Frontline (13 page)

Trenton’s eyes darken at my mention of our time on the stairs. He slips off the bed and stands in front of me.

“If you were truly interested in me, then you would’ve treated me more respectfully,” I say, slowly backing away.

Trenton reaches forward, and somehow, he’s already close enough to pull his fingers through my hair. “I will give you whatever you want, Sara.” He skims his hand across my cheek. “I will never deny you anything.”

Closing my eyes, I revel in his touch, his riveting spicy scent . . . it’s all so perfectly
Trenton
.

I open my eyes. “Stop.”

Trenton drops his arm to his side. “What’s wrong?”

“You say that you’ll give me anything I want . . .” I tuck my hair behind my ears. “Well, all I wanted was your company and some straightforward answers so I could get to know you better, and last night, you let me down.”

“I’m here now, and I promise you have my undivided attention.” The earnestness in his voice backs his statement, but I’m still not satisfied.

“Until your next emergency comes up and you disappear again.”

Trenton doesn’t respond.

“What if I’d taken you up on your offer to go to your bedroom? Would you have left me naked in your bed and not said good-bye then as well?”

He remains quiet.

I throw my hands up in the air. “You’re unbelievable, you know that? Obviously your promises to me come with some pretty extensive fine print, Mr. Merrick.”

“I had no choice but to leave.” His expression is firm, guiltless.

“You told me yourself how powerful you are in the business world, yet when it comes to other areas of your life, you don’t seem to possess the same control. Take responsibility for your actions. Don’t say you didn’t have a choice. You
always have a choice and yesterday you made the wrong one.” I shake my head. “You know, all I wanted to hear this morning over the phone was an apology, but I guess that’s too much for you.”

Trenton stays at arm’s length as he brushes his fingertips down the side of my face. “I’ll apologize profusely until you believe that the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.”

I pull back from his touch. “Don’t try and sweet talk me. There is still the serious matter of you showing up here. You knew I couldn’t scream at you while on shift so that’s why you picked the hospital as the setting for this discussion. That’s a very underhanded move, Mr. Merrick.”

“I needed you to hear me out.”

“Not at my work!” I take another step back from him. “This is the place that pays my bills so I don’t get thrown out of my apartment. I know this might be hard for you to understand, but I live paycheck to paycheck, I have student debt, and you’re jeopardizing my career by coming here. I would never show up at your office and disrupt you. This is personal between us and now you’ve involved my professional life. I won’t stand for it.”

“What
I won’t stand for is letting another minute pass knowing you’re angry with me—not when I know I can make things right.”

“Are you listening to yourself right now?” I keep my voice low, despite my exasperation, so my colleagues won’t hear me. “You’re exhibiting some majorly stalkerish behavior. It’s not sexy or exciting. You’re freaking me out. During the first few dates, both people usually put their best foot forward and present themselves as perfectly as they can. If this is how you are with me now, God knows what the future would hold.”

“Give me another chance and you’ll find I can be the gentleman you deserve.”

“I told you to stay away from me, Mr. Merrick, yet you still showed up here.” I maintain a harsh edge to my voice. “How can I trust you when you don’t listen to me? When every word you speak is a contradiction? You mix up your sexy talk with sweet comments, but they mean nothing when you don’t back them with your actions.”

Trenton frowns. “Why are you calling me Mr. Merrick again?”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“Answer me.”

“It’s only fitting considering how many steps back we’ve taken in this relationship.”

He cocks his eyebrows. “Relationship?”

“Uh, friendship . . . whatever.” I wave my hand frivolously. “It doesn’t matter because whatever we had is finished.”

Trenton scowls and turns from me to pace the room.

Taking advantage of the pause in our conversation, I pick up his chart and write on the patient progress report sheet so Valerie doesn’t wonder what I was doing with him all this time.

As I sign and date my note, Trenton stops suddenly, his shoes squeaking across the tile.

“Don’t change your lock.”

I drop my pen into my pocket and place his chart back down on the table. “Excuse me?”

“Your other lock was useless. The one I had installed is much better.”

“That’s another thing!” I say, grateful for the reminder. “You changed my lock after I specifically told you not to and I had to pick up this shift to pay for a new one. So thanks for ruining my day off.”

“It’s for your own good,” he says sharply. “Do you know that in the last year there have been ten break-ins in your apartment building?”

I bite my lip. “Um, no.”

Trenton’s scowl returns. “Well, now you do. So leave the lock alone.”

His eyes linger on mine and then sweep down my body. My skin ignites.

“I’m changing it,” I say, somehow finding the courage to disobey him. “It’s the principle of the matter.”

With a vicious growl, Trenton slams his palm down onto the bedside table. I jump back. “Goddamn it, Sara. If anything ever happened to you . . .”

I feel my anger dissipate, though I’m still confused as to how I can mean so much to him i
n such a short amount of time. “If your concerns are sincere, you should’ve told me about them prior to taking action. You should’ve explained why you wanted to change my lock, and then involved me in your decision. That would’ve been the normal way to go about things.”

Trenton shoves his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. His eyes soften
, yet the tension in his posture remains. “All of my adult life I’ve had to think differently than everyone else to get to where I am today. I’ve never followed a normal pattern of thinking. My tactics may seem strange to you, but as long as you’re safe, I refuse to believe I followed the wrong methodology in getting your lock changed.”

His explanation sounds too endearing to dispute, even if his logic is really fucked up.

I take a moment to settle on my next words. “I appreciate the gesture, but—”

Trenton focuses behind me and narrows his eyes.

I hear the door slide open and turn around as Dr. Shore pulls back the curtain and enters the room.

“Hello, Mr. Merrick! I’m not surprised you’ve come back to see me. My reputation precedes me and I can tell you’re a man of good taste.”

“Miss Peters and I are not finished. I’ll summon you when you’re needed.” Trenton speaks the reply through gritted teeth.

“Mr. Merrick, I’m much better suited to your financial and social stature than Miss Peters. Not to mention I’m a physician and she’s only a nurse.” Dr. Shore slides the door shut, pulls the curtain, and then approaches me, flashing a toothy grin. “I can take it from here, toots.” He places his hands low on my hips and eases me out of the way, his thumbs grazing my butt.

In a flash, Trenton launches at Dr. Shore and pins him against the wall, gripping the lapels of his lab coat so tightly that his knuckles turn white.

My hand flies to my mouth to stifle a scream.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Trenton growls the words. “Your grandparents blew all the family money on bad investments and your father resorted to bribery to get you into medical school. You’re in no position to look down on others.”

Dr. Shore’s eyes are wide; p
erspiration beads on his brow.

“How do you know about . . .?” He stammers through the question.

“If you ever touch Miss Peters again, in any capacity, I will withdraw my donation from the hospital and explain it’s all because of you.” Trenton leans in to his face. “And trust me, that’s only a fraction of what I’m capable of.”

I gulp. Sean alluded to the same thing last night.

Trenton releases his hold and points to the door. “Get out.”

Dr. Shore scrambles to the exit as if he’s received a death row pardon. The door slams shut behind him and the curtain falls back into place.

I lower my hand from my mouth. “You’re determined to get me fired, aren’t you?”

“You won’t get fired,” Trenton says, glaring at the door.

“Were you going to hurt him?” My voice sounds tiny, my earlier assertiveness long gone.

“He needed to know what he did was unacceptable.”

I hear no remorse in Trenton’s reply.

“How did you know all that stuff about his family?” I rearrange my stethoscope around my neck and breathe evenly, trying to slow my heart rate back to normal.

Trenton stalks toward me. “Has he touched you that way before?”

Despite the hostility rolling off of him, I’m strangely unafraid. “What do you mean?”

“Were you ever involved with him sexually?”

I crinkle my nose. “Ew, no. He flirts with me all the time, but I just ignore him. Like I told you during your last visit, he’s harmless.”

“If he touches you again, you tell me.”

“Why, will you get Sean to shoot him?”

Trenton’s nostrils flare with his deep intake of breath.

I giggle. “Okay, okay, bad joke.”

Trenton doesn’t echo my laughter. Instead, he rakes his hand through his hair and paces the room again. I struggle to recall what we were talking about before Dr. Shore’s intrusion. My goal is to calm Trenton down because his He-Man routine is a major turn-on when it really should scare me off. I deserve what’s coming to me if I keep this up.

“Are the two keys Sean gave me for my new lock the only ones in existence?”

Trenton stops mid-stride. “Yes.”

“Mr. Merrick, if you’re lying to me . . .”

“I do not have a key, Sara. Nor do any of my employees. You are the only one with legal access to that apartment.” Trenton checks his watch. “Now, tell me you’ll see me again.”

“Ha! I don’t think so. You just attacked my co-worker. Quite frankly, it’s very disconcerting.”

And sexy as hell.

Trenton’s expression remains firm. “He put his hands on you. He deserved it.”

“It was a bit excessive,” I say under my breath.

“So if I wasn’t here, you would’ve let it go?”

“No, I would’ve said something. The issue is that your outburst startled me, especially after all of that charming, sweet mumbo jumbo prior to Dr. Shore’s arrival. Once again, your actions don’t reflect your words.”

“Let me make it up to you. Go out with me again.”

I scoff. “No way.”

“I won’t give up until you give me another chance.”

I eye him suspiciously.

Last time he asked me out, good reasoning told me no, yet with a new carpe diem approach to my new life here in New York, I said yes. On the drive home from Connecticut, I regretted it, but not because I didn’t have a good time. If the date had ended differently, with Trenton acting more respectfully, I would’ve agreed to see him again.

Sean’s kind words about his boss lead me to my decision, but not just an easy yes again. This date will follow my own terms and conditions. I will be in control this time.

Kelly is going to kill me for this.

I place my hand on my hip because at this point I’ve run out of ideas for assertive gestures. “There will be no more whisking me off to your out-of-state manors. We will have a date on mutual territory, in a crowded place.”

Trenton’s eyes light up, brightening his mood.

“There will be no going back to your Manhattan apartment or having a quickie in your office afterhours, either. I need to feel safe, and going to your Connecticut castle yesterday wasn’t a safe move at all, not when I barely know you. I’m smarter than that and I need to start acting like it.”

Although if I was as smart as I say, I would not be agreeing to a second date.

Once again, my emotions trump reason.

What is happening to me?

“When?”

“I’m free for breakfast tomorrow.”

“I’ll pick you up here at eight o’clock.”

I suppress a smile. “Make it eight thirty. I need to chart after my shift and give report.”

Trenton nods. “Fine. I’ll make reservations at
Le Bistro
for nine. They serve French cuisine—best in the city.”

“Actually, I already have a place in mind near the hospital.”

“Sara, I can take you anywhere, you don’t have to settle for a place in the area.”

“I’m not settling. I like this diner and I eat there often after my night shifts. Their breakfast specials are the best.”

Now it’s Trenton’s turn to crinkle his nose. “Breakfast specials?”