Читать книгу The MD's Mistress / The Money Man's Seduction: The MD's Mistress - Leslie LaFoy - Страница 11

Four

The first week at the so-called cabin went well for Becca. Sue appeared determined to spoil her rotten. Surprisingly, independent as she always had been, Becca reveled in the pampering. Sue insisted she rest, so Becca rested. Sue insisted she eat, so Becca ate…and very well, too.

On her first full day there, Becca unpacked, delighted to see Rachael had stowed her laptop and several novels in her cases, along with plenty of clothing. After putting everything neatly away, she had lunch and then a nap. Later, she explored the house, and was not surprised to find that every room was as beautifully decorated as her bedroom, if not as luxuriously. Obviously, she figured her room was the master suite.

Two days later, she felt quite at home, and was already fond of Sue. But then, she thought, who wouldn’t be? Sue zipped about like a teenager. And she was one terrific companion, not to mention a great cook. Becca was certain she would be a lot heavier when she left the cabin than when she arrived.

Once she’d gotten comfortable at the cabin, she began exploring the outdoors, starting with the long porch. From the position of the house halfway up a foothill, Becca could see a town nestled in a narrow valley below. Curious, she brought up the subject of the town over supper.

Sue was happy to give Becca a short history of the town, named Forest Hills, for obvious reasons. There were a lot of forested hills, not to mention mountains completely surrounding it.

“That town dates back to the eighteen eighties,” Sue began. “It started up when veins of coal were discovered.”

Sue paused, and Becca inserted, “I didn’t see anything while on the porch that looked like a mine.”

“That’s ’cause you can’t see it from here,” she said. “It’s located in a fold of the mountains nine or so miles from here.” She smiled, sipped her tea and said, “I was born in this town. My ancestors settled here before it was a town. They were farmers, heading west, this little valley looked good to them. So they stayed, settled. We’ve been here ever since.”

Becca took the opportunity to ask another question when Sue took another sip of tea.

“You’ve lived here all your life?”

“Lord, no,” she replied with a quick head shake. “I shook the dust of this place off my shoes right after I graduated high school. I went to the city to college to become a nurse.”

“Really?” Becca smiled. “That had to take courage. I mean, growing up in a small town, then going off alone to a big city.” She hesitated, but asked outright, “Did you make it—the nursing, I mean?”

Sue gave a proud smile. “Sure I made it, even got my bachelor’s degree in science.”

“Good for you. That’s wonderful.” Becca returned a small shy smile. “I did, too.”

“Oh, honey, I know,” Sue said, giving her a thumbs-up. “I know all about your work in Africa, too. I hear you almost worked yourself right into the ground.”

Sighing, Becca shook her head. “No such thing.”

Sue pulled a skeptical expression. “That isn’t the way I heard it.”

“Overplayed by the media.” Becca shrugged.

So it was all well and good—for the first week. There was one little problem with Becca: she continued to dream about Seth every night, erotic fantasies that made her blush come morning. Night after night, in each dream, she was alone and naked, always in a beautiful but different setting than the first. In every dream, he was suddenly there.

They would not talk. His naked, slim, muscular body was impressive in full arousal. Becca would open her arms to him at once, and he would lie next to her, holding her, his hands caressing her, his mouth tormenting her. In desperation, she would tug at his hair, his shoulders, urging him closer, closer. He’d murmur without speaking, and move sensuously between her thighs. His tongue would thrust deep into her mouth, drawing a moan of need from her throat into his. His mouth and tongue owning hers, he’d move and…

Becca would awaken, her breathing ragged, her body moist all over, longing, longing. Frustration became her constant companion.

She wanted…she wanted…Seth—all of him.

Toward the middle of the second week she confided to Sue some of her restlessness. She wasn’t about to describe her dreams. She was embarrassed even thinking about them. Not that she wanted them to end. Oh, no. Since she knew the dreams were all she would probably ever have of him, she cherished each and every one…but her frustration grew. It had been a long time—back to her college days, in fact—since she had been intimate with a man. The experience had not been earth-shattering.

“I’m getting antsy sitting around here,” she said, between bites of a delicious stew. She was almost amused by the understatement.

“No kidding,” Sue said, rolling her eyes. “I’d have never known, if not for seeing you prowling back and forth like a caged animal.” She grinned.

Becca grinned back. “Can I help with your work, if only a little?”

“Absolutely not,” Sue said resolutely. “I’m getting paid for taking care of this place and you, and paid very nicely, thank you.”

Becca’s shoulders drooped. “Oh, well, I might as well pack up and leave. I’ll go flaky with nothing to do. I’m getting cabin fever already.”

“Weeelll,” Sue began, pausing as she got up to pour coffee for both of them. “Maybe I can help you find something light to do.”

“The dusting?” Becca asked eagerly, accepting the steaming cup.

Sue shook her head. “No, I told you, this place is my job for now. But…”

“But?” Becca prompted.

“I have another job, part-time, and I was thinking you might be able to help there.”

“Where?” Becca asked, and immediately added, “Doing what and with whom?”

“Nursing.” Sue paused for a reaction. She got it as the word left her lips.

“Nursing, where?”

“At the small clinic in town.”

“I didn’t know there was a clinic in town.” Becca was anxious to hear more. “Tell me about it.”

“First let me give you a thumbnail background.” She slid her soup plate aside and cradled her coffee cup in her palms. “The clinic is run by Dr. John Carter. He was raised here—I’ve know him most of my life. John was ahead of me in school. Like me, he left after graduating high school to attend college, followed by med school.”

She took a tentative sip of her drink before going on. “Unlike me, he came back here to set up a practice. He’s been serving the community ever since.”

“And you work for him?”

Sue nodded. “On a part-time basis.”

Becca frowned. “But you said something about a clinic. Where does that come in?”

Sue laughed at her eager tone. “There were times, accidents and such, when John’s small office was overcrowded with hurt or sick people. There were a few times with mine accidents when it was chaos. You see, the nearest hospital is over a half an hour away.”

“But that means…” Becca began, appalled.

“Yes,” Sue nodded. “Some men died in transit.” She drew a breath and took a swallow of coffee. “So, ten or so years ago, the mine owner paid to have an addition attached to John’s building, which he owns and lives in, in the apartment above. I must admit, the owner, Carl Dengler, didn’t skimp. The clinic is well-equipped, not state-of-the-art, but good. John does X-rays and blood work. Everything except surgery. It has saved more than a few lives.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Becca said. “That’s right up my alley.”

Sue smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

“When can I go to meet Dr. Carter?”

“How ’bout tomorrow morning?”

“Yes!” Becca punched the air. “Please.”

Two days later, Becca was back to doing the work she loved. No, it wasn’t the precision work of being next to Seth in the O.R., but it was satisfying nonetheless. Best of all, it kept her mind engaged and busy, as well as her hands. The edge was taken off her frustration.

Becca liked Dr. Carter at once. Nearing sixty, he was still in excellent physical shape, and still handsome. She could just imagine how attractive he must have been to the female population when he was young.

He appeared to live alone, as Becca heard no mention of a wife, nor was introduced to anyone. Curious, she asked Sue about his possible marital status.

She was happy to clarify. “John married his college sweetheart right after graduation. He brought her home with him. Apparently, she had other dreams of life being married to a doctor. She lasted not quite two years, then she packed up and left.” She grimaced. “So far as anyone knows, except to sign the divorce papers her lawyer mailed him, John hasn’t heard a word from her since.”

“And no local lady friend?”

“Oh,” Sue said. “John has lots of female and male friends, but no lady friend in the way you mean.”

“Skittish, huh?”

“Yeah, and it’s a shame. He’s a great guy.” Sue sighed and walked away, ending the discussion.

Becca watched her, curious. Her sigh had not only a note of compassion, but a touch of longing as well. Hmm, she thought, interesting.

As Sue had explained Becca’s situation to John, he agreed to her working three half days a week to begin. She was tempted to argue for more time, but gave in gracefully, as she somehow knew she wouldn’t win, anyway.

By Saturday, working her third half day of the week, Becca had settled in as if she had worked in the small clinic for years. She was back in form and loving it.

* * *

It was hot and humid in Philadelphia. Summer was hanging on to the east coast like a leech to a blood vessel. There were frequent storms; with each one, the air seemed to get hotter and more humid.

Seth was tired. He was tired of the heat. He was tired of the humidity. He was damn sick of feeling tired. He knew most of his problem was mental, not physical.

Physically, Seth was feeling pretty good. He wasn’t back to performing surgery yet, but he had been helping his practice partner, Colin Neil, by doing hospital rounds checking on the progress of Colin’s pre-and post-surgical patients.

No, the problem wasn’t physical…except in one particular and vulnerable part of his body. But, sexual frustration aside, his health was much better than when he had left Africa weeks ago.

Truth to tell, Seth felt fine as long as he was inside the hospital. Talking to patients, checking charts, reading test results along with discussing individual patients with Colin kept him too busy to think or brood about other, personal matters.

Actually, there was only one matter, and that matter’s name was Becca. The moment he stepped through the hospital doors at the end of the day, her name filled his mind and senses.

Thinking about her, wondering about her—how she was feeling, what she was doing, who she might be meeting—was driving him nuts. And underneath the relentless, nagging thoughts was an emotion he refused to recognize.

Seth had tried evasive action. He did something he had never done before. He had dated another doctor. Her name was Kristi and she was doing her internship. He had agreed to let her trail behind him, observe as he did his daily rounds.

That had been a few days after Becca had left. Seth had hoped having an intern with him, answering her questions, explaining his and Colin’s procedure, might keep his mind centered.

And it had worked, so well that he figured if it worked during the day, maybe…

Anyway, Seth had asked Kristi out to dinner. She didn’t so much as hesitate—she said yes immediately.

All well and good, Seth figured. They could share a nice dinner and possibly, very probably, some professional conversation. He fully expected her to pick his brain, and why not? He didn’t mind.

Kristi was a very attractive woman. Any man would be proud to be seen with her. She was pretty, slender and petite, very feminine.

She was also very bright, which was what appealed to Seth even more than her looks. In his opinion, she would make an excellent physician. In addition, she had a good sense of humor. All and all, Seth found her a wonderful dinner and conversational companion.

On seeing her home, Seth had even kissed her, not a friendly peck but a real kiss.

He felt nothing.

Oh, it wasn’t horrible or even unpleasant. But it was bland, ho-hum, not at all the shockingly erotic physical and emotional impact he had experienced when he had kissed Becca.

Dammit.

It wasn’t her fault. Kristi simply wasn’t Becca. The most ridiculous part was he had actually felt as if he had cheated on Becca.

Talk about being tired.

He missed Becca and Seth was, in a word, miserable. Still, he soldiered on, making rounds, checking charts, answering Kristi’s questions.

Seth lasted until near the end of the third week after Becca left. Then he caved to the urge gnawing inside him. He had to see her, be convinced she was taking care of herself, resting, eating, getting well.

On Friday of that week, he told Colin he would be leaving town for an end-of-summer vacation, and that hopefully he would be ready to go back into active practice when he returned. His partner agreed it was an excellent idea, and that he’d hold down the fort…so to speak.

Packing enough clothes to last about a week, Seth set out for West Virginia near dawn on Saturday morning.

The trip was long and tedious, with a short break for breakfast. Finally, around lunchtime, he brought his car to a stop at the cabin. Some cabin, Seth thought, shaking his head in near disbelief at the beautiful structure. But then, it belonged to a billionaire, he should have suspected more than a mere cabin in the woods.

Leaving the car, he mounted the steps to the wide porch and knocked at the solid oak door. The door opened to reveal a sober-faced, middle-aged woman.

“Yes?” Her eyebrows rose.

Seth smiled. “Hi, I’m Seth Andrews. I’m looking for Rebecca Jameson,” he said. “Is she here?”

“You’re Dr. Andrews,” she said, smiling back. “Becca didn’t say she was expecting you.”

A funny sensation trickled through him. “Has she mentioned me?”

“Oh, yes.” She nodded. “Said you worked together in Africa.”

“That’s right…and before Africa.” He frowned. “Isn’t she here?”

“Oh…my goodness, where are my manners,” she said, sounding flustered. “My name is Sue, I’m the housekeeper. Come in, Doctor, come in.” She stepped back, swinging the door wide.

Once inside the lovely room, Seth tried again. “Is Becca here?”

“No, she isn’t,” Sue answered. “She’s working.”

For an instant, everything stopped cold inside Seth. He arched his brows. “Working?” He had to work to keep his voice calm. “Where is she working?”

“She’s helping out part-time with our doctor at the clinic in town.” She glanced at her watch. “Matter of fact, I was about ready to go pick her up.”

“I’ll go,” Seth quickly offered. “If you can point me in the right direction?”

“Oh, it’s easy to find,” Sue said, grinning. “Fact is, it’s hard to miss. You follow the road at the other side of the house down the hill to town, it’s called Forest Hills, the clinic is right along West Street, the main drag.”

“Thank you, Sue.” He turned to leave. She brought him to a stop at the door.

“Dr. Andrews, have you come to take Becca home?” Sue’s voice had a note of disappointment.

He looked back to offer her a wry smile. “Only if she is ready to go, Sue. It’s up to her.” Without waiting for a possible response, he opened the door and walked out.

Working. Working. Seth fumed and sped down the winding road as if there were no tomorrow. Dammit, had the woman completely lost her mind? He barely felt ready to go back to work, and she had been in a lot worse shape than him.

Seth found the clinic easily, just as Sue said he would. He found a parking space along the curb, then walked to the nondescript building and stepped inside. The first thing he saw was the back of Becca.

She was slightly bent over a woman who appeared to be weeping. He hesitated, waiting until she turned to walk to a door set in the far wall next to a reception desk, unattended at the moment.

When she opened the door and stepped through, he followed her, sparing a concerned frown for the softly crying woman.

Following Becca through the door, he saw her, shoulders slightly drooping, about to enter another door farther along a hallway. Even in profile, he could see the tension on her face, the tired, anxious look.

Exasperation immediately turned to impatience. Searing anger spiraled through Seth’s entire being. Without thinking, he snapped at her.

“What the hell are you doing?”