Page 25 of Doctoring Dolly

“I’d like to offer you a place here at Rawhide. With the growing number of Littles, Middles, and students we have, I believe it’s time to expand the medical staff. Working here would be a lot less stressful than military medicine. Instead of dealing with the effects of bullets and bombs, you would be mostly treating cuts, scrapes, and an occasional sprain. You would be on-call for emergencies, and I’d ask for at least a part-time office commitment. An apartment here on the Ranch, or a house on the Ridge come with the job along with a generous salary, and all the other benefits of being a Ranch employee.”

Derek guided him toward the area where he knew the employee apartments were located. Entering the building, the man pulled out a key and led him to a door not far from the front door.

“This would be your apartment if you chose that option,” he said, unlocking the door. He then stepped back and allowed Quincy to proceed him inside.

Quincy looked around, impressed with the layout, and the room. “This is nicer than any quarters I had while I served,” he said as he returned to the living room from checking out the two bedrooms and bathroom.

The apartments are all soundproofed so you won’t have to worry about your neighbors hearing anything that might go on,” Derek said casually.

“Or for me to hear them?”

“Exactly.”

The two men shared a smile before Quincy led the way back out of the apartment.

He waited until they were strolling through the playground at the back of the main resort building before he said, “While it’s a wonderful offer, and I’m probably a fool for not jumping on it immediately, I can’t say yes right now.”

“Dolly?”

Quincy nodded. “I’m not sure what this week will hold for the two of us, but if things continue as they have, I’ll need to have her input.”

Derek nodded his understanding. “Very well, I’ll stop pushing. Just know that this opportunity is available to you.”

“Thank you. I’ll keep it in mind,” Quincy said as they entered through the back door that led into the Littles’ Wing hallway.

The two men remained quiet as they walked down the hall. Quincy peeked in doors, looking at the Littles in their classes, wondering if he should encourage Dolly to spend a day as a Little, just to see if it appealed to her, though he was not really the Daddying type.

“Thanks, Derek,” he said at the door to the man’s office. “I appreciate the tour, and the job offer. I will definitely keep it in mind.”

CHAPTER 14

After leaving Sadie with a group of her friends, Dolly returned to her room. Toeing off her shoes, she pulled the covers back and crawled into bed. She was asleep almost before the covers fully settled over her.

When she woke three hours later, she felt much better, and anxious to get to her notebook. She had not brought her computer with her, instead bringing several small journals and a handful of pens with her. When she’d packed, she’d hoped to fill them all by the time she returned home.

The day before coming to the Ranch, she had hit a snag on the story she was currently writing, but, thanks to her experiences of the past few days, had just dreamt of the solution. She needed to capture it before she forgot what it was.

Changing into her one-piece, practical, not sexy bathing suit she grabbed her pen and a journal. Sliding open the patio door, she stepped outside, smiling at the temperature that was a good twenty degrees warmer that it was back home. She looked around as she entered through the gate to the pool area. She spied an empty table on the other side of the pool. It was under an umbrella and had several chairs around it. It looked like no one else was using it and she thought it would be the perfect place to do some writing.

Dolly picked up a towel from a stack of clean ones near the lifeguard stand before heading to the table. Sitting down so she could watch the other guests in the pool, and no one could sneak up and read what she was writing, she opened the notebook and prepared to go to work. It took a moment to recall the dream, but with a deep breath, she put pen to paper and began writing.

Once she finished recording the dream, Dolly flipped the page and began making notes about all she had learned since arriving at the Ranch. She went into greater detail when she started writing about the scenes she and Quincy had played out, both out on the grounds, and in the Dungeon.

She lost track of time as she allowed all her thoughts to come out through her fingertips. She only stopped when her hand cramped up from holding the pen for so long. Hooking the pen into the journal, she closed the book and slipped it under the towel.

After standing and stretching, she walked to the edge of the pool. Her thinking had grown fuzzy, and she needed to counteract the high from writing endorphins with some exercise.

Easing herself into the pool, she took a few moments to get used to the cooler water temperature before she began to swim. As she swam, her brain continued working on the story and the changes she needed to make to it. She was so lost in her brain that she did not hear her name being called. She continued swimming and thinking until someone grabbed her around the middle pulled her into a warm, wet, muscular body.

“Hey,” she cried as she struggled with her eyes still closed. “Let me go.”

“No,” a familiar voice said as he shifted his hold on her until they were body to body.

All at once her thoughts were completely focused on her body being pressed against Quincy’s. Wiping her face, Dolly opened her eyes and found herself looking into Quincy’s grinning face.

“Oh. Hello.”

“Hello yourself.” Quincy leaned in and kissed her.

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