2. Luke
The files are all messed up and it’s all I can think about. Which puts me in a bad mood.
Which is bound to make me snappy and unbearable later, but that’s just how things work.
“Are you planning to burn those files by drilling holes into them?”
Realizing he means my glare, I look up at James Sanders, who gives me a look of amusement. I roll my eyes. Not everyone can say they can do that to our hospital’s director, but I suppose I’m an exception since James and I have worked together for years.
At some point, I was up for the director position, too, but I turned it down because he’s much more pleasant than I am and I might make an enemy out of everyone if I were in that role. Being the head of neurosurgery is perfect for me, allowing me to do my thing and still have enough time for my business.
“I’m just arranging them.”
He tilts his head curiously. “How’s that going?”
“I already organized this week’s schedule for patients and operations, but the rest isn’t going as fast as I wanted.”
He makes sympathetic noises, understanding my plight. But he also nods reassuringly. “Well, don’t worry about it too much. The new hires will be coming in today for you and two other doctors.”
I raise a brow. “Screened carefully, I hope? Because if it’s another incompetent medical assistant who will just mess up my files further, then no, thanks.”
Not that I have a choice because I can’t spend my time fixing everything the last medical assistant messed up. I have patients to see and surgeries to do or oversee. Then there’s my business, which I own, and while it runs well with my CEO and staff, it still needs my supervision from time to time.
James nods. “Don’t worry. I screened them myself and I’m assigning you a special one. She’s twenty-eight but comes with good references. Glowing recommendations, too, with her old bosses calling her brilliant.”
The last medical assistant was also supposedly special. I guess she just cracked under pressure.
“Remind me why I can’t hire someone for myself again, James?”
“Because the hospital’s paying for your assistant, Luke.”
Right. This hospital only hires the best, and they want to be the ones to determine who the best is, even when it comes to assistants. I bite back a sigh, then slap the files down on my desk.
“Fucking hell. I want to throw all these goddamn files out.”
James chuckles. “It’s a good thing I’m the only one in the room. Your interns will probably tremble on the spot when they see you like this.”
“They already saw me like this. They’re fine.”
He chuckles again, then shifts his head when a knock sounds and the door opens behind me.
“Dr. Sanders, Dr. Jennings, good morning. Can I come in?”
“Of course. Come in, Rose. You’re just in time.”
I glance as Rose Sutton, head medical assistant, makes her way toward my desk with a smaller, more petite figure behind her. Rose and James greet each other before Rose turns to me.
“Dr. Jennings, I have the new medical assistant here with me. Wanda was giving her a tour earlier, so she’s a bit more acquainted now with our facilities. Dr. Sanders, Dr. Jennings, this is Olivia Davis. Olivia, this is our Director, Dr. James Sanders. And this is Dr. Luke Jennings, Chief of Neurosurgery and the doctor you’ll be working with.”
I glance at the petite woman, waiting until Rose steps to the side and she steps to the front.
Just like that, the floor under me feels so hollow that it’s a miracle I’m not swallowed on the spot. Shock pulses inside me before I’m punched in the gut and sent reeling as I stare at the figure dressed in scrubs. She’s not a stranger.
She’s familiar. Way too familiar—as in I-know-how-your-body-feels and I-know-what-your-moans-sound-like familiar. Seven-years-ago familiar.
Is this some kind of cosmic joke?
What is she doing here?
“It’s nice to officially meet you.” James nods at her. “I’ve reviewed your resume and interview and am impressed, so I hope you continue to impress us here, Miss Davis.”
She nods back and smiles, then finally turns to look at me. Since I’m taller than James, those green eyes flicker up, a brief contact that sends an immediate zing down my bones. Then it’s gone as she settles her gaze somewhere under my eyes.
I’m still stunned, but even more shocking is that she doesn’t seem shocked by all this. Does she already know that I work here? That she’ll be working with me?
“Do you know her, Luke?”
Yes. She’s also I-know-how-tight-you-feel familiar. As soon as my body responds, I promptly school my expression and fight every physical reaction.
“No.” It’s her who answers. Liv. “We haven’t met before.”
The words and James’s question put me on alert, realizing that she is trying to disassociate from me as much as she can. I know the rules here in the hospital, but the way she voices it out is so cool and detached that my back goes up. Lies.
You knew me. You knew how to make me laugh. You knew how to make me groan.
You knew how to make me lose control that night.
Then she left me in the dust.
“I see. Well, then, before you get any more worked up about those files, let me get out of your way so you two can get acquainted and start discussing work. I’ll see you guys around.”
James is quick to leave, with Rose not far behind. Then it’s just us and I’m still reeling.
I look at her. I can’t help it, assaulted by the sight that I’ve forgotten all these years. Her blonde hair’s up in a ponytail and she has no makeup on except for the pink tinge on her lips.
And those green eyes, they’re brighter than ever and still not looking at me.
“Olivia Davis. Is that your full name?”
She jolts at my voice, then finally looks up. When our gazes meet for the second time, a sense of familiarity connects us and returns me to a moment filled with desire, a shattering. She nods.
“Yes. It’s my full name.”
“My eyes are up here.”
Her chin lifts as she forcibly meets my gaze for the third time.
“Yes.” She repeats it more firmly. “That’s my full name, Dr. Jennings.”
So painfully polite. A memory of meeting at that bar where I was just having a drink comes back to mind, particularly the weariness in her shoulders and the way she looked like she was so ready to unwind and get drunk. The conversation’s a blur, but I remember a few things.
She listened to me. I listened to her. We laughed and forgot about our shitty day—me with my divorce finalization and hers with her stressful, unmentioned job—before things took a turn as we became softer, flirtier.
I might have started the flirting, but she flirted back. I might have started suggesting we go up to my room, but she was game, and oh, how game she was, indeed, when she jumped me in that room and I jumped her back. Every nerve ending stirs at the more distinct memory of our frenzied bodies taking what the other offered.
It started as a game, with each of us determined to outdo the other pleasure-wise, but that game quickly crumbled as the pleasure took a turn and became more intense than either of us anticipated. Then the game quickly became a desperate plea as we brought each other to the brink—again and again.
Yes, we screwed each other’s brains out. Fucked each other to oblivion. But we also saw each other in ways that no one did, building something intimate and unforgettable in that small, dark space, or so I thought.
Because the woman before me now? She’s cold as ice. Aloof.
She’s not the warm, responsive woman who blew my mind and rocked my world that night.
“So, are we just going to pretend that we don’t know each other?” I ask.
I wish I can see that soft, vulnerable woman again who gave herself to me completely, but she’s not here. Olivia lifts her chin again.
“We don’t know each other, Dr. Jennings.”
“Seven years ago?—”
“We met once. Spent time once. Then we parted ways and went on with our lives.”
We had a connection. I gave you my number. But you never called.
I tilt my head, wanting to ask why she didn’t. But I’m also becoming highly aware that I’m making a fool of myself, still reeling while Olivia remains unfazed.
I narrow my gaze. “One question.”
“What?”
“How long have you known that I work here?”
“About half an hour.”
That explains why she wasn’t shocked. She had some time to prepare while I was blindsided.
“I see.”
At my words, Olivia looks up again. The aloof look is still there, but for the first time, there’s a flicker: something soft coming in, as if she recalls the past, too. Then it’s gone in the blink of an eye as she clears her throat.
“Dr. Jennings…”
“Yes?”
She takes a deep breath. “I know something happened between us in the past. But it was fleeting and it was years ago. I know this is forward of me, but I want you to know that when I applied and came here, I had no idea who you were or that I would be working for you. Or with you. This job, it’s important to me. I can’t lose it and I would appreciate it if we don’t mention our past ever again.”
Translation: I want nothing to do with you.
An irrational spark of hurt burrows in my chest even while my analytical mind understands what she’s saying. While I’m feeling that, I also can’t help but think how beautiful she looks now. The years have been good to her, filling her body out and turning her even more radiant.
My fingers itch to reach out, an urge that I don’t have any right to.
Forbidden. Off-limits.
And rejected.
She wants to pretend the past doesn’t exist, does she? That what happened between us was nothing more than a quick fuck? Fine.
Two can play at that game.
I keep looking at her while I suck all my thoughts in, including my reaction to her presence. I tuck it all away until I’m back to the man I was before I saw her today, with walls around me that no one can touch.
Then I nod at her.
“We’re professional adults, Miss Davis. That’s fine by me.”
Her stiff shoulders relax a bit, but I don’t give her time to do or say more.
“Anyway, I’ll be doing surgery assistance in an hour. And I expect you to know that and all my other schedules by lunchtime.”
Her eyes widen when I point at my desk, where files are piled high and in disarray. Then she straightens and nods.
“Yes, sir.”
Hell.
“Dr. Jennings will do.” My voice is cool and composed, mirroring hers. “This is a great hospital, by the way, and you should feel honored that you got in.”
“I do. I’m very honored.”
“Good. I expect the best.”
“I know.”
“Don’t disappoint me. Sort out those files. My previous medical assistant messed it up, so don’t do the same.”
Then there’s nothing left to say, so I give her one final nod and walk out of my office.