Dr. Tempt Me - A Possessive Doctor Romance

I kept going, not thinking much of it, but by the time I was halfway through my coffee I saw them again, lingering near a tree while I sat on a bench and watched groups of kids walk past. I watched them, and they seemed to watch me before they moved on. I tried to shake the feeling that they were staring at me still as I moved on toward the shopping mall on Walnut, and decided to duck into a CVS for a bottle of water—only to spot them again across the street as I hurried on.

My heart started racing. I shoved my hand in my back pocket and fingered my cellphone, wondering if I should call Dean, or maybe I was being paranoid and stupid. I hurried on and stopped in Paper Source, and when I came out a few minutes later after browsing, I didn’t see them at all.

Stupid, very stupid. I was being stupid and paranoid. I let myself drift back into pleasant daydreams of Dean pushing me up against his desk and spanking me raw, when I turned a corner and spotted them.

I stopped mid-stride and stared. They stood leaning up against a car, seemingly oblivious to me, but when I turned on my heel and marched in the opposite direction, scaring the hell out of some nice old lady and her son who promptly called me a stupid fucking douchebag, better watch where you’re going, I glanced over my shoulder and saw the two guys following me again.

I pulled out my phone and dialed. Dean answered on the second ring.

“I thought you had the day off,” he said.

“I’m being followed.”

He didn’t speak for a few seconds. “Who are they?”

“I don’t know.” I hurried down Walnut, back toward the park, heart racing. “Two guys. One’s tall, the other’s short and kind of fat. White guys. Average looking, I guess.”

“You’re sure they’re following you?”

“Dean. I’m absolutely fucking sure.”

“Okay, all right, I had to ask.” He sucked in a breath. “Where are you right now?”

“Walnut, heading west.”

“Come to Mercy.”

“What? No way. That’s where Maria’s at.”

“It’s also an extremely public place.”

“Dean—”

“Okay, start walking toward Mercy. I’ll pick you up.”

“I’ll be on Walnut.”

He hung up the phone. I cursed, put my phone away, crossed at the next light, and headed back the opposite direction. I saw the guys staring at me across the street, and I realized they weren’t even trying to hide it anymore.

I walked fast and I tried not to panic, but it was hard. I wanted to start sprinting, but I knew that would only draw more attention and might make the guys do something drastic. They were mafia, I was so sure of it my lungs hurt, and every step was a painful reminder that I was deep down the rabbit hole now and might not ever see the other side.

A car rolled up next to me and pulled over, double-parking a black SUV. I almost screamed when Dean rolled down his window. “Get in.”

I ran around to the passenger’s side, threw open the door, and buckled myself in. He pulled out, and I scanned the crowd of tourists and bored locals, spotting them as we rolled along. They openly stared and the shorter one lit a cigarette.

“You okay?” Dean asked.

“I think so.”

“Where are they?”

“Back there. One’s smoking.”

He peered into his rearview mirror and shook his head. “I don’t see.”

“Two guys followed me almost all day.” I wrapped my arms around myself, staring ahead. “What the hell am I going to do?”

“Nothing,” he said. “You don’t need to do anything.”

“You’re not the one they followed,” I snapped, and even as soon as I said it, I knew it wasn’t helpful. He wasn’t the bad guy here.

But it didn’t seem to ruffle him. “They would’ve done something if they were going to do anything at all. I bet they’re only trying to intimidate you.”

“It worked.”

“Did they try to hide?”

I hesitated. “A little bit.”

“But not really. I mean, you saw them. I bet those guys could’ve tailed you all day without you realizing.”

I felt my stomach churn. “Oh my god. They could’ve been following me for weeks.”

“Maybe, but I doubt it.” He tapped the steering wheel with his fingers, drumming them in a broken rhythm. “I think they’re trying to scare you. Maria said something about turning on me, right?”

“She mentioned that, yeah.”

“I bet that’s the angle then. They want you to turn on me and help them out. I bet Maria approaches you again soon and pushes that hard.”

I chewed my lip. “I won’t do it.”

He laughed. “Thanks.”

“Seriously. I’m not playing their game.”

“I hope not.”

“But this doesn’t change anything. Even if they’re trying to scare me, it freaking worked.”

He grunted and rolled the car along, heading south until he found a spot. He pulled over, but left the engine running, and turned to face me, concern etched into his expression.