Club Prive: Sweet Escape (Kindle Worlds Novella) (12 page)

“What do you mean?”

I lean back and sigh as his arms wrap around me. “I know doctors make a lot of money, Gray. But this…” I sweep my hand in front of me, “I can’t even begin to imagine what this view costs.”

“My family is very wealthy and have been so for generations, but I’ve never touched my trust fund. I own patents to numerous technologies and also provide research support to my father’s many businesses. I sought after and accepted the Chief of Staff position because it allows me to use all my skills.”

“It sounds like a personal endeavor.”

He squeezes me against him. “It is. My grandfather on my mother’s side was a physician too, the kind who worked from dawn to dusk, making rounds in the hospitals morning and night, going on home visits.”

“He sounds like my grandfather, except mine works with animals instead of people.”

Gray kisses the top of my head. “Yeah, that generation didn’t know when or how to quit. And it catches up to them. One morning, my granddad was making rounds at the hospital after being up all night caring for a dying woman. During his rounds, he wrote out the wrong medicine for a patient. The patient died as a result.”

My heart stops. Making a medication error is one of my greatest fears.

“He was sued, of course, but the death hit him really hard. He’d known the patient for years. Long story short, he ended up retiring because he lost faith in his abilities. I don’t think he ever forgave himself for that mistake. He took the guilt to his grave a few years ago.”

“And that’s why you want the hospitalist program to be a success?”

“Yes. It’s a brilliant concept. It lets the primary physicians have a life outside of medicine while inpatients are covered twenty-four-seven by providers who are acutely familiar with hospital policies, best practices, and procedures.”

“And being our chief helps you test it, tweak it, and ultimately duplicate it around the country?”

He kisses my hair again. “It’s not a new concept. There are many hospitals with these programs and doing very well. So what I’m doing isn’t brand new, but I want to make sure it’s successful. Anything we can do to decrease errors while giving hard working providers a better quality of life, I’m behind it.”

“And you also design new products? For your patents? Like what?”

“Why didn’t you have an EpiPen on you yesterday?”

Startled by the question, I twist my head to look up at him. “I had one in my purse.”

“And where was your purse?”

“In my locker.”

“But not on your person. Why? Why not have it right on you when your allergy is so dangerous?”

Feeling scolded, I defend myself. “Because my pockets are always full and—”

“Sshh, I’m not judging you. I’m asking because I’m curious. If someone as brilliant as you are doesn’t carry it close, there’s a reason. What about children? Do they get teased for carrying a pen? How do they keep it nearby during school or while they’re playing? Maybe there needs to be a new delivery system for the medicine. Or a new carrying case.”

“So you see a problem and research it. Find a solution and patent it.”

“Exactly.”

“You’re very smart.”

He squeezes me. “No, I’m very curious.”

A new thought makes me sad. “Is that why you tried to find me? Because my background made you curious? And you wanted to find a solution? Fix me?”

He turns me until I’m facing him, my back pressed against the glass.

“No. You walked into the club, and from that moment, you were the only thing I saw. I had no idea about your background. I had no idea who you were. But I needed to know. And when I, like the bonehead I can be, let you walk out that door, I knew I’d regret it for the rest of my life.”

He kisses me and I sigh when I look at my watch. “I need to get to the unit.”

“Avery,” he places his hands on both sides of my head and forces me to look up at him, “I don’t want you to leave the hospital alone or go anywhere by yourself. My driver will be at your disposal and will take you anywhere you want to go. Also, I want to have an alarm system installed in your apartment. Additional locks. The works. Brooke has already okay’d it. If you’ll trust me with a key, I can get the glass and everything else taken care of today.” I open my mouth to protest and he adds, “Please.”

He wants to take care of me and the idea clogs my throat, makes my eyes burn. It’s been so long since I’ve not been responsible for taking care of others. When my grandparents took me in, they tried so very hard to coddle me, but I refused to let them. I was so determined to be tough and not cry, that I became their caretaker in some ways. After all, they’d lost a daughter, and we found out later, a grandson. During the interview process, Paisley admitted to smothering Brodie, my baby brother.

So my grandparent’s loss was as great as my own, at least I thought so at the time. I became independent at an early age, dove into my schoolwork so I could make something good of my life.

For them.

For my parents and baby brother. For the sister who would never walk free because of some screwed up wiring in her head. I’d loved her once. So much. Before I came to fear her.

To escape it all, I’d run. Two miles for my parents. A mile for Brodie. A mile for Paisley. A mile for me.

I’d studied endlessly and dedicated my A’s to them. Everything I did became about making them proud. Or about making up for the bad my sister was. Because it could have been me. The wires could have crossed wrong in my head. It could have been me who looked at the world, searching for ways to manipulate it into fitting my desires.

“You okay?”

Gray’s soft words break into the memories.

“I’d like to run after work. I didn’t go this morning.”

He grins. “Didn’t I work you out enough? I’ll have to step up my game.”

“How about I run, then we go for round two later tonight?”

“I’ll run with you, even though I’m normally a weights and treadmill sort of guy.”

Even though he’s joking, I see the concern behind his eyes. “You’re worried.” It’s a statement, not a question.

“Yes, I don’t want you on the streets alone. I don’t like the idea of your sister having located you, especially if you don’t know her intent. With the ten-year anniversary of the murders so close, its…” He lifts a shoulder.

“More than a coincidence?”

He nods. “Probably a scare tactic. One thing psychotics don’t like is being forgotten or ignored.”

I shiver. “As if I could ever forget her.”

“I’m sure. I have to tell you, it’s one of the creepiest stories I’ve ever heard. I can’t imagine living it.”

“It was terrifying, but it was more than that. Having people doubt my innocence was probably more hurtful than that knife sinking into me. But at the same time, I can see why they doubted. Heck, I would have doubted. My sister set me up but good.”

Gray’s phone buzzes and he pulls it from his pocket to read the screen. “Driver is downstairs. Ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

He grabs his jacket while I get my purse.

“What do you want me to do with my bags?”

“Leave them here. I’ll bring you back to collect them later.” He kisses my nose. “If I can’t convince you to sleep over again.”

“Let’s see how the day plays out, shall we?”

He kisses my nose again.

“We shall.”

Chapter Fifteen – Gray

“Drop us off at the side entrance, James,” I tell my driver and Avery looks up, giving me a small smile of gratitude. “Maybe we’ll be lucky and no one will see us leave the car together.”

“You can drop me off down the block and I’ll walk the rest of the—”

“No.” I grip her hand tighter, then loosen it. “No need. If someone sees us, we’ll deal.”

She looks to the front of the town car, where my driver is sitting, then back at me, lowering her voice. “Thank you again for last night and this morning. I appreciate everything.”

“It was my pleasure,” I tell her. “You deserve everything and I look forward to spoiling you.”

She blushes, the color warming her naturally dark complexion. “Will you let me spoil you too?”

Turning more fully toward her, I can see that she’s serious. She’s a caregiver. And independent. “What did you have in mind?”

“I like to cook, and I so happen to have a mountain of groceries in my kitchen. Would you be available for—”

“Yes.”

She giggles, a sound I haven’t heard her make yet. A soft little laugh that goes straight to my groin.

“I didn’t give you a time or—”

“Doesn’t matter, I’ll be there.”

She covers her mouth to smother the giggle, but I pull her hand away.

“I like hearing you laugh.”

She presses her palm against mine, her fingers barely reaching my middle knuckle. “I like when you growl.”

“I growl? Please tell me you’re joking. Is this some
Twilight
reference?”

“Nope.” She looks up at the driver again, then slides her hand up my thigh, just until her fingers are brushing my balls.

I make a noise low in my throat and she laughs. “See. Growl.”

“Is not.”

“Is too!”

I pull her ponytail and she slaps my thigh. “You’re like a pesky little sister.”

She waggles her eyebrows. “Like in those step-sibling books?”

I have no idea what she’s talking about. “What step-sibling books?”

“Oh, come on, Dr. Whips and Chains. The hot ‘I had my step-brother’s baby books that are all over Kindle.”

I test her temperature, pressing my fingers to her forehead. “Having your step-brother’s baby is hot?”

She wrinkles her nose. “According to a zillion female readers, yeah.”

“I worry about the state of our country.”

She laughs. “Then I take it you haven’t read the tentacle porn ones?”

I stare at her, trying to make that sentence make sense in my head. “Tentacles as in octopus, as in sea creatures from the deep?”

She waggles her fingers in front of my face. “Yes.” She lowers her voice. “And they have sex with women. Octagonal penetration.”

“Bet those suckers hurt.” I slap my thigh at my pitiful joke. “I wonder if James Bond would star in that
Octopussy
movie.”

In front of us, the driver laughs and Avery slaps a hand over her mouth.

“Sorry, sir,” James says, but his eyes are still smiling when they meet mine in the rearview mirror.

“Totally okay, James. Have you ever heard of tentacle sex books?”

“Unfortunately, sir, I have. The wife scrolls through the, oh, what does she call it … taboo section and laughs at some of the crazy things she sees.”

“See,” Avery says, “I’m not kidding. There’s a book for just about anything these days.”

I lower my mouth to her ear. “Maybe there’s even one about a doctor meeting a physician assistant at a sex club and spanking her sweet little ass.”

She squirms, then pulls my head down until she’s talking in my ear. “Remember when the couple was on the stage?”

My dick pulses. “I do.”

“And he spreads her legs apart and spanks her between them?”

My dick is at attention. “Yes, I remember that well.”

“Does it hurt?”

I nuzzle her ear with my nose. “Yes, in the best possible way.” She squirms again, pressing her thighs together as I lick the shell of her ear. “Do you want me to spank you there, Avery?” She shivers. “Then soothe the sting with my tongue?”

She moans. “Stop. You’re making my panties wet.”

“Good. Because every time you move, stand, or sit, you’ll be thinking of me.”

Her fingers curl in mine. “I won’t need a reminder to be thinking of you.”

I look up at the back of James’s head and make a mental note to buy a car with a privacy glass. “Do you know what I’d do to you right now if we were alone?”

Her fingers tighten, her palm damp against mine. “I wish you could show me,” she whispers.

Looking into her green eyes, I know I’m falling for this woman. Deeply and inexplicably falling. And strangely enough, I don’t feel any panic at the thought. There’s no internal warning system ringing, telling me to be careful. Telling me to run. No little voice reminding me to hide my bank account balance or to protect my heart.

Because this is Avery, and what you see is what you get, warts and all.

“Sir.”

Avery smiles and I know she’s remembering the first few moments after we met. I don’t look at James, only her, when I answer him. “Yes?”

“We’re here, sir.” He opens the door and steps out of the car, leaving us alone.

I don’t stop looking at her, drinking in my fill of her lovely face, the kind eyes looking back at me so gently. “I’m going to miss you today,” I tell her.

She exhales, filling the air between us with her breath’s warm caress. “I’m going to miss you too. Very much.”

“So, we’ll go for a run then have dinner this evening?” I venture. “Your place or mine?”

“I can’t leave Brooke alone,” she says, her eyes clouding with worry.

“Then we won’t. She’s welcome to stay at my place again or…”

Avery swallows and reaches into a side pocket of her purse, pulling out a key ring. I watch her twist one off and hand it to me. “If you still—”

I slip the key into my front pocket. “I do. I will. I’ll take care of everything.”

She licks her lips. “Thank you.”

Time ticks by and we don’t move, don’t say anything. Finally, she stirs. “I better—”

My mouth captures the rest of her words and I pull her onto my lap, my hands everywhere at once. We’re both breathing hard by the time I let her go.

She reaches for the door and pushes it open, stepping out.

“I’ll be a few minutes behind you.” I look down at my lap and she leans back into the car for another kiss.

“See you later,” she says and turns to run toward the door, sliding her card down the slot for entrance. A few seconds later and she’s gone.

I wait a few beats, allowing my erection to die down and my breathing to come to order, then I’m on the sidewalk and waving goodbye to James.

A movement by one of the pillars catches my attention and I stop, taking a step backwards. It’s McGill. Fuck. He’s leaning against the wall of the hospital, a cigarette between his fingers.