Page 6 of My Salvation
Closing the garage, I head in to start dinner. Going outside to the back porch, I get the grill going. Coming back into the kitchen, I open the refrigerator and pull out the steaks that have been marinating all day. I quickly prep them to go on the grill and put them to the side. Chopping up several vegetables, I add garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and Italian cheese and spread them out on a sheet pan. Popping them into the oven to roast, I go to the pantry and grab a loaf of French bread, slice and butter it, and pop it into the oven. Glancing at my watch, I give the vegetables a few more minutes before grilling the steaks. Going downstairs to the wine cellar, I pick out a Malbec for Lowell and myself. Shaw typically drinks beer or bourbon, so he can get his own. Back upstairs, I open the bottle of wine and pour it into a decanter to aerate.
After gathering plates, napkins, silverware and glasses, I set the table. I text Shaw and Lowell to let them know dinner will be ready in 10 minutes. Going out to the grill, I throw the steaks on for a few minutes on each side until they are medium rare and pull them off. Back inside, I set the platter of steaks down in the center of the dining table. Going into the kitchen, I grab the vegetables and bread out of the oven. Putting the bread in a basket and vegetables in a large bowl, I take those out to the table and sit down.
Picking up my phone, I text Lowell again. When he’s in writing mode, it can take three or four texts before he pulls his head out of his fictitious world and back into the real world. I don’t text Shaw again. He should be walking in right about...now. Shaw enters the room quietly, with a beer in his hand, exactly ten minutes after the first text.
For such a big man, Shaw’s stealth is impressive. If you aren’t expecting him, it can be startling to look up and see him standing beside or behind you. He can enter any room without anyone noticing. This skill has come in handy in more operations than I can count.
While we wait for Lowell, Shaw sits down and studies me for a minute. He can always tell when someone has intel. He takes a drink of his beer and sets it down.
“Let’s wait for Lowell,” I tell him.
Piercing a steak, I place it on my plate before handing him the fork to do the same. Adding vegetables and a piece of bread, I pick up my phone to text Lowell a third time, but surprisingly, he walks in just as I start typing the message.
As I take in his rumpled clothes and hair sticking out everywhere, I realize he’d been deep in the zone. It’s kind of a surprise he came down, but that usually means he hasn’t eaten all day and is starving.
Lowell sits down, grabs the decanter, and pours a glass of wine. After taking a big drink, he fills his plate, and then glances at me and Shaw. He sits up straighter as he reads our faces. While he rarely expresses much emotion himself, Lowell is as good as Shaw at reading people and situations.
“Go ahead, or it’ll get cold,” I tell them, my mouth full as I take a few bites. “It’s nothing urgent or bad.” Once they both start eating, I fill them in on the day, giving them the facts first. “Dr. Michaels arrived this afternoon. Unfortunately, a few patients were scheduled without our knowledge, so we only had a few minutes to go through the basics for the practice and the apartment before she had to jump in with both feet. I gave her the codes, made sure she could operate the keypads, gave her a tour of the apartment and Thayer’s office.”
With his usual blank face, Shaw digests the information. “So, what’s your read on her? Can she do the job? Is she going to work out?” he questions to get a better understanding of the situation.
After stating the facts, I debate how much information to give them, as I don’t want to color their feelings towards her. I decide first to tell them about the patient mix-up and her very capable handling of the situation. “She can definitely manage the practice. She is used to leading staff and took charge immediately,” I explain. “She’s thrilled about the apartment. Overall, she seems to be a genuinely honorable person, and more importantly, a competent doctor who will take care of everything until Thayer is back on his feet.”
This is a tremendous relief for us, as the last travel doctor sexually harassed the staff and caused a huge uproar before we caught on to what was happening. We took care of him, though. He won’t be doing that to anyone else. Ever again. Unfortunately, it made us leery in asking the agency to assign another physician. So, this time, we completed our own background check on Dr. Michaels before agreeing to the placement.
Shaw narrows his eyes. He knows I’m holding back but cannot figure it out. Lowell leans back in his chair, waiting for me to spill my guts.
Rubbing my jaw, I think about how I should describe Kate. “She’s beautiful, but she’s full of pain or sadness or something. I think you or Lowell could probably read her better. She doesn’t look like she has slept in days, and while that could be due to the last-minute travel, I don’t think it is. I couldn’t remember anything in her background file coming back as unusual, but I want to go through it again. I wonder if we should dig deeper?”
Shaw thinks for a moment. “We only completed an employment level background check on her. References, past positions, degrees, licensing and financials. We can go deeper. Do you think your gut is telling you she is hiding something that could be a problem for us?” Shaw probes intently.
“Yes, and no.” I try to explain. “Yes, I think she is in pain, but I’m not sure she is hiding something that will become our problem. It’s just that I...my gut says we need to help her. And to be completely honest with you, I’m drawn to her. She pulls at me in a way I can’t explain.”
Eyebrows raised, Shaw stares at me for a second. He looks at Lowell, and they communicate silently for a minute.
“Let’s hold off on a deeper background check for now,” Lowell murmurs as he taps into his phone. “In the meantime, I’m planning to go by the practice tomorrow anyway to see who has ordered more supplies. We didn’t give everyone access to Thayer’s computer, but someone placed an order this afternoon. I assumed it was Sarah, but with your gut tingling, we should confirm.”
Finishing our dinner, we quickly clean up and head out to visit Thayer in the hospital. Although he is still in a coma, we tell him all about Dr. Michaels and how well the practice is doing. We also take a few minutes to talk to his doctor. The swelling is receding, he assures us, which is excellent news. They still don’t know when he will wake up, though. Nothing we can do but wait and see. So, we all head home.
Yawning, I undress and get into bed. Stretching out, my mind fills with the beautiful Dr. Michaels. She definitely seemed a bit interested in me, or at least interested in holding my hand. I chuckle as I think about how many times she shook my hand.
My cock stirs when my thoughts wander to how it felt to have her ass brushing against me when she turned to face the keypad. So lush for such an athletic body. It made me want to push her up against the wall so she could feel every inch of me. My hips move restlessly as I imagine all the possibilities. Eventually, I fall asleep, still feeling her tight body against mine.
