Lovers by Night Read online

  The hinge on the door squeaked, and Brandon released her quickly. The door opened, and another nurse walked inside. Barbara Jenkins looked back and forth between her and Brandon, her wide green eyes taking in the scene. Paige tried to ignore her as she put on a fresh pair of gloves and opened the lid to the centrifuge, collecting her sample. Acting as if nothing was amiss wasn’t easy, and from the shifty look directed their way, the act must not be a good one.

  “I’ll come back in a few more minutes when the slide is ready,” Brandon said then exited the lab.

  Really! Now who was running? She wanted to roll her eyes and laugh. It was as if they’d gotten caught making out in the school bathroom. Paige went through the motions to prepare the slide while Barbara worked on an A1C test beside her. The silence started to stretch long enough, and Paige thought Barb had decided not to say anything.

  “I can’t handle it. I have to know.” Barbara turned, placing on hand on her plump hip. “Was something going on in here with you and Dr. Stud?”

  So much for making it out of there. Total avoidance wouldn’t be good, but she sure as shit wasn’t going to tell her the truth. “Yes. There was some tension, but not the kind you think.”

  The slightly pudgy woman’s brows rose. “Ohhhh. So he was frustrated. I could have sworn it was something else I sensed. I mean, you did go to the luncheon with him.” She laughed. “Guess my sexy-vibe meter isn’t working as good anymore. Are you in trouble for something?”

  News traveled fast. Paige knew it wouldn’t take long for someone to mention her attendance with him at the casino. Barb was always a nosy, busy-body. Paige ground her back teeth. “No. I just tried to anticipate what he wanted and got it wrong. You know how it is with a new doctor. Trying to figure out their flow so patients get in and out.” It was a half-truth and not a complete lie. He had been aggravated when she left him with Dr. Lend at the casino.

  Barbara nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad I’ve been with the same provider for awhile. It’s nice to get into a routine.”

  Paige finished the slide and excused herself. To keep the gossip down they would have to be a lot more careful. They could be lovers by night, but during the day, they’d have to resist any more lab meet-ups.

  Brandon walked past her cubicle on his way to look at the slide she’d prepared. She noticed his lab coat was still buttoned. This time she couldn’t help smiling. Everything about this situation was crazy—exhilarating—fun. She felt young and alive again with this secret affair she was about to dive into.

  Only a few patients remained. Within an hour she’d be on her way to have awesome sex with Dr. Stud. And she planned to enjoy every minute of it.

  “Paige!”

  Startled, she spun in her chair to see one of the front desk clerks. The girl’s face was lined with concern. Paige stood up. “What’s wrong?”

  “The ER called. Your mom was brought in. She was in a car accident.”

  “Barb, can you cover me? I need to go.” Thankfully, the woman had overheard the clerk explaining the emergency.

  “Yeah. Go. I hope she’s all right.”

  Quickly, Paige stepped past them and made her way through the carpeted hallways into the connecting hospital. Her heart rate accelerated, and she could count her pulse in her head. Mom was the only family she had. God, please let her be okay.

  * * *

  Getting through the rest of the day’s patients seemed to take an eternity. The nurse, who’d walked in on him and Paige, told him about the car wreck. Paige hadn’t returned to the clinic, and he was worried for her and her mother.

  As soon as the last patient left, he headed for the ER. His long stride ate up the distance. A silent prayer left his lips while he rounded the nurses’ station and entered the emergency room.

  “Which room is Sutton in?” he asked a passing nurse. She looked up at him, and he noticed her pale green eyes and a wine stain birthmark on her left cheek.

  “Exam two.”

  “Thanks.” Brandon strode for the room down the hall. He was glad to hear that she was in an exam room and not in the trauma unit. He’d spent most of the afternoon fearing the worst. He knocked softly then opened the door.

  Paige shot up from a chair near the gurney and stared across at him. “Dr. Kline?”

  She’d been crying. Her eyes were red and swollen. Even with the worry lines creasing her brow, she was beautiful.

  His gaze dropped to the bed, where an older woman had turned to look at him. She had short, dark hair. Sutures were evenly spaced along her forehead, disappearing into her hairline. Black and blue contusions discolored the flesh around the stitches. Beyond the injuries, he saw a resemblance to Paige.

  Brandon cleared his throat and glanced at Paige. “I came to check on you and your mother. Barbara told me what happened.” He advanced into the room and started taking his own assessment of Paige’s mother.

  “Mom, this is Dr. Kline. He’s filling in at the clinic until they hire a full-time doctor. Dr. Kline, my mother, Audrey Sutton.”

  He smiled at Paige’s mother. “It’s nice to meet you, Audrey. Although I wish it were under better circumstances.”

  “Me too. I must look a fright.” Audrey reached up and rubbed a hand over her hair and winced.

  Brandon removed her fingers from her head and gave them a comforting squeeze then laid them at her side. “It’s probably better not to touch your head right now. But you look fine. I’ve seen far worse coming from an accident.”

  Audrey winced. “I bet you have. Both of you have rough jobs and probably see a lot worse than this. I keep telling Paige I’ll be fine, but she insists on hovering over me.”

  “Mom, stop complaining. I’m not going to leave you by yourself.”

  He glanced at Paige before once again focusing on Audrey. “You shouldn’t be alone. She’s worried about you.”

  Audrey sighed. “I know, but mothers are supposed to fuss over their children, not the other way around.”

  Brandon laughed at the woman’s chagrin. “Families are supposed to take care of each other. It’s your turn to get pampered.”

  A knock sounded on the door, and Brandon turned as Dr. Holt walked into the room. The slightly balding, tall, thin man wore a smile.

  “Good news. Her arm isn’t broken. Just banged up really good. She appears to have a slight concussion from her forehead hitting the steering wheel. She can go home, but she will need to have someone stay with her and wake her every couple of hours. You know the drill, Paige.”

  “Yes, Dr. Holt. I appreciate you taking such good care of her.”

  “Do you have any questions for me, Ms. Sutton?”

  Audrey shook her head and winced again. “No. Just ready to go home and go to bed.”

  “Okay then. I’ll send the nurse in with discharge instructions and a script for some pain medication.”

  “Thanks, Doctor.”

  “You’re welcome.” Dr. Holt left the room.

  Within a few minutes, the nurse with the wine stain walked into the room and explained the discharge instructions. Paige stood near the bed, her arms crossed over her chest as if she were hugging herself. She acknowledged her understanding of the aftercare instructions.

  Brandon wanted to pull her into his arms. He’d learned from their impromptu dinner date that her mother was all she had left as far as family went. This accident today had clearly shaken her up. But instead of kissing the furrows of worry away from her brow and holding her close, he stood still on his side of the room. It wasn’t as if they were dating, and he didn’t want to make Paige any more uncomfortable than she already was. So he resisted the urge to go to her side.

  It didn’t take long to load Audrey into a wheelchair. Brandon stepped forward. “I’ll wheel her out for you.”

  The nurse and Paige gave him an odd look before the nurse said, “Okay. If you insist.”

  “Do you want to pull your car around to the front doors, Paige?”


  She blinked as if shocked. “Yes. I’ll go do that now.”

  “We’ll be waiting.”

  Brandon pushed the wheelchair toward the exit doors. He didn’t want to take Ms. Sutton out into the cold air, so they stopped in the vestibule to await Paige.

  “You like my daughter, don’t you?”

  The question caught him by surprise. He let loose a short laugh. “Yeah. She’s nice, and a good nurse.”

  “You know what I mean. I saw the way you look at her. Not that I’m opposed. Paige makes her own choices. I couldn’t help but hear your job here is temporary though.”

  Brandon frowned. Yeah. Wasn’t that a problem? “Yeah, it is.”

  Paige’s car slowed in front of the doors.

  “Just don’t hurt my baby.”

  A pang of remorse hit Brandon in the chest. He didn’t want to hurt her. In fact, all the things he thought about doing to her wouldn’t cause her any pain. Only pleasure. But her mother had a point. “I don’t plan on hurting her.”

  Audrey sighed. “Does any decent person ever plan to?”

  He ground his teeth as Paige approached. Part of him wanted to reassure her mother and try to assuage some of his own guilt over wanting to enter whatever this was with Paige. But he didn’t want Paige to know they’d been talking about her. So, instead, he took the reprieve of Paige walking up to end the conversation.

  He assisted her mom from the wheelchair and into the passenger seat. She groaned only a little. Soreness was already setting in, and it would get worse before it got better. He closed the door and turned to Paige.

  “I’m glad she’s going to be all right. But if you need anything tonight…” He took her hand and wrote down his cell number. “Call me. For anything.” He met her golden-brown stare.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. You need to be with your mom right now. I’ll be here when you’re ready.” Her mother’s earlier words rang through his head. For how long? He brushed off the thought.

  “Thanks for coming to check on us. You didn’t have to.”

  He smiled. “I wanted to. Go ahead and get her home.”

  Paige nodded and walked around the vehicle and got inside.

  Chapter Four

  Looking down at her mother lying in bed, Paige sucked in a relieved breath. The injuries could’ve been greater. She could have lost her mother today. But she hadn’t, and she was very thankful.

  The evening had been a whirlwind. After getting her mother home, she’d made her supper and cleaned the dishes. Soon after her mother had fallen asleep, Paige had started the every-two-hour wakeup and neurological check. Thirty minutes ago she’d looked in on her mother to do the routine check, but she needed one more peek at her resting before climbing into her old bed to reassure herself that things were going to be all right.

  She exited the room, then pulled the door closed. It had been awhile since she’d slept in her mother’s house. It still felt like home in some ways. Her room sat at the other end of the long beige-carpeted hallway. Pictures from different stages of Paige’s life lined the wall. She ran her fingers across the textured surface as she studied each framed memory.

  They’d been happy, she and her mother. There had been a few boyfriends in her mother’s life, but none had ever stayed for very long. She wondered if her mother had been lonely. But in the years since Paige had moved away, she still hadn’t entered into a relationship. They never talked about it though.

  Paige stepped through her bedroom doorway and, for a second, was in the past. Everything was as she’d left it seven years ago after completing nursing school. The pale pink walls held corkboards cataloging her childhood and college memories. Posters of rock bands she’d fallen in love with. A pink and purple quilt spread over her queen-sized bed. She shut the door behind her and walked over to the chest of drawers her small TV sat on top of. She’d left a few worn T-shirts here. One of them would do to sleep in for the night.

  She peeled her scrubs and bra off and slipped into the soft, baby-blue fabric. Her cell phone lay on the nightstand. She picked it up and set the alarm for the next check before sliding between the cotton sheets. Her mother kept this room clean and ready. Sometimes Paige wondered why and thought it a little sad. It made her feel guilty in a way too. As if she’d left her mother all alone. But Paige needed her own space—needed some independence. Several times her mother had reassured her that it was habit that kept her from changing things in this room.

  With a sigh, she laid back against the pillow, arms crossing over her stomach. The phone number scribbled across her hand caught her attention. The ink had faded after her dishwashing. But she could still make out the numbers. She glanced at the clock on her phone and noticed it wasn’t terribly late. Would Brandon still be up? Should she call him?

  Being that it wasn’t a local number, she figured it was his cell phone number. Maybe she could shoot him a quick text.

  Are you still up?

  She waited and noticed the text went through in a blue square as opposed to a green square, which indicated he owned the same type of phone she did. In a few seconds the three little dots appeared letting her know he was replying.

  Yes. Everything okay?

  Suddenly she wasn’t sure what to say.

  Yeah. Just wanted to thank you again for understanding.

  It showed the message delivered and read, but it seemed like forever until he responded.

  FaceTime?

  Excitement danced through her veins, mixed with a type of nervousness. She sat up Indian style in the bed, and the covers bunched in her lap. That wasn’t the response she’d expected. Although she wasn’t sure what she had expected. Her hand went to her hair where she’d tied it up in a messy bun. Makeup was history after washing her face earlier. There were several reasons why this should be a bad idea, but she wanted to see him.

  Not looking my best. No makeup. Hair is a mess.

  I’m sure you look beautiful as always. Let me see.

  Paige bit into her bottom lip as a giddy feeling tickled her insides. Memories of sneaking phone calls after bedtime in this room swarmed her and made her smile. What was it about Brandon that made her feel so young and alive again? Her finger moved over the screen and touched the icon that would connect them.

  “Hey there,” Brandon greeted as the connection completed.

  “Hi,” she whispered as her lower abdominal muscles clenched in response to the sight of him. Holy hotness. He could have warned a gal. He was shirtless and leaning against a black, leather-padded headboard. Looking at his tanned skin one would think he came from somewhere like California or Florida instead of the frosty Northeast. And his abs. Hard washboard muscle covered in taut skin with a sprinkling of dark hair, leading to a waistband of dark blue.

  “Is your mom doing okay?”

  She refocused on his face. “Yeah. I checked on her about a half-hour ago.”

  “You look beautiful, Paige.”

  She raised one brow. “You don’t have to try and flatter me.”

  “Just stating facts.”

  The cocky smile spreading across his face had her squeezing her legs together. The sexy sight of him in bed wasn’t helping to diminish the lust inside her either. And the odd feeling of wanting to be in his arms right now bothered her somewhat because, deep down, she knew what she felt for him wasn’t all sexual. There was the potential for more. How much more, she wasn’t sure, but it would be very risky to find out. “I’m not sure we should do this.”

  He sat up and adjusted the angle of the phone. His brow furrowed. “Why?”

  She flopped back against her pillows and huffed a breath of air. “I just don’t know if it is smart to fool around with someone I work with.”

  “Paige, I don’t want you doing anything that you are uncomfortable with. And if I came on too strong, I’m sorry.”

  She closed her eyes and groaned. Why did he have to be so nice about it? And
why couldn’t she take the out he’d given her? Because she didn’t want him to believe he’d done something wrong. “That’s not it at all. I think what worries me is how comfortable I am with it. You didn’t do anything wrong. But I have to live here still when you leave, and we had a close call in the lab today. And yes, we are adults and don’t need to worry about others’ opinions per se, but it’s hard when you have to look at those people every day.”

  “I understand. I shouldn’t have followed you into the lab.”

  A smile spread across her lips. “Well, in a perfect polite world maybe, but in the wicked one you seem to draw me into lately, I’m glad you came into the lab.”

  His laughter filled her ears and added fuel to the spark of desire inside her.

  “So, now I’m the leader into wickedness? Does that make me the devil?”

  A giggle escaped her lips. “No. I don’t think you’re evil. Just wicked…in a good way.”

  “So you won’t take it wrong if I tell you your body is pure sin, tempting me in ways that are pure torture.”

  Back arched, she closed her eyes and moaned. Torture was right. “You aren’t making this any easier.” She opened her eyes and looked at the screen as she heard a whispered curse leave his lips. Brandon’s head was tilted back as if he were seeking divine help. “What’s wrong?”

  A huff of laughter escaped as he looked her way again. “Don’t do that thing you just did.”

  “What thing?” She sat up, wondering what he meant.

  “That thing…with your back arched and the whole moaning thing.”

  It was her turn to laugh. “Why?” The heat in his gaze stole her breath.

  “Honestly?”

  She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

  “Because it makes me think of being inside you. Pushing deep until you make that sound over and over again.”

  Her core throbbed, and her lower lips grew wet. The mental picture of him doing what he said made her want to moan again. She could nearly feel the flesh of his powerful shoulders beneath her hands as she clawed at him. She licked her lips and swore she heard him growl in his throat. The material of her shirt rubbed against her hard nipples, making them tighten even more.