7. Renne
Renne
Because of my lateness, my boss barely spoke to me the entire shift. We worked on two patients together, so it hasn’t been fun. Just the opposite, actually. My boss giving me the silent treatment is nerve-racking, since I need the job and good nursing jobs are scarce.
I hope that picking up shifts whenever she asks will offset my lateness. I’m trying to find a more reliable day care, and I’ve suggested in-house day care for the hospital staff. All of it went into the “suggestion box,” and we all know nobody prioritizes that.
My shift over, I walk out of the hospital and rub my shoulders. Nights get chilly, and I forgot to bring my zip-up hoodie. The big digital clock near the parking lot reads almost midnight. Pete should’ve been out of surgery by now, unless something went wrong in the operating room. I hope not.
I shoot a quick message to Dina, telling her I’m running late.
She replies right away.
No worries. Hanna is down for the night.
I bite my lip. At Dina’s, I have a portable crib set up, but over at the Crossbows’, there’s nothing.
Where did you put her?
In the crib in the spare bedroom.
She sends me an image of a wooden crib with soft lilac sheets that my baby is sleeping on.
You’re amazing, you know that?
Connor picked it up on the way back from when he dropped you off. He thinks of everything.
That’s nice. Hey, do you know if he’s smart, as in super bright?
Let me ask… Yes, he is.
And how is Declan?
Worn out.
Hahah, I bet.
I look up to check if Pete is coming out. He’s not, so I continue texting.
We saw you guys in the pool.
At the pool. In the kitchen. Bathroom. Floor. Even the golf cart. That’s just the last 24 hours.
Damn. I’m a green-eyed monster.
Haha. Only because you’re refusing to bang Dr. Olton.
I have a date with him this Saturday.
Oh yay! Finally.
Thanks.
Wait, how are you getting up here? I can send Declan’s driver… I think. Let me check.
No need. Pete is dropping me off.
Pete?
Dr. Olton.
Ah, finally on a first-name basis. Where is he dropping you off?
At the manor.
I doubt they’ll let him in. If he drops you off at the gate, I’ll send a car for you.
Deal. I should be there soon.
Take your time!;)
“Ready?” Pete asks as he walks up to me.
He changed out of scrubs and into beige slacks paired with a black polo shirt. He’s handsome in a preppy way, and he’s been nice to me. He has been asking me out for ages. When I refuse, he shrugs and says he’ll ask again because I might change my mind.
I’d rather just get laid, but he might need that extra wine-and-dine type of relationship that I don’t require.
Not all women want a relationship. Some of us learned the hard way that men complicate things and add baggage we don’t want to carry. Some of us just want a quick tumble. That’s all.
“You ready?” Pete asks again.
“Yeah, sorry. I was texting Dina.” I slide the phone into my pocket.
We walk to his sports car. A gentleman, he opens the car door for me, and I sit in it with a smile.
The interior smells like leather and a man who wears a light breezy cologne.
It smells wealthy and stable, like a smart man with a routine, a great job he got after he studied medicine for years.
Agile, well-manicured fingers wrap around the wheel. Pete’s sexy. He really is.
“What are you looking at me like that for?”
I smile. “Just looking.”
“Oh yeah? That’s the look of a woman who wants something.”
“You’re perceptive.”
“Comes with the job.” He clears his throat. “Do you want to stop by my place tonight?”
I must be very obvious. Or my pheromones are in the air, and he’s inhaling. “I wish I could, but Dina’s waiting up for me.”
“I’m sure she can keep Hanna overnight.” He starts the car and slides his hand between my thighs.
My insides clench. In a good way. I really do need to get laid.
I haven’t had a man for what feels like ages, and I love sex.
Orgasm is the best feeling in the world, and when a guy gives it, it’s not the same as when I do it myself.
“You can decide in the next five minutes,” he says as he drives down the street.
Last time I swore off men after a bad relationship, I found a man who didn’t want much of a relationship either.
We made Hanna by accident. Even if Hanna’s father survived the slaughter I witnessed on the yacht, I wouldn’t have raised her with him.
As the other parent, he’d have his rights, but I wouldn’t have dated him or married him or anything like that.
Forcing a relationship on people because of the child they have together is bad for the parents and worse for the child.
I need to fall hard for a man before I commit to marriage.
Hanna’s dad was never the vision of the man I thought I would marry.
Neither is Pete, but he could be. He could be because I’m not Renne anymore.
Ekatia has different visions. Different dreams. Stable ones.
Ones that don’t involve morally compromised men.
“We’re here.” He enters the underground parking lot and parks in the spot with his name on the wall. “We can do whatever you want.” His hand moves up my thigh, and I part my legs to give him access.
My phone rings.
A finger presses against my clit. The doctor knows where to stroke and how to best stimulate my clit. Pleasure travels up my belly, and I bite my lip.
“That’s a good girl,” he says, and reclines my seat. “Lean back.” He rubs over my scrubs, and my head falls to the right. Connor Crossbow is parked next to us. His window is down, and he’s watching.
“Oh my God.” I sit up and roll the window down. “What the hell are you doing here?”
His eyebrows shoot up as if I’m asking him something completely out of left field. “What the hell are you doing here?” he counters.
“I’m with Pete.”
“I can see that.”
I wait for him to say something more, but he lights a cigar and takes a few puffs. “Hey, Doc?”
When Pete doesn’t answer, I look over to see Pete shaking his head.
“Doc?” Connor calls out again, and his tone makes my skin crawl.
“What?” Pete barks.
“What did I tell you to do before I left the hospital today?”
“I’m not doing this with this man,” Pete whispers so only I can hear. “Get rid of him.”
“What was that?” Connor puts the cigar on an ashtray on the dashboard in front of him. He takes a sip of a soda and a bite of a donut, then looks over with a smile that makes me think of a hyena. “You don’t want to answer me, Doc?”
“Not particularly,” Pete says.
Oh, Pete has balls. Good for him. I respect that, but I’m uneasy because this is Connor Crossbow and not some random man one can argue with.
Connor’s door flies open, and he steps out of the car, the pair of golden guns coming out of their holsters.
“No!” I scream.
“Relax, Mamma. I promised Dec and the Musketeers that I’d be on my best behavior for thirty days.”
He tosses the guns into the passenger seat of his car, then comes around Pete’s car and tries to open his door. Which is locked. Connor kicks it with his heavy boot and breaks the window, reaches in, and grabs Pete by the collar. He drags Pete out of the car.
I leap out and meet them on the other side. “Get your hands off him!”
Connor pins Pete against the vehicle. Their bodies are touching in the middle.
Connor lifts his hands and steps back. “Stay there, Doc.”
Red-faced and breathing hard, Pete fixes his collar. “You’re a bully.”
Connor narrows his eyes. “And you’re a grown man. What did I ask you to do?”
Pete shakes his head again. “I’m calling the police, and my lawyers.”
Connor tilts his head. “Are you daft? Because if you are, I’ll walk away and feel sorry for you.” He picks up his phone and puts it on speaker.
“Selnoa police department,” a woman answers. “What is your emergency?”
Nobody speaks on our end.
The police dispatcher repeats the question.
“Tell her,” Connor orders. “What’s your emergency?”
Pete grinds his teeth. “A misdial. Sorry.”
Connor hangs up. “Let’s call your lawyer now. It’s Dasimov, isn’t it? It is. I’m never wrong when I read something, and I read all about you, Doc.”
“Stop,” Pete says. “What do you want?”
“I want you to answer my questions. What did I tell you to do with her?”
“Drop her off at your house,” I say, because I don’t want Connor to fly off the handle, and Pete is stubbornly not answering. I understand Connor’s pushing him, but Pete needs to understand who he’s speaking with and stop posturing.
“I’m not talking to you,” Connor says.
I put my hands on my hips. “You’re talking about me while I’m around, so I might as well answer.”
“Don’t sass me, Mamma.”
“Don’t call me Mamma.”
“Bunny? You like that better?”
I flatten my lips.
“Mamma it is, then,” he says.
“I hate you.”
“Fuck.” Connor squeezes his sac and side-eyes me. “You’re distracting.”
“Let’s just go, Con.”
“Now I’m Con?”
I tug his elbow. “Come on.”
Connor points a finger at Pete. “I told you to drop her at my house, didn’t I?”
Pete nods. It’s a slight nod, but it’s better than nothing.
“Here’s the thing,” Connor continues. “This nurse you want to fuck is my future sister-in-law’s best friend, and when I’m managing unknown risks to my family that involve a human element like you and her, not following the timeline that we agreed upon makes me think something has gone wrong.
The next time you don’t do what I told you to do with her, I’ll break your fingers, and you’ll never touch her again. Do we understand each other?”
Pete locks eyes with Connor.
Connor presses him against the car. “Are you suicidal?”
“No,” Pete says, “We understand each other.” Connor lets him go, and Pete turns to me.
“You can forget this Saturday,” he says.
“What was this Saturday?” Connor asks.
“Pete and I had a date.”
Connor looks from me to Pete. I don’t know what he sees, but he says, “Aw, you guys shouldn’t cancel on my account.
She’ll bring the baby to Dina, and you guys can go out.
It’ll give you a second chance with me too.
This way, I won’t hold a grudge for the rest of your life.
Which, at the rate you’re pissing me off, will be rather short.
Longer if you drop her off at my house after the date.
” Connor grabs Pete by his throat. “My men at the gate will let you in if you tell them the code, and the code will be: Daddy’s got a gun. Repeat the code back to me.”
Pete’s blue in the face.
I tug Connor’s arm, and he lets him go. Pete coughs, struggling to breathe.
“Repeat the code!” Connor shouts.
“Daddy’s got a gun,” I scream. “Answer him!”
“Daddy’s got a gun,” Pete grinds out.
Connor releases him and pats his shoulder. “There. See how easy that was?”