Amorous (The Lincoln Series Book 1) (4 page)

When she was seated, Dr. Carrington grabbed her hand in both of his and smiled gently at her again. His hands seemed almost cold in comparison to the other doctor’s. Then he placed her hand in her lap and turned to the other man.

She needed to get her head clear and wished she could go back in time and start this day over. Things were going from bad to worse and she felt like she had just stepped into the Twilight Zone. She was late for this meeting, a stupid mistake she knew better than to make and her reaction to Dr… uh, whatever, was completely unprofessional.

Even Dr. Carrington was acting odd. Not only had he never touched her before, he had never interrupted a conversation of hers either. As a matter of fact, he had made it quite clear she was to be the middleman in case he was “busy” so she had gotten used to putting herself between him and everyone else.

She thought of her reaction to Dr. Yummy and groaned to herself. It was appalling. She couldn’t even remember his name. Hopefully Dr. Carrington would say it again. She needed to get a hold of herself. The last time she had this strong of a reaction to a man it was disastrous.

Warren understood AJ’s implication and stepped back, returning to his previous stance at the conference table. He crossed his arms over his chest and took a good look at her. She was quite beautiful. Her auburn hair fell to her shoulders in long silky waves and her gray eyes were outlined with dark blue rings. He certainly wouldn’t describe her as short but the top of her head barely reached his shoulders. Her skin was fair and smooth and he suddenly had a strong urge to slide his fingers along her cheek and up into her silky hair.

He dropped his gaze and began to study her enticing figure. He was sure her breasts would fit perfectly in his hands judging by the way that blouse was hugging her. Her hips flared into sleek and curvaceous legs that made him ache to touch them. His cock twitched at the thought of holding her ass as he buried himself deep inside her.

His instant and intense reaction to her surprised him but not as much as AJ’s possessive posturing. Warren had known him since they were kids. She wasn’t AJ’s type. She was
his
type. With only one exception, AJ always went for the arm candy persona; blonde hair, blue eyes, and tall. And most importantly, dumb.

Marie had a natural beauty that went deeper than skin and knowing how demanding AJ was he knew she was most definitely not dumb, despite her sudden inability to form sentences. He smiled to himself and hoped he had a little something to do with her flustered state of mind.

BANG!

Warren jerked his gaze to the side and saw Marie flinch from the corner of his eye when AJ slammed the paperweight onto his desk.

AJ looked from Marie to Warren and back to Marie. “Thank you both for your undivided attention.” He focused once again on Warren.

“Marie has only been working for me a short time so she will not have much time to devote to your needs. She is still learning the way I like things run around here. However, I am sure she will do what she can until you hire your own secretary.”

AJ leaned back on his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. He turned and looked at Marie. “The powers that be around here have decided that since Dr. Jackson will be occupying the office adjacent to mine he can also share my assistant, thus making your other duties as assigned category larger than necessary. Needless to say I have disabused them of the idea and Warren will be hiring his own secretary. We can decide where he puts her later.”

She whispered, “Okay, Dr. Jackson, remember, Dr. Warren Jackson.”

Warren looked at her and smiled. “Did you say something?”

“No. I mean I was just thinking out loud. I was wondering how to arrange the outer office to accommodate your secretary.”

AJ stood and walked around his desk to sit in his chair. Leaning back with an expression brooking no refusal he looked back and forth between Marie and Warren.

“Just so we are all on the same page and there are no misunderstandings, Marie will take all her direction from me.” Then staring intently at Warren he said, “If you need her for anything you will come to me and when I can spare her I will direct her to assist you. Are we clear on this?”

“Crystal clear, general.” Warren couldn’t hide his amusement and saluted AJ.

Marie almost stifled her giggle.

AJ turned to her. “That will be all for now. I believe you have a budget report to prepare.”

“Yes, Dr. Carrington.”

She stood up and walked to the door then turned back to Dr. Jackson. “It was a—“

“That will be all, Marie. Please close the door behind you.” AJ shot her a disapproving look as he cut her off.

“Yes, Dr. Carr…I mean AJ…I…” She hesitated only a second before she stepped through the door and closed it behind her.

AJ swiveled his chair to face Warren. “Do not even think about it. She is mine.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw you checking her out. She is not available.”

“Does she know that?” Warren gave him a grin full of mischief.

“Marie knows what she needs to know. When I need her to know something different, I will tell her.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

“She’s not your type AJ. You’re out of your league this time. This one’s actually got a brain and if she’s working for you I’m sure she knows how to use it.”

AJ opened his mouth to argue but Warren put up his hand to stop his protest. He chuckled lightly and said, “Nevertheless, I would not dream of depriving the Golden Boy of anything he wants.”

He walked over to AJ’s desk and sat on the corner of it. He picked up a pencil and began twirling it between his fingers.

“So how long do I have to get my own secretary?”

“That is up to you. How long do you feel like
being
your own secretary? Considering Douglas seems to be in an accommodating mood today I would move quickly if I were you.”

“Dr. Douglas Jameson? Why does the hospital administrator care about my secretary? If the position is in the department’s budget why is he involved?”

“He did this to irritate me. So if I were you, I would hire someone before he remembers that. You can look on your own or you could put a request through HR. Personally, I prefer to hire my own.”

“You know me AJ. When was the last time I did anything that complicated myself, when someone else could do it for me? I think I’ll just contact HR.”

He stood up and flipped the pencil perfectly into the holder on AJ’s desk. Smiling triumphantly he shoved his hands into the pockets of his silk pants. “I guess I had better get my office in order. Catch you later, bossman.”

Warren had just grabbed the doorknob when AJ spoke in a cold, businesslike tone.

“I know we have been friends a long time Warren, but I expect you to treat me with respect when you are in this office. I have worked too hard to get where I am and I will not tolerate disrespect from anyone…Even you.” He paused for a moment then added. “And I definitely will not tolerate it in front of Marie. I will not allow anyone to jeopardize my relationship with her.”

Warren flashed his most charming smile. “You’re right, AJ. I apologize. It won’t happen again.”

With that he stepped through the door and closed it softly behind him. He didn’t see Marie at her desk as he walked to his office. He stopped at his door and caught himself looking around for her. He laughed lightly and shook his head. He had told AJ he wouldn’t come between him and Marie. He just hoped he could stick to his word.

After leaving Dr. Carrington’s office, Marie escaped to the small break room at the end of the suite. She didn’t dare stray too far, if he needed her she’d better be in close proximity or her ass would be in a sling for sure.

She got a fresh glass of cola and sat at the small table with a heavy sigh. She needed to get a hold of herself or all the hard work she’d done in the last six months would be wasted. She needed to refocus her attention on her job and her career and put the hotter than hell, Dr. Jackson, out of her mind.

She took a sip of her soda and glanced at the counter.

“Shit.”

She’d forgotten to make coffee this morning. Hopefully Dr. Carrington hadn’t noticed yet but that would be a miracle. He never missed a detail. She grabbed the pot and headed to the big staff lounge at the end of the wing. Dr. Carrington swore the water from the cooler in that lounge made better coffee and since she was already walking on thin ice she wasn’t about to take any short cuts.

The soft music playing in the lounge soothed her nerves and her mind began to wander. She could still feel the warmth from Dr. Jackson’s hands on hers. That had really caught her off guard. Then when he pulled her close and she felt his heat surround her, she nearly lost her common sense.

She needed to be more professional if she wanted to make a good impression on Dr. Carrington. Hopefully, Dr. Jackson would hire his secretary soon so she could ignore him and concentrate on Dr. Carrington. After all, he was the one she needed to impress.

Still, she couldn’t seem to take her mind off Dr. Jackson. He was so good looking, and just her type, too. She was a sucker for brunettes. Unlike the rest of her friends who got all excited over blonde hair and blue eyes, she just couldn’t resist a tall man with dark features.

She thought about his hands again and imagined them holding her as Dr. Carrington had.

Dr. Jackson stood behind her and pulled her against his body. The heat of his naked flesh wrapped around her. He cupped her breasts and pinched her nipples while he kissed her neck. He spun her suddenly and pressed her into the wall. He wrapped her thighs around his hips and buried his cock in her in one thrust. His breath was hot against her temple and he moved in a furious pace.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and a burst of ice cold water slammed into her chest…

She had walked right smack into Dr. Jackson. Water had sloshed out of the pot onto both of them and she covered her gasp with her free hand.

“Oh my God! Dr. Jackson, I am so sorry.” She hurried to put the pot down and grab a towel. She hastily began dabbing up the water on his chest.

“I should have been watching where I was going…I mean watching what I was doing…I mean…Oh, God.”

Her hands were trembling.
‘Good God! What is wrong with you today? You are so fired.’
She couldn’t ever remember being this out of control.

She could feel the hard muscles of his chest under her hands. In contrast to the cold water he felt so warm. She stopped blotting up the water and started rubbing the towel slowly over his chest. His muscles were well defined. She ran her thumb gently across an erect nipple. She was completely lost in a sensual daydream. She wanted to pull him to her and lay her cheek over his heart. She could feel it beating beneath the wet silk of his shirt. She closed her eyes and gave in to another fantasy.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

Warren smiled to himself. He could see her getting lost in thought as her hands rubbed slow circles on his chest. He reached up and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Marie?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she stood there with her eyes closed rubbing his chest. He could tell her thoughts were a million miles away but if he didn’t put a stop to what she was doing he was going to throw her to the floor and fuck them both senseless.

“Marie, stop. Please put the towel down.”

His cock was pulsing in time to her strokes and he stifled a groan. With a sensual grin he grabbed the towel from her hand and set it on the table next to them.

Marie suddenly realized what she had been doing and her face flamed in utter embarrassment. She couldn’t look at him and instead dropped her gaze to the floor.

‘Dear God in heaven what the hell is wrong with you?’

Molesting Dr. Jackson was probably not a good thing to do on his first day on the job. She had never done anything like this before. He had turned her into a desperate, blithering idiot. She felt the reprimand coming and closed her eyes, wishing she was anywhere else but here.

“I’m sorry Dr. Jackson. It was just a reflex. I mean, I was just trying to dry you off. I didn’t mean to touch you. I mean offend you. I mean…”

He chuckled lightly.

“No offense taken, Marie. You can dry me off anytime.”

She opened her eyes and looked up.

He flashed a wicked grin and winked.

The fax machine squawked. She flinched and looked down the hall toward her desk in the direction of the noise. When she looked back his playful expression had faded.

“What I meant, Marie, was stop fretting about it. It’s only water.” He dropped his gaze to her breasts. “Although I wasn’t the only one who found it rather cold I can see.”

She followed his gaze and looked down. Her nipples were at perfect attention, the material of her blouse and bra clinging to them like a second skin. She gasped and immediately flung her arms over her chest then rushed to her desk. She had forgotten the water had soaked her too. She grabbed her sweater from the back of her chair and quickly pulled it on.

Not knowing what to do next she just stood there holding her sweater tight around her and stared at the floor. She wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and stay there forever. She had never been so embarrassed before, especially in front of a man she barely knew. And she had done it all herself, he just had to sit back and watch the show.

She prided herself on her strong professional character and her ability to hold her own with powerful men. The wall she had between her personal life and the office was impenetrable. But Dr. Jackson had cut right through it with one look.

She couldn’t let her desire for him jeopardize her working relationship with Dr. Carrington. She had to fight this attraction and put him out of her mind. Men like Dr. Jackson didn’t think of her as a lover anyway. She would just be another notch in his belt. He would be just like Jake and any relationship with Dr. Jackson would end up in heartache.

Besides, she was sure this would become a joke between them the next time Dr. Jackson met with Dr. Carrington.

Marie thought about Dr. Carrington’s reaction and prayed it wouldn’t affect his professional opinion of her.

‘Please! Who are you kidding? He’ll see you as the desperate little hussy you’re acting like!’

She closed her eyes tight and tried not to let the tears start. There was no way Dr. Carrington was going to keep an Executive Assistant who couldn’t maintain her professionalism.

“Marie, is something wrong?”

Dr. Jackson had followed her and was standing in front of her desk. His voice was soft and gentle.

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. Sometimes my mouth gets a head start over my brain.”

How magnanimous of him to take the blame considering she was rubbing his chest like a cheap whore while lost in a disgraceful fantasy. Somehow she had lost her mind this morning, although she didn’t know exactly when that had happened.

Without looking up she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m fine Dr. Jackson.”

Marie needed to get away to pull herself together. Maybe she’d head to the café on the first floor. They always had a newspaper lying around. It couldn’t hurt to glance at the classified section for job openings.

She blinked back tears, tossed her hair over her shoulder and turned to look at him. “I’ll be fine. I just need a minute.”

Warren watched her hair tumble over her shoulder and sway across her back. He was dying to grab a handful of the auburn silk and devour her luscious lips. Then he saw her watery eyes and his heart fell to the pit of his stomach.

“Shit! Marie, I’m really sorry.” He stepped around her desk to stand in front of her. “Please forgive me. I was only trying to make you laugh. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sorry if I crossed the line.”

He reached up and rubbed his hands along her arms. “Can you forgive me?”

His smile was gentle and sincere and it was numbing her brain. And his touch felt as natural as breathing. She should pull away from him but she couldn’t. This road was only going to lead to disaster and she couldn’t muster the strength to care.

After a few moments she smiled and placed her hands on his. It was a reflex she couldn’t stop. She just wanted to feel his heat forever.

“Of course I can. But only if you’ll forgive me for giving you a bath.”

His smile broadened. “Forgiven.”