The Match Page 7

  My first day started off slow, with the orientation and then my quick meeting with Sloane. But my lazy day ends the second an EMT brings a patient through the door, announcing that we have a twenty-eight year old Caucasian male with a gunshot wound to the stomach. With the help of the man rolling the gurney, Sloan and another doctor move the victim into the nearest open bay and onto a rolling bed. Someone pulls the curtain to the side to separate the trauma patient from the woman on the other side, complaining of chest pains.

  The EMT already had the patient bagged to open the airway. After Sloan gets a good look, he orders one of the third-year residents to intubate the patient. Sloan slips into a pair of gloves and rolls up his sleeves, as another doctor pushes up the injured man’s blood-stained T-shirt. I watch from a distance and absorb every movement Sloan makes.

  Watching him work sends tingles up my spine that add to my already out-of-whack hormones. As if seeing him work me over wasn’t hot enough, observing him tend to this trauma makes my heart pound and my stomach knot like a pretzel.

  The third-year residents we met this morning assist Sloan, while he barks out orders and supervises their work. They prep the patient to move him to the operating room, and Sloan turns to speak to my residency class.

  “What’s the first thing you should do when dealing with a gunshot victim?” Sloan asks.

  “Remove the bullet,” a girl in the front says.

  Sloan shakes his head. “No.”

  “Stop the bleeding,” I say without thinking.

  “Right.” Sloan peeks up from the man below him and stares right at me, but only for a second, before he goes back to peeling back the soaked trauma pad covering the wound. “But with a gunshot to the abdomen, it’s harder to identify the source. He could have a lot of internal bleeding we can’t see until we open him up.”

  Sloan glances at the group after he applies another pad to the man’s stomach, his eyes once again falling on me. “What would you do next?” No one answers, unsure of how to respond. Is he talking to me? He motions for the doctors to help him get the patient ready to move to the operating room.

  Sloan points at a young man standing to the left side of the bed, biting the inside of his cheek. He looks as though he wants to vomit. In fact, the intern might puke on the patient if we don’t move him soon.

  “Umm…umm…”

  Sloan lets out a puff of air and turns to me again. “Dr. Roberts. What would you do?”

  “I would locate the entry and exit wound. I’d check to make sure none of his vital organs were punctured and assess possible damages. I would check to make sure he’s not tachycardic.”

  We’re now moving through the room, following the doctors to the O.R. “What else?” Sloan looks at me again.

  “I would check for neurological function. Page neuro if I saw anything that was a cause for concern.”

  “Then,” he says.

  At this point, we are practically running down the hall next to the bed, on our way to the elevator bank.

  “I would get an x-ray of his abdomen to get a better look at the tissue damage.”

  “Next,” he says, getting into the elevator with the two third-year residents, leaving the rest of us out in the hallway.

  “Exploratory laparotomy,” I tell him as the door closes.

  He places his hand between the closing doors and winks at me. “Good. Get in here, Dr. Roberts. You’re scrubbing in.”

  I move so fast that I don’t even realize I am on the elevator and the doors are closing once again. This time, I am the one looking back at the interns. My heart rate speeds up, with my heart about to claw its way out of my chest, as we ride upstairs to the surgical floor. The adrenaline that courses through my veins ignites a fire beneath my skin, a high unlike anything I have ever felt before.

  My first real surgery. With the man of my dreams. On my first day as a surgical intern. Life cannot get much better than this.

  Chapter Twelve

  SLOAN

  Ava still has the navy head cover on when we exit the O.R. together. Unlike my plain one, hers has tiny red hearts with rhythm strips interspersed throughout. Her father must have given it to her. He’s the top cardiothoracic surgeon in the city and one of the best in the country. After what I saw during surgery, I have no doubt that Ava is more than capable of stepping into her father’s shoes. She was born for this life. I’ve never seen an intern so comfortable in their skin.

  Most of the interns in Ava’s residency class look as though they want to vomit most of the time. But not my Ava. She’s calm and collected, and even if she’s terrified on the inside, she doesn’t show it. Not one bit. I like that about her. The confidence she exudes turns me on just as much as when she let me bend her over, giving herself to me.

  We stroll through the hospital in a hurry, careful not to walk too close to each other. Once or twice, our fingers touch, but we recoup quickly. I keep my eyes pointed in front of me, my face expressionless. Even though I do my best to keep a professional appearance about us, it doesn’t stop everyone in the hall from staring.

  Well, I’m sure most of them could care less about me. I know everyone in this damn hospital. It’s Ava they can’t peel their eyes from. And why wouldn’t they notice her? She’s one of the most gorgeous women I have ever met. And a born surgeon, of all things.

  My cock hardens as I recall how well she moved in the O.R. I’m still in shock that she was able to adapt so quickly when her fellow interns could barely keep up with the basics. First-day jitters are normal. Every doctor has them. But not Ava.

  When we near the exit, she cocks an eyebrow at me, confused. “Where are we going?”

  “To get coffee,” I say, unaffected and as if this is normal behavior. It’s not.

  I have never taken an intern out for lunch before. Most of the time, I ignore the residents unless I have to speak to them. Accepting this level of responsibility can only lead to bigger and better things. Like Chief of Surgery, a position I have wanted since before I completed my residency at Penn General.

  “But they have coffee in the cafeteria and in the lounges. We don’t need to leave the hospital for that.”

  “They don’t serve Starbucks here.” I remove a set of keys from my pocket and steer her toward the parking lot.

  “Why are you doing this?” she says, still confused, as am I.

  I shrug. “Because I like Starbucks, and I haven’t eaten all day.”

  She rolls her eyes at me. “You know what I mean. Why are you taking me with you to get coffee?”

  “Because you’re on my service today, and this is part of it.” What a lie. I click the unlock button on the key fob in my hand to open the doors to my black Mercedes-Benz coupe and say to Ava, “Get in.”

  With the door handle in my hand, I look across the roof of the sports car at her and she smiles. “Yes, sir.”

  I shake my head, the corner of my mouth turning up into an arrogant smirk. “You will be the death of me, Ava. Keep calling me that.”

  “Yes, sir,” she repeats.

  “You are such a good girl, a good surgeon. Too bad I am going to ruin you.”

  What was I thinking when I left the hospital with Ava? I could lose my job for fraternizing with an intern, let alone for taking her to lunch. Well, I guess that would be a bit extreme to fire a doctor over one lunch, but I paid for said lunch, as if it were a date.

  What the hell am I doing?

  Somehow, Ava is forcing me to break my rules, and I hate myself for making an exception for her because I would never do it for anyone else. So, why Ava Roberts, of all people? There’s something about her that I like that I cannot place. Maybe it’s her innocence. But how innocent is a girl who gives it up to a guy she doesn’t even know?

  We fucked ten minutes after meeting. She’s too trusting of people. And I’m too easily convinced that I need more of her every time she opens her mouth. Plus, I love her mouth. I loved the way she made me feel when she was sucking my cock. I miss that
feeling. I miss being inside every part of her. But she’s off-limits.

  “We’re eating here?” Ava seems surprised when I grab her food and drink and tell her to sit at the table near the window.

  “I didn’t drive all the way over here so I can eat in a ninety-thousand-dollar car and ruin the upholstery.”

  “For someone who had sex this weekend, you sure are grumpy.”

  I set our sandwiches and coffees on the table and then pull out a chair for Ava, before taking a seat. “I’m not grouchy. If you think I’m in a mood, wait until I’m actually in one.”

  Ava stares across the table at me and takes a sip from her cup, eyeing me up the entire time. “No, I don’t think I would like that very much.”

  “Don’t get too comfortable with me,” I warn and mean it.

  “I’m not,” she counters with a scowl on her face. “You make me nervous. Half the time I’m around you, I am completely freaked out. It’s hard to get comfortable when you make me feel like I am walking on eggshells.”

  “If I’m so awful, then why did you let me fuck you. Why did you come to my apartment? Why are you having lunch with me?”

  She sits back in her chair with the latte in her hand. “You want the truth?”

  I nod. “Of course.”

  “You’re hot. I wanted to fuck you. My thought process wasn’t very deep that night. I wasn’t going to say no to your offer. It was too hard to pass up.” She blushes, as if she’s embarrassed for saying too much. But I’m glad that she did.

  “The moment I saw you I knew I had to have you.”

  “How romantic,” she deadpans, taking a sip of her latte. “You said you wanted a sex-only deal, yet you broke your own rule earlier when you invited me to your office. Then, you let me scrub in with you.” She scoots her chair closer and lowers her voice, staring at me with those wide blue eyes that had sucked me in from the start. “Now, we’re at lunch together. What are we doing? Aren’t you afraid we will get caught?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t care at the time I asked you to come to my office, just as I don’t care right now. As far as the hospital knows, I haven’t done anything wrong. We had sex when you were no one to me, nothing more than a meaningless hookup. But things have changed.”

  She bites the corner of her lip. “How so?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know. You were…I don’t know how to describe it. I love watching you work.”

  “The feeling is mutual,” she says, pinning me down with her gaze. Her blue eyes are so wide and bright they practically jump off her heart-shaped face.

  “I wouldn’t have left the hospital with you in broad daylight if I was worried that someone would find out,” I admit, though I hadn’t done much thinking when I dragged her out of the O.R. and to my car.

  “I’m supposed to be on your service. I don’t think the hospital will approve of your style of teaching.”

  “Right now, you are not on my service, you are at my service. There is a distinction, Ava.”

  “I see you’re done calling me Dr. Roberts.”

  “Well, I couldn’t call you by your first name in front of hospital staff, now could I?”

  “Good point. So, if I’m at your service, then what does that entail?

  “It means I expect you to be ready for me whenever I want. You’re like an itch I need to scratch. I can’t get you out of my system. I thought I could fuck you and forget about you, but seeing you again changes everything.”

  “I know what you mean,” she mutters, the blush creeping across her chest.

  “I want you right now,” I confess.

  “Do I get to scrub in with you again or was that a one-time thing?”

  “Depends on how well you do. I can’t show you preferential treatment. You impressed me earlier, and I thought you should be rewarded for a job well done. Don’t read into it too much, okay?”

  She nods. “Got it. Is this lunch part of my reward?”

  I smirk at her. “Excuse yourself from the table and meet me in the bathroom.”

  She looks over her shoulder and scans the room, before meeting my gaze once more. “Here? You want me to…” Her words die off in her throat when she realizes what I am saying.

  “Yes,” I say under my breath. “There’s a certain thrill that comes with having sex in public.”

  She smiles. “Oh, I know.”

  “We’re not on hospital grounds,” I tell her. “Now, go. I’ll meet you in the ladies’ room in a few minutes.”

  She flashes a nervous smile that makes my dick hard thinking about her mouth around it. Ava gets up from the chair and sucks in a deep breath, before letting it out in one long puff of air. “I’ll be waiting.”

  I cross my arms over my chest and sit back in the chair, studying her face. “Good girl.”

  Watching as Ava slips through the crowded coffee shop, I admire her ass and its subtle shake, as she moves past the tables and pushes open the restroom door. I check my cell phone, thankful I have no missed calls or pages from the hospital and enough time to have a quickie with Ava.

  When I walk into the ladies’ room, Ava is in the last stall. I latch the lock on the entrance door and stalk toward her.

  “Where do you want me?”

  I unzip my pants and remove a condom from my pocket. “Put your hands on the wall and spread your legs.”

  She does as I say and unties her scrub bottoms, shoving them down her thighs along with her panties.

  Taking my cock in my hand, I roll the condom over my length and press my throbbing head against her ass cheek. I should stop myself from making this mistake again. But it doesn’t feel like a mistake with Ava.

  Ava presses her palms to the cinder block and lifts her ass up for me, looking at me over her shoulder. I position myself at Ava’s entrance and fill her at once. She moans against her arm and shoves her face against the wall to stifle her screams.

  I grip her hips, my touch rough and hard to match my movements, and fuck her, allowing myself to get lost inside Ava. She tightens around me, the pressure building within, and her moans grow louder. Afraid someone will hear her, I slide my hand up to her throat and then cover her mouth, fucking her even harder.

  “Come for me, Ava,” I whisper against the shell of her ear.

  She purrs with a sexy-as-fuck glaze in her eyes.

  Sweat drips down from my forehead and dampens my scrub top. My heart races from the adrenaline pumping through my body, and I finally lose all control, almost in unison with Ava. Her breathing becomes ragged and then finally slows. Glancing over her shoulder at me, with her cheek against the wall, she licks her lips at me.

  She opens her mouth as though she wants to speak. Instead, she just stares at me, waiting for me to finish. I come so fucking hard that my body jerks, and I accidentally slam her into the wall from the sheer force that takes over. I pull out of her, take a few steps back step into a stall to clean up and dispose of the condom before pulling up my pants. She spins around, with her back flat against the wall, still unstable and barely functioning.

  As much as I keep telling myself that I’m making a mistake with Ava, my body is in disagreement with my head. With each encounter, I want her more, despite the guilt I harbor over my careless decision. And then I hate myself for feeling guilty for wanting a woman who makes me feel more…complete. There’s just something about Ava that I see in myself. Or maybe at one time saw in myself.

  Gripping her by the waist, I lower my mouth to hers, my tongue gliding across her bottom lip before slipping into her mouth. My body tingles from our kiss, leaving me wanting more as our lips separate. I will have her again by the end of our shifts. If not, she’s coming home with me, so I can take my time. I hate rushing in public places. A woman like Ava should be savored, and I need the space to properly devour her delicious body.

  “This is happening again. By the end of the day.”

  She nods in agreement and pulls her panties and scrub bottoms back into place. “Is that a promise?”


  “One thing you should know about me, Ava, is that I rarely say things I don’t mean. So, when I say I want you, I do. When I say you’re worth the risk, I mean it.”

  She smiles up at me, still out of breath.

  Then, I kiss her one last time.

  What is this girl doing to me?

  With each second we spend together, I’m losing my edge. But I have to know why I am so drawn to Ava, no matter how long it takes to figure out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  AVA

  After hot sex with Sloan at Starbucks, I was hoping for more of him. But he has been acting weird as shit for the last three days. Sloan kept his word that I would be on his service. I’ve followed him from case to case, all while wondering why he hasn’t spoken to me alone. As much as I want to blame Sloan for getting me into this mess, I only have myself to thank for making another stupid decision.

  I could have told him no. In fact, I should have told him no. Will I tell him no if he asks again, more like demands? Doubtful. He’s the best sex I’ve ever had. But Sloan is more than that. When I’m with Sloan, I feel alive, much like the feeling I get when I practice medicine. He gives me a high unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and not just because of all the orgasms he delivers.

  Just because he’s my boss doesn’t mean I have to listen to every request he makes. But my body was doing the talking. I was a slave to my own desires, hungry and desperate for more of Sloan and his massive cock. I wanted him so bad I couldn’t control myself when he told me to meet him.

  Stacey fights through the masses to take her place at my side in the O.R. She gives me a dirty look, as if she’s mad at me for something. I guess I deserve it after ditching her this morning. We were supposed to ride to work together, but I was too impatient and was hoping to catch Sloan before our shift. No such luck. The second he saw me, he made a beeline to the elevators and went straight to his office.