She was in black leggings with brown boots that went up her shins, along with a loose sweater that hung down on one shoulder, with a scarf wrapped around her neck. Her hair was curled but pulled back in a ponytail. I liked that she didn’t wear suits and pencil skirts all the time. I liked that she brought her own style to her professionalism, even though it was distracting at times.
She looked up when she heard me talking to Melanie, and she immediately dropped her phone to give her full attention, the dark eye shadow over her lids giving her a sexy, smoky quality.
I finished up with Melanie before I turned to Sicily. “You did great today. Excuse me…” I walked over to Sicily, my hands dry because I was scrubbing them all the time now. That was one thing I definitely hadn’t missed in my retirement—having cracked knuckles and dry fingers all the time. That was not a good quality to have when feeling up a woman’s tits.
She smiled when I came close. “How’d it go?”
“Good. Working with the residents makes me feel young. I remember when I was that eager in residency.”
“Young?” she teased. “You’re younger than almost all of them.”
“You know what I mean.” I walked with her down the hallway, the wall made of windows, letting the sunlight flood in.
“I have lunch for you in your office.”
I rubbed my hands together eagerly. “What’s on the menu?”
She smiled like she loved doing things to make me happy. “Lasagna and Caesar salad.”
“Ooh, that sounds great. I’m glad I don’t have to eat cafeteria food. I’ve been out of school for a while, but I still don’t miss it.”
She chuckled. “The world’s top heart surgeon deserves better than that.”
I shrugged off her comment as we continued to walk.
She pulled out her phone again and read through an email. “So, I was contacted by Dr. Conway. She said she’s in town this week and wanted to get dinner.”
I turned to Sicily, my eyebrows raised. “Did she mention why she’s in town?”
She shook her head. “Her email didn’t say.”
I had a busy week, but I would absolutely make time for her. “Tell her I’m free on Wednesday.”
“Alright, I will.” She read off the rest of the messages and notices that needed my attention.
When we got to my office, my lunch and coffee were waiting, so I took a seat behind my desk and started to eat.
She sat in the armchair along the wall with her tablet open in her hands, reading through more emails as they came in.
My door was partially open, so one of the students pushed it farther to stick his head inside. “Dr. Hamilton—”
Sicily was out of her chair so quickly. “Dr. Hamilton is having lunch right now. You can wait twenty minutes.” She went to the open door and stood in front of it, blocking me from view.
The student immediately ducked out.
This time, she shut the door before she took her seat.
Damn, that was pretty hot. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t mind.”
“I know you don’t.” She looked at her device again, her eyes down, her eyelashes long over her cheek. She crossed her ankles together like the queen, sitting perfectly upright, reading her emails while responding to me at the same time. “But all you ever do is give to people twenty-four seven, and it’s my job to make sure you take care of yourself too.” She started to type on the screen, working quietly.
I continued to eat my hot lunch in silence, looking at the poised woman in front of me, the way her tight clothing fit her curves in every perfect way imaginable. It was a pretty nice lunch, staring at my hot assistant while I shoveled delicious food into my mouth. Definitely beat helping that resident.
“Who is Dr. Conway, if you don’t mind my asking?” She kept her head down, her eyes on her work.
“She was my resident adviser, more like a mentor. Basically what I’m doing with these students, but on a deeper level. She took me under her wing and had me assist on all her surgeries and kinda became my private instructor.”
“Wow.” She lifted her gaze from her screen and looked at me.
“Yeah, she’s insanely brilliant, one of the best in the country, and I guess she saw something in me.”
She smiled. “How can she not?”
“We’ve talked over email a couple times over the years, but I haven’t seen her since I left Johns Hopkins. She must have heard I’m back to surgery.”
“Yeah, apparently the entire world has heard,” she said with a chuckle. “Every morning, I have hundreds of messages in my inbox. It’s crazy. I’m not sure how we’re going to cycle in Doctors Without Borders. I left two weeks off for that trip, but…” She stared at me, as if she expected me to say we should just ditch it.