3. David
3
DAVID
Her lips were sweeter than honey, and her body was a torch lighting mine on fire. I lost myself in the moment, hands searching her curves, now void of the lab coat but still as intoxicating. Her dark braid caught on my fingers, and I used it to pull her head backward as her mouth opened farther. I had no clue what she was doing to me, but I enjoyed it until the impatient tap on my shoulder interrupted us.
"Excuse me!" a man grumbled in a very obviously drunken slur.
I pulled away, seeing her kiss-swollen lips before she covered them. Lauren Newhouse's eyes were wide in both surprise and fear as she stood inside my passenger door, pinned against the side of my car with its engine running. My God, she was extravagant in such a flustered state, and I was beyond flustered myself. I had heard of women approaching men on the street in order to find shelter from creeps who were following them, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen to me, and never like this—with someone I knew? Someone so gorgeous…
"I said, excuse me!" The man was angry, pulling at my shoulder and forcing me to turn around to face him.
"I'm sorry. I was just welcoming my beautiful girlfriend back after a night out. Can I help you?" I squared off with the drunkard. His eyes were glazed over. He swayed on his feet. He smelled like smoke and alcohol and maybe a bit of body odor. I could see why Dr. Newhouse felt unsafe and why she'd come to me, and I was thankful that she had. This man was beyond creepy in this state.
"That ain't your girlfriend. She was pickin' up guys in the bar." The man threw a thumb over his shoulder and scowled at me. "Just let me talk to her."
I felt Lauren grip the back of my suit coat and I heard her whimper into my shoulder. I pictured her there trembling, terrified of what this man might do to her, and there was no way in hell I would ever let him at her or any other woman, regardless of who they were. Lauren and I may have had it out this afternoon, but this evening, she was simply a woman in need of chivalry, and I was a gentleman.
"I'm sorry, sir. Ms. Newhouse doesn't know you, and she seems afraid. You'll have to be headed on your way now." I held up my hands in a defensive posture, and he growled like a rabid dog before smacking them down. Clearly, whatever interaction they’d had before this had either given him the wrong impression or he had severely misunderstood her intentions. "Hey, buddy, I said move on. She doesn’t want to talk with you."
He was lucky I didn't call the police. Lauren was clinging to my back now like a newborn latched to its mother, and I felt my fight or flight kicking in. I thought in instances like this, the hot kiss was supposed to chase men off, not anger them. My compassionate side wanted me to turn and take her in my arms to make her feel safe, but I didn't dare turn my back on this guy for a second now.
"Get out of my way," he barked, reaching for her, but I pushed his hand back and he swayed hard. That was when he took a swing at me and I blocked it. I almost ducked, but the fist would have landed in Lauren's face. Instead, I stopped the punch and gave him one of my own—not too hard—to the gut.
"Knock it off!" I shouted, but he wasn't in the mood for words. Lauren toppled into the passenger seat as the man rammed his shoulder into my gut and pinned me to the car. I brought my knee up into his belly, which made him stand and stagger backward, and with a hard shove from both of my hands, he fell back against the building behind him.
"Get in," I told her before turning quickly to shut the door. She had her feet tucked in just in time, and I heard the lock click as I rounded the front of my BMW to open the driver's side. I didn't even pay attention to what the man did at that point. I got in and drove off, leaving him on the darkened street corner. I should have called the cops, but she was safe and I was livid.
As I sped away, Lauren was sobbing, shoulders shaking and face covered. My car dinged, alerting me to the fact that her seatbelt wasn't buckled, but neither was mine. I just had to get her away from that maniac quickly. When I pulled to a stop at a red light, I buckled up and reached into my glove box for a few brown paper napkins from my stash of restaurant "tissues".
"Here," I told her, tapping her shoulder. She looked up and took them, noting the open glove box with more in front of her.
"Thank you," she muttered between stuttering breaths, and she blew her nose.
"What on earth were you doing out this late, partially drunk and alone on these Chicago streets?" My tone wasn't harsh, but I was concerned. Judging by the fact that she still had her work clothes on, or at least the clothing she wore today, I made the deduction that the termination drove her to a bar for a bit of liquid consolation. I felt guilty.
"Does it matter to you?" The hurt in her tone was evident, only making me feel more guilty. I pulled through the intersection when the light turned green, not even knowing where I was going. At this point, I was driving and trying to shake the adrenaline rush.
"It sort of matters to me. I just had to save you from God only knows what awful thing that man intended for you." I thought of Lexi and what I'd do if any man like that touched her. My hands curled around the leather of the steering wheel, and if it were light enough to tell, I knew my knuckles would have been white.
Lauren huffed out a sigh. "I was avoiding going home. My brother lives with me. He's just a kid and he has a bad drug problem. My parents are both gone and…" She stopped short and huffed. "And I don't have to tell you any of this."
Now she sounded angry, though I literally just saved her. I tried to be patient, though, because as much adrenaline as I felt coursing through my veins, I knew she had to feel it too. Maybe even worse than I did. I took a deep breath and just stayed quiet for a few minutes, finding a parking lot for a pharmacy that was well-lit, and I found a parking spot to stop.
That's when Lauren looked up at me. "I'm sorry. I just…" Her shoulders rose and dropped. "If I go home and Jason knows I lost my job, he will think that means he has to start dealing again to make ends meet. You have no idea how hard he fights to stay clean, how hard I've tried to help him stay clean. I'm all he has." I was certain it was the alcohol and fear causing all this to bubble up, but I listened quietly.
"I quit the job in the ER to take that internship with you because I needed more money. There's this rehab place, and I have to put a deposit down or they won't accept him. He's been to a few others and they just don't work…" Her head fell as her tears renewed, and I saw the weight of a thousand lifetimes push her shoulders down.
"And I fired you…" I said the words more to myself than to her, but the guilt was the same.
It really goes to show you that everyone is going through something, and here I was learning the hard way how actions aren't always what they seem. I looked at this stunningly attractive, brilliant doctor whose only issue was a bit of a rough personality and an inability to submit—which she might not have had if she knew the patient we were treating was already receiving the life-saving cure. I set her up for failure, and when she failed, I kicked her in the gut.
"My God, Lauren." I wanted to reach for her hand, but I knew that was unprofessional. Yes, we kissed, and yes, it was really hot, but I knew better. That was different. "I'm so sorry. I had no clue."
She sniffled and blew her nose again, clutching the used tissues in her fist. Her body still trembled even as she lifted her eyes to look around. "Where are we?"
"Third street. A block from the subway entrance." I knew exactly where we were, only a few blocks from my high-rise penthouse. But I couldn't very well take her there if she had someone at home to care for. Besides, she needed to go where she felt safe. "Where can I drop you?"
"I don't know." She sounded so despondent. "I'm going to be homeless in six months, as soon as the unemployment runs out—if they get it to me fast enough to pay this month's rent."
I knew in my gut that this wasn't an attention grab. She was genuinely gutted and scared for her future, and it was my fault. I felt awful for that, and even though we could potentially call it even since I saved her, I knew it wasn't even close.
I thought about it for a second, knowing I hadn’t filed any of her paperwork yet. For all my bosses knew, she had just taken a partial day off for a family emergency. And the other interns would fall in line if I brought her back. That didn't say much for my standards and letting her speak to a superior that way, but all of that could have been ironed out without my hasty decision. I still had my doubts about our ability to work together, but she needed this job more than I needed to save face.
"Alright, I'll hire you back." I had no choice.
"What?" she said, wiping her eyes and looking up at me. Her lips were still red and swollen from being kissed so hard, and I found myself staring at them. Those thick, full lips that would distract me every second of every day now. And after having felt her curves against my body, and hearing her whimpering in enjoyment of my hands groping her, I would fight attraction to her and arousal at every turn, not to mention watching her walk away from the differential room when I canned her. Wow, those curves.
"You heard me." I had to repeat it just so I would be certain I knew what I was doing. "I'll hire you back. But you have to obey every single order I give you, without question, immediately, and you have to be respectful."
More tears burst from her eyes, and I never expected her to launch from the passenger seat across the center console to wrap her arms around my neck and plant her lips on mine again, but she did. I grabbed her sides and let her kiss me hard for a second, but my dick started to respond to her again. I pushed her back.
"My first order is to stop kissing me right now." The order was a must, but I hated to give it. My God, did I want her to straddle me and let me fill her right then and there, but I had no condom and we were in a sticky situation with work if the board found out.
Lauren returned to her side of the car with more brown napkins to wipe her face clean as the tears continued, this time happy ones. "My God, thank you so much. I swear I'll do everything you say without complaining or back talking."
Now it didn’t matter what she said. All I could picture was giving her orders to bend over in front of me and lift her skirt, and I knew I had to get her out of my car soon. "Where should I take you? We have an early start in the morning."
"Uh, honestly, I should take the train. I'm about thirty minutes in the opposite direction." Her hand clung to the door handle and she bit her lower lip. "Dr. Park, thank you for…" I could see she didn't even want to say it out loud. I knew she'd probably have nightmares tonight about it, and I wished I could make it so that didn’t happen to her, or any other woman.
"It's okay, Lauren. You can pay me back by being the best doctor on my team." I patted her knee and felt electricity sparking. Why on earth was I so attracted to her? Why did my body light on fire when I touched her or even looked at her?
"See you in the morning, Doc."
"See ya," I told her, and then I waited and watched as she climbed out and straightened her skirt. She shut the door and started toward the subway entrance, and I watched her the entire way, as much to make sure she was safe as because I was checking her out.
I crossed the line earlier today when I let myself ogle her as she walked away. I allowed my mind to cross a professional boundary that had I never kissed her, I'd have been able to step back across tomorrow morning. But even now, my hand was hovering over my lips, remembering the way her tongue slid against mine, and I was undone. I wanted to do that again, and soon, but there wasn't a chance. Lauren Newhouse wasn't a woman I met in a bar. She was my employee and she was off limits.
I put my car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot when she descended into the subway station, but I wasn’t going to forget this evening for a while. Probably never. And working with her was going to challenge me in more ways than one. I could already tell.