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“It just seems…” She gestures with her hands. “Too personal, I guess?”
“I don’t mind personally, Miss Lyons. Do you?”
Haley blinks a few times but finally shakes her head. I knew I had her the minute I offered a ride. No one wants to pay for a cab or walk home after a bout of stomach illness. “I guess it’s okay if you think so. You’re the doctor here, not me.”
“Damn right,” I laugh. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll meet you in the lobby, okay? That should give you time to go pick up your prescription from the pharmacy before we leave.”
“Okay… Thank you, Dr. Harvey.”
I stop in the doorway and turn, making sure that she’s looking directly at me. “Haley, you can call me Hugh. I don’t want to hear ‘doctor’ on those pretty lips again, got it?”
If she blushes any harder, she might combust. “Got it!”
3
HALEY
Okay Haley, keep calm. Don’t make this any weirder than it already is!
Waiting in the starkly clean—if a little dated—lobby, I can’t keep my pulse in check. I’m already regretting accepting a ride from my doctor, who just so happens to be the father of my annoying ex. That’s already strange, but add in the fact that the doctor is wildly attractive and that I’m incredibly drawn to him. Like a moth to a tall, dark, handsome flame.
And now I’m going to be trapped in a car with him. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll drive an enormous SUV or something. But I’m not banking on that possibility. He seems more like a sports car type of guy, anyway.
I just don’t know what to do with myself. The second the doctor walked in, it was like Alex ceased to exist, and ever since, he’s been so prominently on my mind that I can barely even concentrate on my illness.
Dr. Harvey—Hugh—was right in that my biggest problem was dehydration, and after that was fixed and my nausea was banished by a few pills, I almost felt like myself again. Which is great, but without the barrier of feeling like crap, my burning need to be closer to Hugh is stronger than ever. I have no excuse to ignore it anymore.
I still don’t feel great, though, and I’m almost swaying on my feet from tiredness when I see Hugh exit the swinging doors leading to the back of the hospital, heading in my direction. All at once, I’m caught up in the whirlwind of my attraction to him and that weirdly magnetic pull that exists between the two of us. Never before have I had any sort of medical fetish or the hots for a man in a lab coat, but Hugh has changed everything for me. Except…I don’t think I feel that way about any other doctor type, just him.
When he accidentally grazed my nipple while listening to my heart, I thought I might go nuclear right then and there, exploding into a cloud of white light. I have never, never felt a raw need like that. Up until that second, desire had been a foreign concept to me. Not anymore, though.
And now it’s back, watching him stalk towards me like he’s on a mission, long legs and stride giving him a powerful, unshakeable air. Just looking at Hugh makes me feel safe and protected, which is ridiculous. I’ve just met him, and he’s my doctor!
Ugh. I really need to get myself under control.
“Haley,” he rumbles. “Ready to go?”
I nod, fingers crinkling the paper prescription bag nervously. “Yup. Ready.”
His mouth quirks up at one corner as he leads me out of the revolving door and into the dark parking lot. “Do you always regress to single-word sentences when you’re nervous?”
“No,” I insist, mildly offended that he picked up on that so quickly. When I realize that I'm proving his point, I quickly add, “I’m not nervous, anyway. Just sick, remember?”
“Hmm.” Hugh fishes a set of keys from his coat pocket, hitting a button and making the lights on a jet-black Land Rover flash. “Whatever you say, Haley.”
My embarrassment is somewhat lessened seeing that he really is driving a bigger car, so I won’t be basically thigh-to-thigh with the giant man. I take advantage of our silence to look him over again, feeling the flutters of a crush coming to life inside me. He’s just so large and broad, and I can’t stop imagining what it would be like to be held against that hard chest. The whiffs of his cologne I had gotten back in the treatment room, warm amber spice, had almost made my eyes roll back into my head in pleasure. God, everything about him is making me lose my marbles. The sooner I get home, the better.
Hugh is silent on the car ride back to my apartment, and I fill the time by listing all the reasons I can’t be into this man. Number one, first and foremost, he’s my ex-boyfriend’s dad. Absolutely, wildly inappropriate…and deliciously taboo in a way I didn’t know I was into. But that doesn't matter! It’s still bad!
Second, he’s my doctor. Something tells me that Hugh Harvey has never worried about things like rules or reputation, but that doesn’t mean I should be swayed by any sort of seduction he throws my way. Not that he will…I have no proof that he’s into me. Just my potentially crazy ideas.
Third, even if I don’t know his exact age, I know that if he’s Alex’s dad, then he’s probably quite a bit older than me. We’re both adults, even if I’m young, but still…the age issue might not be as big of a problem as the other two points, but it doesn’t exactly scream ‘appropriate partner for Haley’ either.
“Haley…” Hugh fills the silence with my name. “We’re here.”
Surprised, I look out the tinted window and see that we really are at my apartment already. A part of me is disappointed, but a bigger part of me is so tired that my head is spinning with relief at being just a few dozen feet from my bed.
I open the car door handle, murmuring thanks, only to find that, as soon as my feet hit the pavement, my head isn’t spinning from relief. I’m honest to God dizzy and about to hit the ground…
