Page 57 of Double Daddies (Dirty Daddies Anthologies #8)

Chapter Six

Ryle

“Do you have everything you need?” I ask Cami.

She stops mid-sprint—her preferred method of getting around—and turns to face me. “Yep.”

“Hmm. Water bottle?”

“Check.”

“Protein bar?”

“Check.”

“What about earplugs?”

She screws up her face. “Earplugs? Why would I?—”

“Just checking.” I kiss her on the lips and give her a firm pat on her ass that brings out her sunny smile. “Have a great day at work.”

“I’ll do my best.” She begins to walk away, but I tug her closer to me, give her belly a rub.

“Bye, baby bean,” I say, even though she’s not showing in the slightest.

She laughs at my antics. “See you when I get home.”

Home. It’s been three weeks since Cami and Ben moved in.

So far, things have been going better than I ever could have imagined when I proposed the idea.

Ben has returned to desk duty at work, and he and I have managed to find a balance to share both the responsibility and the joy of being with such an amazing woman.

If anyone had ever suggested I’d find myself in such an arrangement, I would have found it laughable.

I wouldn’t have been able to imagine getting past the jealousy, the complication, the confusion.

But somehow, we have. Cami makes it worth it.

And, truth be told, the more I get to know Ben the more I realize he’s actually a good guy, despite how we first met.

Now that I’ve been with Cami these last weeks, I can hardly blame him, which is how, despite the unusual circumstances, we’ve managed to form a relationship of mutual respect. Cami likes to call it a “bromance”.

And we both love her so much, we let her get away with it.

My phone begins to vibrate in my pocket. I pull it out and check the caller ID. “Speak of the devil,” I mutter as I press the green button and put the phone to my ear. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Ryle. You working?”

“Not yet. My meeting with Asia is tonight. Different time zones.”

Ben whistles. “I don’t envy you.”

I chuckle. “Yeah, we’ve established that. You good?”

“Yeah,” he says.

I hear the hesitation. I wait and give him the space for whatever he wants to say next. I’ve learned a lot about giving space these last few weeks.

“The department thinks I’m ready to try and get off desk duty.”

This time, I’m the one who whistles. “You think you’re ready for that?”

“I don’t know,” he admits. “Would you want to hit the gym with me? I thought I’d start trying to get ready.”

“Sure, I’ll come spot you.”

There’s a beat of silence. I’m not sure if I’ve said something wrong, or if Ben just wasn’t expecting that response. Either way, I know he’s trying—so I can at least meet him halfway.

“Great. I’ll text you the address.”

Cami

“What’s on the board?” I ask Rayna. Just seeing her makes me grin.

It’s been a long time since we’ve been scheduled to work at the same time, and we have a lot to catch up on.

I haven’t been able to tell her about my new living arrangements yet, much less about my new love triangle. It’s not exactly a text conversation.

She widens her eyes dramatically—not that she needs much help making her large emerald eyes stand out. “You’re not gonna like it.”

“Uh-oh.”

“One of your people found you. Room 223.”

I do a double-take. “My people? What does that mean?”

Rayna throws her head back and laughs. “ You know. You’re queen in many spheres, m’lady. Queen of the sarcastic comeback, the emergency floor, and Queen of nerds.” She gives me a meaningful look.

I roll my eyes at her. “I’m going to take that as a compliment, which I’m sure is how you intended it.”

“Of course, my liege.” She gives a flourish and bows.

“You’re supposed to curtsey, swine.”

The snort of her laughter follows me as I make my way to the room. I grab the chart off the back of the door, scanning it quickly before I knock and enter. “Hey, Joseph. How are you doing today?” I give the patient a smile, but he doesn’t smile back.

He’s pale and nervous and was mid-pace when I entered. He stops to look at me but doesn’t answer.

“Joseph? I’m Nurse Rodgers, but I can’t help you if I don’t know?—”

“A n-nurse?” he stutters. “I don’t need a nurse, I need a doctor. I came here for a doctor.”

I refuse to take it personally and give him my most winning smile. “I’m not just any nurse, I’m a charge nurse. Do you know what that means?”

He stares at me, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“It means I’m in charge of the other nurses. So, if I determine that you need a doctor, I’ll be sure to get you one.”

Smiles aren’t working and calm reason isn’t doing the trick either. I might have to make a trip outside to ask Rayna what she’d meant, because if this guy is one of “my people” he sure isn’t showing me in a way I can recognize.

“I assure you, nurses can be just as capable as doctors. The only difference is we don’t go to med school, but?—”

“It’s not because you’re a nurse,” he mutters, looking at the floor, his long, greasy hair falling over his face like a curtain.

Joseph clearly likes to talk when he’s good and ready, so I decide to wait him out.

He clears his throat, and though he doesn’t meet my eye, he says loud enough for me to hear, “Is there a dude? A doctor, a nurse—hell, I’ll take the janitor.”

This makes me laugh, and even though I try not to, I can’t help but let a giggle escape. “Oh, honey, you don’t want the janitor going near what you’ve got.”

This gets a reaction. He snaps his head up and glowers at me. “What is it you think I’ve got, exactly?”

“I don’t know exactly, because I don’t know what your kink is,” I admit. “But I’m guessing by the way you won’t sit down that you’ve got… ah… a boarder you can’t evict.”

His eyes narrow and he glowers, but I meet his anger head-on. It’s just dressed up humiliation, but I’ll endure however he needs to express it.

My eyes travel down the length of his wiry frame and I see his hands are clenched into balls at his sides. And I catch sight of the Tardis tattoo on his left arm. “Do you know what Doctor Who would say right now?”

His eyes widen, then narrow into smaller slits. “No, and neither do you.”

“I do,” I retort. “He would say embarrassment is a human luxury. Come to think of it, I think aliens don’t even wear pants most of the time.

” I give him a cheeky grin. “Gender is just packaging, and I’m not going to let your embarrassment get in the way of your health.

Take a seat”—I point firmly at the exam table—“and let me see what we can do about making you feel better.”

Joseph’s nostrils flare, and after a few minutes, the silence makes me think I might have to give him his way and call in a doctor. He’ll wait hours until one is free to deal with this, but hey, that’s his choice.

But I’ve barely turned around when I hear him shuffling to the table. I stayed turned away so I can allow my smile to show. “And, ah—on your stomach, please.”

“How’d it go?”

I grimace at Rayna as I come around the counter. “I don’t want to kink shame, but in some cases…”

“Say no more.”

“Listen, it’s been a minute, am I crazy to hope you’ve got time for a quick coffee?”

“ I do, but you don’t. Patient in 145 asked for you by name.”

I let out a long sigh. “Can someone else see them?”

She shakes her head. “Follow-up patient.”

“Okay. But later, we need to get a date on the books. I mean it.”

“Understood, m’lady.”

It’s a good walk to that part of the floor, and as I take each twist and turn past mayonnaise-colored walls, I search my memory to try and figure out which patient of mine might be coming back in. I come up empty, though that’s kinda the norm for me these days. I blame pregnancy brain.

I knock on the door, but before I can so much as put my hand on the knob, the door swings open from the inside.

I jump back on instinct but find myself being grabbed and yanked into the room before I realize what’s happening.

As soon as I do, I dig my heels into the linoleum floors, but just as I’m about to scream, I recognize him.

Not a patient, but my brother.

“Kingslay!” I scream.

He releases me, his grin huge. It doesn’t diminish even when I smack him in the chest as hard as I can.

“You idiot!” I yell at him. “You scared me!”

He gives me a once-over, then shakes his head. “You look fine to me. Besides, it’s a big brother’s prerogative.”

“You know what?—”

He ducks my next attempt to strike his chest, and with one hand catches and claims both of my wrists. I struggle against him, but only for a few minutes before I give up, glaring at him.

“Are you going to behave now, or do I have to call Ben?”

I go absolutely still. Speaking of people who I have to catch up on my life…

“Silence isn’t an answer,” he says, mimicking something our mother always used to like to say.

“Yes. I won’t hit you again… unless you deserve it.”

Kingslay laughs and releases me.

“Why did you come in as a patient? You could have called.”

“Nah, I figured this would be the fastest way to see you.” He walks over to the exam table and hops on, leaning against the wall.

We’re both in the medical field, so we both know the truth of what he’s saying. I walk over and hop onto the bench next to him. “How long are you in town for?”

“Just today. But I thought I’d swing by and see you. It’s been too long.”

It’s been six months since he decided to stay with the Wilderness Warriors. Though we’ve had a few phone calls in that time, I haven’t seen him since. “Are you enjoying it?”

He nods, his eyes lighting up. “Duke’s a really cool guy, just like we heard. And the others—Shep and Aaron—they’re cool, too.”

“Aaron?” My brow furrows. I’m pretty familiar with the members of what they call the Wilderness Warriors Motorcycle Club, but that name isn’t ringing any bells. “I don’t remember meeting him. New guy? Is he a member of the MC?”

Still grinning, the dimple in his cheek flashing, Kingslay shakes his head. “Let’s talk about it over dinner. Come on, say you can do dinner.”