Page 36 of Seduction
Penina Ross
My alarm clock played the same song it had the other day, indicating that it was not an on-call day. As I blinked, waking up, I recalled a few details. First, I was naked. Second, I still felt moist between my legs. Thirdly, I was alone in bed. And finally, merely hours ago, I had experienced the most highly enjoyable sex of my life with Dr. Jake Sparrow.
I stretched my arm out and felt all the mattress beside me, making sure it was truly empty. It was. He was gone.
“Really?” I groused as I turned on the bedside lamp. He could’ve at least said goodbye.
Then a dreadful thought occurred. Maybe he’d lied to me. He had indeed fucked me and was done with me. I kicked myself for believing him. I knew better. On top of that, I had no time to cry or pout about it. My shift started in less than half an hour, which meant my alarm had been sounding off for thirty minutes before I heard it. That also meant that Dr. Sparrow had left the bed before four thirty. I trusted that he would’ve awakened me if he had heard the alarm.
I took a shower in his bathroom, which had the biggest shower I’d ever seen. No way would I go to work smelling like sex with an attending. Angela had a gift for not only smelling sex on someone but also identifying whom that person had fucked. She was right at least nine times out of ten.
Unfortunately, I had to make my shower short, knowing I would never have a chance to indulge in its opulence again. After drying off, I searched the floor beside the bed for the clothes I’d taken off before we made love. I didn’t see them until I looked on the mustard-colored leather chair in front of the curtains. My jeans, T-shirt, bra, and socks were neatly folded on top.
I took a moment to stare at my garments. He had taken time and paid attention to make them neat for me. Perhaps he wasn’t going to discard me like last night’s fuck. I envisioned myself crossing my fingers and hoping not as I hurried over and swept them off the chaise.
Once I was back in the room where I put my things, I put on a fresh pair of panties. Then I stood up straight as I remembered that my panties from the previous night were still somewhere in Dr. Sparrow’s room. But I had no precious minutes to spare to go look for them. I put on my shoes and grabbed the bag I usually took to work, which had days-old snacks in it. I didn’t even have time to drop into the kitchen and see if a continental breakfast and another flower were waiting for me. Or perhaps I was too chickenshit to do it. As I stepped into the elevator, I knew what I felt deep inside. I couldn’t help it. I believed Sparrow had gotten what he wanted, and charming me with beautiful flowers and five-star breakfast spreads was officially over.
* * *
The first thingDeb said to me was that I was late. I apologized profusely and reminded her that I was hardly ever tardy.
“You’re right,” she said as she walked off. “All’s forgiven.”
Then I groaned and slapped my forehead when I saw my schedule. I was on call.Fuck, my phone played the wrong song.
On the walk over, I had decided to go through with moving into a hotel room. But I would have to wait until the next morning to get my things from Sparrow’s penthouse. I hadn’t seen him as I signed in, but I never saw him that early in the morning. Usually, he was either in surgery or prepping for it. I was happy to prolong our first post-sex meeting. I still wondered how he would respond to me. But I didn’t ponder long. Handoffs had officially begun, and instead of Dr. Sparrow, I filled my mind with the patients who needed me.
“You had sex last night,” Angela said, sitting at the station next to mine.
Fuck.“What?” I asked, sounding as if she were crazy for suggesting it.
“You had sex,” she restated strongly.
“Who had sex?” Kevin asked.
“Nobody had sex,” I said.
Thenhewalked into the care station. My eyes casually flicked away from Dr. Sparrow, who hadn’t looked at me once.
“Dr. Baker, you’re scrubbing in on an awake craniotomy,” Sparrow said to Angela.
She jerked her head back. “With you?”
Her caramel skin was blushing. Sparrow threw his hands up as if to say,Who the hell else?
She patted me on the shoulder. “Maybe Dr. Ross. She’s—”
“No. You,” he said sharply.
When he turned his back on us and walked off, he still hadn’t looked at me yet.
“Shit,” she muttered under her breath.
I stopped staring at the space he left behind like a hurt child. If Angela wasn’t so trapped in her own distress, she would’ve noticed my despair.
Clearing my throat, I pulled myself together. “Hey, why were you trying to pass off the surgery to me anyway?”
She twisted her mouth thoughtfully. “He’s starting to make me nervous.”
