Page 1 of Deeply Examined

Chapter one

Jessica

I’m naked the first time I meet him. Wearing only a flimsy paper gown, I shiver under the relentless blast of air conditioning. He walks in, broad-shouldered, effortlessly confident, the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.

At first, his back is to me as he closes the door with a soft, deliberate click. All I can see is thick, midnight-dark hair, catching the fluorescent light like strands of polished ink. Then he turns, and a jolt shoots through me, sharp and startling, like static electricity crackling across my skin. My breath stutters. My stomach tightens, a reaction I can’t control.

He's over six feet tall, slightly older than me but not yet gray-haired or wrinkled. A sharp, square jaw with a divot in the chin—one that would make Superman jealous. Full lips, smooth and unchapped. And his eyes…

Flat. Cool. The color of storm clouds. Looking into them, I see nothing but the reflection of myself.

When those mirror-ball eyes meet mine, he freezes, just for a fraction of a second, so short I must have imagined it.

Adam

One second, it’s just another patient chart. The next, I’m staring at my past.

It starts when I walk into exam room six and see her.

Jessica Jones.

My high school crush. Or, let’s be honest, my obsession.

I used to watch her from across the lunchroom, in the hallways, by her locker, which was six down from mine. I’d memorized her schedule, carefully adjusting my route to be close to her. Back then, I studied the way she moved, every flick of her hair, every soft laugh that curled around my ribcage and stayed there. I’d been so focused, hellbent on getting into the university of my dreams. Nothing could distract me from my goals.

Excepther.

Almost fifteen years have passed, and she hasn’t changed a bit. Same gorgeous face, long honey-blonde hair, big green eyes, and slender body. I remember how she was always laughing with her friends, oblivious to the guy who watched from the shadows, wanting her so badly it ached. The last time I saw her, she was wearing her cheerleader uniform with its short ruffled skirt that showed off the rounded flesh of her ass when she bent over.

Late at night, I used to jerk off to the thought of that sight.

Shit. Sometimes I still do.

I freeze for a split second, waiting. Wondering if she’ll recognize me the same way I recognize her.

But of course she doesn’t.

I might have been a senior and she was a freshman, but it didn’t matter. I was a loser nerd in secondhand clothing, invisible unless someone needed test answers. And she wasthepopular girl. We lived in different worlds.

Things have changed now. With the rigor of medical training, I had no time to eat, so I lost weight, shed twenty pounds of fat and replaced it with twenty pounds of pure lean muscle.

Now women chaseme. Beg forme. Worshipme.

I give her another moment to look me over, to see if she remembers.

Nothing.

Jessica stares without a flicker of recognition. No hesitation. No tilt of her head, searching for my name. It’s like I’m a stranger.

A sharp pang hits my chest, unexpected and unwelcome.

I bury it instantly.

She doesn’t recognize me?

Good.

Let’s keep it that way.

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