Page 1 of One for the Money
Prologue
“Dr. Shields!”Nurse Williams calls out as I run through the ER. “You have a patient in bed three.”
“But I have a-”
“This is your patient!” she shouts after me.
I skid to a stop, spinning and holding my hand out for the chart. I’m not going to piss off the nurses. That’s like day one stuff. If Nurse Williams says this is my patient, it’s my patient.
I flip through the chart as I stand outside the room, trying to get a basic idea of what to expect. A six-year-old Beta girl, brought in by her teacher, broke her arm on the playground at school. A relatively straightforward case.
When I knock and open the door, sliding into the room, I’m shocked to find another doctor already in here.
“Oh, sorry, is this bed three?” I ask the handsome doctor as he turns to look at me with confusion.
Handsome is an understatement, holy shit.
The Alpha looks like he belongs in a magazine or Hollywood. He smiles broadly at me, blinding and white, and I feel my knees go weak.
And then his scent hits me.
Sweet cream and berries.
I’m on suppressants, so it should be enough to block all pheromones from registering a scent with me.
All of them, except…
“You’re my scent match,” he says quietly.
But we can’t talk about this, can’t explore this. Not right now.
He turns back to the little girl, whispering calming words to her as he explains what getting an X-ray is going to look like. He’s so good with her, so sweet, that it makes my knees a little weak.
I met my scent match, and he’s a doctor who is good with kids.
Could I ask for anything more?
I can’t bring myself to leave the room, not when I’m supposed to be here and he’s here. I can’t just run away, leaving him behind. I need to know everything about him.
Eventually, we slip out of the room together, and the man hands the nurse the chart, ordering an X-ray and medication for the little girl. Then he grabs me by my wrist and pulls me into an on-call room.
“I’m Rich,” he says quietly, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close to him, burying his face in my neck. “You smell like black forest cake,” he whispers against my skin. “So fucking sweet. So decadent.”
I give in to my Omega urges and mirror his stance, dragging my nose up his pulse point. “Alex. We’re scent matches, right?” I ask breathlessly. “I’ve never reacted to someone’s scent like this before.”
Of course, we hear about scent matches throughout our lives, in movies, television shows, and books. Then, in med school, I learned the technical, medical reasonsbehind it. However, learning about them doesn’t prepare me for what it’s actually like.
What it feels like to know that this man is my future. My everything.
I want to strip down and present myself to him right now, bury my teeth into his neck, and cement our lives together forever.
But I’m not that rash.
“It’s got to be,” he answers, his lips ghosting across my flesh. “I never would’ve thought my Omega would be a doctor.”
Most doctors are Alphas. Omegas excel at the social side of things and end up in people management positions. But I’ve always loved math and science, and felt called to be a doctor from a young age.
“Do you have a problem with that?” I ask him. I don’t know what I’ll do if he says yes.
