We walk across the street and grab one of the outdoor tables.
“How did the meeting go?” I ask while we wait on service.
“Not bad. Matty’s been having some trouble with some bullies at school. Being the new kid isn’t the easiest thing in the world.”
“How long have you lived here?” I ask. I could have had Freak find all this information out for me, but I didn’t want to. I want to learn everything there is to know about Skye, but I just want her to be the one to give me the information.
“A little over six months. I wanted to do my residency here.”
“In Kentucky? What on earth for?” I ask. I can’t imagine a woman who invested the money and time it took for medical school to pick a small town in Kentucky to do her residency.
She laughs and the sound grabs a hold of my already hard dick, and I can feel him leak in my jeans.
Jesus
. I told her we’d be friends. What I didn’t make clear is I was going to move straight from friends to lovers and move fucking fast. I spent three months getting my shit together. Each week that went by without seeing her, just made me want her more. I don’t know that I truly believed in instant love. Dragon said the moment he saw Nicole he knew, even when he tried to fight it. I thought he was just thinking with his dick. Now, I admit I might have been wrong. Since I met Skye, no other woman has even been in the same ballpark.
“I wanted Matty to live in a small town away from all the demands and crowds of a big city like New York. It was important to me. I’ve made so many mistakes that Matty has had to deal with, I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to give him a good place to grow up.”
“Mistakes? What kind?”
“Do friends really share that kind of information after only two lunch da…meetings?”
I grin, because I know she almost said date.
Oh, if she only knew my real plan for her
. I don’t want her to run away. I can’t let that happen.
“Tell you what Doc. How about we make up our own rules? I can pretty much guarantee and you probably already know this, but your mistakes can’t be worse than mine. We can swap war stories and show off our battle scars.”
“Battle scars?”
“We all have them, Doc. It’s an army saying though.”
She nods, but before she can talk the waitress comes in and takes our order. When I see her I almost panic. This might not have been such a great idea. I know that girl…Shit!
I’ve had my dick in—well on her.
“Bull! I thought that was you! I haven’t seen you at the last couple of club parties. Where have you been hiding?” she asks, bending down to hug me and nearly smothering me with her tits. I pull my head way back and angle away from her.
“I’ve been busy.”
“What about tonight? I’m free if you’d like to meet up and have a little fun,” she says, clearly not taking the hint.
“Devil’s toenails,” Skye mutters.
I look at her with a snort of laughter.
“Devil’s toenails?” I ask, because I can’t stop myself.
“I try not to curse so Matty doesn’t pick up on it. You know how kids are.”
I don’t really, but something about that I
really
like.
“You have a kid?” The waitress says, and, for the life of me, I can’t remember her name. She was some dumb chick I titty-fucked one night. It wasn’t that great, but it got me off. That’s about all that mattered.
“Yeah, a nine year old,” Skye says. “Could I get a chicken salad and a bottle of water, please?”
“I don’t want kids, at least until I’m older. Probably your age. I’m not ready to let my breasts get all saggy and shit. Not that yours are that bad,” she says and I want to bang my head on the table because here’s another example to Skye of what an idiot I’ve been.
“I’m sure. But then you won’t need to worry about that. You may need to replace your silicone in a few years though.”
“What? I’ll have you know these are real.”
“I’ll have a foot-long hot dog with fries and a beer,” I interject, even though Skye’s comeback has me laughing. “Oh and make sure our order is handled by another server, or I’ll tell Bill.” The waitress shoots an evil look at both of us and stomps off.
“Who’s Bill?” Skye asks.
“The owner.”
“Ah. I see. Tell me, Bull. Am I to meet all of your play toys?”
“God, I hope not.”
“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea.”
“I warned you my mistakes would make yours pale in comparison.”
“It would appear all of yours are of the female variety,” she says. There’s a hint of something in her voice that I’m praying is jealousy.
“You’d be surprised. But what does it matter? I mean we’re just friends, right?”
She looks at me with that blush back in her cheeks, and, once again, my damn dick is pushing hard against the zipper of my jeans.
“Just friends,” she agrees, and I have to bite my tongue.
Time, I just need time
.
Skye
I
slam the
door to the hospital security office. That was about as helpful as I thought it would be. I’ve been getting strange notes since about a month after I started work. Whoever is leaving them always manages to do it when no one is around. At least, no one remembers seeing them. It’s driving me crazy. They’re not bad notes, Judy jokes and tells me I have a secret admirer. I mostly laugh it off, but now they’re coming more often. I’ve called the police about it, but since it has taken place only at work and nothing threatening is happening, they didn’t seem inclined to worry about it. They told me to talk to hospital security about it. Security, in turn, said they would monitor the off duty rooms more. I’m pretty sure they just told me that to get rid of me.
I shrug it off and decide to think on something positive. I’m actually doing really well in my residency. Walter says I’m the leading candidate to work in the cardiac unit, which is what I’ve always wanted. His praise and promises of the future keep me from going crazy while I’m stuck doing ER rotation.
“I heard you’ve been dating Bull,” Nurse Allen’s voice hits me, and just like that my good thoughts are gone. I can’t stand this woman. She and Dr. Eldridge are the huge dark spot that keeps me from enjoying my time here at this hospital. There are times I really wish I chose Corbin General for my residency. I picked London instead, because of the beautiful parks and small town feel. It has all that but still has restaurants and things that remind me of living in the city. It’s the kind of place I’ve always wanted to raise a child in. The kind of place to make Matty happy.
I owe him that.
That leaves me trying to overlook these idiots. I manage most days. It looks like today is not one of those days.
“You heard wrong.”
“Talk around our club is that you had lunch with him at Weavers.”
“Your club? Do you have a secret password and everything?”
“Laugh it up all you want, but Bull is a member of the Savage Brothers. He’s not going to be satisfied with a goody-two shoes like you. Bull’s tastes run a little different. It takes a special kind of woman to keep him satisfied. Me and the other women of the club we know exactly what he likes.”
The smirk on her face makes me sick. There’s so much I really want to say, but I don’t. It wouldn’t do any good and I don’t want to waste my time talking to her.
“I wouldn’t know, Mr. Kane and I are just friends.”
“Friends? I bet,” she laughs scornfully.
“Yes, friends. You know that thing where a man and a woman talk with each other and don’t do anything else, especially pass STD’s back and forth,” yeah, just like that I manage to not hold my mouth.
“You fucking bitch. I told you it wasn’t me.”
“Is there a problem here ladies?”
I look up to see Buck, leaning on his mop watching us. Melissa looks at him like he’s dirt underneath her fingernails. God, I really hate that look. I’ve seen her give it to
too
many good people.
“Mind your own goddamn business. Don’t you have some toilets to go scrub or something?” Melissa barks.
I will not slap her, I will not slap her.
God I want to slap her.
That’s all I can think as Buck seems to ignore her and look at me with a friendly smile.
“You need anything, Skye?”
“No thanks, Buck. How are things? Did you finally purpose to that girlfriend of yours?”
“Not yet, I want to make sure everything is perfect. She’s special.”
“I don’t suppose you have a brother?” I joke and ignore Melissa’s sigh of disgust. When she finally leaves, I want to shout with glee.
“You better watch that one. I think she might have it out for you.”
“I will. Thanks for saving me today,” I tell him with a smile. I pat his arm, as I walk past him. “I better get going, my break was up five minutes ago.”
“You have a good day,” Buck, says and I wish him the same. I have to hurry to the nurse’s station, so Alex can give me my next round of files.
Days like today make me wonder why I wanted to be a doctor in the first place. It sure did seem a lot more glamourous before medical school.
Skye
“O
dd, but I
thought friends
invited
friends over to their houses,” I tell Bull when I open the door. This is the one-month anniversary of our friendship. Each week I’ve seen him at least twice and sometimes more. We usually eat lunch, or he will show up after I work a double shift and walk me to my car. I asked him how he seemed to know my schedule so well, and he just shrugged. I’m thinking I should start to call him stalker instead of friend, except I like having him around. Besides, the note I got in my locker today, says the stalker position has been filled. Today the note asked me if I liked roses. I wanted to scream no, and I hate notes from people I don’t know.
Bull has been true to his word, and we’ve just been friends. I’m woman enough to admit that it bothers me that he seems to have accepted being my friend so easily. I mean, what woman wants a sexy man, to just accept being her friend without arguing about it? He’s looking just as good right now, just like he always does. He is wearing his leather cut, and a baby blue t-shirt that looks well-worn and soft. I resist the urge to reach out and touch it.
Barely.
“Aw, but friends show up to cheer up other friends unannounced.”
I lean back against the doorframe and ask, even though I’m scared of what kind of answer he’ll come up with. “And why do I need cheering up?”
“You told me Matty was going to Ohio for a school trip and then staying the night with a friend.”
“Yeah?” I ask, not making a connection.
“Doc are you saying you don’t miss your boy when he’s not here? That you don’t notice how quiet the house is? Or that you forget to eat because it’s no fun eating by yourself?”
“You do realize this is a Friday night?”
“Yeah?”
“Shouldn’t you be out, bopping some bimbo and making more mistakes, as you like to say?”
He steps closer—to the point that I can feel his breath on my skin, and I try not to react, that is no easy feat. The more time I spend with him, the more attracted I am.
“Doc, no one says bopping anymore. Hell, I’m not sure they ever did say bopping.”
“They do when they have a nine year old in the house.”
“Whatever. I keep telling you I’m a reformed man. Maybe someday you’ll believe it. Are you going to invite me in?”
“Will you leave if I don’t?”
“Do you want me to?”
I sigh, defeated. This is a familiar game, and I’m pretty sure he has me figured out.
“Come on in. I was just getting ready to order a pizza.”
“Already done, the delivery guy should be here any time.”
“Umm…you don’t know what I like on pizza.”
He shrugs, “I ordered one with cheese and one with everything. I figure you could pick off what you don’t want, or eat the plain cheese one.
“You do know you’re crazy,” I tell him, because at this point I’m at a loss.
“No. I just saw something I wanted a little over four months ago, and I’m working towards that goal. Besides, I wanted to talk with you.”
At first his words don’t click and then they
do
. It feels like I’m sucker punched. I don’t know what to say for a minute.
Maybe I misunderstood him?
“Something you wanted? I thought we were going for friendship?”
“And we have, Doc. But eventually, I’m going to ask for more from you and when I do, you’ll give it to me.”
His words alternate between pissing me off and scaring the hell out of me.
“I think you should go.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I’m not leaving. We’re going to sit down and watch a movie, eat some pizza and then make out a little. Isn’t that what you do on dates?”
“We’re not dating!” I growl at him. Terrified now, because I
really
want to make out with him.
“Doc. C’mon now. We’ve had lunch too many times to count. I see you practically every evening you work late. I’m pretty sure that qualifies as dating, even if I haven’t done it before.”
“I can’t date you!”
“Why the fuck not?”
“You’re a man-whore!”
“Again. Let’s repeat it together. A
reformed
one. I’ll have you know my dick has been nowhere since the moment I saw you. Well except my hand. But hey, even then it was with visions of you in my head.”
He says it so casually. Like what he said didn’t just rock my world. He’s leaning on the doorframe and looking so calm and collected and inside I’m scared to death.
“You could have HIV or anything! You’ve slept with the sluttiest nurse since the invention of porn movies!”
“Mistakes. But all in the past. You have my test results. Here’s the latest batch. You’ve changed me, Doc,” he says pulling out a folded paper from his pants pocket, but I don’t have to look. He’s been showing me each month. I thought it was to show me how much better he’s doing…Now, I can see it was for other reasons. I’m just not sure how I feel about it.
“Are you making fun of me? Do you think this is a joke?”
That must have pissed him off, because suddenly the look of ease he normally wears is gone and in its place is anger. You can feel in vibrating between us.