Sweet but Sexy Boxed Set (37 page)

Chapter Eight

Sharon stood under the shower’s spray long after scrubbing herself clean. The warm streams of clear water running down her body felt like a lover’s caress as they caught on, then fell from, her hardened nipples like miniature waterfalls. Her body had betrayed her, reacting to Jake’s attractiveness, even as her mind still struggled to reject all things male.

She didn
’t want to be anything like the woman the entire town of Legend scorned. She had stopped wanting to have anything at all to do with Candy toward the end of her senior year of high school, the day the Sanders’ patriarch made it clear
her kind
was too far beneath him and his to ever be considered worthy of his precious son’s attention.

That he
’d finally convinced Kyle of it had been an eye-opener, because she knew then, as now, he had been in love with her, too. He had wanted her for her body, yes, he was a teenage boy after all, but he had loved her for her. Whether they played or fought, laughed or cried, he had loved her. It was the first time in her existence she’d thought of the possibility of a different life than the one she’d been born into.

After leaving Legend she
’d found Gerald.
No
, she’d never loved him as deeply, but she had loved him. At least she thought so at the time. Now she wondered if it was mere need. Sharon had fought hard to build a decent life with him. Never allowing her sexual needs to take over in case her genetic makeup really did predispose her to wantonness. She had thought he’d wanted a lady for a wife. And she hadn’t really had any choice but to be a lady, as her two jobs kept her too worn out to ever make sexual advances toward him. In some ways his in-and-out, two-minute screw was as much a relief as a disappointment.

Now she was back at square one. Experiencing attraction where she should feel nothing. She hadn
’t expected to
feel
anything for anyone so soon after the disaster of her broken marriage. Numbness had suited her just fine since Gerald walked out. She didn’t want to experience
anything
, much less an attraction to a devilishly delicious doctor who had no idea that she was related to the town whore.

No, not just related to, but the daughter of. Good grief, he
’d run like the hounds of Hell were after him if he had any idea who she was. It was a mistake to take him up on his offer of employment. Sooner or later someone would recognize her, and he would have to embarrass them both when he fired her.

What had she been thinking? Was she really so desperate to have someone else clean up the mess her mother had made of not only her home but her life?

Well,
yes
.

That was the absolute truth no matter how pitiful it made her. She couldn
’t go back in that house and deal with what were quite simply the nastiest things she’d ever seen or touched. How her mother lived there was completely beyond her. But her mother had never been one to lift a finger that didn’t involve sexual satisfaction or financial gain.

With both index fingers, Sharon pushed her nipples in and held them until they were no longer rock hard. She wouldn
’t allow them or the warm center between her legs to react to the man just because he had, and was, everything any woman would want. She would work for him and allow him to clean up her mother’s house out of her paycheck, but that was it. There would never be any more thoughts about how gorgeous he was, nor that he’d been handed everything she could never possibly attain on her own.

Sharon stepped from the shower and quickly dressed, donning a dress that hung like a potato sack until she added the loose belt. It was the latest style, something she was happy about since she knew it completely obliterated any indication she had a shapely body. If anything, because of her large breasts, it made her look slightly chubby. And that was just fine. Jake Parker wouldn
’t ever bother to ask her out again after tonight. She would just be his employee for the duration of her indenture, find a buyer for the cabin Ms. Addie left her, and then she would kiss him and Legend goodbye forever. Figuratively speaking, of course.

****

Candlelight, soft music, and Jake Parker in a suit were all conspiring to make her forget her commitment to look at him as only an employer. His tall frame, dark hair, and genuinely friendly manner held her transfixed through both the salad and the main course of baked salmon, steamed veggies, and a baked sweet potato.

He
’d ordered them a dessert to share as well, something she was certain she couldn’t eat, while he continued to talk about his family’s history. Rather than being bored, which is what she would have expected, she was envious he’d grown up in not only an environment of love, but one so squeaky clean she knew he would be appalled if her own history was revealed.

Jake
’s great-grandfather was a highly decorated war hero who was now interred at the National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. His grandfather, Old Doc, was retired now and living in Florida, but had been Legend’s beloved doctor for over fifty years. Jake’s father was a brain surgeon, who had radically altered a surgical procedure that was now less invasive than the previous protocol, increasing the number of successful operations and life expectancies of those afflicted. Even his mother was a scientist, and she, too, had accolades in the medical community. She’d found the gene that triggered a disease Sharon had never heard of. Apparently it was a big deal, as his mother had been given some very prestigious award and now had funding in the billions to develop the cure.

These people all lived charmed lives. Nothing like her own. She couldn
’t help but sit and wonder just what her own life would have been like if just normal people had raised her. She didn’t need all the limelight that had been a part of the lives of those who Jake came from. She would have been more than happy to have just had a mother and father who worked at a factory, who came home to each other and to her and maybe even siblings at the end of the day. She would have given anything to sit down at a meal with those people around the table, laughing and fighting, but still loving each other in spite of it all.

“
I’m talking your ears off. I can see I finally lost you.”

Sharon shook her head.
“No. Your family sounds wonderful. I wonder if you really know how lucky you are.”

He shrugged.
“Actually I do. I realize my life is about as sweet as they come.” Jake shook his head. “I had a roommate in college my freshman year. He struggled to work two jobs, maintain his grades, and still have enough money left over for fun and dates. Once I realized how hard he had it, I stopped being such a brat, throwing money away like it was water. We became and still are best friends. It was a reality check I needed, and it helped me see I needed to focus my time on those who had less than me.” His lips twisted. “I learned I was in the minority.”

“
You only realized that once you got to college?”

Jake laughed at himself.
“Yes. I guess you think everybody lives the same way you do until something or someone opens your eyes. My mom and dad never mentioned money. Ever. It was just always there to be spent on
whatever
. Once I learned not everyone has that, it really humbled me. In fact, for about two years I was so embarrassed to realize we were quite well to do, I pretended to be as broke as the rest of the kids I was friends with.”

Sharon felt her lips lift.
“Two years? You acted poor for two years?”

Jake
’s shrugged. “Only at college. My mom finally told me I was being ridiculous and looked like a peasant. That I could do more for people if I stopped trying to hide who I was but embraced it and actually got my hands dirty. She was right. I interned at a clinic where the median income was usually less than ten thousand a year.
That
was a real eye-opener. And it was the best training I could have gotten anywhere.

“
But enough about me. Tell me about your family.”

Chapter Nine

Jake knew he’d talked too much, but something inside of him had taken over his brain and he was seriously afraid it was Little Jake. Not that he’d ever thought of naming his penis before, but since his sex seemed to be driving his behavior at the moment, maybe naming it wasn’t out of order. Or maybe he was just thinking about it too much.

Little Jake seemed to find it necessary to brag about Jake
’s family, something Jake assured himself he never did. Yes, he did want Sharon to like him and hoped she found him attractive, but her total lack of interest had him doing something he never did, which was to use the power and influence of his family name to get a girl’s attention.

“
I have no family…to speak of.”

Jake stared at her, knowing he looked like a total cretin now. Here he
’d gone on and on, and she must have been sitting there the entire time wishing he would shut up and let her eat in peace. “I’m sorry. And here I’ve been going on and on about mine.”

Sharon shrugged and then bit her bottom lip.
“Your family sounds very nice. Mine was different. We were poor. There just isn’t much to tell.”

Jake wanted to ask so many questions but she was making it clear she had no interest in telling him more details about herself. If he had a brain in his head, he
’d concede and leave her alone. But the more she shut him out, the more he wanted in. Which meant Little Jake was still in control. Well, he was taking control back. “I’ll need you to come in at nine tomorrow, but at eight thereafter.”

The sudden change of topic had Sharon visibly relaxing, making him realize that she
’d evidently been tense before and he hadn’t noticed. “If that works for you.”

She smiled, a brilliant, natural smile. This was new and Little Jake perked right back up, making it necessary for Jake to shift in his seat. Her bright, slightly overlapping front teeth gave her just a hint of an overbite, and he found it incredibly sexy.

“That works great for me.” Her smile melted. “About that house. What do you need me to do?”

Jake knew she was talking about Candy Crane
’s house, but she seemed embarrassed to bring it up. “No worries. I’ll make a few phone calls and within a week, or maybe two, it’ll be clean as a whistle. You can hand in your resignation now, and be free of that obligation.”

Sharon looked confused for a moment before her gaze cleared.
“Oh…okay.”

Jake didn
’t question her strange reaction. She was a very private person and he could respect that. He just hoped, over time, she would loosen up and open up a little. And if he could ever convince her he was worthy of more than employment, he hoped she’d open up a lot.

He reached beneath the table and adjusted himself, glad the restaurant was nice enough to have tablecloths that covered his movements. He didn
’t want Sharon or anyone else to see that where she was concerned, Little Jake was being a complete pest.

“
Is there a doctor in the house?”

The yell, coming from across the room, had Jake on his feet immediately. He sprinted past tables and patrons rising to their feet to the location where several people surrounded a middle-aged gentleman laying prone on the floor.
“I’m a doctor. Please step back, folks, and give him some room. Someone call nine-one-one.” He knelt down and felt for a pulse, then immediately began CPR. The man was unresponsive, but he continued to concentrate on saving the life for the next eight minutes until the emergency services arrived to take over.

He turned back to tell Sharon he
’d be going to the hospital and would send her home in a cab, but she was nowhere in sight. Frowning, he turned back to the patient and followed the crew to the waiting ambulance. He took another moment to look around, but Sharon had disappeared. Tomorrow would have to be early enough to ask her what was up. Right now he knew his mind and energies had to focus on the man being loaded for the short trip into town.

Three hours later, after getting Ben Ingvall stabilized, meeting some of the hospital
’s evening emergency room staff, and reassuring Mr. Ingvall’s family that he was doing as well as could be expected, Jake stepped from the hospital into the mild evening air.

Though he was tired, his thoughts turned to Sharon and the reaction she
’d had to the emergency. He had to say he was disappointed she simply disappeared without a word. He understood her hesitancy to get involved, but not her need to leave. Her desire to help that Crane woman had made him think she had a lot of heart. Maybe he was wrong about her. After all, Little Jake didn’t have a brain, though he did seem to have a will of his own. Even now, just the thought of her had him stirring.

Chapter Ten

Sharon bit her bottom lip as she stood outside the door of the cute little lake house Old Doc Parker had converted into a clinic years before her birth. The newly painted building with its well-tended lawns looked as fresh, she was sure, as the day he’d had it built all those years ago.

She was nervous. After all, she had abandoned Jake the evening before like a ninny, without a word of explanation, and now she had to face him. She knew he
’d want to know what had happened to her last night, and she’d spent the better part of the night trying to figure out what to tell him. The problem was that she wasn’t a good liar. Unfortunately, she absolutely could not tell him the truth.

The man on the floor had been someone she
’d known from her past. He was older now, but he’d once been one of her mother’s customers. One of the ones who had thought to make time with her as well, if her mother would have been willing to make extra money for selling her daughter’s virginity.

Her mother
’s fury over having to lose Mr. Smith (though they all knew that wasn’t his real name) as a customer had been brutal. She’d beaten Sharon so badly that day that Sharon had missed almost an entire week of school under the pretense of having tripped down their stairs and injured herself severely. Of course there were no stairs in the singlewide trailer they’d lived in at the time, but it was a story she’d been forced to tell Old Doc, so she could get a note to take to school.

Doc Parker hadn
’t been fooled, but his gentle questioning had been met with a fear so ingrained he hadn’t broken through the wall she’d built to protect herself and her undeserving mother. He’d finally given up when she kept telling him it was just an accident, but she knew he knew something was really wrong. Her life had been so painfully embarrassing and filled with pain, she had to wonder again just what she was doing back in the town where all her misery had begun.

Ms. Addie.

If it weren’t for Ms. Addie, she wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t be meeting with Ms. Addie’s lawyer this afternoon to finally get the deed and the keys to the cabin. If it weren’t for Ms. Addie, she would be desperately looking for a place for her son and herself to live because there was no way she could have paid for an apartment and bills on the remaining minimum wage job left to her once she’d lost the other one. If it weren’t for Ms. Addie…she’d still be Sissy. That poor lost child who was never taught right from wrong, until Ms. Addie taught her another way from what she’d always known.

Sharon took a moment to pay silent homage to the woman to whom she would be forever grateful. Not just because of the gift of the present, but because of all the gifts of the past. And not even the material things. The greatest gift Ms. Addie had ever given her was unconditional love. But it was also because of Ms. Addie that she was now back in Legend and facing a reality she
’d long ago buried.

Her son had an extended family who wouldn
’t want him here any more than they would want her. She was honest with Kyle when telling him she had no idea if his father even knew about him. She also had no idea how Kyle’s father would feel finding out she and his son were back in Legend.

Her biggest concern right now, however, was facing Jake. She was so embarrassed by her cowardly behavior of the night before, but more, she was infuriated her mother had put her in a position, once again, to have to hide her shame behind a lie.
That,
as much as anything, would force her to seek a life somewhere other than Legend.

Sharon took a deep breath and tested the doorknob, not surprised, but still disappointed to find it unlocked.

The front foyer was empty and still somewhat dark since the overhead lights hadn’t yet been turned on. She passed through the waiting room and opened the door to the back, a door that had, before now, been off limits until Mrs. Huff, or the doctor himself, had invited her back to the examination rooms.

A shiver skittered down her spine. She
’d always hated going to the doctor because her mother had insisted on going as well, which meant everyone in the waiting room whispered about them, and equally bad, Candy would have to go back to the examination room with her.

For any other girl in Legend that would have been not only normal, it would have been desirable. But not for her. Every time she
’d had a need for medical care, the doctor would spend as much time trying to convince Candy to alter her lifestyle and stop exposing Sharon to things little girls should never experience as he did treating his patient. He’d even once threatened to call Family Services if she didn’t clean up her act.

Of course Sharon wasn
’t supposed to have heard their conversations, but the thin wall separating the doctor’s office and the exam room had allowed her to hear her mother’s screaming, cursing responses. All she’d had to do was put two and two together. It hadn’t been hard. What
had
been hard was walking by Old Doc and pretending she hadn’t heard how rude her mother had been to him. Her shame was never-ending when it came to her mother’s antics.

“
So you came in after all.”

Sharon stopped cold as her cheeks heated. Even telling herself she was prepared to face him this morning hadn
’t prepared her after all. It was frightening, but she feared the blood in her veins wasn’t that different than her mothers. The young doctor was too adorable to ignore totally. It was time to admit it, if only to herself, the man was one fine piece of work. Tall, dark, and handsome, definitely, but it went well beyond that.

His deep blue eyes with their dark straight lashes held compassion, laughter, and a hint of sass. His wide masculine lips, which usually smiled, hovered on a frown but didn
’t quite accomplish it. His untrimmed, slightly shaggy sun lightened hair was probably very blond when he’d been a kid, but was now a sandy blond/brown that accentuated a healthy light tan that proved his love of the outdoors. It was easy to see he stayed healthy, though his body was more that of an amateur athlete than a body builder.

Sharon took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry about last night.”

Mock surprise flashed in those eyes.
“Really? Which part? The slightly romantic ambiance of the restaurant? The delicious meal? The stimulating conversation? Or was it that you didn’t get a little peck at the end of the evening because my attention had shifted?”

When she realized her lips had parted in surprise, she snapped them closed.
“Excuse me?”

Jake shrugged.
“Just curious what it is you were apologizing for.”

Heat fueled by aggravation replaced any embarrassment she might have felt.
“I am apologizing because I had an emergency and you were too tied up for me to tell you. I had to leave and felt you were too busy to bother.” On some level everything she said was completely true, but he didn’t need to know on what level.

It was his turn to look surprised.
“Oh. I see. So what was the emergency?”

Sharon lifted her chin.
“It was personal.”

One side of his lips lifted.
“So it isn’t any of my business.”

Sharon tilted her head.
“No, actually it isn’t.” She looked past him as the reception phone rang. “Should I get that? Or am I already fired?”

Looking slightly offended, he stepped back to allow her to pass him.
“I wasn’t going to fire you.”

She walked by him, and smiled in spite of her irritation. He was cute, looking all hurt and ruffled because she
’d thought he’d fire her. She hid her amusement and lifted the receiver. After a brief conversation with a Mr. Jackman, searching for the appointment book she couldn’t find, and making a note of the appointment on a sticky note, she replaced the receiver and looked around the small reception area again, and then looked up at Jake who was still hovering in the doorway. “So, where is the appointment book?”

Looking slightly guilty, he turned, went across the narrow hall to his own office, and then returned with the spiral bound appointment book. He handed it to her.
“Sorry. Mrs. Huff and I went over today’s schedule this morning before she left.”

Sharon took it and quickly jotted Mr. Jackman in at ten o
’clock, noting he had another appointment at the same time. “You have a double booking at ten,” she said, looking up to find Jake still there.

“
Not a problem. Mr. Jackman is just coming to get a new prescription for his erectile dysfunction problem. It won’t take but a few minutes.”

Heat flared across her cheeks.
“Are you supposed to tell me this? Isn’t there something about patient confidentiality?”

Jake settled against the door.
“While you work for me, you will be privy to pretty much everything I am about, since there will be times I’ll need you to assist, as well as every time I have to do anything with the female anatomy. We have some legal and governmental paperwork to do to set you up, but the most important thing is you never discuss anything you hear or see here at the office with anyone. Ever.”

Sharon felt her cheeks heat, but she nodded and lied.
“Not a problem.”

A slight grin lifted his lips and Sharon was certain he was not only aware of, but also
enjoying,
her discomfort.

“
This office doesn’t have a large enough patient load on a daily basis to warrant hiring a nursing staff. Grandpa always had Mrs. Huff act as his nurse and receptionist. Since you don’t have her experience, I’ll take care of shots, but I’ll pretty much need to teach you everything else you’ll do.” He grinned. “Mrs. Huff offered to stay on for a week to teach you, but I didn’t think it was necessary. I only deal with sickness, physicals, and general family medicine here. Anything serious will be handled at the hospital and I’ll have the nursing staff at my disposal there. Think you can handle it?”

As her excitement built, Sharon tried not to take too deep a breath before she nodded again.
“Sure. But I do have some knowledge, well, I did….

“
It’s been years ago now, but I was just short of completing a medical assistant degree at a community college in Memphis.”

Surprise lit his eyes and he grinned.
“Wonderful! But why didn’t you complete it? If you don’t mind my asking.”

Sharon shrugged, wishing she
’d just kept her mouth shut. As excited as she was to get to do what she’d always wanted, she wasn’t about to tell him her lying, cheating, ex-husband forced her to quit school. That he’d promised she could go back once his education was finished. “I had too many other responsibilities at the time. I just couldn’t make it work.”

Jake nodded, though his eyes held questions. Thankfully he was too polite to voice them.

“Okay. Well, I’ve got a pap coming in shortly. Sixteen-year-old girl, first time. Her mother says she’s having female problems, although I think she believes the girl is pregnant but isn’t saying so until she knows for sure. I recommended sending the young lady to a woman doctor for her own comfort, but the mother insisted if a male doctor was good enough for her all these years, it was good enough for her daughter. The way she said it makes me think she’s angry at the daughter. I’ll need you to help make them both as comfortable as possible through the process, although we’re more concerned about the patient rather than the mother. If she is pregnant, there can be no judgments. We need to encourage her to continue with prenatal care, and if it comes to it, I’ll give the mother a good talking-to about the need for her to make this as stress-free for the girl as possible. But once they leave here, it’s out of our hands. Do you have any problems with that?”

Sharon almost confessed she was once a pregnant teen with an angry mother but stopped as the little bell that had always heralded someone entering Old Doc Parker
’s foyer rang. She breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she was literally being saved by the bell from sharing too much of herself. She didn’t know what had compelled her to even think of sharing except the young doctor’s insistence there was to be no judgment had hit a note with her. She had been judged so harshly by so many. Only Old Doc and Ms. Addie had been kind; everyone else, including her own mother, had either turned a blind eye and pretended like her growing belly was the result of overeating, or looked at her with disapproval and disdain.

“
Come on back and I’ll show you how to set everything up once you sign her in.”

Sharon made her way to the desk that was now hers and smiled at the girl and her mother. Annalee Ashford attempted to respond, but her fear-filled gaze darted beyond Sharon to look down the short hall before her response to Sharon
’s greeting was overridden by her mother’s. Jeannie Ashford stepped forward with agitated movements that had her daughter scampering to the side. Anger boiled, causing Sharon’s chest to rise and fall more markedly than normal. She knew all too well how horrible it was to face not only a mother’s wrath but also the humiliation of displaying herself to a stranger during the examination.

She did as she was instructed and offered both mother and daughter smiles and asked them to fill out the medical history paperwork before hurrying to the back where Jake was waiting for her in the first of the two exam rooms. She watched and listened as he pulled a folded paper jacket and sheet from a drawer beneath the examination table and then went to the sink area and pulled out a wrapped tray that held all the necessary equipment for the exam. She slid him a glance, hoping she could hold her own as she played his nurse.