Page 42 of Jenna's Threatened Sanctuary

“Dr. Kent will be with you shortly,” the woman said, then closed the door.

Calvin circled the room, studying the space before taking a seat in the corner and crossing his arms over his chest. “Have you heard of this practice before?”

Jenna scooted up on the table. “Not that I recall. I don’t deal with a lot of family care physicians.”

Before Jenna could say more, the door swung open. A gray-haired man with a receding hair line entered the room. Concern hung heavy on his full face. He locked his gaze on her, confusion quickly replacing concern. “Dr. Simon?”

Calvin stepped out from the corner and placed himself in front of her. “Hello, Dr. Kent. I’m Calvin Spradling. I’m a private investigator, and I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

He reared his head back. “Excuse me? I still have one more patient to see today. I can’t deal with whatever this is right now.”

“Just one second. Please.” She didn’t need any more time than that. Dr. Kent was the right height, but his puffy middle wasn’t the hard wall of muscle she’d been pinned against. Evenif Dr. Kent held a grudge against her, he wasn’t the man they wanted. “Calvin’s helping me find the person who killed my sister, Stella Ryan.”

Dr. Kent dropped his eyebrows so low they almost met at the bridge of his crooked nose. “I heard about her. I’m so sorry for your loss, but what information could I have regarding a woman I never met?”

“We think I may have a history with the person who killed her—that the person may be trying to punish me.” Jenna swallowed the bile creeping up her esophagus. The theory they were chasing would never get easier to stomach.

Dr. Kent blinked several times before realization lightened his hazel eyes. “And you think that could be me?”

“You’re the only person who could hate me that much. I’m the reason you lost your job at the hospital. I cost you a hefty paycheck. Your reputation.”

“You did what you should have done.” Dr. Kent ran a heavy palm down his face.

“What?” Surprise shook her voice.

Dr. Kent let out a long sigh. “In this line of work, a lot of things are bound to haunt you. I’m sure you know that by now. But at that time in my life, I was angry and short-tempered. My wife had just left me. My kids didn’t want anything to do with me. And instead of looking at myself and asking what I needed to do to fix it, I became a bigger ass. I didn’t give my patients the care they needed or my coworkers the mentor I should have been. That night…when that young woman came in.” Dr. Kent lifted his shoulders. “I undermined you, made the wrong call, and she died because of it. She had her whole life ahead of her. Just been married. And I took that away.”

“So you aren’t angry at Jenna for reporting you?” Calvin asked.

Dr. Kent let out a humorless laugh. “Angry? No. That moment forced my eyes open. Made me reevaluate my life. My work. My priorities. Unfortunately, a young woman just passing through town from out of state had to lose her life for me to get my act together. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a patient to see.”

Calvin watched him leave then faced Jenna. “Wow.”

Jenna nodded, a long, slow nod. “Yeah. Wow. I don’t even know what to say. All this time I thought he hated me.”

Closing the space between them, Calvin took her hand. “Looks like you did him a favor.”

Jenna squeezed their linked fingers, and her heart fluttered. “He remembers everything about her, and I can’t even recall her name. What does that say about me?”

“That you’ve saved hundreds of lives and spoken with even more family members and friends of people you’ve treated. You can’t be expected to remember all of their names.”

“I’d forgotten about her completely until this.” Tears misted her eyes and threatened to fall.

Calvin folded his arm around her. “No one would think of you any differently for that. You’re a great doctor. A great person.”

She sucked in a breath. Her mind spun, and she longed to feel the brush of his lips upon hers. “Do you really mean that?”

He rested his chin on the top of her head. “Yes.”

Not wanting to wait another second, she rose on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his. Warmth pooled all the way to her toes.

Calvin released her hand and wrapped his arms around the small of her back, molding her against him.

Desire and longing had her slipping her tongue in his mouth, tasting him, moving her body against him as pleasure burst inside her.

Calvin pulled back and gasped for air. “Jenna.” Lust thickened his voice, and he moved his hands to cup her ass.

She slid her palms to his chest and closed her eyes to catch her bearings. “We need to get out of here.”

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