“What’s he like?”
“Demented, angry, and non-cooperative.”
“Not Leo, you ninny. The new doctor.”
“Never met him before.” Maxie glanced up as Susie stopped by the desk. “You look pleased.”
“The new doctor.” Susie fanned her face. “What a dish. I could lick him right up.”
Cherry rolled her eyes.
“He’s coming down the corridor now.”
Busy trying to absorb some of the water from her shirt with the tissues, Cherry only glanced up briefly when Susie and Maxie both sighed dreamily, but the sight was enough to make her freeze.
The man standing and talking to another doctor had only his silhouette visible, but it was like time had gone rushing backwards and she was back in the motel, looking out the window. Slightly dishevelled black hair that came down to his collar, a hank of it hanging rakishly over his forehead. A straight, autocratic nose. He turned face-on and started to stride towards the nurses’ station, his gaze only briefly passing over the nurses standing and sitting there, and she saw bright green eyes and a mouth that was full enough to be sensuous without being feminine. A strong jaw line.
“Oh shit!” Heart thundering, she dropped to her hands and knees behind the desk.
Maxie gaped down at her.
Gesturing wildly to her to stay quiet, Cherry reached up with one hand, grabbed the file, shoved it into Maxie’s slack grip and flapped her hand at her in a desperate signal to stand up.
Eyes wide, but understanding that something was wrong, Maxie stood up and leaned over the desk, placing the file on the top of it so the new doctor could take it, read the notes and write his spiel in it without having to come around the desk.
Obviously cottoning on pretty quickly that something was going on, Susie waylaid the other doctor before he could move around behind the desk.
Biting her bottom lip, Cherry could barely control her trembling fingers. The new doctor was the same man with whom she’d had sex! The stranger who’d taken her virginity and shown her a hot time, and how amazing sex could be!
He was the new doctor!
Oh my God! How much worse could things get?
The pleasant tone of his voice was the same, and she could shut her eyes and almost imagine that voice sweeping through her senses, his warm breath on her nape, those skilled fingers trailing down her arm – shit, no wonder they were skilled fingers - he was a doctor.
A doctor who came to the private hospital in which she worked. She was so screwed. So royally, majorly screwed.
Wringing her hands, she listened as Maxie spoke to the doctor, and then she heard him introduce himself to Maxie.
Rick Reed. Not a Damien, never a Damien, but Rick Reed.
She listened as he gave a last few instructions before walking away. She knew exactly when the coast was clear because a concerned Maxie squatted down beside her. “Cherry?”
“What the hell was all that about?” Susie demanded, coming around the other side of the desk.
“That was him,” Cherry hissed.
“Him who?”
“Him. The not-Damien. That was him.”
“The not-Damien? What are you…” Susie’s eyes widened. “Him? The new GP? That was him?”
“Rick Reed was the man you had sex with?” Maxie’s mouth fell open. “Him?”
“Yes! Oh my God, what if he recognizes me?” Grabbing a fistful of Maxie’s shirt, Cherry yanked her forward. “What then?”
“Get up, you two.” Susie nudged her with the toe of her shoe. “The Nurse Manager is heading this way. We’ll sort this out later.”
They both scrambled to their feet.
Cherry had no idea how she managed to get through the rest of the shift without falling apart, but finally it was home time. She managed to make it out the door by herself, but Maxie and Susie caught up to her in the car park.
“Curtis’s Coffee Café.” Susie overrode Cherry’s protests. “We need sugar-laden food and drink to absorb all this.”
“Why do you need it?” Cherry asked. “I’m the one who bedded the good doctor.”
“Good point,” Maxie agreed. “But not good enough. Let’s go.”
Curtis’s Coffee Café was situated in the main mall and as usual it was busy. Popular for its cakes and creamy drinks, they were lucky to find a table near a window. The harried waitress came and took their orders.
Once she’d left, Susie looked across the table at Cherry. “So. Rick Reed, local GP.”
“Shit.”
“He’s a hunk, I’ll give you that. I had no idea.”
“You think I did? Susie, I thought he was Damien!”
“Who he wasn’t,” Maxie pointed out. “But at least you now know who you went to bed with, right?”