Page 4 of Stat: Love In Scrubs

I sat at my desk, reviewing the financial reports, hoping to find something that would help us get out of this financial bind. Little Angels Academy had become my entire life, and I was sure the others felt the same way.

I groaned and dropped my pencil against the top of my desk, then allowed my face to lie in my open palms. I needed a moment to reboot and get my head together, so I left my office to visit with the kids.

I needed to see their smiling faces, and I knew my world would at least be alright for the moment.

I released a sigh and dropped my hands to my side, then made my way to Mrs. Mavi’s classroom. I knew it wasn’t good to have a favorite, but I wanted to see Esa’s little face.

I knocked on the classroom door before letting myself in.

My eyes automatically went in search of her.

When I finally located her, I frowned. She was lying with her head against the desk, her arms wrapped around her face.

I glanced up at Mrs. Mavis, who could tell what I was going to ask before it came out.

I made my way over to her and leaned down to speak to her in a low tone.

“Hey, what’s going on with Esa?” I asked, getting right to the point.

“She came in a little lower today. I thought she was just down and maybe needed some time with the therapist today. I sent her down, but nothing changed, and she won’t tell me what’s wrong. I’m not too sure much was gotten out of her from the therapist, but you can try if you want to.”

I lifted a brow and then smiled. I shook my head, then walked around her desk to head in the direction of Esa. I squatted down beside her and tapped my nails against the surface to get her attention.

“Esa, what’s going on, honey?” I asked.

I waited a moment as she slowly lifted her head to turn it in my direction, but she continued to lie against her arms.

“My tummy hurts,” she mumbled in a low voice.

I leaned a little closer to get her to say it again, although I was almost certain I heard her.

“My tummy hurts,” she repeated, a little more clearly.

“We can go to the nurse, and I’ll have the front office call someone to pick you up. Maybe your dad,” I suggested.

Esa groaned and whined a little, so I helped her from her seat to lead her out of the classroom. I pulled my walkie-talkie from my hip and instructed the front office to call her emergency contact. I sat with her while one of our nurses examined her.

I watched as she took her temperature, and nothing was off. The nurse went through a few other things before we finally turned to Esa to ask more questions.

“Esa, honey, we can’t seem to tell what’s going on. Did you eat your lunch?” I asked.

She shook her head. I glanced at the nurse and motioned for her to grab an apple. Esa needed something in her system. When I handed it over, she sank her teeth in like she hadn’t eaten in days.

“Esa, why didn’t you eat your lunch?” I asked softly.

Her lips parted, ready to answer—then the door to the nurse’s office swung open.

And there he was. A face I couldn’t forget even if I tried.

God knew I’d tried—tried to bury it under work, under wine nights with Darby, under anything that would scrub the memory clean.

But nothing stuck. That night was supposed to be reckless and harmless, a one-time thing.

Instead, the sight of him standing in this room, in my space, had my pulse tripping like I was right back against that bathroom wall.

3 months prior

“Let’s get a drink,” Darby shouted over the music playing in the club.

I nodded, and she grabbed my hand to usher us through the crowd toward the bar. I continued to bob my head to the sounds of Summer Walker and sway my hips. I had been needing this breakaway from all things Little Angels Academy. I loved my babies, but damn, I felt more drained than usual.

Darby could tell almost immediately and suggested we visit this club here in Silverrun called Shadows.

When she mentioned it to me for the first time, I just knew she was bringing me into some dark, dungeon-like kind of club, but it was the opposite.

It was dark, don’t get me wrong, but it was more of a sultry vibe with a club aesthetic, which sounded crazy to the ear, but in reality, the shit just worked.

Darby ordered us drinks, so I turned to face the crowd of people who were now twerking and popping their asses to Chris Brown’s new song that had just dropped. The beat was beyond contagious as I followed suit, lip-synching the song in place.

His thick tone caught my attention first. “Chris Brown damn sure knows how to get a party going, don’t he?”

I glanced over my shoulder, and my breath caught in my throat. I had been around a few good-looking men, but this man was like a fudge brownie sundae with whipped cream on top. I devoured him from head to toe, unable to get my words together, so I nodded.

He smirked, giving me a glimpse of his vibrant white smile, which contrasted with his deep mahogany skin tone.

It didn’t help that this man had a goatee.

There was something about a man with a beard that symbolized a grown man to me.

He wore a pair of khaki cargos with a simple shirt, but the way his arms were practically begging to be free from the sleeves had my mouth watering.

I held my hand out boldly to shake his, which he obliged.

“Liz.” I offered, giving him my middle name.

“Doc.”

I hiked up my brow in question, causing him to chuckle.

“Frat name, and it just stuck.”

I nodded with a smile. A frat man, and I bet I could tell just which one he had pledged because his marking showed just slightly beneath his sleeve.

“Can I guess which one?” I asked.

He ran his tongue across his lower lip in a smooth motion, then smirked.

“Long as you get it right, baby.”

The way baby slid off his tongue made a shiver run down my spine. I crossed my legs, hoping to calm the ever-present thumping between my thighs. If I didn’t know earlier, I damn sure knew now.

I giggled and looked away briefly before returning my attention to him. I got lost as his milky brown eyes bore into me while waiting for my response.

“Hmm, if I get it right, I think I need a demonstration. That is, if you’re up for a good time,” I said, shocking my damn self.

I had never been so bold in my life, but something about this stranger felt like he was safe, that he was mine in a sense, but that couldn’t and would not be the case. I had room for fun, but just this one night.

He chuckled at my forwardness and nodded his head, then leaned forward to whisper in my ear. “Humor me. With a mouth as pretty as yours, I’ll forgive you if you got it wrong and still show you the time of your life.”

My body practically melted into his as his cologne wafted over me, causing the pool between my thighs to get deeper. I just hoped he could swim, because the way I felt, he would damn sure drown.

“I know a Que when I see one,” I responded with a smile.

Darby tapped my shoulder, then handed over my drink once I turned to face her.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Doc. I held in my squeak and turned back to him.

Like I hadn’t just acted like a schoolgirl moments before.

I took a sip of my drink, allowing the burn to feed into the desire that had been building moments ago.

He smiled slowly, like he knew exactly what I meant. His gaze dropped to my lips, then dragged back up with lazy confidence.

“Is that right? Cute.”

My cheeks burned at just that simple word. Cute.

He took a few steps closer to me until his chest brushed against the hard peaks of my nipples, then leaned down to talk against my ear.

“Then come find out if my bite is as big as my bark,” he murmured.

“I’ll tell you now…” He leaned in, dragging his nose down the side of my neck. “…I bite hard. And I don’t stop ’til you beg . ”

My body clenched. My drink was forgotten. My morals? Questionabl e .

“You scared?” he aske d .

I turned, giving him my back, hips swaying just enough to let him know I wasn’t bluffin g .

“Let’s find out . ”

His hand slid into mine, fingers locking tigh t . I mouthed to Darby, letting her know I would be right back. She shook her head and took another sip of her drink. We walked toward the long hall near the back of the club until we came upon a door with a dog on it.

“I got it,” he announced gruffly behind me.

He knocked a few times before pulling the door open and revealing a lit room with a bowl full of condoms on the counter.

Doc and I didn’t speak again until the door slammed behind u s .

But I heard him—right before my back hit the wall and his lips found min e .

“Roo .”

Present

My eyes fluttered a few times as Esa jumped down from the table and rushed into Doc’s open arms. I glanced over at Nikki, the nurse on staff, and sis was appreciating the fine ass man that was Doc as much as I was .

I needed to take my eyes off him for just a moment.

This was business, and I needed to act like it.

However, it wasn’t helping that my body remembered the way he had made it sing in such a short time.

I cleared my throat, bringing his eyes back up to me.

“Hi, nice to meet you. Are you Esa’s dad?” I asked.

Amusement danced in his eyes at my formal tone. I was sure he found my discomfort amusing, but this was my place of business. I had no intent on making it seem like we had met before, even if it was a night I would never forget.

He stood to his full height and held Esa’s hand. I glanced over at Esa, and she had stars in her eyes while looking at him. It didn’t miss me that now, suddenly, that ache she had been experiencing was magically gone. I knew damn well it wasn’t because of a few bites of an apple.

Immediately, I knew what it was. She just missed her dad and wanted to spend time with him. I smiled lightly in her direction. I understood it. When I was younger, I would pull the same things just to spend the day with my dad. I knew it wasn’t right, but as a child, you didn’t give a damn.

He held his hand out to shake mine. I was hesitant to take it, unsure of what feelings would come over me. If I was being real, nothing should happen. We fucked one time in the bathroom. There was nothing spectacular about that, so I released a breath and smiled as his large hand swallowed mine.

Yeah, I was wrong. The undercurrents that went through my body the moment his hand wrapped around mine should’ve been illegal. I quickly pulled my hand from his, trying not to alarm anyone in the room.

“That would be me, Ms. Sinclair,” he said with a low chuckle. “Nice to meet you.”

I forced a polite, businesslike smile, but the rest of me wasn’t cooperating.

My body replayed that club bathroom—cold tile at my back, his mouth on mine—while heat crawled under my skin.

Rules in my head, desire winning despite.

Then it hit me. My eyes widened. I never gave him my last name that night.

Hell, I hadn’t even given him my real first name.

“How did you know my last name?” I asked.

Doc chuckled with a shake of his head. Before he could respond, Esa tilted her head to the side, then pointed to my chest.

“Ms. Sinclair, it’s on your shirt, silly,” she said, then giggled.

I pressed a hand to my forehead, forcing a smile. “Of course. Well, follow me to my office so we can get you checked out and I can fill you in on why we called you,” I said, keeping my tone clipped, leaving no room for back-and-forth. I needed to get back in my element, where control lived.

The steady click of my heels on tile was the only thing holding me together.

It didn’t help that I felt his gaze burning into my back—down my spine, across my ass—dragging me straight into memories I had no business reliving.

His thick hands gripping my ass, his teeth at my neck, that delicious scrape.

Once we reached my office, I gestured to the chairs across from my desk. “Have a seat.” I settled behind my desk, grateful for the barrier it provided. “So, Esabella seemed a little off today. Said her stomach was bothering her, but when we checked her over, everything looked fine physically.”

Before I could continue, he was already lifting Esa onto his lap, his hands gentle as he felt her forehead, then her stomach.

The complete shift in his attention—from whatever tension had been crackling between us to pure father mode.

Watching him zero in so fast made my chest tight.

My mother begged for this kind of attention.

I watched him murmur something soft to her, saw the way she immediately relaxed into his chest, and felt something twist in my chest.

The attention he showered her with reminded me of my father. He was always beyond attentive when it came to me.

I caught myself smiling just as his eyes snapped up to mine. Heat shot through me, quick and uninvited.

“Uh—we concluded that maybe she just needed some Dad and Esabella time.”

Esa settled against his shoulder like that was all the medicine she needed. My chest ached at the sight.

Doc rubbed her back, then stood with her in his arms.

“Yeah,” he said, standing with her still in his arms. “I think you’re right. I’ll take her home.”

I stood too, suddenly unsure what to do with my hands. “Of course. Just sign her out at the front desk.”

I gestured toward the door to lead them back to the front desk.

I gave him a tight smile that was on the verge of being awkward.

We walked to the door together, and I made the mistake of extending my hand for a professional handshake.

The moment our skin touched, that familiar electricity shot up my arm. I pulled back too quickly.

“It was... good to meet you officially,” I managed.

“Bye, Ms. Sinclair!” Esa waved over his shoulder as they headed down the hall.

I lingered in the doorway longer than I should have, watching them go and trying to ignore the voice in my head whispering that this man was going to be trouble.

With a quick wave, I slipped away as smoothly as I could, praying it was the last time our paths would cross—though deep down, I already knew my luck wasn’t that good.