Page 5 of Second Go-Round

“Jarod?”

I turned at Doctor Carr’s voice. The woman was sexy as hell with curves in all the right places but definitely a high-maintenance princess who didn’t have a damn thing in common with me outside of wanting to care for sick children.

Also, I didn’t fuck around with fellow employees.

“What’s up, Wendy?” I asked the petite brunette behind me.

“Mary Rose needs a visit from her favorite nurse.”

Shit. I quickly shoved my lunch stuff away even though I had a good ten minutes of break left. The little girl Wendy spoke of was new to the hospital. She’d been diagnosed with terminal leukemia, and one look at the smiling cherub had ripped my heart out.

Attending to sick kids had become my childhood goal after experiencing some of the best care with my own nurses. While my parents had been busy throwing accusations and blame for my illness at each other, the hospital’s kind caretakers had given me words of affirmation and edification. Theirs had been the gentle hands helping me when I’d been too sick to function without help and Mom had been too occupied with licking her own emotional wounds to give me what I needed.

It had been a blessing my parents had split. Being tossed from one house to the other after beating cancer’s ass hadn’t been pleasant, but at least I didn’t have to deal with the toxicity of them being up in each other’s space.

Her grandparents raised Mary Rose. I hadn’t gotten the scoop on where her parents were, but it didn’t matter when her grandpop and grandmama lavished attention on her hurting body and sweet spirit. The young girl faced death without hope of remission, but she would feel loved until her final breath.

Chest aching, I thanked Wendy for letting me know I’d been summoned by my favorite little patient.

Mary Rose’s dark curls were long gone due to treatment, and although her cancer spread too rapidly to control, she still faced every moment with a smile and positivity.

It was my job—my passion and reason for having survived cancer—to make sure she had the support to keep that outlook to the end.

Thoughts of Elite and the redheaded beauty I’d have beneath me that night took a backseat to what I loved the most about my life.

Putting a smile on my face, I knocked and entered Mary Rose’s room to see how I could be of service.

Chapter 3

Christine

Most of the time, karma was a bitch.

Lucky me, she’d come back to kiss my ass rather than kick it like usual.

Elite Escorts didn’t come cheap, and the only reason I’d been able to afford to set Jessie up with one had been because my dad had given me a bonus for all my hard work at our family business the prior quarter. Sure, I’d tucked some extra pennies away for myself and that overseas trip I’d been planning for years, but my friend had been floundering.

And I’d sacrificed a bit of my own extra to gift her something she’d desperately needed.

I’d even chosen the escort I would have gotten for myself if I’d been willing to hire a dick for a hot date.

Jarod Zimmerman.

Reid had ended up replacing him that night and taking Jessica out, so things had turned out as they were meant to…and karma decided to be kind to me for my giving spirit. At least, I saw shit that way.

But I’d always been like my mom in that I gave until it hurt, both with my time and empathy. Too often, people took advantage of my goodness, but life was short, and we had to live our potential to the fullest. Enjoy every second. Soak up every chance to experience new, exciting things.

All it took was one moment, one breath, one second for tragedy to strike.

I’d done a lot of shit in my twenty-nine years, but a night on the town with a paid escort who was sure to please and satisfy my sexual hunger had to be the most luscious opportunity to arise.

Since I didn’t want to waste one minute wining and dining at some upscale restaurant like I’d bought for Jessie with her escort, I requested Jarod meet me at my favorite dance club downtown. We could get straight to the grinding, the touching, the heightening of arousal for…after.

Goose bumps pebbled over my entire body at the fantasy of having Jarod’s hands on my body. He would know where to touch me. His experienced tongue would travel over me without hesitation, locating my yummy spots and pleasure places in order to send me soaring.

Talk about high expectations.

I had them—with a capital E.

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