Bound to the Fallen (Prophecy #2) (13 page)

Brooke

July 13, 2014

I’d packed and unpacked my polka dot suitcase at least ten times. I’d gone through a cycle of emotions and had finally convinced myself that I was being ridiculous. Gavin wasn’t interested in me, and even if he was, he’d never act on it.

In a matter of weeks I’d gone from despising doctors to being completely infatuated with one who wanted nothing to do with me.
I’d managed to accept the fact that I was attracted to him and had decided that just kissing him couldn’t be that terrible— I just wondered what his lips felt like. Even if I did one day kiss him it didn’t mean I’d have to get involved with him. It’d be kind of like sampling some cheesecake at a bakery. You could get a little taste, but not have the guilt of eating the entire thing.

Constance drove me to the airport that morning
, and she of course tried to convince me that I could, and should, try to seduce him.

“You can totally get him
, Brooke. Just think, not only would you have this magnificent piece of arm candy, but then Dan would have to leave you alone or else face the wrath of the amazing Dr. Hunter,” she giggled and glanced over her shoulder to check that it was safe to change lanes.

“I’m not
gonna try to seduce him. I’m keeping myself strictly professional.”

“
Yeah.
Okay
,” she laughed and shook her head. “Well, what if he tries to seduce you? What if this is all a grand scheme of his to take you away on this trip so he can put the moves on you?” Constance pulled her shades down so that I could see her dramatically batting her eyelashes.

S
he pulled into the unloading zone, stopping at the curb to let me out.

A
mischievous grin tugged at my lips as I said, “Hmmm… if that were the case I guess I’d just have to give in to his efforts. I mean, I most certainly wouldn’t want to make him feel awkward by not responding to his advances. Would it really be that bad to have a one-night stand with him? Seems like everyone else has had one, why can’t I?”

Okay
, Brooke, so now you’ve gone from a kiss to a one-night stand, for the love!

I hopped out
, grabbing my suitcase and carry-on from her trunk. I put one foot on the curb and lowered my face back down to the window. “See you Wednesday, dahhhling.”

As
I headed toward the entrance, Constance yelled from her car, “Godspeed, Brooke. May your vagina find the penis that unlocks pleasure surpassing any of your expectations, and may that penis be attached to a British doctor!”

People s
hot ugly looks in her direction. I scurried away trying to contain my laughter and hoping no one would realize I knew her. Screaming out the words “vagina” and “penis” evidently aren’t appreciated by the general public.

C
hecking my luggage, I saw the back of Gavin’s head as I was walking to the gate. I could feel a nervous anxiety pulse through my veins as I maneuvered through the rows of seats. He was reading a magazine and had on a plain red t-shirt, jeans, and expensive-looking leather boots. It was so odd to see him in normal clothes, and it made him even more attractive.

I
glanced over at him, trying to be inconspicuous as I stared at his biceps. The arms of his t-shirt clung tightly to his muscles and I noticed the thick point of a tattoo peeping out from the bottom of his sleeve. The image I had created of Gavin instantly changed from that of a pompous doctor to a very naughty boy and I knew I was doomed.

Gavin
peered over the top of his magazine as I put my carry-on bag down on the floor. “Well, hello,” he said, placing the magazine face down in his lap.

My mouth twitched up halfway
and I took a seat next to him. “Good morning.”

“You ready?”

“Yep. Not awake, but I’m ready. Just glad to have a change of scenery,” I replied.

“Sorry, our seats aren’t together
. I’m surprised Dan couldn’t find any together — odd.” He shrugged.

M
y lips felt like they had been plastered into a perma-smile and the corners started flinching. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. It’s not too long of a flight anyway,” I rambled, trying to calm the nervous energy sitting so close to him created.

I diverted my eyes from his and noticed a round silver pendant hanging from his necklace. It had a crown engraved on it, but I couldn’t make out the words printed around the edges.

Gavin noticed me studying it and picked it up, pulling it away from his chest as he glanced down at it. “It’s a family heirloom. A war badge from quite a while ago.” He dropped the pendant and it made a soft thud as it hit his chest.

“It’s pretty,” I said.

My pulse jumped at how ridiculous I’d just sounded. I was really making myself look great with the nervous undertone and inability to fluidly carry on a conversation with him. I’d just told a man that a war badge was “pretty.”

“Thanks, just what I was going for,” Gavin replied
, a soft smile forming on his lips.

My knee shook uncontrollably as w
e sat there in silence. Gavin opened his magazine and began reading again. Bending over, I dug through my bag for my Kindle.

After a few minutes Gavin leaned over and asked,
“What’re you reading?”

“
Learning to Live,”
I responded timidly. It was a romance novel, but I was hoping he wouldn’t pick up on that. I would die of embarrassment. I knew a lot of guys who loved to refer to romance novels as “soft porn,” and if those words came out of Gavin’s mouth I knew I’d most certainly keel over onto the floor of the airport.

I tried to
distract his attention from the title. “It’s by R.D. Cole. It’s pretty amazing, really addresses a lot of issues, you know, really eye opening and all.”

“
Hmmm…” He closed his magazine, cocking his head as he studied me. His eyes narrowed and they seemed to gleam. Lowering his head, he whispered, “Romance novel, aye?” arching his brow as he asked me.

My eyes darted back down to my Kindle. I stared at the page
, completely mortified. I collected myself and slowly moved my eyes from the screen, raising them to his face. His irises were such an exotic green, everything about that man’s face was perfectly flawless; it was sickening.

“Um-hmm, romance
,” I swallowed immediately after I responded to his question.

“Interesting.
Didn’t see you as the type to read that genre. Maybe I was wrong with my initial impression of you, Ms. Davis.”

Oh God, now he thinks I’m a pervert or something. Great!

He rolled the magazine up and shifted in his seat. “It’s healthy to read for entertainment. I honestly can’t remember the last time I read a book for fun,” he said and tried once more to peek down at the words on my screen.

I quickly pulled the device to my chest.
“What? Why else would you read?”

“I’m so consumed with
work, all I read are medical journals.” He uncurled the magazine, showing me that it was actually a
Neurology
journal.

“Oh, we
ll, that’s no fun.” I paused. “You need to do things for fun, you know, things that in no way remind you of work.”

Gavin
exhaled. “I agree, definitely a problem I need to work on.” He opened his journal again, flipping through the pages. “I just can’t seem to get away from work. Don’t get me wrong, I love my career — I just haven’t found a way to separate myself from it.” His eyes widened as he glanced down at the pages of his journal and said, “At all.”

A
spurt of bravery came from nowhere and I blurted out, “Oh, I bet we could fix that. In Boston, you’re going to have at least a two-hour time period where no work is allowed.”

Gavin’s eyes never left the print of his journal as he asked,
“Oh, really? And just how are you going to accomplish that feat, Ms. Davis?”

I froze.
Where the hell had that comment come from?

Gavin
tore his eyes away from the journal and stared at me, waiting on me to answer his question. His wicked smile snaked its way across his face.

Almost like I had been possessed by some sex-drunk maniac I purred out,
“We’re going to go out and have a few drinks. If you mention anything related to work, I’m going to insist you take a shot. You’ll either avoid the topic for fear of becoming drunk, or you’ll end up so drunk you won’t be able to pronounce all of those fancy medical words you’d have to say
to
discuss it.” I laughed and felt heat traveling up my neck, my knee shaking again. My fingers furiously tore into my cuticles as I forced myself to continue making eye contact with him.

His face was unreadable and it seemed like an eternity before he responded.

L
aughing, he said, “I look forward to it. I always
love
a challenge.” His eyes narrowed and another of those seducing smiles spread across his sinfully perfect lips.

The flight attendant
came over the loudspeaker calling for us to board our flight.

I found my seat
, which was located about three aisles up from Gavin. Settling in, I leaned my head back, pulled my Kindle up to my face, and lost myself in the book.

We arrived in Boston
around six o’clock and took a cab to the hotel. I was thankful that Gavin was on a phone call the entire way to the hotel; at least that way I didn’t have to try and force conversation with him.

The cab
pulled up in front of the hotel, stopping at the curb to let us out. Gavin’s arm stretched across my lap as I reached for the door handle, his fingers curling around my wrist. I turned to look at him and he shook his head from side to side.

“Hang on a second, Tom,” he said
, and pulled the phone away from his ear, glancing over at me as he reached for his door. “You’ll let me get that for you.”

I
watched him climb out and walk around to my side of the cab. He opened the door, reached down to take my hand, and pulled me up.

“Thanks,” I said, staring at him with a dumbfounded look.

He nodded and put the phone back up to his ear, walking to the side of the building to finish his call.

Entering the
hotel room, I threw my suitcase at the foot of the bed. I grabbed the remote from the night stand to flip the television on. After watching about an hour of mindless television I decided I would go walk around the city.

I exited the lobby and stood in the middle of the sidewalk trying to decide which direction looked to be more entertaining. I decided to go right
, leisurely walking as I attempted to clear my head.

My instinct told me to stay awa
y from him; I kept getting this feeling that there was something about him I didn’t need any part of, which of course did nothing but drive my attraction to him deeper. The longer I walked, the more I convinced myself this ominous feeling I had about him was just because he was a doctor. I’d
obviously
made a mistake swearing off the
entire
profession.

The crosswalk turned red and I stepped to the curb to wait.
Loud voices coming from the opposite side of the street caught my attention. Looking up, I noticed a group of guys walking together. At that moment I figured meandering around a city I knew nothing about at night may not be the best idea and turned to find my way back to the hotel.

I
strolled through the marble lobby toward the elevators. The doors opened and Gavin stepped off. Grabbing my arm, he said, “Where are you going?”

“
I guess back up to my room.” I took several steps in the direction of the elevator, but Gavin didn’t let go of my arm.

“You want to go get a drink at the bar?”
He causally pointed in the direction of the hotel bar.

I peered around him into the dark and empty bar.
“Sure. I can always go for a drink,” I said with as little inflection as possible.