum. I’m not blaming you, Tyler.” Her eyes darted back to him and she smiled weakly. “I mean, tonight’s interruption isn’t your fault. I just thought we’d have at least one lesson completed by now.”
“Momentum. I see.” He reached behind her and opened the door. She wanted momentum? He’d give her so much freaking momentum that she’d get completely caught up in the ride and forget where she planned on going. “In that case, what are you doing Tuesday night?”
She blinked. “Nothing.”
“Feel like taking a shopping trip to Lexington?”
“Chapter 6?”
“Yep.”
Her loud gulp almost made him laugh out loud. Now who was sweet?
“Okay,” she said, but he noticed the bravado in her voice didn’t match her round eyes and pink cheeks. Momentum restored, just like that.
Yet as he watched her taillights disappear down his drive, he couldn’t help wondering if he’d just let his student get the better of him.
…
Tuesday afternoon, Ellie raised her head from her chart notes when her office door opened. Melody stepped inside. Normally smooth, blond waves tumbled chaotically around a face past due for a powder and lipstick touch-up. Her once crisp white blouse and swingy yellow skirt bore creases and a few unidentifiable stains. Still, Ellie had to admit, Melody looked sexily disheveled. Meanwhile she probably looked like she’d spent the afternoon in a sweatbox.
Melody closed the door, adjusted one of the framed diplomas on the wall, and then plopped down in one of the pair of forest-green upholstered guest chairs opposite the desk. “Whew! What a day. I swear it felt like Grand Central Station in here an hour ago.”
Ellie propped her elbows on her big, orderly polished walnut desk. “Nothing fills exam rooms like an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth virus among the preschool set. You did an amazing job handling the onslaught.”
The blonde shrugged off the praise, but smiled. “The little ones are super-cute, and I’m glad it turned out to be nothing serious. But we had a packed schedule before the panicked mommy calls started. Squeezing an extra six patients in at the last minute, making up the charts, collecting the insurance information and co-pays—I won’t mind if we don’t see a rush like that again for a while.”
“Me either. Are they all gone?”
“Yep. We’re officially done for the day. I don’t know about you, but my bathtub and I are going to spend some quality time together.”
“You wild woman,” Ellie teased.
“Hey, you never know.” Melody got to her feet and winked. “I might see if my bunny swims.”
“You have a pet rabbit?”
“No. Come on, Ellie, you know…The Bunny.”
When Ellie shook her head, Melody’s eyes rounded. “Oh, my God! You’ve somehow missed out on the single girl’s best friend. Do yourself a favor and Google it. Have your credit card handy. You won’t be sorry.”