Okay…seriously…what was happening? Did I have something on my face? Did I have pit stains from sitting inside the office that could now be used as an actual steam room?
Surreptitiously, I glanced down at my shirt. I wished the reason for his hysteria had been less obvious, but it wasn’t. Not even a little. There for all to see were my braless boobs—underneath a white shirt no less. I didn’t know if I should sprint from his office like my ass was on fire or crawl under the desk and curl up in the fetal position.
How in the hell had I forgotten to put on a bra this morning?
I wasn’t the kind of girl who just free-boobed without a care in the world. Hell, I only ever free-boobed in the privacy of my own home.
Could this day get any worse?
A part of me wanted to say that there was no way anything could top this, but then again, I’d na?vely thought the whole vaginal-fluid-handshake thing was the climax of awkward. It wasn’t. Not even close. The true peak of embarrassment had just officially occurred—with my nipples on display like donuts beneath a clear-glass cabinet in a bakery shop.
Quickly, I tossed my scrub top back on and stood up from my chair once navy blue was securely over areolas and white. Will watched as though my breasts were a car wreck before jerking roughly away and staying gone.
“Uh…” I fumbled for something feasible to say that would allow me to exit Will’s office. “I’m going to go see if…Betty can give me a walking tour… Yeah…I’m going to go see Betty…” I stammered. Will nodded with the phone still firmly pressed to his ear, but his eyes never met mine or me.
I couldn’t blame him.
My first day on the job and I’d inadvertently given my boss a peep show.
Happy motherfucking first day of work, Mel.
For the past week and a half, I’d been doing my best to avoid the one woman I thought I wouldn’t be trying to avoid at all.
After the Vagina-gate and Nipple-ghazi scandals of Melody’s first day, neither one of us had been able to do more than mutter a few words to one another while studiously avoiding looking into each other’s eyes. In fact, direct eye contact felt like a solar eclipse—stare too intently and one of our special parts would pop out and blind the other before they had the chance to look away.
But, as one might imagine, avoiding someone you work with wasn’t without failings.
“Dr. Cummings?”
I lifted my head from the prescription on my desk and looked straight into the hazel-green eyes of the woman herself.
See? Hard to avoid.
Looking away quickly and back to my desk, I scribbled my signature and concentrated on simultaneously seeing what she wanted as best I could. “Yes?”
“Your next patient is in exam room two, and your two thirty is early. Do you want me to go ahead and bring her back or wait?”
“You can bring her back.” Without meaning to, I looked up, and everything about her sharp gaze hit me right in the gut. Soft auburn-brown hair back in a respectable ponytail and creamy peach skin peeking out from the professional V-neck of her scrub top were the perfect complements to the enthralling green-gold color of her eyes.
God, she’s pretty.
Shit. I was staring. I nearly knocked over the cup of pens on the corner of my desk in my haste to look away. Thankfully, she ignored the ensuing scramble to catch them.
Eyes back to my desk in protection, I spoke again. “It always seems like people are happier to wait in the actual room than out in the waiting room.”
A brief pause settled between us, but I fought against its urging to look up at her again. Was she staring at me now? What was she thinking?
“You got it.”
I lifted my gaze as soon as she turned and watched her take a few steps down the hall before forcing myself to look away again.
I didn’t want her to feel unwelcome, but I didn’t want to make it harder on her either.
Fuck, being awkward sucked. I didn’t know how my sister Georgia had done it her whole life.
Ripping the prescription from my pad, I held it up to give it a once-over before taking it to the front desk for the patient checking out.
And thank fuck I did.
Because there, scrawled in my handwriting for all to see, were the words: God, Melody Marco is pretty as fuck.
Good going, Will. There’s something that’ll help your reputation.
Melody met me outside the door to my next patient’s room and handed me her file. I opened it quickly to double-check the name. Linwood, Colleen.
“Knock, knock,” I called as I rapped my knuckles against the door.
“Come in,” Mrs. Linwood invited, and I turned the handle to oblige.
She was just about my mother’s age, but she still hadn’t hit menopause. Unfortunately, her periods were needlessly heavy and a huge burden we’d been fighting for the past couple of years. Cryoablation hadn’t helped adequately, so today we’d be seriously discussing the merits of doing a hysterectomy.
“Hi, Mrs. Linwood,” I greeted.
I smiled my normal smile, but I could tell as soon as she didn’t return it that this wasn’t going to be as pleasant as our previous appointments had been. I mean, the subject matter and her suffering were never exactly a good time, but she was always sweet to me and pleasant to chat with.
She’d lived a pretty interesting life and never balked at sharing stories as I did my exam.
“Dr. Cummings.”
I tried not to sigh heavily as Melody followed me into the room and made a bid to Mrs. Linwood. “I’m just going to sit in if you don’t mind, Mrs. Linwood. Help the doc out.”
“Well, that’d be fine,” Colleen acquiesced, obviously a bigger fan of sweet little Melody than she was of me right now.
Though, on that account, I really couldn’t blame her. I was a much bigger fan of Melody than myself these days too.
“You need a chaperone anyway,” Colleen scolded me.
I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing and answered as calmly and neutrally as possible. “And why do you say that, Mrs. Linwood?”
“I saw you on the TV. I saw you bat your eyelashes at those women and take off your clothes while all of America watched. I’m not going to let you do anything inappropriate with me, sir.”
Melody sucked her lips into her mouth to stop from laughing, but I just shook my head. I couldn’t believe this shit.
“You’ve been coming to me for years, Colleen. You know me. Have I ever tried anything inappropriate with you?”
“Of course not. But I know how you young people get when you get on TV. Get a big head, think you can touch anyone’s anything anytime you want.”
Melody made big mocking eyes from behind Colleen’s head.
“Well, I assure you,” I comforted, “I have no interest in doing anything but making you relaxed and healthy.”
“I know you’ll behave yourself. We’ve got a chaperone. And by the way you’re looking at her, it’s her you’ve got the hots for.”
I choked on saliva and had to clear my throat violently. Melody looked away, clearly uncomfortable with the insinuation.
“Mmm-hmm,” Mrs. Linwood hummed.
Shit.