Chapter 24 #2
Inside, there’s murmuring and tension. And I realize my rushing out of the room must have caused them stress.
I bring Cormac to the monitor and click on the recorded sonogram showing the two heartbeats.
“Cormac, what’s going on?” Griffin asks, sounding nervous. “Is the baby…”
“Oh, you’re fine.” Cormac calms him immediately, squeezing the mob boss’s shoulder.
While he reviews the scans to confirm I didn’t pick up an echo, Griffin and Ava gush at each other, murmuring “I love you” in between kisses.
I turn away from them to find Cormac staring at me, his lips curled into a smile. After a nod and a tilt of his head to the couple, I know I have permission to tell them the good news.
“Do you want to know the sex?” I ask, feeling that excitement.
These are the special moments of being a doctor.
“Sex?” Ava asks, sounding surprised. “You can tell the sex?”
“Hell yeah,” Cormac belts out, unable to contain himself. But I wonder why.
Griffin glances down at his wife. “Do we want to know?”
Ava bites her lip. “Sure. I guess.”
“Okay, which one?” Cormac says, unable to contain his wide grin.
“Which one, what?” Griffin asks, adorably confused.
“Which baby do you want to know the sex for?” Cormac clarifies
“There’s more than one?” Ava says, sitting up, her voice a squeak.
“How… How many babies are in there?” Griffin asks, an expression of terrified wonder.
“Two,” I say, my hands behind my back.
“That’s impossible,” Ava laughs.
Then Cormac does something completely unexpected. He covers my ears.
Still, I hear him say, “It’s not if you’ve been fucking a lot. Aye, Griffin?”
The way the two of them blush, they confirm that, yeah, they’ve been fucking. A lot. I can feel the energy between them.
I enjoy the banter and how interactive and lighthearted Cormac is with them. But I’m crushed all over again, thinking Cormac has to marry someone else.
My phone buzzes again. “Transport is here.”
Cormac’s professional mask slides back into place. “Shoot those sonogram photos to my Dropbox, Scarlett. I’ll access them when we get to Mercy.”
“Yes, Dr. O’Rourke,” I say.
The very tall man from earlier comes back and assists Cormac in moving the gurney to the doors, where the transport team from Mercy takes over. Ava is their patient now.
Cormac lingers for a moment and stares at me. “You’re crashing.”
I nod, knowing what he means. The drop after the adrenalin high. My hands are shaking, and my knees threaten to give out. But I don’t know if it’s really all about the patient.
“I’m okay, Dr. O’Rourke.” I nod to be convincing.
“Cormac,” he whispers. “When we’re alone and not in class, you can call me Cormac.”
I search his face. “Thanks for letting me assist on this. I liked the rush…Cormac.”
He swallows, throat tight. “I spent years chasing it. Then I chased something worse.” His gaze darkens. “It doesn’t always end with good news.”
I want to ask what that means. But he’s already stepping away, shutting down. Now I know the rumor wasn’t a rumor at all. I’ve just watched a whole mafia medical emergency play out in front of me.
“This place is a mess. I…”
“Cleaning crew comes in at midnight. We’re done for tonight,” he says, pulling out his phone. “You have class early tomorrow. I’m ordering you a ride.”
It stings how he’s putting distance between us after we worked this trauma together. Like he regrets letting me in.
“Okay.” I swallow.
“You did good, Dr. Ford,” he says quietly.
Shivers run through me at the acknowledgment of my skills, and I wonder if he feels the same way when I call him Dr. O’Rourke, with respect, and a hint of anxious lust.
“Thank you. You, too.” I glance at the men in suits getting into the SUVs. “I like them.”
He tilts his face. “My sister is married to Griffin’s cousin.”
My mouth forms a little O, understanding the connection. “That really tall, gorgeous guy in the suit?”
“Be careful, little Ford.” He narrows his eyes at me. “I’ve been known to get jealous. And you don’t want to make me jealous.”
“Why?” I control my breath.
“You don’t want to see what I would turn into.”
What he turns into.
A silver sedan pulls up outside, and Cormac turns to me, “Get in that car and go right home.”
“Wanna come over later and fuck?” I ask before I can stop myself.
He stares at me, and for a second, I light up, thinking he’ll take me up on my offer.
Then he’ll see my pathetic apartment, the single bed, and change his mind. “I mean…”
“I can’t, Scarlett. You know I can’t.” He leans in and kisses my forehead. “But I really want to. And that has to be enough.”
But it’s not.
“This isn’t just about the fact that you’re my professor. It’s one class. We’re adults. This is because you think you’re bad for me.” My voice breaks just a little. “Because of them? Because you’re mafia? You don’t think I can handle it.”
“You’ve proven you can handle anything,” he says sardonically. “I can’t handle you. Go home, Dr. Ford. It’s late.”
“I need to wash my hands first.” I don’t wait for a response. I amble into the bathroom and splash water on my face as well.
Looking in the mirror, I see the person I thought was lost.
A doctor.
And Cormac gave me that tonight. And the biggest lady boner.
I come back out into the hallway, and an ache settles in my chest. The place is empty.
Cormac is gone.
And I’m hooked.
On him.
If he needs to take a wife before the end of the semester, I won’t get a chance to have all of his attention again. Let him use me like he did that first night.
I just have to convince him that he can…
The next morning, when I get dressed, I choose my clothes deliberately. A shirt that dips just a little too low. Legs bare beneath a short skirt. Lip gloss that isn’t subtle.
He wants to pretend he can’t break the rules. That I can’t handle darkness or grit.
Then I’ll remind him exactly who stepped into that OR with him last night and didn’t flinch.
I’ll remind him that I’m more than just his student in those moments.
I’m the woman who his female patient needed.
The woman who will, in a few years, be on his level.
And maybe, just maybe, he’ll stop running from the thing between us and finally let himself lose control.
Before he marries some woman he’s forced to settle on.
It’s not like he’s going to consider me for that role. I’m a student, and I don’t want a husband. Not now, not when I finally got my ass back in gear, and I’m kicking that ass in med school.
But when Cormac looks at me today in class, he’s going to know exactly what I want. Exactly what he does to me.
I want to watch him break.
A glance, a shift of my legs, a deliberate, perfect provocation that only he will feel. And he’ll feel it like a hand wrapped around his throat.
I slide into my seat in his lecture hall and cross my legs for now.
Until the show begins.