Broken Lion (2 page)

I’d never felt so much testosterone in one room. Most of it came from Lion and made me feel like a piece of meat, the kind that gets hunted down by ravenous carnivores on the plains of the Serengeti.

Lion’s dark and dangerous eyes roamed all over me. “Please tell me you’re my doctor.”

His men chuckled approval. Obviously, Lion was the king of these beasts. But I needed to get this situation under control. Not a problem. I was in my element.

“I’m Dr. Flanagan. What happened to you, Mr. Maxwell?”

“Call me Lion. Everybody does.”
That voice
. It oozed confidence and resonated in my chest like he was invading me.

If he kept talking in that sexy voice of his, I was going to be the one doing the oozing. I needed to stay focused. I was a doctor, not a giddy teenager. So I took a moment to collect myself in case I started babbling like one.

Lion smirked at me. A hungry sexy smirk.

I offered a curt smile and swallowed hard. The giddy teenager in me wanted desperately to bat my eyelashes at this gorgeous man.

More chuckles rumbled from Lion’s men as they watched me trying to hold it together. One said, “Go easy on her, Lion.”

Another: “She looks fragile. You don’t wanna spook her.”

Spook me? What, like I was some kind of dainty deer wandering through the forest, scared of the big bad mountain Lion? Not even close. I was the opposite of fragile.

Lion said, “What’s the matter, Doc? Cat got your tongue?”

I smirked. “Very funny, Mr. Maxwell. I was just taking a moment to ignore your arrogance in hopes that it would go away. But we all know wishful thinking never works.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got more where that came from.”

More what, I didn’t want to know. Mainly because I was afraid I would like it, whatever it was.

One of the other men said, “Don’t mind him. He’s always like this with the ladies.”

Lion laughed easily. “You trying to make me look bad, Cahill?”

Cahill chortled. “When it comes to looking like a tool, you don’t need any help from me.”

“But if I did, you’d be the first man I’d ask for lessons.”

The men laughed again. Cahill laughed too. Clearly, this group was the best of friends. Or frat brothers. All they needed was a keg and a stack of plastic cups to get this party started.

“So, Mr. Maxwell. About your knee.” I said it loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“Busted it up in the cage tonight.”

“Championship fight,” Cahill added. The nice thing about having an entourage of your own was that they could parade your ego around for you, so you didn’t look arrogant. I wasn’t fooled. They were on his payroll.

Being polite, I said, “Did you win?”

“Do you have to ask?” Lion cocked his bad boy grin.

Had there been any women in the room, the sound of panties dropping would’ve been overwhelming. Obviously I was wrong about him needing his men to parade his ego around. He was more than happy to do it himself.

I was over it. “I take it you won. But your knee looks like the biggest loser tonight, Mr. Maxwell.”

“You afraid to say my name, Doc?”

“I just did.”

Hoots from the men. One said, “She bad, Lion. Watch out she don’t bite you.”

Lion stared at me, eyes locked on mine. “She can bite me all she wants.” He shifted on the bed and let his uninjured knee fall to the side, opening his legs. He wore only skin tight gold lycra shorts. Otherwise, he was entirely naked.

I kept my eyes locked on his. I didn’t have to look directly to see he was packing. His huge bulge practically filled the room. Latisha hadn’t been exaggerating about him having a python.

“Like what you see, Doc?”

I wasn’t taking the bait and I wasn’t going to look. But I was going to stare him down.

More muttering from the men as they watched our staring contest.

I was aware that nothing was going to get accomplished if I didn’t put my foot down and stop this frat party. In a strong voice I said, “Gentlemen! Do I have to clear the room?!”

They looked shocked.

Lion was as cool as a cat. “You trying to get me alone, Doc?”

“No. I’m just trying to do my job, Mr. Maxwell.”

“You don’t have to deny it, Doc. I could tell you wanted me the second you
laid
eyes on me,”

Not anymore, I don’t. And, could you be any more cocky? I mean, aside from the python in your pants?
And did he really think using sexually suggestive words like “laid” was going to work on me? Was that his idea of hypnotism? Did he really think it would make me imagine having sex with him? Hardly.

Hard.

A few of the men started tittering like this was middle school and I was their pushover substitute teacher, the one who didn’t know how to herd the class clowns into their pens when they misbehaved.

Wrong.

I clapped my hands together and barked, “That’s it! All of you, out! Now! This isn’t a locker room. This is my house and we play by my rules! The exit is that way, gentlemen.” Like a football referee, I swung both arms around and pointed out the door. Too bad I didn’t have a referee whistle to blow in their faces. I hid a smile.
Game, set, and match.

“Want me to leave too, Doc?” The innocent look on Lion’s face was completely fake.

I glared at him. “Are you always this defiant?”

“Always.”
And proud of it, no doubt.

“If you weren’t my patient, I would throw you out with the rest of them. Unfortunately, I devoted my life to helping the sick and injured, no matter how annoying they may be.”

His men laughed and hooted.

I wheeled on them. “Zip it! All of you! Were you not able to find the door?” Considering the room was twelve by twelve feet, even an earthworm could find its way out. Then again, the average earthworm probably had a higher IQ than all these men combined.

Lion smiled at me, the wheels behind his eyes turning, no doubt wondering what other thing he could do to harass me.

I arched my eyebrows, daring him to speak.

Finally, he chuckled. “Better do what the doctor says, fellas.”

Cowed, the men shuffled out of the room, grumbling as they went.

It infuriated me that they obeyed him and not me. Not that it mattered. Mission accomplished. Divide and conquer. Never fight the enemy all at once if you can take them down one at a time.

At least they left.

Order restored, I closed the door, but left it open a crack. Now it was just me trapped in this cage with Lion.
Somebody get me a chair and a whip. Scratch that. Make it a tranquilizer rifle. I swear I’ll put this animal down if he tries anything. And someone call the taxidermist. Lion’s head is going up on my office wall on a plaque. Which reminds me, I’ll need to get a photo of me standing with my shoe on his head to commemorate the kill. The picture can go right next to the taxidermy head.

I repressed another smile.

“What’re you smiling about, Doc?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Anybody ever tell you you got an iron fist?”

I wanted to say,
Yes, and I’ll use it on you if you don’t behave
. But it was time for me to get to work, so I kept my mouth shut.

“I like that in a woman.”

“Is that so?” I was trying to be polite. His taste in women was not my concern, but I was slightly flattered he didn’t consider me a bitch. Slightly. I had never been afraid to stand up for myself even if it meant being labelled a bitch.

“Yeah. I can take control all day long. I do every time I step in the cage. I think that’s why I like a woman who doesn’t take shit from anyone.”

“That’s me. But I make an exception when asking my patients for stool samples. Then I will take their shit with a straight face.” It was a dumb joke. But it just slipped out.

He snorted. “You’re clever, Doc.”

I was surprised he found that funny.

“You got a man?”

I saw where this was going and I didn’t want to encourage him. His injured knee was my focus. I wanted to get the paperwork started for an MRI so I could move on to other patients. So I ignored his question. “Let’s get these bandages off so I can get a better idea of what’s going on.” I started to carefully unwrap the splint.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

I didn’t respond. I wasn’t going to get sucked back into flirtation. Since we’d already established that he found my iron fist a turn on, I needed another approach to keep him in line. The next best strategy was re-direction, a tactic that worked well with toddlers. That meant it would probably work well with Lion. “Can you tell me what happened when you injured your knee? What I mean is, did it twist more than normal? Were there any popping noises? Anything you can tell me will help.”

“I’ll make you a deal, Doc. For every question of yours I answer, you gotta answer one of mine.”

I smiled. “No deal.”

“Then I’m not talking.”

Ahhh, toddlers. They can be so stubborn.

He folded his muscular arms across his equally muscular chest. Everything bulged magnificently, even his bulge, which I was still ignoring. But I couldn’t miss his charming grin. It had gone from ferocious to adorably playful.

Sometimes, the best way to let a man down was with a compliment.

“Mr. Maxwell. I’m flattered that you’re interested. I mean it. You’re a handsome man with a sense of humor. If we’d met under different circumstances, who knows. But we didn’t, and I need you to understand one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s against the rules for a doctor to date a patient.”

“What rules?”

“The rules set down by the Medical Board of California and this hospital. Dating patients is considered unethical and therefore strictly verboten.”

“Who needs rules?”

“Let me ask you something, Mr. Maxwell.”

“Shoot.”

“You’re what, a boxer?”

“Mixed martial arts. Cage fighter.”

I ignored the fact that the term cage fighter conjured up all kinds of sexy images of him, me, a gloomy torch-lit cage that vaguely resembled some kind of sexual torture chamber (in a good way), and both of us sweating. A lot. While naked. Him grunting. Me moaning. Excessive amounts of bodily fluids would be exchanged as sexual organs shamelessly filled all relevant orifices with said bodily fluids. The orgasm count would be in the triple digits.

“You okay, Doc?”

“Yes.” I cleared my throat, trying to block out the onslaught of images. I needed to re-direct my own giddy teenaged train of thought. What had he just said? Something about rules? Oh yes, rules. “Are you allowed to hit your opponent in the eye or the groin during a cage fight?”

“No. Eye gouges and groin strikes are off limits. If you do it on purpose, you’ll get disqualified, automatically lose the fight, and get fined by the judicial board.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Imagine that. And, have you ever hit anyone in the groin during a fight? I mean, on purpose?”
Why did I say groin?
Groin groin groin.
I pushed the thought away.

“No way. That would be against the—” He stopped short.

“The what?”

He refused to answer, but his adorable grin returned.

“Sounds like you follow the rules, Mr. Maxwell. When it suits you.”

The slightest hint of a blush reddened beneath his tan skin. He chuckled. “You got me, Doc.”

“Rules, Mr. Maxwell. We all follow them, often when we don’t want to.”

“So you’re saying you would date me if it wasn’t against the rules?”

“I said maybe. And we all know maybe means no. Ask any kid, they’ll tell you.”

He chuckled. “Right.”

Why did I feel like I was flirting again? I swear, that wasn’t my plan. The truth was, I really was flattered he was interested in me. Men of his caliber rarely spoke to me let alone threw themselves at me. But technically it was too late. I would be remiss if I didn’t follow my own rules. The ECU wasn’t my own personal singles bar. It was my place of work. As far as I was concerned, every patient who walked through the front doors was off limits, no matter how attracted I was to them or vice versa. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Maxwell. You’re my patient. That’s not going to change.”

“Okay. Then I won’t be your patient. You haven’t done anything yet so get me another doctor. Please.”

I almost bristled at his order. Nobody told me what to do. But the please he added at the end stopped me short. As did his adorable smile. “I did unwrap your bandage. See? It’s too late.”

“Shit, I coulda unwrapped it. You gonna tell me if you put a Band-Aid on a guy, he’s your patient?”

“Yes. If it happens here in the ECU, definitely.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“That’s a rule. And we all know rules are sometimes ridiculous. But most aren’t.”

“Just get me another doc, Doc.”

“I wish I could, Mr. Maxwell. Unfortunately, we’re busy tonight and we’re short staffed. You would be doing everyone a favor if you just let me treat you.”

“I don’t know, Doc. Any doctor can fix my knee. But something tells me you’re the only doctor in the world who can fix a broken heart.” What should have been corny came off charming because he delivered it with such sincerity.

“I wish I could help you, but I’m not a cardio thoracic surgeon.”

“Huh?”

“Sorry. Doctor humor. A heart surgeon. I’m orthopedics. I don’t do hearts. But I am eminently qualified to fix your knee. So let’s focus on that, okay?”

“What’s your first name?”

I sighed. “If I tell you my first name, I’ll still be your doctor.”

“You’re too damn smart for you own good, you know that? That’s what I like about you, Doc. I mean, Ms. Flanagan.” He was looking at my name tag. “Since you’re not my doctor anymore, I’ll have to call you Ms. Flanagan until I know your first name.”

“How do you know I’m not a Mrs.?”

“I don’t see a ring.”

“Maybe I left it at home.”

“Don’t see a tan line.”

“That’s because I’m always here working and don’t have time to get one.” I had to admit, his persistence was endearing. And he complimented me for being smart, which was the way to my heart. But it wasn’t going to work. “Try as you might, Mr. Maxwell, I will not be dating you. I’m sure one of the nice women waiting outside for you would be happy to take on that responsibility.”
If they haven’t already
. Everything about his demeanor suggested that he was an accomplished manwhore, which likely meant his telling me I was smart was just a trick to get me into bed. I didn’t do tricks. I’m sure the strippers outside would be happy to turn all the tricks he could ever want.