Page 33 of Doctor Enemy

Sometimes, Amanda does too.

It’s been good seeing him put his social life on a higher pedestal lately. Unfortunately, that also means I’ve got very little reason to tell him, “I’ve been busy at work.”

Jackson used to be the king of going withI’m too busy with workany time that someone asked him to go out. But now he’s even the one that suggests it on occasion.

But that’s the only excuse that I’ve got.

And I’m right. It doesn’t fly with Jackson. He crosses his arms over his chest, raising his eyebrows at me. After just a moment longer of Jackson simplylookingat me, I say, “How does your wife put up with that?”

Jackson says, “Elaborate?”

“That smug look of yours,” I say, sitting up a little straighter.

Jackson hums. “I don’t generally get to be smug around Amanda.”

“Lucky her.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Jackson insists.

I rake a hand through my hair and then sigh. “Nothing’s going on. I just feel bad for Lori. I think it’s harder for doctors to get put in that bed than it is for someone else. We know everything that could go wrong.”

“A nice story, but not true,” Jackson says. “Costas had his appendix removed last year. I don’t recall you spending the night with him.”

My lips purse. “Why are you so interested?”

“Because you need someone to talk to, and Nate is presently occupied with Emma,” says Jackson.

I turn to face him a little more fully. “You’re shitting me? I thought that I’d convinced him not to call her back!”

Jackson’s the kind of guy who looks better in a doctor’s coat than out of one. The stark white fabric makes his dark hair seem almost black and sits well on his broad shoulders.

It’s easy to tell why Amanda fell for the guy. “You did. But thenshechanged his mind using an excuse about their daughter. What’s going on with you and Lori?”

It’s pretty clear that Jackson isn’t going to let the subject drop until I give him an answer. And if Nate is presently occupied with his wicked witch of an ex-wife, there’s no way I can pick his brain on the subject.

Giving in, I admit, “I don’t know. She’s hot.”

Jackson asks, dryly, “Am I going to have to pick each answer out of you like glass shards, or are you just going to answer my question at some point?”

Scowling, I snap, “You already know the answer. Don’t act like an idiot. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. The woman hates me, and here I am—” I make a frustrated sound in the back of my throat. “Wanting that to change!”

Jackson says, a little more softly, “So you have a crush on her.”

“Fuck don’t say that. It makes it sound like we’re in high school,” I complain.

Jackson rolls his eyes, finally turning that gaze off of me and taking a proper drink of his now mostly cooled coffee. “It’s the right term though, isn’t it? You don’t waffle about like this when you’re just looking to scratch an itch.”

“Lori isn’t going to scratch anyone’s itch. She’s not that type of woman. I don’t think she could have a one-night stand if it was the only way for her to get laid, period,” I say. “That pretty much cuts me out of the running.”

“You don’t want a one-night stand with her,” says Jackson, smugly. “It’s written all over your face.”

“You’re putting words in my mouth.” It’s true, though. I don’t want a one-night stand, not with Lori.

If we’re being honest, my hot and fast flings have been cut back a lot the last couple of months. Nate called me out on it at the bar the last time that we went out.

I’m just not interested in taking someone to bed and then running off the next morning. Not the way I used to be.

But I’m interested in the way that Lori kissed me in the wake of her nightmare. And there’s something about her fiery personality that’s always drawn me in.

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