“I didn’t do anything but offer to take her home and to set up another interview.”
With a shrug of his shoulders, Logan brushes off Dr. Fields’ endearing gaze. Logan’s familiar with being the asshole, not the nice guy someone can turn to.
As the two doctors head down the hall, Logan is stunned silent when he finds Avery standing at the desk. Her back is turned to him and she has cased her hips and legs in a knee-length pencil skirt, a dark-burgundy silken shirt draping effortlessly over her chest and shoulders. Her dark hair has been meticulously twisted into a coil on the back of her head. At last, his gaze drops to the black sandals strapped to her feet, the heels surprisingly taller than Logan would have expected.
Beside him Dr. Fields coughs, breaking him of his gawking, and Logan closes his mouth quickly. Avery manages to effortlessly combine both sex kitten and the girl next door – a combination that only amplifies his lust for her.
“I’ll go greet Ms. Poindexter and bring everyone into the conference room.”
“I think I’ll sit out this interview,” Logan says, shaking his head. “I have an appointment right now.”
Brushing past Avery quickly, Logan grabs a patient file and calls the young man back to a room, all the while feeling Avery’s gaze on him, searing a hole through his skin.
***
WALKING INTO THE MEDICAL practice behind Nikki, Avery tries hard to keep a blank yet cheery look on her face to hide her nervousness. After the catastrophe that was yesterday, she’s feeling even more apprehensive than she did before.
Nikki leans in over her desk and whispers, “You look like you’re going to throw up.”
“I’m so nervous, Nikki,” Avery says, trying to speak as quietly as possible, yet failing miserably when she squeaks her roommate’s name.
“Don’t be nervous, Dr. Fields is great. Oh, look, he’s coming now.”
Avery doesn’t have to turn around to know that Logan is with Dr. Fields. She can feel his eyes burning a hole in her skin from behind. The feeling he ignites in her is once again realized as he passes by her to grab a folder, brushing his chest against her arm. A gasp of air permeates through her lips in a whooshing sound as the feel of him against her pebbles her skin.
There is an intensity between them when they’re in close quarters. She felt the same force yesterday in his car and again in the apartment. Avery brushed off the sensation and attributed it to the cataclysm of the day, but now she realizes that his proximity was only fuel to the fire. His touch ignites a firestorm on her skin.
Avery stares at his retreating back as he ushers a patient into a room and continues watching long past a moment of appropriateness. A touch on her shoulder bounces her back to reality and she startles at the contact.
“Sorry,” Nikki says with a questioning look in her eye, “I wanted to introduce you to Dr. Fields.”
As Avery raises her hand for a polite shake, she looks at Dr. Fields and offers her name, immediately apologizing for her absence yesterday.
“I understand, Avery. Life happens and I’m glad you were able to make it in today. I haven’t had much luck finding anyone that I’d like to work with, but I think we’ll be a good fit. If you’d follow me, some of our team has assembled to conduct the interview. It’s very informal, so don’t be nervous.”
Already feeling at ease with Dr. Fields, Avery follows him into a small conference room where she meets three of the other physicians.
“Dr. Chamberlin is in with a patient right now. As he won’t be joining us, we can go ahead and begin,” Dr. Fields says loudly, addressing the group.
Her nervousness dissipates knowing that Dr. Chamberlin - or Logan - won’t be in the room. She barely has time to relax, however, before the group starts firing off questions related to her experience, schooling, and relocation. Avery does her best to keep her personal life out of the answers and, luckily, no one pries further when she explains that her relocation was only due to the need for a change.
After the interview, Avery follows Dr. Fields back to his office where he takes a seat behind his desk and prompts her to take the seat across from him.
“I think that went very well, Avery, and I’d like to offer you the position if you’re still interested.”
> Avery lets out a deep exhale as relief washes over her.
“Yes, I am still very interested, Dr. Fields. Thank you so much.”
“Please, call me Al. I do have some paperwork for you to fill out, but I’d like to ask you one more question.”
Wringing her hands in her lap, she nervously nods for him to continue.
“We complete background checks on all of our employees and because we’re in healthcare, you understand that they have to be very extensive. I’m the only one that has seen yours, Avery, but answer me this; why do you need this job? It seems to me you have enough wealth to own a small country.”
Avery is embarrassed but understands his concern. He wants to know if she received that money from shady transactions.
“I can assure you, Dr. Fields - I mean, Al - that I want this job for all the right reasons. That money was given to me after someone I loved passed away, and I plan on using it to better this small town of Carson.”