Playing Doctor (6 page)

With Court so close, Lauren had to tilt her head up to look at him.

“Yes,” was all he said in a deep, husky whisper.

“Whaa…what?” Lauren gasped, inadvertently taking a step away from his heated gaze.

“Yes,” he said again. “In answer to your question, the water is cold, deliciously so, invigorating.” Flicking his eyes down toward her barely covered breasts, he added, “I've worked up a big appetite.”

With that, Court turned away and went to the spread of food to begin filling his plate.

Lauren felt a monumental jolt of desire, an erotic clenching of the muscles in her vagina that left her dizzy and breathless. She couldn't take her eyes off his wet back and shoulders—how she would love to run her hands over those rippling, glistening muscles right now. She wondered restlessly what he had meant with the innuendo. Was it just her overactive libido, or had he just made a verbal pass at her?

Sighing, Lauren realized there was no way to know for sure what he had meant or whether he was available or not, and anyway she was still his boss. She couldn't—wouldn't—make a move on him, but that didn't mean she had to back off either. With a shake of her head, she decided: if this is a game he's playing, I'm going to play to win it, and the ball is in my court now. Lauren began to fill her plate and plot her next move.

Unable to bring herself to join the golden pair at their table, Lauren ate with Kelly and her family. After she finished, Lauren was starting to clean up some of the mess when Grandma Walsh said, “Honey, you go join in the fun. We'll take care of everything.”

Thanking her and turning toward the water, Lauren all but bumped into Court, who was very close behind her. He was once again dripping with water, his glistening, muscular chest right in front of her eyes.

“It's your turn to get
wet
,” he whispered to her.

Looking up into his eyes, Lauren was like a deer in the headlights, stopped dead in her tracks and frozen. Her mind was stuck on what he had said. Was it a challenge or an invitation?

“Ahh,” she muttered. “Umm.”

She unconsciously licked her lips. Court's eyes watched her mouth closely, and she noticed he looked wild and hungry. She wondered if he was going to throw her in the pond or kiss her instead.

Just as he started to reach for her, Kelly's children came running up. Lauren was their honorary aunt, and they grabbed her by the hand, calling, “Lauren, come join us.” They pulled her toward the water. Exceedingly frustrated, Lauren realized that the moment was broken and she would never know what he had intended to do. As she joined the laughing group in the pond, she concluded that probably all Court had planned was to take advantage of an opportunity to dunk the boss.

Surrounded by friends, almost like family to her, she knew there wouldn't be another chance for such overt interplay, but Lauren felt his eyes on her often as they all swam and splashed in the water. And in spite of everything—in spite of her constant tingling desire or even annoying Tawny's presence—Lauren thoroughly enjoyed herself throughout the carefree afternoon. Her first-ever employee picnic had been a big success.

Later, as she waved good-bye to everyone—in the mix of packing up and everything—there had been no time to talk alone with Court, even if she'd known what to say to him. He had also hesitated, but then seeing no opening, he'd gotten into the car and waved good-bye before he and his friend drove away. There was nothing to do then but urge Rufus into her car and head home…alone.

Lauren found the next
day utterly unbearable. It had taken hours for her to fall asleep, and even then she had slept fitfully, drifting in and out of aroused dreams until the alarm sounded too early. When she got out of bed, she was irritable, tired, itchy, twitchy—and, damn it all, still hotly aroused!

As she angrily stomped around the bungalow, she realized that the “company picnic” had been a big mistake—for her personally. Seeing Court at the swimming hole in nothing but a bathing suit and with all that tanned, brawny, tight young flesh on display had been torture. Her breath had stopped every time he emerged from the pond, the water cascading off his gorgeous pumped chest. Lauren knew, or thought she knew, that Court had gone out of his way to saunter by or emerge sexily, glisteningly wet every time she was near. Of course Lauren had played that game too. But why was she the only one still tingling and aching—left hanging?

As she dressed, Lauren realized that the game was not yet over—there had been no denouement. So, smiling wickedly, she chose to wear her shortest skirt and skimpiest top to work. She still wasn't entirely sure if this was a game or if the lusting was all one-sided—her sided. Nevertheless, Lauren decided she would continue to play the tease if the opportunity arose.
What
could
that
hurt, really?

Once she arrived at the office, Lauren pronounced to no one in particular that she could not bear the heat and couldn't possibly wear her lab coat today. So she strutted, or rather stamped, around the office in her sexiest high-heeled sandals and the tight-fitting skirt and blouse. Kelly raised an eyebrow at her colleague's behavior but wisely kept her mouth shut. While Lauren rarely acted grumpy, Kelly knew better than to get in the middle of whatever was going on today, so she spent a considerable amount of time in her office with the door shut.

Nurse Brenda was home sick, and Jessica was also adept at avoiding contact with Lauren when she was in a rare bad mood. So Court got the bulk of Lauren's fit of pique—but that was the point, really. It didn't help that he seemed unaffected by all that had passed between them yesterday.

At lunchtime, Kelly, Jessica, and even Court hurried out to take their breaks elsewhere. Lauren ate at her desk, stewing about what to do with her feelings while absentmindedly paying bills. After an hour, she noticed that the receptionist was taking an extra-long lunch today without permission. In her pissy mood, Lauren was more angered by that than she normally would be. When Jessica finally returned almost thirty minutes late, Lauren marched out to the front desk. Letting her internal angst get the better of her, she unleashed on the young woman.

“Jessica, you know I think very highly of all you do around here, but that doesn't mean you can take advantage of me. If you want to be paid for all your hours, then you need to work them all.”

As she returned to her office, Lauren saw Court quickly lean down to smilingly whisper something into Jessica's ear. They both laughed. That was just too much! Court appeared to be showing interest in the receptionist again and was too nice to her by far—too solicitous, too sexy. It didn't seem to matter that Jessica now had a boyfriend, Lauren fumed. Court would rather take another's leftovers than reach out to someone new—
me
. She vaguely recognized that she was being unreasonable; there was really nothing inappropriate in his behavior. She just could not stop the roiling waves of jealousy. Keenly green with both envy and lust, Lauren needed to retaliate.

“Court, would you come in here please?” she called out sharply.

After he entered her office, Lauren ordered, “Shut the door and sit down.”

Court looked at her warily as he sat in a chair facing her.

“How dare you undermine me with my staff?” she accused.

“What…what are you talking about?” Court responded, annoyed.

“I saw you with Jessica. She has no right to come back from lunch late without permission, and while I don't know what you said, you clearly were taking her side,” Lauren angrily retorted.

“You have no idea what I said to her, and I have a right to talk with anyone I choose,” he returned crossly.

“You have the right to work here, not goof off and carry on conversations,” Lauren snapped. She stood up and strutted crossly around the desk. Leaning over him, she demanded, “Do I make myself clear?”

Her statement hung in the air. It was really more of a threat than a question. Court looked too furious to speak, and Lauren was practically panting as she anticipated his reaction.

Court was very, very
angry.
Even
if
she
is
my
boss, she has no right to talk to me like this!

But Lauren was leaning over him, and he had a clear view down her blouse to her full breasts covered in a sexy, lace bra. His immediate hard-on made it difficult to think or talk, but he managed to mutter a sarcastic “Yes, ma'am!”

Lauren looked affronted at his reply. Then she whirled away, presenting her tense back to him. “Okay, get back to work then,” she muttered.

Sitting there, Court was momentarily frozen, staring at her voluptuous ass in the tight, short skirt. He wanted to reach out and grab her ass—or maybe spank it, he realized with a grin. Instead he rose and marched out of her office before he succumbed to either impulse.

He heard Lauren quietly grumble, “Ma'am me, will he!” and he smiled.

As the afternoon dragged on, Lauren seemed to use every opportunity to demonstrate that she was no old lady worthy of the title “ma'am,” even resorting to the time-tested method of dropping something and bending over to pick it up. She and Court were walking single file down the hall when Lauren abruptly dropped a pen. As she started to bend over with her high heels and outrageously short skirt displaying her long shapely legs, Court came to a dead stop directly behind her. Even though he knew it was a ploy, Court was fascinated by watching Lauren's pert, tight ass as she bent over slowly. Hardly bending her knees at all, she took her time in reaching down to the ground to retrieve the pen, her tush pushed high in the air.

As he stared, the short skirt inched higher and even higher. Court's breath stopped as he realized, wide-eyed, that he might catch a glimpse of her panties. Suddenly he wondered if Lauren might be bare-assed naked underneath her skirt. He was instantly, almost painfully erect. He turned away to hide the large bulge in his pants, heading back to the closet where he was supposed to be sorting supplies. The way Lauren played him so skillfully annoyed him, as did his uncontrollable hard-on. He swore silently,
Fuck! She really has it in for me today, doesn't she?

Looking around the storeroom, Court saw that he was nearly done, but he needed time to cool off and sort out his feelings. All day yesterday he had lusted after Lauren in her tiny bikini. That had triggered a long night of intense discomfort. Now here she was, parading around in front of him again and looking like she wanted nothing more than to be taken home and fucked—hard. This was going to be an excruciating day.

He had long since stopped caring that he was inexperienced or younger than Lauren, or even that she was his boss, but still he hesitated to make the first move. What if he was mistaking her interest? There was also the issue of any fallout getting back to his mom. Only two more months and he would be long gone from here, Court reminded himself.
Just
leave
it
alone
, he admonished silently.

Later, with Brenda out sick, Court assisted both doctors with exams, but the intensity when he helped Lauren was wildly different than with Kelly. Occasionally he and Lauren accidentally brushed against each other in the small confines of the exam room, and her sharply inhaled breath punctuated the silence of each encounter.

Court needed a long time to talk down his painful erection while he pretended to work in the closet, and his penis throbbed anew every time the image of Lauren bent over, ass in the air, popped back into his mind. To get even, Court began to purposely brush against her. Sometimes when he was lucky, say passing a patient file, Court was able to graze the back of his hand against her bosom.

Even though he only did it when patients weren't looking, Court found plenty of opportunities to torment Lauren and enjoyed every one of her harsh gasps. Finally, he even managed to bump into her, causing her to stumble. His hands shot out to catch her in a feigned show of coming to her assistance. Grabbing her hips from behind, he let his hands linger a little too long before sliding one down to casually fondle her ass. With a smirk, Court gave her a little pat on the behind before stepping away.

“Would you be more careful!” she hissed.

“You know, if you were wearing more practical shoes—”

“Really, do you presume to tell me how to dress?” she snapped back. Whipping around before he could say anything, she jabbed him in the chest with her finger and said, “No, don't answer that!”

While they were both trying to keep the heated antagonism from showing to the patients, they were failing miserably. At one point, old widow McConnell noted with a sly grin, “Things are getting quite interesting around here, aren't they?”

That remark just added more fuel to the fire. As soon as Mrs. McConnell left the clinic, Lauren stalked into her office and slammed the door. Court paused outside her office, but not knowing what to say, he just went back to cleaning the exam room. Having Lauren angry with him was unsettling, but he felt that she had started it. That it was her fault. Well, maybe not all her fault, he thought, grinning as he remembered the tight feel of her ass under his hand. He wondered what she was doing behind her closed door.

Lauren slammed around her
private office.
It's all his fault!

She was furious with him…furious with herself too. At the same time, she felt…alive! Gloriously alive and energized in a way she hadn't in a very long time. It compelled her to keep playing at the game, or
whatever
was going on between them. With that thought, she decided to teach him that it is best not to anger the boss. It was an important lesson that he needed to learn and useful for his future, she easily convinced herself. Once again, Lauren ordered him to come into her office.

“Courtney, come here,” she called out. “Shut the door. We need to talk.”

After he sat in the chair she indicated, Lauren rose and purposefully swaggered around her desk. Leaning her fanny against it, she stretched her shapely legs out just in front of him as she smugly tossed out her first volley.

“Courtney, you really must be careful what you say in front of patients,” she said, matching his earlier feigned air of helpfulness.

He looked annoyed every time she used his formal name, which made her smile inside.

He started to open his mouth to protest, but Lauren held up her hand to silence him.

“No, just listen to me. As someone older and with more experience in the world, I want to help you.”

Adroitly cutting her off, Court interjected, “Oh, I know you have much,
much
more experience than I do.”

“You're missing my point,” she retorted. “You need to be respectful at all times.”

“Oh, I do try to respect my
elders
,” he replied smugly. “But I also believe I might be able to teach a thing or two to someone older, much older,” he finished, looking her directly in the eye with a completely straight poker face.

Lauren gasped loudly.
This
just
won't do
, she fumed, realizing she was losing control of the situation. Well, better to show him than just talk. “Okay, fine! But as you'll recall, when you begged for the internship, you promised to do anything I wanted.”

“Yes, I did,” he responded, eagerly jumping up from his chair to walk close to her, forcing her to lean back slightly on the desk. Leaning in and staring at her mouth, he murmured, “I'll do anything you want, anything you
need
.”

Lauren felt the thrill shoot through her body like an electric jolt, but she was too angry about all his insults to think straight.

“Good! The cleaning staff can't make it today…
Courtney
. I'll need you to the clean the bathrooms and mop the floor tonight after the office closes.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Lauren regretted them. She was being incredibly petty and knew it, but taking the order back would be admitting she had behaved immaturely. She couldn't bring herself to back down, especially when he was glaring furiously at her. Lauren stepped away from Court and walked around her desk, in effect dismissing him.

“Fine!” he snorted before stomping from the room. “And…my name's Court!” he yelled over his shoulder.