Strictly Professional (12 page)

“Stay away from me.” She headed for the door, but before she pulled it open, she said, “All I need is sperm—nothing more.” Her gaze raked him from head to toe and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the meaning of the look in her eyes at that point.

* * * *

Her whole body shook from the force of her climax when she walked out of the supply room and headed outside for a moment. The warm air hit her face and she inhaled a deep breath, trying to calm the chaos inside.

Damn him! How could I let him do that?
Because I
haven’t been with anyone in a long time.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts before she walked back inside. Her gaze met his over the top of the nurses’ station counter when she moved back through the double doors. The heat in his eyes scorched her to her soul and she shivered. She kept on moving until she rounded the edge on the other end, picked up a chart, and headed down the hall. Once she was out of his eye sight, she released the breath she held in a sudden rush of air.

The rest of the shift had her avoiding him at all cost until she walked out through the waiting room of the hospital. Tony stood near the window with a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Hey, Savannah.”

“Hi, Tony. How’s Molly?”

“She’s doing fine. They should be releasing her tomorrow.”

She laid her hand on his arm. “That’s fantastic.” Her gaze caught a movement to her left and when she turned her head, she felt pinned by the look on Brandon’s face. His eyes flicked to her hand on Tony’s arm and then back to her face. Feeling a little bit vindictive, she slipped her hand into Tony’s and snuggled up to his side. “Hey. I’m headed home. Would you like to come over for a drink? We can celebrate her release.”

“Sure. Do you want me to follow you?”

“That’s perfect. I’m parked out this way.” She pulled Tony with her toward where her car sat parked, passing Brandon in the doorway. She fought a giggle that threatened to rise to her lips at the look on his face. “’Night, Brandon. Have a nice evening. I know I’m going to.”

When she reached her car, she spared a look to where Brandon’s bike sat. He stood next to it, glaring at her. She wiggled her fingers in a small wave and felt the zip of satisfaction when his eyes narrowed.

She turned toward Tony and told him to meet her out front of the parking garage so he could follow her home. Once she had slid behind the steering wheel of her car, she dared to look in Brandon’s direction only to realize he wasn’t paying any attention to her now. A disappointed sigh left her lips before she backed out and left the garage.

A bit later, she pulled into her apartment complex with Tony behind her. Putting the car in neutral, she set the brake and stepped out.

“Right this way.”

“I’m kind of surprised, Savannah.”

They walked toward the stairs that led to her place. “At what?”

“You don’t have a nicer place than this with your parent’s money.”

“I pay my own way, Tony. If anyone should understand, it’s you.” She pushed open the door and laid her keys on the table.

He shrugged. “I guess. You always hated taking anything from them—even if it’s your right.”

“It’s not my right. It’s their money, not mine. I live on what I make.”

“But it will be yours someday.”

“If I ever have a child,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“No. What did you say? Something about a child?”

She grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and offered him one. They sat down on her couch and she let the long neck dangle between her fingers. “For years, my parents have hounded me and my sisters about a grandchild. This past weekend we all met at the main house and my father gave us an ultimatum. Have a child or no trust fund.”

“Really? Wow. I never thought he’d ever do that.”

He lifted the bottle to his lips and she was taken back to when they were teenagers for a moment. The man knew how to make her want him back then.

“Well he did.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Any prospects?”

She choked on the slug of beer she’d just taken from the bottle. “You mean of a father?”

He shrugged and a smile lifted his mouth. “Yeah.”

“No.”

“What about me?”

“You?’

“Sure. I mean, we used to be good together.” He moved closer and slipped his hand into the hair near her ear. The warmth of his breath flittered across her cheek and she closed her eyes. “You know I can make pretty babies. Just look at Molly.” His lips nibbled at the corners of her mouth, daring her to take what he offered.

“What about your wife?” she asked in a whisper.

“Stacy?”

Savannah moved back far enough she could look into his face. “Yeah. I mean, she died only a week ago.”

“Stacy and I didn’t have much of a marriage anymore.”

She pushed against his chest until he moved away. “What do you mean?”

“We were only still married because of Molly. My daughter is my life, but Stacy and I had already started seeing other people. I'm not saying I didn't love her back when we got married, but you were the one who had my heart, Savannah.” He moved close again. “I want you.”

His lips trailed across her cheek and then fastened on her mouth. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips until she opened for him and allowed the intimate contact. She wanted to feel the same rush of heady sensation she'd felt when Brandon touched her, but she didn’t.

Please. I want to feel something.

She threw herself against his chest and deepened the kiss. He left her mouth and trailed kisses down her throat while his hands worked at the buttons on her blouse. When his hand reached inside and grasped her breast, she pushed him away and stood. “I can’t do this, Tony.” The buttons on her blouse found their holes again when she fastened them back up.

“I’ll be damned if you’re going to turn me down.” He forced her up against the wall, grabbed the front of her blouse in his fist, and pulled until the buttons flew in several different directions. His mouth crashed down on hers and she whimpered under his assault. He moved down her neck, biting the tender flesh while she squirmed, trying to get free.

“Let. Me. Go.”

“Not on your life, baby. I’ve dreamt about doing you again for years.” He popped the button on her pants and forced the zipper down. “You’ll love it just like you used to.”

She forced her knee between his legs, pretending to want to caress his balls with her thigh.

“That’s it. Oh, yeah. Can you feel how much I want you?”

“I’m going to tell you one more time, Tony. Let me go before you get hurt.”

An almost maniacal laugh met her ear before he stuck his tongue inside and swirled it around. She shuddered and pushed at his chest.

A moment later, her knee connected with a well-placed jab to his nuts and he dropped to the floor. She reached over, grabbed her phone, and dialed 911.

“Nine one one. What’s your emergency?”

“I need a police officer at my house. Is John Carter on duty?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Send him to two four zero five, twenty-first street.”

“Right away, ma’am. Do you need an ambulance?”

“Not yet, but maybe. I’ll call back if I do.”

Savannah hung up the phone and turned to see Tony still moaning on the floor. “I would suggest you stay right there, Tony.”

“You bitch!” he growled.

“You’ll think so if you move again.”

She sat down on the couch and waited until a knock sounded on her door.

“Savannah?”

“Come on in, John.”

The big burly cop walked into her house and his eyes widened when he saw the man lying on the floor. “You called? What happened to him?”

“I nailed him in the nuts when he tried to force himself on me.”

“You want him arrested.”

“Yep. Think you can do that for me, John?”

“No problem.” John gripped Tony by the shirt front and hauled him to his feet.

“Do you know who I am?”

“I sure do Mr. Sanders, but I couldn’t really give a shit if you were trying to force yourself on this nice lady.”

“Nice lady? She threw herself at me. She begged me to fuck her!”

John took Tony’s arm and forced it up behind him. He snapped the cuffs on Tony’s wrist and growled in his ear, “I would suggest you keep your fucking mouth shut, mister. I happen to know Doctor Gibson very well and she would never do what you are suggesting. Now, you have the right to remain silent and I suggest you do. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to an attorney and have an attorney present with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you if you so desire. If you choose to talk to the police, you have the right to end the interview at any time. Do you understand each of these rights as I've explained them to you?”

“Oh! So she’s given it up to you, has she? I bet she’s fucked half the damned town.”

John ratcheted the cuffs a little tighter. "Do you understand your rights as I've explained them?"

“Ow! Those are too damned tight, asshole.”

“You’re lucky I don’t put them around your nuts, buddy. Now let’s go. You’ve got a date with a cell downtown.”

John escorted Tony out of her door, but the parting comment from Tony had her quaking in fear. “You’ll regret this, Savannah! Your daddy’s money won’t be able to protect you when I get done with you!”

Savannah rubbed her arms, pulled her shirt around her, and shut the door. Her body started to shake uncontrollably and she forced her hands between her knees, trying to calm the tremors. The tinkling sound of her cell phone met her ear and she struggled to her feet to retrieve it from her bag.

Her voice sounded upset even to her when she said, “Hello?”

The deep timbre of Brandon’s voice echoed from the phone. “Savannah?”

“Brandon.”

“What’s wrong? You sound upset?”

“Tony...” she swallowed, forcing the lump down so she could speak, but it only came out in a sob.

“I’ll be right there.”

Chapter Six

Within moments, he came through her door and gathered her to his side. Tears streaked down her cheeks and fell to his chest. “It’s okay. Everything will be fine. I won’t let him hurt you.” He didn’t know what to do with the rage zipping through him. When he came through the door, the ripped blouse, her tear stained face, and tortured eyes sent his heart to his toes. What had the other man done to her?

After several minutes, her tears turned to hiccups, but she didn’t move from his embrace. She stayed gripping his shirt in her hand like if she let go, he would disappear.

“You should put something else on,” he whispered as his lips grazed the curls tickling his chin.