Page 37 of Playing Doctor

She cast a surreptitious glance around the long, oval table and saw the occasional neck rub or pencil tapping on a notepad. At least she wasn’t the only one having trouble concentrating. However, she was willing to bet none of them had been awakened in the middle of the night by a pulsing orgasm after a restless, erotic dream of a ponytailed doctor with a very talented tongue. The dream had been so vivid Beth could swear she smelled his scent on her pillow. Hopefully that dream would soon become reality. She didn’t know where this…relationship was headed or where it would end, but now that she’d made the decision to move forward with it, she was anxious to get started.

Papers rustled around the table. People shifted, rearranging themselves in their chairs.

Finally—blessedly—the screen went blank, the CFO resumed his seat, and the lights flickered back on. Blinking, Beth caught a glimpse of her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows on the other side of the conference table and quickly pulled herself up from her slump.

Straightening her small pile of handouts, she clipped them together as the CEO, Brad Crawford, began his update on the upcoming construction of the new Emergency Department. She jotted down dates for meetings and projected deadlines around doodles, squiggles, and hearts.

Hearts, for crying out loud!

Brad’s cell phone rang and he apologized before taking the call. “Great, send him up!” He ended the call and addressed the meeting. “Our new ER medical director is on his way up.” Murmurs of surprise and missed memos circulated the room. He held up his hand and order resumed. “As you know, we had narrowed it down to two applicants. I got the acceptance call this morning from our first choice, and didn’t see the point in sending out a memo as he was joining us for the meeting today.”

As administration and the medical executive committee were conducting the interviews, the only contact Beth had with the potential hires was during ER tours. She had been out of town at corporate meetings on some of those days and had missed meeting a couple of them.

Her phone made a little zip sound in her jacket pocket. She slipped it out and snuck a look at the screen.

Are your eyes crossed yet?

Connie was an evil twit, but at least it broke up the monotony of waiting for their guest to arrive. Beth reread the text and grinned. There was a good chance Gabe was in need of a boredom breaker at his own meeting.

She typed in her message, pulling from one of her favorite movies.

Pop quiz: You have a bottle of wine, no glass, and a powerful thirst. What do you do?

The little zip sounded and a green balloon appeared on the screen with her message inside it. Beth snickered and dropped the phone in her pocket—it could be hours before he got the message.

A knock sounded on the door at her back.

“Ah, good.” The CEO stood and walked around the table to open the door. “Welcome, Dr. North.”

Beth’s head popped up. Whaaaa…? No, it couldn’t be! She started to turn, and then caught the reflection of the two men in the window across from her.

Oh. My. God.

The CEO extended his hand and said something, but all Beth heard was a ringing in her ears. The man standing in the door looked up from the phone in his hand, a huge smile on his handsome face. A face she knew all too well—a face that had hovered over hers while he thrust inside her until she screamed her pleasure.

Gabriel North.

Her Gabe.

The ringing in Beth’s ears subsided as she watched Gabe slide his phone into his shirt pocket. He took the CEO’s hand, gave it a firm shake. “Thank you. Sorry.” He tapped his pocket. “A very important message that required an immediate reply.”

Zip! Beth dragged her gaze from the window and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Pour it on the freckle between your legs and lick it off.

Beth blinked down at the screen. The little sound that left her throat got her coworker’s attention. He craned his neck, trying to get a look at her phone. She dropped it back in her pocket like a hot potato and gave him a weak smile. “New horoscope app. Really…detailed,” she whispered.

“Ah.” He pursed his lips and whispered back, “Sounds like things are looking up.”

She gave him a noncommittal, “Hmm.”

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