Avery nods in understanding and responds, “I’m the same way.”
“Great. We each have our own bath, so no worries there. And as far as guests go, I don’t really care as long as we give each other a heads-up. I don’t want that sort of surprise.” Barely pausing for breath, she gestures toward the mess in the living room and continues, “So, I’m a bit of a slob, but I’ll try to keep that in check since you’re here. If you notice it getting out of hand, please let me know. It won’t hurt my feelings. Mel said you were a bit anal about that stuff.”
“I just like things organized, that’s all. Thank you again for this, Nikki. And please let me know if I’m getting in your way; I don’t want to be a burden. I can always make other arrangements.”
Grabbing the check from her bag, Avery hands Nikki the slip of paper and explains that she has a full year’s worth of rent paid. Nikki tucks the paper into the back of her jeans and looks at Avery in a concerned manner before tilting her head and asking if she’ll need any help unpacking. Luckily, Melanie helped Avery tackle that task right away, so she is free to relax for the night.
“Actually, I just need to get some groceries and a large picture frame. Can you tell me where to go for those?”
“I’ll take you. I need to pick up a couple of friends named Ben & Jerry anyway.”
Avery smiles at her and laughs as she says, “More mutual friends that we have in common.”
Avery asks Nikki about the town as they drive to the small shopping center. In her typical bubbly manner, Nikki explains that Carson, North Carolina has a population of a few hundred people, most of whom work at the new plant built in the next town over and live in their new apartment complex. Carson is the biggest town in the county and it’s where most people find themselves, especially since Asheville is about a two-hour drive.
Strolling down the grocery aisles, they grab the items needed for a weekly menu that Avery created, thinking it would help keep things a bit more organized.
As Nikki tosses a pack of cookies into the cart she says, “So this practice is pretty big, five doctors that service this town and about twelve other surrounding counties. We don’t really have a local hospital. If it’s something major, most patients have to be transported out by helicopter or ambulance. Anyway, we have three older physicians: Dr. Fields, Dr. Mayner, and Dr. Lunar; they were the original owners of the practice. As the town grew, they needed to expand and, lucky for us, brought on two new grads; Dr. Chamberlin and Dr. Burnette. And let me tell you that both of those men are sexy with a capital S. Dr. Chamberlin and I have been circling around each other for months and we had a date last night.”
Interrupting her, Avery exclaims, “I am so sorry I barged in on your date!”
Hand in the air, Nikki waves her comment away with a ‘shush.’ “It wasn’t working out anyway. No biggie. I think we just both liked the idea of each other, not the actual follow-through. Where was I?” She ponders, finger tapping on her chin as she looks up at the ceiling. “Oh yes, so we’re hiring medical assistants for each of the physicians, we already have a nurse on hand, but she’s running pretty ragged. When I tell you that business has picked up, I meant that as an understatement. We’ve seen quadruple the amount of patients in the past three months.”
“Really? Why do you think that is?”
“That big production plant opened up a town over and a lot of the locals took jobs there, giving them access to insurance that they didn’t have previously.”
“I see.”
“Yep. So, everyone but Dr. Fields has hired their new MAs and they are holding interviews tomorrow and the next day. You will really like him. He is such a great person. All in all, that makes up the practice. Oh! And I’m the receptionist and office manager. I love my job.” she beams, choosing a carton of Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Therapy ice cream.
“Well, it sounds great,” Avery replies. “My interview is on Thursday, so I’m hoping I will make a good impression. This is all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
“Dr. Fields will love you, and from what Melanie says, you’ll be a shoe-in.”
Chapter Two
ARRIVING AT HIS SMALL home after leaving Nikki’s place, Logan can’t seem to shake the vision of that dark cascading hair from his mind. All he can think about is running his fingers through the silky mass, those thoughts triggering unwanted desire through one of his lower extremities.
“Shit,” Logan mumbles out loud.
Needing to get a handle on his brain and his dick, Logan walks into his kitchen and grabs a glass, filling it with some whiskey. Tossing back the warm liquid, he lets its smoky flavor penetrate his taste buds, focusing his attention solely on its husky taste.
Swallowing slowly, Logan places his glass in the sink, making a mental note to wash it in the morning, and moves from the kitchen to his bedroom.
Turning on the light, Logan is pleased to find everything clean and organized, with stacks of clean laundry waiting on his bed. Once a week, a husband and wife team, the Stantons, come to his home to clean, complete the laundry, and landscape the outdoors. With his chaotic schedule, Logan finds it extremely difficult to devote any extra time to those things. Plus, growing up he was never taught how to do any of it.
Logan’s mom left when he was born, discharging herself from the hospital after the delivery, so he never met her, but apparently to his dad, Logan is a spitting image of her. This revelation did nothing to endear him but rather caused his father to hate him. Why his mother ever thought that leaving an infant with that no good, piece of shit was a smart decision, Logan will never know. He’s surprised that he didn’t die of starvation or illness because God knows that when he was growing up, food was hard to come by. But beer? Beer could always be found. And chores were not something handed out lightly. It was more of washing clothes in the sink when he needed something to wear. On the plus side, Logan became really good at making his own meals when there was food to be had.
Placing his clothes in their designated spot in his dresser, Logan shucks off his clothing and slides into bed, turning on the television resting atop the dresser on his way. This is Logan’s favorite time of day: the time where he can sit in bed and not think about anything or anyone. Logan turns off his “doctor-mode” and loses himself in mindless drivel.
An hour later, Logan finds himself turning off the television, sliding farther down the bed, and closing his eyes as he rests his head against his firm pillow. It takes only a second, but the moment Logan finds himself drifting off to sleep, he pictures wave after wave of dark glossy hair. His dream comes farther into focus and he pictures this dark-haired goddess resting on all fours on his bed while Logan pounds into her from behind.
Jesus Christ!
Even in his dream, he can feel the buildup of release from deep within his spine. His visionary persona thrusts once, twice, three more times before coming inside the wet heat of his mate. Startled by the explosion, Logan sits up in bed and finds that he came all over himself like a fucking fifteen-year-old kid. Disgusted, he quickly changes his sheets and tosses them in the trash. No need to explain that mess to Mrs. Stanton.
Lying back in bed after changing his sheets, Logan stares up at the ceiling, knowing he needs to do something to get his mind off this chick that he has yet to even see. He takes it upon himself to picture her face as an atrocity made for monster films. Chuckling out loud at his imagination, Logan continues to stare up at the ceiling, hoping that his mind will finally tire and rest.