The Best Medicine (18 page)

“Cheating? You’re crazy. I warned you not to start with me, but you didn’t want to listen.”

“But I didn’t pin you down. You have an unfair advantage.” She tried to wiggle out of his grip.

“You didn’t pin me down because you
can’t
pin me down. Don’t blame your weakness on me.”

“Whatever.” She continued to try to fight him off, but when it became clear that he wasn’t going to stop out of the goodness of his heart, she relented. “Okay fine, you win.”

Scott stopped moving his fingers. “What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

“You’re such a sore winner.”

He wiggled his fingers against the soft flesh of her stomach.

“Okay, okay!” she yelled. “I said you win.”

He reached his free hand up so he could use both to hold her hands above her head. “And why do I win, Lo?”

“Because you’re freakishly strong,” she quipped.

He leaned closer to her, their faces mere inches apart. “That’s strike one.”

“Because you’re a stubborn ass.”

“Strike two.”

She studied him, looking into his eyes with her brilliant blue ones. Her voice was lower when she replied. “Because you’d never let yourself lose.”

He looked down at her for a few seconds longer, letting whatever it was between them sink in until he had to pull back for fear of drowning in the feelings swirling there. “Can we eat now?”

“You’re the one holding us up,” she replied as she fixed her clothes and sat up.

He pulled the food out of both bags and set it before them. “Tuna salad?” he asked.

“Yeah. I kept it light on the mayo so I didn’t have to hear you complain about it like I do when you order it from the cafeteria.”

They ate in silence for a while, enjoying the sunny day and refreshing breeze. Scott watched an older woman walk up the sidewalk toward the building that housed his office.

She smiled as she approached them. “You two make a beautiful couple.”

Scott froze, not sure what to say.

Lauren didn’t hesitate though. “Thank you,” she replied with that sweet, genuine voice of hers.

The woman nodded to them before she passed and went into the building.

Lauren nudged his arm with hers. “Don’t overthink it. She was probably really only referring to me anyway.”

He felt the tension leave his body. It was exactly what he’d needed her to say. The little wiseass.

Heatstroke

Scott’s eyes wandered around the large ballroom. Easily over two hundred people filled the space, making their way around the perimeter to bid on jewelry, tickets to sporting events, vacations, paintings, and other donated items. The philanthropic nature of many of the guests always surprised him because it was in such sharp contrast to their exterior, which—for many of them—was cold and unsympathetic. But as he watched them bid thousands of dollars for items that weren’t worth anywhere close to that, he felt himself warm to the attendees a little more. Scott brought his attention back to the group of people in front of him at the sound of Hal Overton’s chuckle.

“Scott, did you hear what Brian said? Isn’t that funny?”

I have no idea, but it probably wasn’t.
The only thing that kept Scott from actually voicing his sentiment was the fact that he didn’t want to be intentionally rude. These people hadn’t done anything specific to make him not like them. In fact, he should have gravitated
toward
people like Brian and Hal—people who were used to fancy cars, fine dining, and ass-kissing. They were the type of people Scott had grown up around. But instead, he found himself annoyed by them. He preferred a loose pair of jeans, a cheeseburger from Charlie’s, and people who were genuine. Maybe that’s why he’d gotten along so well with Lauren over the past few months. He could sense her authenticity.

In an attempt to prevent Brian and Hal from picking up on his momentary absence from the conversation, he quickly flashed them a smile and exhaled a slight laugh before taking a bite of the crab cake on the plate in his hand. “Food’s great,” he said as a poor attempt to change the subject. Hal nodded his confirmation, and then continued talking to Brian. Scott was glad that his company seemed content to occupy each other, because what little attention Scott had been paying to the conversion disappeared completely when his eyes locked on Lauren, who had just entered the ballroom. Even over the distance that separated them, she was stunning. “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me for a moment.”

“Of course,” came an equally distracted reply.

Scott wasn’t sure who had said it because he was already moving toward the entrance to the ballroom. He tried to concentrate on making his stride seem casual and effortless. But the truth was, he couldn’t cover the distance between them fast enough. As he said his “pardon me’s” and “excuse me’s” to pass through the crowd that had formed on the dance floor, he felt his heart thundering in his chest. He put his plate on a server’s tray as he approached Lauren, finally catching her eyes as they struggled to peer above the mass of heads in front of her. She
looked timid, unsure. It was the first time he’d ever seen her appear out of her element; and it didn’t suit her.

Scott forced himself to slow down as he reached her, not wanting to seem too eager as he took his last few steps. He wasn’t sure why he felt so happy to see her. He’d seen her at work a few days a week for the past two months, and spent time with her privately too. He chalked up his enthusiasm to how much more comfortable in his own skin she made him feel. With her there, he may actually enjoy the evening. But despite his internal self jumping up and down, wanting to yell
You’re here!
his cool, collected exterior settled for a teasing
You look a little confused,
instead.

A subtle laugh escaped her. “And you look,” she let her eyes roam his body from top to bottom and back up again, “pretty hot actually.”

Part of Scott wished he could take back his greeting—say instead what he’d really been thinking. Maybe something about how Lauren’s navy dress made her eyes bluer than ever. That he wanted to run his hands along the soft satin that hugged her chest until he couldn’t bear to have her clothed anymore. Maybe he should have told her how beautiful she was with her hair up in loose curls, a few falling on her exposed back above her strapless dress.

But the larger part of him would never say any of those things to her, no matter how much he wanted to. Because even though those words would have been the absolute truth, they implied a level of intimacy that just wasn’t there between them. So instead, he flashed her a charming grin, adjusted the jacket of his tux, and slid a hand in his pocket. “I do, don’t I?”

“You’re such a doofus,” she said on a laugh.

“Doofus? What is this, the nineties?”

“Oh, please. Don’t act like you remember anything about the nineties. You were too busy studying your way to excellence,” she teased.

Scott took a step closer and spun around so he was standing beside her. “That’s where you’re wrong, Lo. I was
born
excellent.”

“Do those cocky lines usually work for you?”

“
You
tell
me
. They’ve worked on you thus far,” he said with a smile.

Lauren shook her head slowly. “Bastard,” she whispered.

“Come on. Since you insisted on coming to this thing even though I tried to warn you about how boring it would be, I may as well show you around a little.”

“How bad could it be with the great Scott Jacobs in attendance?”

“Still pretty fucking bad. Where’s your mom? Why didn’t you drive with her?”

“She doesn’t understand the importance of being fashionably late, so I came by myself.”

Scott’s mind focused on the “came by myself” part, but again he filtered his thoughts. “Let’s start by finding your table. It should be near mine. Since I own the practice, I get stuck sitting with the higher-ups, but I always insist that they keep me close to my team so I can escape when I need to and sit with familiar faces.” With Lauren here this year, he wished even more that he could change his seat.

Lauren inched her head up again in an attempt to see where Scott was leading them.

Scott chuckled, and Lauren tilted her head in confusion. “What? What’s so funny?”

“It’s cute the way you think you can see over everyone if you stretch. You should have worn higher heels.”

“I don’t think they get much higher than this.” Lauren slid her leg out from the slit in her long dress, allowing Scott a view that caused his cock to twitch.

Fuck the satin. I want to run my hands along her skin.
“Those
are
pretty high. I don’t even know how women walk in them.”

She stepped closer to him. Not close enough to draw attention, but close enough to make Scott wish they were somewhere more private. “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she whispered. “We don’t either.”

Scott laughed softly before resuming the walk toward Lauren’s table. As he ushered her toward the other side of the ballroom, he consciously restrained himself from putting a hand on the small of her back, or tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Instead, his hand gripped the coin in his pocket so tightly, he thought he might bend the metal.

Scott found Lauren’s name at the table beside his. Some of their coworkers were already sitting down. Having already said his hellos, he waited beside the table while Lauren greeted everyone. “They should be serving dinner soon,” Scott informed them, wanting to provide a reason for why he was still standing there.

“Okay, sounds good,” Lauren said with a smile, but she remained standing. “I think I’ll just take a look around at the auction while I wait. Do any of you want to go with me?

They all declined.

“I’ll go,” Scott offered. “I haven’t checked it out yet. Before you got here, I’d been talking to Hal Overton for the past half hour.”

Tammy rolled her eyes—a gesture Scott wanted to do himself.

“Should I know who that is?” Lauren asked.

“Consider yourself lucky that you don’t,” Tammy said, taking the words right out of Scott’s mouth. “He’s one of the hospital’s upper admin, and possibly one of the most narcissistic people on the planet.”

Lauren smiled. “Okay, so stay away from Hal Overton. Check. We’ll be back. Lead the way, Doctor.”

Lauren and Scott spent the next fifteen minutes perusing the silent auction. A few hospital employees stopped to talk to Scott as they made their way around the tables along the perimeter of the room, and Scott was surprised at how easily Lauren engaged in conversation with them about current events, their families, and even a few medical theories. “You’re an anomaly—you know that?” Scott said, as Lauren admired a platinum heart necklace. He thought about how great it would look on her. Especially if it were the only thing she had on.

“Of course I am,” Lauren answered playfully. “Why though?”

“I’ve never seen anyone who can engage every person they meet in meaningful conversation.”

Lauren shrugged as if it were no big deal. “I like to talk.”

“No, seriously. You can find something in common with
every
one within seconds. I’ve known some of these
people for years, and know less about them than you found out in the first minute and a half.”

“Thanks, I guess. It’s really not that hard. I just ask them questions. People love to talk about themselves. I just let them talk. You can easily find a common interest, or maybe someone you know lived in the area where they grew up or something. You just have to try to look for it.”

“Well, you’re about to have to look pretty hard,” Scott whispered.

Lauren seemed to take Scott’s hint as she plastered a wide smile on her face and extended her hand toward the woman approaching them.

“Lauren, this is my mother, Susan. Mom, this is Lauren Hastings. She just started working in the office.” Every year since his father had passed, Scott tried to figure out a way to dissuade his mother from attending the benefit, but could never come up with a viable excuse. So he settled for trying to limit his interaction with her as much as possible.

Lauren extended her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Jacobs.”

“Likewise,” Susan replied, giving Scott a peck on the cheek after shaking Lauren’s hand.

“Did you get a chance to take a look at the items for auction?” Lauren asked. “We just took a walk around.”

“I did. I bid on the trip to St. Lucia. I’ve never been, and I’ve heard such great things about it.”

Lauren stole a glance at Scott and gave him a smile that let him know she was about to work her magic once again. “St. Lucia’s beautiful. It’s different from most islands because it has so many trees. And they’re all just so
green. I took the most amazing pictures when I was traveling there.”

Scott wasn’t sure how he felt about his mother and Lo interacting. It felt like introducing an angel to original sin.

“I’ve been trying to take more pictures myself actually. Scott bought me one of those fancy digital cameras where you don’t have to change the lenses, but I still need to learn to use it.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. They seem like a good idea in theory, but they’re so hard to use. I just used my phone to take pictures when I was there.”

Scott listened to the conversation, jumping in when he thought he should, but was mostly content to stay out of it.

After a few minutes, his mother excused herself to find her seat. “Lauren, it was lovely meeting you. Scott, I’ll see you at the table, honey.”

“Your mom’s sweet,” Lauren said once Susan was at a safe distance from them. “You don’t get along well?”

“Like I said, you’re an anomaly.”

*   *   *

Fifteen minutes later, most of the guests were seated at their tables, eating the first course. Though Scott preferred his salad without grass and leaves, he did his best to eat it. He made small talk with some of the people at his table, but his attention was focused elsewhere. From his vantage point, he could see Lauren out of the corner of his right eye, and she seemed to be enjoying herself as she chatted with the others.

“So how are you enjoying working for us?”

Scott stopped chewing midbite at the sound of Jim
Prescott’s voice. Clearly, his question had been directed at Lauren since she was the only new employee in the office, and Scott’s muscles instantly tensed. Lauren had spent the last hour effortlessly engaged in conversations she’d probably rather not be. So he wasn’t sure why he felt the need to protect her from
this
one. But he did. He wanted her out of Prescott’s line of fire.

The bastard had been bitter since before Scott’s father passed away. But truth be told, Scott couldn’t say he blamed him. Jim had worked with Scott’s father for over twenty years. He was a good doctor who had dedicated his life to the practice. He’d never married, had no children. His job was his entire life. And Jim assumed that those qualities would make him a sure partner in the practice.

Unfortunately for Jim, Edward Jacobs had different intentions. Once he learned of his son’s plans to go to medical school, Ed had his heart set on Scott taking over his practice one day. It was the ideal situation. Ed had spent his life building his practice, devoting every free minute that he wasn’t with his family to ensuring that his life’s work would be successful long-term.

But despite Ed’s honesty about his hope that Scott would one day be a partner and eventually take over the practice, Jim held on to a different hope—one that involved Scott deciding that medical school wasn’t for him. For years, Jim waited, holding on to a slim chance that all of the time he’d put in to the practice would eventually earn him partner status.

But it never happened. Instead, Scott had graduated from medical school, and his father had passed away unexpectedly, making Scott the sole owner of the Jacobs’
Family Practice. Had Jim been less resentful of Scott’s success, he might have made Jim the partner that Ed never had. But Jim let his bitterness get the better of him, and there was no way Scott would make someone like him a partner in what his father spent his life building.

But Scott couldn’t bring himself to get rid of Jim either. He was a friend of Scott’s father, and Scott wouldn’t dishonor his dad by firing a man Ed had worked with for so many years. No matter how much he wanted to.

“Working there’s fine most of the time,” Lauren answered. Out of the corner of his eye, Scott could see her smile politely from across the table.

“Not exactly a ringing endorsement,” Dr. Atler chimed in. While she was also bitter about Scott’s inheritance of the practice, her anger was more rooted in having to call a much younger man her boss.