Forbidden Prescription: A Stepbrother Romance (5 page)

He rolled his eyes at her. “Away from the hospital, I mean.”

“Ha.” She chuckled. “I don’t know about that. Why complicate a good thing?”

She pulled on her clothes and threw away the paper cover on the exam table. She went home, leaving James behind her.

T
hings were heating
up between Isabella and James. The added distance between them made them long for each other during the day. Their chemistry was unstoppable. Not only did they click in bed—or exam table, or supply closet—but they enjoyed each other’s company.

James could hardly hide the fact that he was falling for Isabella. He tried to join her at the lunch table, but she pushed him away, worried that someone would notice their friendship. To a hospital employee, it would look strange for anyone to sit next to interns, as they were on the bottom of the totem pole.

Isabella enjoyed her time in the research study, but she missed being out on the floor with the other interns. She missed the excitement of never knowing what was going to happen. She missed the rush of having seconds to make a correct diagnosis and prescribe treatment. She missed working side by side with James.

She was making a good name for herself in research, though, and the doctors were taking notice. Generally hard to please, these surgeons praised her work ethic and thinking skills. She was quick to learn new things, so the surgeons were giving her more responsibilities.

Despite this, Isabella felt like something was missing from her life, but she couldn’t decide what it was. She had everything she could have hoped for at this point. She was successful in her internship, and she was blowing off steam with a hot doctor. For her, it was a relief that she found a man who just wanted to have casual sex without wanting her to be in a time-consuming relationship.

She wondered if maybe she needed some companionship in her life. Isabella was never one to have a large posse around, but she was starting to feel lonely in the moments that she wasn’t hard at work. Her friends from college had started their careers ages ago, and in the time Isabella was in medical school, they were off getting married and having kids.

There weren’t a lot of close friends from medical school because her over-competitive nature was off-putting for a lot of people. People were jealous of her knowledge, but she also didn’t try to be any less insufferable. She had a few study pals she could talk to on occasion, but she was mostly alone.

Jordan was one of her medical school acquaintances with whom she wanted to form a closer bond. For most of Isabella’s life, teachers and other adults always told her how brilliant and beautiful she was, and no one ever gave her constructive criticism. She liked Jordan because she wasn’t afraid to set her straight when she was being obnoxious. Jordan didn’t see her as a threat to her own success, so she liked spending time with Isabella, too. It was hard to be a young woman in a man-dominated profession, and it helped to have someone similar by her side.

In an attempt to build friendship, Isabella invited Jordan out for drinks one night after work. They went to a cocktail lounge far from the hospital, where they wouldn’t be at risk of running into anyone they knew. Jordan loved having the chance to gossip about everything that had happened while Isabella was away at the lab.

“Did I tell you about the time I walked in on Martin crying in the supply closet?” Jordan giggled into her martini.

“What? No, tell me everything!”

“Well, he’s such a know-it-all and he got in an argument with a nurse over the correct drug dosage to give his patient. He insists that he’s right, so he tattles on the nurse, and James set him straight. As it turned out, he was wrong, and it was too much for him to handle. I went to grab a fresh catheter from the closet later, and I found him sniveling in there.”

“Oh man, that is too good.” Isabella laughed. “What did he say when you caught him?”

“Not a thing,” Jordan said after a gulp of her drink. “He pretended like it never happened.”

Isabella laughed. She was sad she missed out on these moments.

“Speaking of keeping things secret,” Jordan pried, “When were you going to tell me about your secret affair with—”

“What?” Isabella exclaimed.

“—Justin?” she finished. “I’m kidding. That’s obviously a ridiculous rumor.”

Isabella’s heart was pounding. “Wait, what?”

“Oh, nothing,” Jordan said casually. “It was just a short-lived rumor that you were hooking up with Justin. Apparently, it didn’t make its way down to the lab.”

Isabella took a deep breath to steady herself. For a second, she thought her secret rendezvous with James was public knowledge. She took a long sip of her drink.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jordan noted. “Honestly, everyone’s already forgotten about it. It probably helps that you already have the reputation of being a sexless try-hard,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Seriously?” She wasn’t upset by this since it wasn’t that inaccurate.

“Yeah, but don’t be offended. People around here still like you well enough.”

“How the hell do you know all of this?” Isabella asked.

“I’m friendly with a lot of the nurses. They are the eyes and ears of that hospital, and they truly run the show. It’s astonishing that more doctors don’t try to have good relationships with them.”

Isabella snickered. James was correct about his early assessment of the girls—they were the ones to look out for.

“I also forgot to tell you,” Jordan said, taking a second drink from the waiter. “I think James is seeing someone.”

Isabella’s heart dropped into her stomach. “Seeing someone?”

“Like, dating a girl,” Jordan clarified. “I was looking at a reference book in the office, and he was on the computer, searching for romantic restaurants in town. I think he’s got a girlfriend.”

Isabella took a drink. “Good for him,” she said nonchalantly.

“I’m not surprised,” Jordan continued. “If a hot surgeon can’t find love, what hope is there for the rest of us?”

Isabella felt sick. She didn’t want to be in a serious relationship with James, but she also didn’t want to be the other woman in an affair.

“I should be going,” Isabella said, looking at her watch. “I have to get up early tomorrow for surgery with Dr. Jensen.” It wasn’t completely true, but she needed a good excuse to leave.

“Okay,” Jordan said, draining the rest of her drink. “This was fun. We need to go out more often.”

“Agreed,” Isabella said.

Isabella left the bar and thought about driving over to James’s house right then to confront him. However, as she soon remembered, she had no idea where he lived. In fact, she didn’t know anything about him. For all she knew, he could be married with four kids.

The next morning, she purposefully left her apartment later than usual. She didn’t want to run into James. Not today.

When she opened her locker, there was a box in there with a note attached.

You said you needed a new one of these. You can thank me later. –J

She opened the thin box to reveal a new, state-of-the-art laptop.

Her computer was old, and she had complained to James the previous week about how slow it was. She had the money to buy a new one, but she just hadn’t gotten around to picking out a new computer.

It was a lovely gesture, but it was too much. Any guy who had enough money to buy her expensive gifts made her uneasy. It reminded her too much of her mother’s lovers.

She slammed the locker shut and went looking for James. He was in the cafeteria, speaking with another doctor.

“Dr. Johnson,” she said. “When you have a moment, I’d like to discuss a diagnosis I made yesterday.”

He excused himself, putting his arm on her shoulder to lead her to a more private place.

“Did you get the surprise?” he asked eagerly.

“I was surprised, that’s for sure. What are you playing at?”

He blinked. “I’m sorry. I thought you said you needed a new laptop.”

“I do, but I don’t need you to get it for me. We aren’t together. Don’t you have a girlfriend you should be spending your money on instead?”

He was stunned by her reaction. It was not what he expected.
“I don’t have a girlfriend. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be fooling around with you, would I?”

“How would I know that?”

“If you don’t want the computer, I’ll return it. It’s not a big deal,” he said calmly. “If there’s something else bothering you, we can talk about it.”

“Nothing,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows at her.

“Are you seeing someone? Someone else, I mean.”

He laughed. It annoyed her that he took her accusation so lightly.

“What makes you think that?”

“I heard a rumor you had a girlfriend. I’m not one to be a home wrecker.”

He leaned in closer. “You’re new here, so you haven’t learned this yet, but people come up with ridiculous rumors all the time. You can’t believe half of what you hear.”

She felt a little relieved.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded. “But that doesn’t mean that I want your expensive gifts.”

“Noted.”

“Anyway, don’t you have some student loans to pay off?”

“Nope,” he said, looking for a change of subject. “You know,” he said, looking at his watch, “I’ve got a few more minutes until rounds start. Do you want to find a nice deserted closet?”

She turned and went to the lab without saying another word to him. She’d make him suffer for just a little while longer.

The lab was a safe place for Isabella to hide from James. He rarely went in there, and when he did, it was for a quick word with Dr. Jensen. They only needed her extra help for a few more days, and then she’d be back on the floor with the other interns.

Away from James, she could actually focus on her work. She was enjoying her afternoon, interviewing patients and analyzing data sets, when she got a page to immediately report to OR 2. She ran to the operating room, curious as to what she would find.

Much to her dismay, when she arrived, it was just James, standing by a body covered with a sheet.

“That was quick,” he said, looking at his watch. “Wish the other interns moved as quickly as you.”

She eyed the dead body. “Don’t tell me you called me here to look at a cadaver with you. I’ve seen plenty of them.”

“Oh, this guy?” he asked as if he didn’t see it before she mentioned it. “Don’t worry about him. He won’t start any rumors about us. Besides, it was the only empty room I could find.”

“Find for what?” she asked with a good idea of what he was after.

“I haven’t touched you in four days,” he cooed. “I want you, Isabella.”

Her heart rate increased. She hated how her body betrayed her when she wanted to carry on with her work.

“Not in here,” she said. “There’s one too many dead bodies around for my comfort.”

“Fine,” he countered. “Let’s meet up outside of work.”

“Like in a cheap hotel?”

“No. Dinner or a movie, then back to my place.”

“Are you asking me on a date?”

“What would you say if I were?”

She gave a short laugh. “I’d say that wasn’t what we agreed to. If you’ll excuse me, I have some work I need to do.”

She left the room as he massaged his temple with one hand. She may have won that round, but James was not one to give up when he wanted something.

I
t took a few hours
, but eventually, Isabella’s annoyance with James dissipated. She was a little surprised that he wanted to take their relationship outside the hospital. Also, did he actually mean to ask her out on a date?

She tried to imaging going on an actual date with James. Would she let him pay, or would they split the bill? Would they go somewhere casual, like a pizza joint, or an expensive restaurant? Would they go back to his place afterward for sex?

That was a silly thought. Of course they would.

Isabella hadn’t had a lot of dating experience. At the age of twenty-seven, she had only been on a handful of dates. She was told that she was intimidating and that it didn’t help her chances of finding a man. She didn’t have the time to care, though. School took over, and she reasoned that she could date once she was established in her career. Besides, if a guy wasn’t secure enough to date a strong, intelligent career woman, she wasn’t interested.

She pushed the idea of dating from her mind. She basically already turned James down. He wouldn’t ask her again.

Isabella looked at her calendar. In another ten months or so, there would be a new group of interns in the hospital. Maybe he’d give up on her and prey on one of the newbies then.

The next morning, she arrived at the hospital a little later again. Talking to James was always an experience, but she wasn’t in the mood for it this time.

She opened her locker to find a steaming cup of coffee and a note.

I promised you that I would stop with the expensive gifts. I attached the receipt for your drink as proof. I’d like to talk to you later, in private. I won’t try any funny business, I swear. –J

She took a sip of the latte. It was sweet and strong. He seemed to know what she liked. She didn’t want a gift from him, but she was appreciative anyway because she wouldn’t have to drink the lukewarm stuff from the giant carafe in the cafeteria.

She crumpled the note and threw it into the trash can. She had finished up her research and was back with the interns. When she met up with them for rounds, they didn’t look too thrilled to see her.

“Ah, yes,” Martin muttered to another intern. “The prodigal surgeon has returned.”

“Ignore him,” Jordan whispered to her. “He’s just mad that he won’t have a chance to get the good surgeries anymore.”

James, on the other hand, looked pleased to have her back in the group. He was acting strange, though, not meeting Isabella’s eye with his characteristic grin.

“He looks stressed out,” Jordan pointed out, always the first to pick up on those things.

“I can’t imagine why,” Isabella added. “He’s got an extra minion to do his bidding now.”

“I’m glad you’re back, too,” Jordan said. “These fools were driving me nuts. They can’t do anything on their own.”

Things were changing around the hospital. Enough time had passed since starting the internship that most of the fear had worn off and was replaced by pure competitive spirit. Any morsel of camaraderie that was present at the beginning was now gone. Besides Jordan, the other interns were cold toward Isabella.

This hardly mattered to her. If there were a good opportunity for her, she’d do anything in her power to get it. She would stab a fellow intern in the back and not feel the slightest bit of remorse. Except for Jordan. She’d feel a little remorse for her.

The doctors around the hospital were starting to take notice of Isabella. While she wasn’t always a pleasure to be around because she was super intense, it was evident that she was highly skilled as a surgeon. Her time in the research lab gave her the opportunity to make a good name for herself. She worked with different doctors, and her hard work was paying off.

Outside of work, her social life suffered. When she had the energy to stay awake after work, she only studied. There was little time for socializing with anyone, let alone a man who would take up lots of her precious free time.

Isabella tried to steal a quick glimpse at James while he was looking at his charts. Despite his lack of sleep, he always looked so well put together. He dressed in designer clothes, while many of the other doctors did their consultations in scrubs. If he decided to leave medicine behind, he could easily model.

He did look a little different, though. He usually looked Isabella right in the eye, and it always made her feel uncomfortable. Today, his eyes were all over the place. He’d look around at the group of interns, but look toward the floor or ceiling when he got to Isabella.

When it was time to send the interns on their assignments, James sent Martin and Justin to scrub in on a surgery, and he sent the others to the urgent care clinic to help out. Isabella was annoyed. She clearly knew more about the surgery than the other two interns, yet she was being passed over. Instead, she’d listen to hypochondriacs give their grocery list of symptoms and suggest fluids and rest for the common cold.

“Is it because I didn’t have the chance to thank you for the coffee?” Isabella hissed at James when the other interns split up for work.

He looked shocked. “Oh, do you want me to give you the surgery because I’m sleeping with you?”

“Of course not,” she said. “But you know I’m better qualified for it.”

“I do. But I also know that you wanted to be discreet. This is for your protection. I can’t always give you the best jobs.”

“Fine. By the way, what did you want to talk to me about?”

He wrung his hands. “Let’s talk later. You seem like you’re angry with me at the moment.”

She unclenched her jaw and took a deep breath. “I’m not angry, but I am running late. What is it?”

“Meet me in Dr. Jensen’s office at the end of the day. He’s at a conference, so we can talk.”

“Just tell me now,” she demanded.

“See you tonight,” he called to her, walking away.

He won that round. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of winning an argument, but she couldn’t help but to be curious about what he was going to say.

Luckily, her work assignment for the day didn’t take a lot of brainpower. While she ordered tests and poked and prodded patients, she thought of all the different possible things that he could talk to her about.

The most logical explanation was that he wanted to trick her into meeting up with him for sex. She wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea, so it would be a lot of work for nothing. She didn’t need a latte and a secret message to have sex with him. Isabella was easily convinced in that department.

The next logical explanation was that he was going to deliver some bad news and didn’t want her to be mad at him. Maybe he met a girl who actually wanted a relationship and he went for it. Isabella couldn’t blame him for something like that. This theory made sense, too, when she considered that he wouldn’t tell her anything until the end of the day.

The thought of James sleeping with another woman, loving another woman, made Isabella’s chest feel tight. She had no hold over him—not officially, anyway. She couldn’t possibly bar him from seeing another girl. She had come to look forward to their meet-ups when she would feel his soft caress and his urgent desire to be close to her. It felt good to be wanted. The things he did to her felt good, too, in an entirely different way.

If he was waiting until the end of the day to cut things off with her, Isabella formed a response plan. If he were ending their less-than-professional relationship, she’d seduce him one last time. No matter how she spun it, she’d be meeting up for some after-work sex.

When the other interns left for the day, Isabella made a beeline for the locker room. She undid her bun, letting her hair fall in loose curls down her back, and reapplied a light coat of makeup.

She found him sitting in the empty office, hastily scribbling notes into a chart.

“Okay, will you tell me what you wanted to talk about now?”

He jumped, then laughed, turning his chair toward the door.

“Shit, you scared me,” he said, noticeably on edge. “Sit down.” He gestured toward a leather chair.

She sat, crossing one leg over the other. He watched her foot bounce up and down for a few seconds.
“Well?” she pressed.

“I, um, I’ve been thinking.” He fiddled with a pen. “I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you. The last few weeks in the on-call room and the exam rooms have really been incredible. I just don’t think we can carry on this way anymore.”

Her stomach sank. She figured this was coming but still didn’t know how to handle it. How could she work alongside James every day without wanting more from him?

“I guess it’s not technically a breakup if we were never really together,” she said. “I respect your decision. We should have ended this a long time ago.”

He raised his eyebrows toward his hairline. “No, I don’t think you understand.”

“Don’t worry about me,” she said, giving a soft, reassuring smile. “I’m an adult. I can handle it. I’m just curious, though. Did you meet someone?”

He shook his head, exasperated. “Listen,” he said slowly. “I’m not saying I want to spend less time with you. The opposite, in fact.”

Isabella opened her mouth to interject, but closed it immediately.

James took a deep breath and paused for a second. “Isabella, I want you to go on a date with me.”

“A date?”

“I can’t help but feel like there is more to this than just hot sex,” he said, smiling. “I don’t know if you feel anything, but I think it’s worth a shot.”

She grimaced. “I don’t know. I don’t really have time for a boyfriend.”

“It’s just a date,” he said quickly. “I’m not making you commit to anything. I just want to spend a night with you outside of work.”

She thought for a moment. There was no harm in going out on one date. She could use a little fun outside of work. However, she didn’t want to feel like she owed him anything.

“So?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” she responded. “I agree to one date with you. There are some minor conditions though.”

“Like?”

“This is just a date. I can’t be expected to enter into a serious relationship.”

“I can agree to that. Anything else?”

“Nothing expensive.”

He laughed. “We’ll see.”

“When is this happening?”

“This Saturday?”

“Okay, it’s a date,” she said, trying not to show her excitement.

She turned to leave the office, but she couldn’t help but to turn around and peek at James through the window. He had a massive smile on his face.

Isabella grinned. The man was easy to please.