Chapter 11
Skylar
“Ugh.” I rolled over in bed and tried to banish my memories from my mind.
No matter what I did, my head pounded and the taste and feel of Anthony’s mouth wouldn’t leave me.
Why didn’t I drink wine last night? I never remembered what happened when I was wine drunk.
Moaning, I rolled over again and sipped water from the cup on my bedside table. I’d gotten up sometime in the night and grabbed it.
At least it was Sunday. If I’d had to get up and go to work, I would’ve been screwed.
Oh, speaking of that, I knew exactly what to do to fix my hangover. Stumbling out of bed, I shuffled into the living room and grabbed my medical kit. Twenty minutes and several attempts later, I was back in bed with an IV bag resting on a pillow above my head. I dozed while the IV rehydrated me.
It was cheating, but hell. What was the point of being a medical professional if I couldn’t take advantage of some of the perks?
When I woke again, I felt much better and the bag was nearly empty. I carefully took the IV out, disposed of everything, and slapped a waterproof bandage on my wrist.
After a shower, I felt even closer to normal, though I still couldn’t stop the constant replay of the kiss.
If I stayed home, all I’d do is focus on how turned on I’d been. The only reason I hadn’t spent all night with my vibrator was the large amount of liquor I’d had in my system. I’d passed out as soon as I hit my mattress.
Before I rethought it and settled back in bed with said vibrator, I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.
Only to remember my car was still parked in town. I’d intended to walk to Dad’s shop last night and sleep there, but when Anthony offered to take me home, all thoughts had gone out of my head.
Everything except inviting him in.
I changed up my game plan and opened the rideshare app. Ten minutes later, I was in the back seat of a woman’s car who kept giving me strange looks in the rearview mirror. “Aren’t you Skye?” she asked.
I nodded and smiled at her as nicely as I could with the last remnants of the hangover headache pounding through my head. She would’ve seen my name when she accepted the call for a ride.
“You don’t have a car?” the woman asked.
She was rather hateful. I opened my app and checked her name. Tessa Bridges. It did sound familiar. “I do,” I answered carefully, “but I left it in town last night.”
The scenery rushed by as we headed toward Main. It seemed like she was driving really fast. This was one woman that wouldn’t be getting a very good review. She was quiet for a while, so I checked email and my social media accounts.
After a few minutes, I noticed Tessa’s head move. She glanced at the GPS. “You left it at a bar? Do you drink a lot?”
“Not really,” I said absently as I went back to the email about a new drug from the hospital CEO I’d been reading. “We’ve had more girls’ nights than usual here lately, but it’s a coincidence.”
She sniffed. “I see.”
“What’s it to you, anyway?” I asked. Who was this woman to make me feel judged about how often I drank? I’d been out a few times recently, but normally it was once a month, maybe.
“I’m friends with Anthony,” she said. “I just want what’s best for him.”
Of course. Just my luck to call a rideshare and get the one person that wants to defend Anthony.
“Anthony isn’t a factor in my life,” I said. “So, whether or not I drink doesn’t affect him whatsoever.”
Thank goodness, I spotted the bar and my car in the late morning sunshine. “Here it is,” I said. “I paid on the app.”
She pulled her sedan beside mine, and I jumped out before she could say anything else. I darted around my car and got in with my phone in my hand.
Before I even turned the engine on, I texted Anthony. Who is Tessa and why is she quizzing me about how often I drink?
Once I hit send, I pulled out of the bar’s parking lot and went across the street and up the block to Dad’s shop. When I parked and checked my phone, I had a reply. What in the hell are you talking about?
I told him what had happened and grabbed my purse. His reply pinged as I got out of the car. I’m so sorry. I’ll handle it.
I’d have to ask him to give me the full story behind it later. But for now, Cooter had already spotted me. “Look what the cat dragged in!” he crowed.
Dad walked out from behind a big truck and grinned at me. “Come to visit your old man?”
I nodded and smiled. “Thought I’d make us Sunday dinner.
” And I’d known damn well he and Cooter would be working in the garage, probably with a game on in the background.
Sure enough, they had the TV mounted on the far wall on with some race cars going around and around a track. Ah, wrong sport. It was racing season.
“Come on inside,” he said. “We can finish this truck tomorrow.”
Dad and Cooter led the way into the house he’d built behind the shop. I headed toward the kitchen, but Cooter waved me off. “Go watch the race with your dad,” he said. “I already put a roast in.”
Laughing, I shook my head and plopped down. Dad had already turned the race on. “How was girls’ night?” he asked. “I expected you to stay at the apartment over the shop.”
“I got a safe ride home,” I said evasively.
“I heard that a certain someone took you home last night.” He turned his attention away from the race and fixed a glare on me. “Are you falling into his trap again? He left you heartbroken before.”
“Dad, remember we were just kids.”
His face darkened. “I don’t care. You were hurt and I won’t ever forget it.”
“Okay, I won’t either. But I have forgiven him. And you should too.”
He pushed back in his recliner and grunted.
But he didn’t disagree. After a few minutes of watching the cars go round and round on the pavement, he glanced at me again.
“I can’t stand to see your heart broken again.
Not after Anthony and then what Bret did to you.
” He inflected Bret’s name with a drop of venom.
He disliked Anthony, but he hated Bret. And I didn’t mind that he did. At least Cooter was busy in the kitchen. If he heard Bret’s name brought up, he would’ve started cussing.
“I promise I’m being careful, Dad. Nothing has happened.” I couldn’t stop the kiss from flashing through my mind again. And my damn cheeks heated up.
“Oh, ho,” Dad said triumphantly. “Then why are your cheeks red, tell me that?”
I clapped my hands over them. “They’re not!”
He chuckled, knowing he’d won. I was just grateful he wasn’t nagging or building up enough steam to start yelling. Then I would’ve had to yell back, and it would’ve been a whole thing.
“Baby girl, all I want is for you to be happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. If that means Anthony, then I’ll suck it up.” He watched the race for a few laps, but something told me that wasn’t all he wanted to say.
I was right. When a commercial came on, he turned in his chair and fixed his dark brown eyes on me. “I’m telling you now. If he hurts you again, I’ll castrate him.”
Chuckling, I scooted to the edge of the couch and leaned over until I reached his cheek for a kiss. “Thank you, Daddy. If I decide to pursue anything with Anthony, and then if he hurts me, you’ll have my full permission.”
“And me!” Cooter yelled from the kitchen.
So, he had been listening after all. “And you, Uncle Coot.”
He continued grumbling, but Dad just shrugged. I couldn’t hear what Cooter was saying. In a few minutes, Dad startled me when he spoke up again. “Damn right!”
Whatever Cooter had just said about Anthony, Dad agreed. It was surely something that would make me roll my eyes, so I didn’t ask. I sat back and enjoyed the rest of the day with Dad and his cantankerous best friend.
I sat in my car in the hospital garage until the last possible second. I’d stopped for coffee at my favorite shop, so all I had to do was rush in and go straight to the first exam room.
Facing Anthony after trying to suck his face off was the last thing on my to-do list I wanted to actually accomplish. If I could go the whole day without seeing him, that would’ve been fine with me.
Anthony was the first man I’d kissed since Bret. I absolutely hated that I was drunk when it happened. Damn it!
I watched the clock and munched on a muffin I’d picked up at the coffee shop. Knowing I’d have to acknowledge and talk to Anthony had my stomach rolling.
Damn it. I was acting like a teenager again and it was strange that I responded this way to a man, to Anthony of all people, after feeling so much nothing for so long.
As soon as I finished the muffin, the clock turned over, giving me five minutes to get through the garage, across the parking lot, through the lobby, up the elevator, and into the peds office.
I made it in four. Damn it. I counted down the last minute outside the elevator, finally heading in when the clock rolled over.
Immediately, I got to work and didn’t see him as I went through my chart for the day.
As I was getting ready to check the rooms for prep, I sensed his presence before I even saw him.
It was like a magnet being pulled through my back, and it was too strong to ignore.
Our eyes connected down the hallway and my worry disappeared.
He walked towards me, and the closer he got, the stronger the pull felt.
The sensation was overwhelming, but I didn’t let on that I was affected at all.
Schooling my face into a pleasant smile, I gave Anthony a little finger wave.
“How was the rest of your weekend?” He looked down at a tablet and tapped at it.
“I hung out with my dad,” I said, trying to effect an air of nonchalance.
He nodded and put his hand on an exam room door but stopped and smiled at me. “How’s the hangover?”
I couldn’t stop the blush any more than I’d been able to when my dad asked me about Anthony. “I don’t get hangovers.”
He just smiled and it was almost like I could tell what he was thinking.
“Stop thinking about it.” His mind was on the kiss and I damn well knew it.
“I can’t think about anything else.” He smiled from ear to ear, a true Cheshire Cat grin.
“You can just forget about it,” I declared as I pulled up my first patient.
“No way in hell,” he said loudly. “That was the highlight of my move back.”
I glared at him. “I was drunk. I’d rather not our first kiss since we were sixteen be while I’d been drinking.”
He held up his hands with the tablet in one. “Okay. Fine. You win if you’ll have dinner with me on Friday.”
“Deal,” I said with every intention of bailing on him.
“I see what you’re thinking,” he said. “If you cancel on me, I’ll make your life here at work hell.” He had his jaw set and I believed him. Then, he licked his damn lips again.
“Fine!” I said in a near yelp. “I’ll go.” I slid around him and darted into the first exam room before he did anything else like lick his lips or ravish me in the middle of the hall. Or something.