Page 9 of Devoted

Chapter 3

Jess

“Have I told you recently that you’re my best friend?” The smile on Piper’s face as she hands me a coffee from Skye’s says she knows how much I love her.

“Can’t get through a staff meeting without coffee from Skye’s.” She takes up her spot next to me as we both cross our arms and wait for the hospital chief to arrive so we can start our shift. “Speaking of Skye’s, have you seen that guy again?”

The flash of my crush’s face filters through my mind. After my run in with the infuriating but lethally attractive man, I filled in my best friend the first chance I got. She seemed to think he must be new in town or was just passing through, given that we tend to see most people that live in Emerson Falls at some point working in the ER. And the way I described him made her hopeful that maybe I’d found a unicorn in our small town, especially given my dating track record.

After I slept for almost twelve hours, the irritation I felt during our interaction subsided drastically, leaving me with nothing but a deep lust-filled desire to see him again. We barely spoke, but that intense attraction I felt for him is a rare occurrence for me and I wanted to see if it was just a fluke. I’ve been to Skye’s several times in the last week too, hoping to maybe run into him casually and apologize for being so surly that day. But alas, he’s been invisible, like a ghost haunting my mind at night in the filthiest of ways.

And yet I’m scared that if for some reason I do miraculously find him and we date, that he’ll get what he wants from me and then drop me to find his future wife like the four men that came before him. One tragedy in my life has ignited this cosmic downfall of other aspects of my life, particularly when it comes to love.

It’s like that movie Good Luck Chuck, except in reverse.

The vaginal curse—I swear, physicians will study this anomaly in the future, desperate to figure out how one man’s passage through my body leads him down the aisle.

So if I know what’s good for me, I’d drop it. Yet, each time I picture his face, my body heats up again and reminds me how long it’s been since I’ve had a man casually pass through me, you know?

“Nope. And it’s probably better this way, so he doesn’t end up a victim of the curse,” I lean over and whisper in her ear as the Chief appears at the front on the hall.

Piper rolls her eyes before whispering back. “You need to let that go. You are not cursed.”

“Says the woman who is engaged and happily in love.” I know I sound cynical, but unless it happens to you, you wouldn’t understand. The first time, I chalked it up to bad judgment on my part with Trent at a time in my life where I sought comfort in a man I knew wasn’t good for me. The second time, it must have been a coincidence. But then the third time happened and I searched for Ashton Kutcher in the bushes waiting to surprise me and tell me I’d been Punked. Number four was the last straw, and so I’m convinced now that something is going on in the universe and with my aura.

“Good morning, ladies and gentleman.” Robert York, chief of medicine at Emerson Memorial, addresses the crowd of nurses and doctors. “It’s nice to see so many of you bright-eyed this morning.” Sarcastic rebuttals murmur amongst the crowd as Piper and I laugh to ourselves. I don’t know one nurse or doctor who can actually say they’re well-rested.

“I’m pleased to say that things are going well at Emerson Memorial. In fact, we’re adding a new doctor to our staff in the ER that I think you’ll be honored to work with. Dr. Bennet? If you could come forward, please?” The Chief holds out his hand towards the corner of the hall that I can’t see because of crowding and because I’m short as hell. But as soon as I see the dirty blonde hair peek through the tops of people’s heads and that smile form on his lips when his face comes into view, my mouth drops open on a gasp.

“Oh my god!” I whisper shout in Piper’s ear, yanking her closer so we can speak between the two of us. “It’s him.”

“Who?”

“Everyone, this is Dr. Brooks Bennet, our new ER physician. Brooks has three years’ experience at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, but was born and raised here in Emerson Falls and just moved back recently. Please give him a warm welcome.” Applause rings out as I lean back into Piper’s side.

“That’s the coffee guy!”

Her eyes pop open when she turns to face me. “Seriously? Damn, now I know why you are infatuated with him,” she says before sneaking another peek while he stands next to the Chief who’s rattling on about working as a team and keeping costs down.

“Right? Ugh, he’s even more gorgeous than I remember,” I whine, saliva pooling in my mouth as I take in his body in blue scrubs. When I saw him at Skye’s that day, I could sense that he was muscular and broad under his clothes and from the way he stood over me. But now with nothing more than flimsy blue fabric draping over his muscles, it’s clear that Brooks is very proportional to his height. His forearms flex as he crosses his arms, watching the Chief as he speaks. His biceps are straining against the cuffs of his shirt, and I’m fairly certain I can see the outline of his pecs through the cotton. And the way he’s standing—calm, collected, confident—I’m afraid he’s even more dangerous to my mind now that I know he can practice medicine. My God… think of the lives we could save together as a team.

“Jess,” Piper calls to me, snapping me out of my ogling.

“What?”

“I’m pretty sure he just looked over here at you.”

“Huh?” My tongue lodges in my throat as I turn back to face him and he does it again, winking in my direction this time as the corner of his mouth tips up in a cocky grin. Gorgeous bastard.

Two can play this game. I reach into my pants and remove my pack of orange-flavored Tic Tacs, pop open the lid, and then dump a couple into my mouth before bringing my head back down to meet his gaze and shaking the plastic container at him.

And sure enough, he’s smiling from ear to ear across the room, shaking his head at me while his chest bounces from a silent laugh. I shrug and then smirk back at him before I realize that everyone is moving around us.

“Let’s go save lives, people,” the Chief announces while everyone scrambles to get back to work and I turn around, ready to take on the day and also try to avoid Brooks as much as possible. Working with this man will definitely be a challenge.

“So, we meet again,” his deep voice resonates behind me as Piper widens her eyes from the side before turning in her seat at the computer.

I stand up tall and puff out my chest with confidence, twisting to face him, tipping my head back as necessary. He’s so damn tall—but god, it’s so attractive. He easily has over a foot on me.

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