Chapter 6

Suddenly, a male figure stopped in front of me and I froze. The man was in silhouette and I couldn’t see who it was. All of the self-defense classes that I had taken over the years rushed into my brain as I tightened my grip on my car keys. I could ram them into his jugular vein and it would be over in seconds, or shove the heel of my hand into his nose …

“Dr. Reynolds, it’s me, Lance Steel,” he said, almost reading my mind.

“Oh, you scared me …” I said, taking a deep breath.

“What are you doing out here alone?” he asked, suddenly angry. “Anything could happen to you …”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, trying to walk past him. Actually, at this point I would rather take my chances with a complete stranger.

He grabbed my arm, not letting me pass. “I’m walking you to your car.” It wasn’t a question.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I’m not letting you walk out here alone,” he said, taking my elbow.

“I’ll be fine,” I said, struggling against his firm grip. “Let me go!”

Abruptly, he bent down and threw me over his shoulder.

“Let me go!” I yelled, beating on his rock hard back, but he was undeterred.

He stopped and set me down abruptly, almost causing me to lose my balance. “Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he said as his breath came out in a rush, “but I’m not letting you walk in the dark alone.”

“Why do you care?” I was mad as hell, but secretly, I liked his Renaissance ways, despite my protests.

He stopped to look into my eyes. “Because gentlemen do not leave ladies vulnerable and unprotected.”

I laughed. “Why do you think I’m vulnerable, and who says that I’m unprotected? Security patrols here …”

“Could be easily dealt with,” he finished, then looked into my eyes again. “Look, you’re lucky it was me just now and not some thug … or worse.”

“What could be worse than a thug?”

He took a deep breath, exasperated. “Please, do me the honor of letting me escort you to your vehicle, Dr. Reynolds.”

“No.”

“Well, then, you asked for it.” In a final swoop that ended the conversation, he threw me over his shoulder again with ease and carried me around the building to the parking lot, despite my protests.

“Okay, okay, you win!” I finally said, giving up. “Now, put me down!”

He said nothing as he crossed the parking lot to my car and plopped me on my feet, causing me to lose my balance, but Lance grabbed my elbow to steady me. I looked over, amazed that I was standing beside my Mercedes.

“How did you know that this was my car? Have you been stalking me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he said angrily. “Look around.” He made a broad gesture to the employee parking lot. “The only other car around is that beat up old pickup truck, and somehow, I don’t think a doctor would be driving it.”

I opened my mouth angrily, ready to give him a piece of my mind, when he cut me off.

“Good night, Leila. Go straight home,” he ordered, then added, “and lock your doors.”

I looked down, angrily fumbling with my car keys as I mumbled under my breath, but when I looked up, he was gone.

That man is so infuriating, I thought to myself as I slammed my car door closed and locked it. How dare he carry me across the parking lot like that! I shoved my keys into the ignition and sped off toward home.

When I got home to our two-story house, I was still mad, but had calmed down a bit. Lance had no right to treat me like that. I opened the garage door and Steven’s red Corvette was already gone. I was going to have to talk to him about our working opposite shifts. We hardly saw each other. It was as if we were roommates and not a married couple. And what was romance? No wonder I was fantasizing about some complete stranger! After tonight, I quickly vowed to myself that the fantasizing about Lance Steel was over.

I closed the garage door behind me, slammed the car door, and headed into the house. But later that night, thoughts of Lance and his chivalry invaded my mind until, finally, I drifted off to sleep.

***

The next morning, it almost felt as if I had a hangover, even though I hadn’t had anything to drink. It must have been the after effects of the adrenaline rush. Between the confrontation with Lance and him throwing me over his shoulder as if he were a caveman, I was spent.

I showered quickly and dressed in black slacks and a white button-down shirt, which would look professional under my lab coat. Then, I slid a pretty necklace around my neck that came to rest between my breasts. I hurried downstairs and made coffee, unsure why I was in such a rush to get to work.

I pulled into the parking lot as thoughts of Lance throwing me over his shoulder and taking me to my car filled my mind. I had been mad as hell, but now that I’d calmed down, I secretly liked his caveman, Renaissance approach to women. I took a deep breath as I got out of my car and headed into the hospital.

 “Morning, Sherrie,” I said as I passed.

She nodded and instantly lowered her eyes.

“Kellen,” I said to him as I walked quickly past.

“Morning,” he returned with a sly smile, clearly amused.

Oh, shit. Something’s up, I thought to myself.

I headed to the locker room, deposited my purse into my locker, donned a lab coat, and my stethoscope, then headed onto the floor.

“What the hell happened last night?” Rosa asked, rushing to catch up to me with her short legs.

I didn’t slow down. “Why? What’s wrong?” I asked casually, reaching for the chart in her hand, but she stopped short and pulled it out of my reach.

“Dr. Reynolds, I want to see you in my office … now!” Drake Summerfield bellowed, steaming mad.

“Sir, the patients …” another nurse said, trying to tell him that he was being too loud.

“Don’t even go there,” he said, pointing a finger at her. She shrank away.

Oh, shit! Man, was he mad. “Drake, I have patients …” I said, undeterred as I took the chart from Rosa’s hand and headed toward the patient examining rooms.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Drake said, grabbing my arm.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” I yelled into his face, not caring whether or not he was my boss, as I pulled away.

“Leila, come with me!” Drake yelled, walking toward his office, expecting me to follow.

I took a deep breath and did as he asked. He wasn’t going to quit until I did. He held the door open for me then slammed it shut.

“What the hell was that last night, slapping Mr. Steel? Don’t you know that he’s an important benefactor?” Drake bellowed at the top of his lungs.

“Stop yelling …”

“Stop yelling?” Drake bellowed, moving his suit to each side as he placed his hands on his hips. “You slap the shit out of one of my benefactors and you tell me to calm down?”

“He deserved it …”

“What did he do?”

“He touched me and I told him to keep his hands to himself. He said a smart remark, touched me inappropriately, and then I slapped him,” I said, taking a deep breath.

“He touched you inappropriately?”

“Yes, and then, he carried me to my car!”

“He what?”

“You heard me,” I said then lowered my voice. “After I slapped him, I left out the back of the hospital and had to walk around to my car …”

“Jesus, Leila …”

“He stopped me and threw me over his shoulder when I wouldn’t let him walk me to my car,” I finished. I didn’t like having to explain myself to him about this.

“Leila, if a gentleman wants to walk you to your car, then let him!” Drake bellowed. “Mr. Steel was just trying to keep you safe. I would have done the same thing.”

“Yeah, but I haven’t slapped you … not yet, at least.”

“Leila, don’t you dare play that shit with me!” Drake yelled, pointing a finger at me. “Be nice to him.”

“Go to hell!” I yelled, reaching for his office door, but he moved quicker than I would have thought possible and slammed it shut.

“Look, Leila, I’m not asking you to sleep with him,” he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “Just be nice to him. And don’t slap him.”

I took a step closer to Drake to look directly into his eyes until my nose was a breath away from his. “I’ll slap any man who deserves it.” Then I turned toward the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

He took a deep breath, still steaming as he stepped aside.

I walked past him with confidence down the hallway, then leaned against the wall to catch my breath when I was out of sight, wondering what I had just done and what I was going to do about Lance Steel.