Page 23 of Seduction

The guy wasa first-year surgical resident and said his name was Oscar. Someone in the ortho program greeted him, and I thought perhaps I’d been assigned to one of their patients who needed a neuro consult. I believed that even more when I walked over the bridge that led to the attendings’ offices.

I knocked on the office door of Dr. Rocco Best, who was an ortho attending.

“Come in,” he called, his voice muffled by the door.

I cautiously opened the door and stepped into his office. My eyes grew wide. Instead of the doctor, my ex was sitting on the small sofa.

“Rich?” I asked, making sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me.

Simpering, he stood slowly, rubbing his palms on his jeans. “Hey, Pen.”

“Is everything okay?” After all, he was a quarterback and once had taken such a big hit that the pain in his knee was over a seven for an entire month.

“I just wanted to see you,” he said.

I shook my head rapidly. “Why?”

He took a deep breath. “I miss you.”

I leaned away from him, frowning. “Miss me how?” He was with Court, and six days ago, they’d stood side by side in a strong show of new-couple bliss.

“When I saw you at Bellies, I just… I miss you.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. My ex, the consummate cheater, wanted me to be the woman he cheated on his current girlfriend with. When I opened my eyes again, I was sure he felt the fire of my anger burning him alive.

“Why don’t you just stay single, Rich? That way you can fuck whoever you want without screwing with a poor girl’s heart.”

He jerked his head back. “Yourheart? You brokemyheart.”

I was even more confused. I hadn’t saidmyheart. “No, my heart is fine. I’m over you.”

“Well, I’m not over you.”

Shit, he’s approaching.

“You’re so fucking sexy, Pen. I miss your lips and your body,” he said.

I took steps backward, pinning my backside to the door. He narrowly missed taking me in his arms. I shot both hands in front of me, signaling for him to come no closer.

“Rich. Stop.”

“I loved you. You were never around, never fucking available. And you’re the one that stopped having sex with me.”

My mouth fell open. There was no way I was going to let Rich put the blame of our deficient sexual relationship on me. “That’s because your dick was itching, and I wasn’t the cause of it.”

“What was I supposed to do?” he asked as if he hadn’t heard me. “I had needs. I’d rather have met them with you, though.”

A cynical laugh escaped me. “Are you kidding me?”

“That mole on your waist.” He sipped air sharply between his teeth. “Shit. I want to kiss it.”

My neck jutted forward. My being trapped in a doctor’s office with him felt so wrong, but I knew Rich well enough to know he wouldn’t cross the line with me, so I wasn’t in danger.

I clapped loudly to wake him out of his lustful haze. He was staring at my body as if he could see through my scrubs.

“Rich! Wake up!”

He blinked hard, and his gaze landed on my face.