Page 40 of Pucking Around

“I don’t need to be driven around like some spoiled little rich girl. And I don’t want to upset Vicki either,” she adds. “The team is paying for me to have a truck as part of my fellowship. I can’t just not drive it. I’m fine, really,” she says again.

I shake my head with a laugh, patting my pockets. This girl is so damn stubborn. I’ve already got my keys and my wallet. I jerk open her car door.

She shrieks. “Caleb—what—”

“Move over.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

“You won’t let me drive you in my car, so I’m gonna drive this one. Unlike you, I love to drive, and I’m excellent at it. Now, move over.”

“God, this is so embarrassing,” she mumbles, unbuckling her seatbelt and climbing over the center console. I get a nice shot of her ass as she scrambles across.

“Sy, up,” I say, patting the seat.

He leaps into the driver’s seat, and she gasps with delight. “Oh my goodness. Is he coming with us?” She’s already got both hands out, rubbing his ears. The little traitor has his tail wagging in my face. I try to slap it down.

“Yeah—Sy,over,” I direct with a snap of my fingers.

Sy hops the seats into her lap.

“You’re such a cutie patootie. Yes, you are. Ugh, I’m obsessed with his eyes,” she coos, wrapping both arms around him as he straddles her lap and licks her face. “You’re coming to work with me. Daddy gets to see you all the time. Yes, he does. I’m never letting you go ever.” She kisses his face, and he eats it up like a total ham.

Lucky jerk.

I huff to myself. I have no idea where that thought came from. Sure, she’s gorgeous, but she’s also neurotic and kind of annoying. I smile to myself. She and Jake would be perfect for each other. My smile falls as I go still, my hand on the truck door.

Rachel and Jake.Why does the thought of them together turn me on as much as it terrifies me? I glance over at her, watching her buckle in as she talks nonsense to my dog. If this gorgeous, sophisticated, slightly neurotic doctor ever decided to give Jake Compton the time of day, it would be game over. She’d have him as her shadow for the rest of her natural life.

And then I’d lose him.

A reformed puck bunny-turned-kindergarten teacher I could compete with no problem. But Hurricane? Hell, no. She’d sweep him off his feet and drag him out to sea.

Shit, why do I suddenly feel like I’m sweating?

He took her number out of my phone the other day. Said he wanted it to haze her. He and Novy have taken it upon themselves to haze all the new staff, so I didn’t think much about it in the moment. Now I’m thinking I was a fucking idiot.

But her quiet confession from our first night together still simmers in the back of my mind. I held her on the balcony, her bare skin like heated silk under my fingertips.I miss him,she said, tears in her eyes. She’s already got a guy she’s totally hung up on. For the moment at least, Jake is safe.

20

Caleb and I part ways at the coffee cart in the lobby. After swearing on his life to let me and Sy have another sleepover soon, he and the dog wander off towards the locker rooms. I find my way to the gym, only taking a wrong turn once.

Am I embarrassed about what happened? I mean, yeah. At this point, I’m just keeping a mental list. If there’s an embarrassing moment to be had, odds are Caleb Sanford is going to find a way to witness it. I really hope the cosmic wheel finds a way to balance this relationship soon. I’d love to feel like I was the one helping him for once.

I step into the gym to find the weight-lifting floor packed and the music pumping. There has to be twenty guys in here already. Several of them wave and call out hellos to me as I weave between the equipment.

“Morning, Doc!” calls the cute, boyish blond.

I spent some time yesterday going through the roster to try and put as many names to faces. His name is Langley, and he’s on my list for a physical today. “Morning, Langley,” I reply with an awkward wave, still juggling all my crap.

He beams at me, his chest puffed out like I just gave him a gold star on his homework. “You remembered my name.”

“Of course,” I reply brightly.

Good thing most of the guys go by their last names. Between first names, last names, and the hordes of nicknames they give each other, I expect I’ll be confused for a while.

I shuffle into my tiny office. I barely have a chance to set my stuff down before I feel him. I spin around in my swivel chair, whacking my elbow against the wall. “Ow—shit—” I rub at it, looking up to take in the massive frame of Jake Compton.