27. Suzie
Suzie
A s soon as the meeting ended, I rushed out of the conference room like toxic fumes were coming out of it. The meeting had zoomed straight through lunch, which meant I was exhausted as I always was, but worse—I was hungry. Okay, maybe it was hangry.
“Dr. Wright, I was wondering if I could have a minute to discuss an updated x-ray machine.”
“Not. Now.” The words came out on a rough growl that was out of character for me, and they were uttered as I rushed past the technician who only had good intentions. Guilt brought me up short, and I turned to face him. “I’m sorry, Quincy, send me a schedule request and we can talk about it.”
His frown transformed into a smile and he nodded. “No problem, Dr. Wright. Want me to grab you a sandwich from the cafeteria?” Quincy shrugged at my confused look. “Got four of my own, so I know a hungry woman when I see one.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m on my way there now, but thanks for the offer.” His words made me feel a little better, and a lot less like a feral animal unable to control her emotions because of basic hunger. A quick stop in my office to drop off the meeting notes and grab my wallet, and food would be just minutes away.
I sighed before I pushed open the door to my office. Even minutes seemed too far away. If I move faster, I could cut that down further.
But, of course, plans didn’t always go as they were meant to. My baby bump was proof of that, and so was the handsome, smiling face that stared back at me when the door to my office opened fully. Gavin, with a heart-stopping smile and sparkling green eyes, stood amidst the most wonderful aromas wafting around my office.
“Why do you smell like food?” It was a silly question, but I was also a feral animal focused on nothing but satisfying my hunger.
Gavin laughed, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he stepped aside to reveal the small functional table I used for the constant mounds of paperwork I had to deal with, now covered in a blue-and-white striped tablecloth, a single blue candle with the flame flickering under the wind of the air conditioner, and a floating hydrangea. All of it was surrounded by food. Lots and lots of food.
“Sadly, it’s not me smelling of food.”
Under normal circumstances I might have smiled, might have told Gavin that he smelled better than any dish, but today that wasn’t true. “I thought we talked about this, Gavin?” He was going to back off a little, stop trying to do everything for me.
He shrugged. “You talked. I listened, but I didn’t agree to anything.”
He hadn’t, and I hadn’t really expected he would. You don’t become one of the most sought-after musicians in the world by giving up easily.
“I appreciated the bagel this morning, but I appreciated the strawberry cream cheese even more.” And the decaf coffee, but it felt too much like rewarding bad behavior if I told him so.
Gavin’s lips twitched as if he could read my mind. “It was my pleasure, Suzie.”
And that was part of the problem. How could I be expected to keep my distance, to protect my heart when he was being so unconditionally sweet and caring? “Gavin,” I groaned.
“Oh, don’t say my name like that. It does things to me. Sexy things.” Gavin’s smile widened and he wiggled blond eyebrows suggestively.
That smile did wonderfully sexy things to me . “What’s the meaning of all this?”
Gavin sighed and spread his arms wide. “This is me, getting as much time with my baby mama as I can.” While I can went unspoken, but we both heard it.
I frowned. “Baby Mama? No, I will not be called that, don’t you even think about it.” I could deal with having a baby as a result of a casual affair, but I could not handle that particular moniker.
Gavin barked out another laugh and motioned for me to take a seat at the table. The sound was rich, deep, and beautiful.
“Baby Mother? That has a more distinguished air about it.”
“Gavin.” I sighed, my stomach growling with every step I took towards the food.
“My baby’s mama?”
I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of me at his tone. “Suzie will do just fine.”
He held my chair out and whispered in my ear, “She’ll do a lot better than fine. She’s just about perfect.”
Before I could tell Gavin that I was nowhere near perfect, my stomach let out another loud lion’s roar of hunger and did the job for me. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. My baby mama is hungry and it makes me feel good, manly, that I’m the one satisfying her hunger.” Gavin could be so funny and so charming that sometimes it was difficult to tell if he was being serious, but the sincere glint in his eyes was believable.
I looked at the spread of food on the table and smiled. “Meatloaf? I haven’t had meatloaf since Mom was alive.” Tears stung my eyes because hormones were a wild and crazy part of pregnancy, but I managed a smile through the tears.
“It’s Granddaddy’s famous gravy meatloaf with buttery mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and biscuits. I told him it was a lot of food for a little woman, but he said you were eating for two.”
“You Ross men were given an overdose of charm when it was being handed out, weren’t you?”
Gavin shrugged. “Or maybe we’re just extremely charming to the right woman.”
His words hung in the air for a long, sexually-tense moment that caused my heart to beat triple-time. “Maybe. Maybe you’re just natural caretakers and you missed your calling as a nurse.”
“I don’t think the sexy white dress would look good on me.”
“Maybe not,” I agreed with a shrug. “But some skintight scrubs with a super lowcut V-neck? I can see it now.” I shouldn’t be flirting with him, but I couldn’t help it. “Does this trip mean your album is completely finished?”
Disappointment flashed in his eyes, but it was covered up quickly because Gavin was an artist at heart and he loved talking about his creations. “Yep. When I get back, we’ll be promoting the hell out of the new album and the first two singles. Talk shows, live performances, radio interviews, the whole crazy mess.”
“Sounds exhausting.” And amazing.
“It is, but this new album means something to me. In fact, I wrote a couple songs since I’ve been here and sent them to my producer.”
“Inspired by the ocean? The crisp Oregon air?”
Gavin nodded, his gaze seared into mine. “A girl, because it’s always a girl, isn’t it? And fatherhood. I’ve been thinking a lot about the things my father did wrong and about how I can balance my career without repeating his mistakes. I want to do better for our child, Suzie. But dammit, I’m so scared about having a little girl.”
My shoulders shook with laughter, and a hint of relief—he wasn’t scared of fatherhood, but a precious baby girl. “Afraid she might run into sexy rockstars with silver tongues?”
“Hell yeah,” he admitted freely, adding a shudder that pulled another laugh from me.
“That’s good. Fear means it matters to you.” Our eyes locked as if pulled together by a magnet, heat swirling between us. Heat and something more, something intense and terrifying.
My office door flew open, interrupting the moment, and our gazes were reluctantly pulled from one another and toward the intruder.
Persy gasped, her violet eyes wide with shock even as her red lips pulled up into a smile. “Is Drew in today?”
“He should be around, but if you can’t find him, page Zola for a consult.”
Persy’s brows dipped in confusion. “Drew said to call him. Always.”
I smiled. “He’s having trouble sharing. It comes from being the baby of the family,” I assured her.
My brother seemed to have a difficult time getting along with Zola. I wasn’t sure if it was work related, but they were a good professional team.
Persy nodded, her gaze narrowed as she took in all the details in front of her. The romantic table setting. The food. Gavin. She lingered on Gavin and her knowing smile turned skeptical.
“Gavin, it’s good to see you again.”
He blinked, surprised by her warm welcome. “Uh, thanks. Good to see you, too. Happy to hear things are going well with you and Ryan.”
She nodded. “I can’t wait to hear the new album,” she told him excitedly. “But I’ll be watching you,” she assured him, pointing her forefinger and middle finger from her eyes to his. “Very, very closely.”
To punctuate her words, or to make them more terrifying, Persy backed out of the office and didn’t stop staring at Gavin until the door closed.
When we were alone again, Gavin’s nervous laughter bounced off the walls. “She’s scary as hell, isn’t she?”
I shrugged, amused by the genuine fear in his eyes.
“I’ve never had someone compliment and threaten me in the same breath.”
He was so out of sorts by Persy’s threat that I had to laugh. “Do they usually take a breath between the compliment and the threat?”
The question surprised a laugh out of him and Gavin nodded. “Usually, yeah. And I have to say, I prefer it.”
My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, or maybe it was because of all the chewing I’d done for the past hour. Either way, lunch with Gavin was the most fun I’d had since my last meal with him. “Thank you for thinking of me and feeding me. And thanks for making me laugh.”
“It’s my pleasure, Suzie Q. Always.” The affection that darkened his green eyes sent a lightning bolt of warmth straight through me. “Whenever you’re hungry, I’m your man.”
My man. That sounded better than it should, a thought I quickly shook off because it was unproductive. Gavin was here for the baby and sure, we were getting back to something like friends, but that was it.
“I’ll be sure to let my stomach know.” I stood with a sigh and stretched my back. “I really do appreciate it, Gavin. I know I told you not to do it, but today your defiance was much appreciated.”
“But not always?” He pushed away from the table and stood. With two steps, he was in my personal bubble, smelling like a masculine forest and I couldn’t help but lean in. Just a little.
“No,” I answered a little breathlessly, “not always.”
“No deal,” he groaned and laid his hands on my shoulders. “My plan is to make your life easier, especially while you’re carrying our child, but from here on out, Suzie. I suggest you get used to it.”
I shook my head as if that act alone could ward off his words and the impact they had on me. “I can’t.”
“You can,” he insisted as his hands slid from my shoulders and up my neck before his fingers tangled in my hair. “You will,” he growled a moment before his mouth crashed down on mine.
His tongue moved slowly but insistently, as if he had all the time in the world. As if he didn’t have an entire record label full of people waiting for him. The kiss remained chaste—too chaste—for several long moments before he used his tongue, dragging it back and forth across the seam of my mouth until I opened for him.
The feel of his satisfied smile against my lips did wicked things to my body, but when his tongue slipped inside, heat flooded my veins. His tongue, his kiss, it felt like home. I was a little on edge, a whole lot turned on, and leaning into him. Gavin took my weight, accepted it as if was nothing as he spun me and pushed my body between him and the wall. A low moan escaped and he swallowed it whole.
Heat wrapped around us as if we were the only two people in the hospital, on the planet. His hard body pressed against mine, so strong and powerful, filled with an intensity that had me vibrating with need.
Too soon, Gavin pulled back, big capable hands cupping my jaw like I was some precious gift, instead of plain old Suzie. “I’ll see you real soon, Suzie Q.”
I nodded absently, my body so satisfied yet deeply frustrated from that kiss. It was too much but somehow not enough. I wanted more, needed more, but I couldn’t have it. Not now. Not ever.
Gavin disappeared through the door and left me standing there, back pressed up against the wall, fingertips brushing over lips that still tingled from his kisses. I don’t know how long I stood there, shocked by the intensity of the connection between us. Me and Gavin Ross. It didn’t make sense, but it was the truth. I felt it down to my bones, deep in my heart and to the depths of my soul.
Gavin was the man for me. It couldn’t work, and any attempts would probably—almost certainly—end up in heartache, but I felt powerless to stop myself from falling even further.
“No. Stop.” I tried to shake myself out of the stupor created by the romantic lunch, the great conversation, and that kiss that stole a little bit of my heart. “Work. You have work to do, Suzie.”
I had a full list of tasks I needed to tend to before I left JRMC for the day, which meant I couldn’t spend my time daydreaming about the sexy rock star I was in love with and having a child with.
As soon as I sat down and fired up my laptop, the phone at my side buzzed with a message. “Dinner. Tomorrow night. You and Drew at my place. Eight o’clock.”
I stared at the screen, stunned by his invitation even though I shouldn’t have been. Gavin loved his family, even though he couldn’t be with them often.
His next message came, almost as if he could read my thoughts. “Since we’re all going to be family, might as well get used to having meals together.” The added winky face emoji put a smile on my scared, trembling lips.
I didn’t know what to do or how to respond to the invitation, so I grabbed my phone, work forgotten, and went in search of Persy for advice.
For answers.