Dr. Daddy's Virgin

"You what, Alex," Leslie said in calm, kind voice.

"I don't know what's wrong with her!" I said as the tears flowed down my cheeks. "I'm worried about her, but I don't know what to do. She's been acting weird for weeks, but she swears there's nothing wrong."

"Classic addict behavior." Leslie nodded. "If you're not an addict or been involved with one, then you have no idea what it looks like."

"But I've known her for years and I've never seen her take drugs," I insisted. "I'd know if she was using drugs!"

"Oh, sweetie," Leslie said, shaking her head. "No, you probably wouldn't. C'mon, let's go check on her."

When we got back to the cot where Liz had been, we found it empty. The bloody needle was lying on the floor with the IV fluid spreading out in a puddle around it. I shook my head as I quickly stopped the flow and did my best to mop up the mess with paper towels.

"Where do you think she's gone?" Leslie asked, then said, "Never mind, I bet I know where."

Leslie took off without another word, and I stood staring at the mess my best friend had left wondering what in the world was going on with her and why she felt she couldn't tell me.

Chapter Fifteen

Cam

I couldn't stop thinking about Alex as I walked Tesla and got ready for work. The soft curves of her body invaded my every waking thought, and I felt my body responding to the desire in a way that I hadn't felt in years.

But the more I thought about Alex, the more I also thought about Quinn. It was as if the awakened feelings were triggering a return to the guilt I'd felt after Quinn had died, and with every wave of pleasure, there was an accompanying wave of sadness and guilt. I drove to the station, trying to figure out how I would cope with the competing feelings.

"Hey, Connor, you look like something the dog dragged in!" Mike called as I walked through the door. Tesla wagged her tail and ran over to him as he grabbed a dog treat out of the cabinet and made her sit. Once she'd gotten what she wanted, she pulled her bunny out of the toy basket and walked over to her bed where she flopped down with a loud, "Woof!"

"Thanks, Kelly," I called as I walked to the locker room to drop my backpack off. "Always count on you for a morning lift!"

The locker room was empty, and I stared at the photo of Quinn hanging on the door. It was a photo I'd taken just after we'd moved into the house. She was lying on the front lawn with her books open, studying for an exam, as I'd cut the grass in the backyard. I'd come around the corner to find her lying on the fresh cut grass in the front of the house. Her books were spread out, but she was lying on her back with her arms spread and her face to the sun. She looked like an angel bathed in sunlight. An instant before I'd snapped the picture, she'd opened her eyes and looked right at me smiling. Later, I'd threatened to make it the photo on our wedding announcement. Quinn had simply laughed.

I slammed the locker shut and standing behind it was Victor Vangel.

"What do you want, Vangel?" I said in a flat voice.

"You know what I want, Connor," he said menacingly. "I want you to take your name out of the running, and I want your vote for Squad Lieutenant."

"Go to hell, Vangel," I said. "I have nothing to do with the process of choosing the next Lieutenant and you know it."

"You putting in a good wor

d for me could help sway the decision, though," he said as his eyes narrowed. "And if you’re not trying to get promoted, I have a much better chance. Is there some reason you don't want to do that?"

"You know damn well why I don't want to do that," I said as I turned and spun the lock and then pulled it to make sure it was sealed. "I can't stand you, Vangel. I think you're a weasel and a lousy firefighter, and I can't imagine you ever earning the loyalty of the men you lead. How you’ve managed to fool everyone else, I have no idea."

"I see," Victor said quietly. "Well, then I guess I'm going to have to pull out the big guns and use what I have to get what I want."

"You can't blackmail me," I said. I knew he could cause a great deal of damage before Leo and I released the information about my ownership of CSC, but I didn't want him to know that. "I know about you, and just because you got the top score on the Lieutenant exam doesn’t mean you’re competent, Victor. You're a hot-head who is a danger to everyone around you."

"You son of a bitch..." Victor said. "You're going to be sorry you said that, Connor."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said, waving him off. "Promises, promises."

Victor turned and stormed out of the locker room without another word. I followed, hoping that today was not going to be the day he decided to spill the news about my involvement in CSC, but preparing myself if he did.

Back in the community area, Victor was nowhere to be seen, so I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down to breakfast with the guys. Danny and Mike teased me about my date with Alex as they tried to get more information about it out of me. I didn’t want to reveal too much since I wasn’t sure where this was headed and definitely didn’t want to be humiliated if or when Alex decided it wasn’t working. The guys groaned as I kept my cards close to my chest, but eventually let it go.

Around noon, we were called out on a medical emergency that turned out to be nothing much, so I persuaded Mike to stop by the flower shop near the hospital so I could run in and pick something up.

"Can't you just do what the rest of us do and buy them at the gas station, Connor?" Newsome yelled as I returned to the truck with a dozen pink roses in a large gold box.