Naughty Prescription: A Bad Boy Medical Romance Page 6

  "How much older?"

  "He's thirty-seven."

  "I don't think there's anything wrong with dating an older man, as long as both of you are getting everything you need out of the dynamic. He's pretty much the first guy I've ever seen you be remotely interested in. I think that's significant, maybe that should be a sign," Brooke encouraged.

  "Yeah, that's true. John is the only person who has ever gotten my attention. He just seems to be everything I would ever want from a man, even though I don't know him that well. Is that crazy?" I started to think about what it would be like to have John in my life, to be in his. It seems like we would complement each other well.

  "No, that's not crazy at all. I think it's really sweet," Brooke smiled and clapped her hands together in a playful way.

  "Oh my gosh, stop. This is wild, I can't believe this is even happening."

  "This is fantastic! There are hardly any English guys in North Carolina. This is a great California experience. This is someone you would have never gotten the chance to meet if we hadn't moved here. That's fate if I've ever seen it," Brooke smiled hugely.

  Brooke spent the next hour asking every single question she could think of about John. The more she asked me, the more I realized I didn't really know too much about his personal life. I could tell her about the way his eyes lit up, but I couldn't tell her where he lived or what he liked outside of the hospital. I started to think that maybe I had jumped the gun on my infatuation. Maybe I should have waited a bit longer before I even considered risking my job to get to know him.

  I laid in bed staring at my white ceiling for two hours. I kept replaying the day in my head, specifically my interaction with John. I kept thinking of his words "Because when you change your mind and beg me to date you, I know you'll say please." John seemed so much more aggressive than all of the other guys I met. John wasn't afraid to hold his head high, shoulders back and walk around like he owned the place. It wasn't so much that he was cocky, he just had something about him. John was more confident than anyone I had ever met. When he looked at you, he didn't need to break eye contact. He wasn't trying to figure out the next thing to say or what you wanted to hear. John would say exactly what he thought was right. He seemed like he wasn't afraid to say what he wanted and when; perhaps that's why he was so successful.

  Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad for us to hang out outside of work. It didn't necessarily need to be an intimate experience. I could at least get to know him. I might find out that he isn't everything that I've hoped he is in my head. Maybe he will end up being a self-centered, toxic person that I would never even give a tight hug to. In a way, I hoped that would be the case. I wanted to be at peace with my inner conflict. I wanted to go about my first job in California with as much ease as possible. At the same time, I knew what I wanted deep down. I wanted John. He seemed to be too perfect to be true, the possibilities of what could happen in person were endless.

  The next morning I woke up thirty minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. As soon as I opened my eyes, my mind directed itself to John. I wondered if he had been thinking about me all night the way I thought about him. I laid in bed playing different hypothetical conversations and fantasies in my head. I was happy submerging my mind into a world where John and I worked in different hospitals and could start to date in peace. I brought myself back to reality, figuring I should go ahead and start getting ready since I was already wide awake.

  I put on my favorite cotton thong, a sports bra, and a pair of pink scrubs. I looked in the mirror, observing the way the scrubs fell across my body. I pulled at my shirt's fabric. I wished my scrubs showed off my body a little more. I had been getting in great shape being on my feet for twelve to fourteen hours at a time. I had lost all of the extra weight I had around my hips when I first came out to California. Now, my stomach was flat, my legs were perfectly defined, and my ass was getting rounder than ever. You could almost make out my round, full breasts from my outfit, but overall, it still wasn't the most attractive outfit.

  Living in LA had started to make me pay more attention to my appearance. Everyone was constantly looking their best. It seemed that everywhere you looked, there was a model type or a body builder. The crazy thing is a lot of these people are in the corporate world but look like gods and goddesses in the meantime. Everyone was focused on health and bettering themselves to their full potential. It was inspiring me to make sure I was reaching for perfection more often. In North Carolina, it was common to go shopping in sweatpants and a t-shirt. People would never comment on your appearance or expect you to look a certain way when you went out in public. I was becoming accustomed to the LA culture. John was extremely polished and handsome; I wanted him to see me as someone that made in effort in every aspect of my life the way he did.

  Since I had fifteen minutes to spare, I made sure to pay attention to my makeup and hair. I wanted to look and feel fantastic at the same time. When I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror before leaving, I was proud of how well I cleaned up. I looked like one of those nurses from Grey's Anatomy, the ones that are supposedly working a twelve-hour shift but still looked flawless. Even if I was going to have blood splattered across my scrubs later on in the day, I was going to look amazing in the meantime.

  I walked into work with my shoulders back, and my head held high. I wanted John to see me, I wanted to see his face when he first looked at me. I casually glided down the hallway toward the nurses' station. As I passed his office, I saw him sitting at his desk out of the corner of my eye.

  "Anna?"

  I heard John call my name from his office. I stopped in my tracks and felt my heart sink all the way down to my stomach. My heart started racing as I turned around and stopped in the doorway of his office.

  "Yes? Did you say my name?" I asked, knowing that he did.

  His lustrous eyes lit up when he saw me, looking up and down my body. "Will you come in for a second?"

  "Sure," I walked farther into his office.

  "Can you close the door behind you?"

  I closed the door and walked toward him. "Hey, how are you?" I asked kindly. I was already amused by his reaction to me. I could tell he was having a hard time discreetly checking me out; it was becoming more apparent as he watched my hips sway as I walked. I gently sat down in the soft, gray armchair on the other side of his desk.

  "I'm great now, thanks. You seem a little different today than you did yesterday. You've always seemed to have a certain type of uninterrupted confidence, but today you seem a little more comfortable with it. You're beautiful, Anna," John said sincerely.

  "Thank you," I shifted my weight in my seat. I was feeling more confident than before, how was he able to pick up on that so easily? I was pretty impressed by how perceptive he seemed.

  "Of course. I wanted to talk to you one on one because I want to apologize to you for yesterday. You had set a boundary with me and clearly stated that you were not interested in exploring our attraction to each other. I should have been respectful of that without pushing you to do something you plainly stated you didn't want. It wasn't professional or considerate of me, and I got caught up in the moment. I hope you can forgive me so that we are able to move forward. You seem to be a very kind girl with a big heart. I don't mean to disrespect you. I hope you can see that wasn't my intention," John looked into my eyes, waiting for a response.

  I was shocked speechless. I wasn't remotely offended by what he said to me, and in fact, I kind of liked it. I had spent the entire night thinking about what it would be like to explore my attraction with John, but now it seems as though he was retracting that interest. Maybe he got the impression that I was upset because I walked away without saying anything. I know I told him to stop, but I realized that I didn't want him to. The idea of John and me having nothing but a professional relationship seemed unnatural to me. I didn't want to lose him, I didn't want to have to push away all of the great feelings I had when I thought about him.

  "It'
s really okay. Since we are being honest, I thought about you a lot since I left your office yesterday. I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in you," I confessed. "I really do need my job and can't jeopardize that. At the same time, I haven't ever felt immediately drawn to someone the way I felt toward you. When I saw you online and then again in person, there was something familiar about you. I felt as if I had known you for years, as though I could be comfortable with you without worrying about what you would think about me. I'm not sure where this is going, but I have to acknowledge there is something powerful between us. If you're interested in exploring that, I am too. If there is a way we can get to know each other without anyone else potentially knowing, I would be willing to take that chance. Is that something you would want?"

  John leaned in toward his desks. There seemed to be a shade of light green that appeared in his eyes when he was thinking hard. I was hoping he would not have to think too hard about whether or not he would want to get to know each other. It felt like every second that passed was five years. I could feel my heart start to race again. Why is he looking between my eyes so intensely? What's he thinking? Why isn't he saying anything?

  "Can I take you to dinner tonight?" John asked, still looking intensely between my eyes.

  "Yes, I would really like that," I accepted. My heart slowed down. I felt like it might stop. I had just accepted an invitation to go on my first date ever. This was it. This was what it felt like. Ever since I had that terrible meeting with Ken, I worried I would not be able to find a gentleman in LA, but I had finally discovered one. I felt a glowing feeling in my chest. I smiled and reached forward for his hand.

  John interlaced his fingers between mine. "I had convinced myself that you weren't interested. I'm glad that wasn't the case. I have a perfect place in mind. How about you come to my house around 7 PM and we can ride to the restaurant together?"

  I shifted in my seat again. While in my mind I was jumping for joy, the logical me said I wasn't sure if I was ready to go to his house yet. I had never been on a date before, I didn't want to give him the wrong impression. I started wondering if he thought we were going to sleep together tonight. Was he going to ask me to spend the night? Would I stay the night if he asked me to? I wanted to get to know him, but I wanted to take it slow. I didn't want to jump head first into anything I wasn't ready for, I knew John would be respectful of that.

  "How about I just meet you at the restaurant? I'll be getting off late anyway," I suggested.

  "That sounds good to me, whatever you're most comfortable with. I just want to spend time with you. That's all that matters to me right now," John kissed the top of my hand. I felt every hair on my arm stand up.

  I wasn't used to romance. I had only ever seen a man kiss a woman's hand in the movies. I never thought I would be sitting in a renowned doctor's office, accepting a dinner date. That never seemed like me. John and I exchanged numbers. He said he would text me the address to the restaurant as soon as he got off work. I tried to play it cool, even though I was freaking out on the inside.

  I told John that I needed to start my shift. He walked toward the door with me. John wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. I couldn't help but run my hands up his back, feeling his tight muscles underneath his suit coat.

  I walked out of his office, trying to conceal the smile on my face. I was going on a date with the man of my dreams. It was time for me to cross uncharted waters. It was time for me to step out of comfort zone and try something I never thought I would attempt before. I knew I was ready for it, I was ready to become the person I was meant to be. After all, that was the reason I came to the West Coast.

  I was going to leave my past behind. I was closing the door to my old ways and opening another door to my future. As I put a stethoscope around my neck, I felt appreciative of my fresh start, with a positive outlook on the day. I couldn't wait for tonight to come.

  Anna

  I've always heard everyone gets nervous on first dates. There are a lot of questions that you ask yourself in preparation: Will we get along? Will we have sex? Will he be attracted to me? What if I say something embarrassing and stupid that I'm haunted by shame for the rest of my life? This type of pressure can create enough mental stress to destroy any type of fun before it even happens. Imagine you're twenty-two, you've never been on a date before, you're a virgin, and now you're about to go on a date with an older English doctor that looks like a model. That's enough to send anyone over the edge!

  I'm sure the level of nervousness I was experiencing was normal, but I had never felt anything like that before. I hadn't thought much about Ken in a while, but now he was fresh on my mind. I kept reminding myself that John was absolutely nothing like Ken and there was no way he would ever treat me as badly. My girlfriends had told me about their experiences dating—the good, the bad, and the ugly. It seemed exciting to sit down with someone and try to figure out if there is a connection there. But now that I was sitting across from John at an upscale restaurant, I was panicking. I was trying to pay attention to every word he said, but I couldn't help noticing my heart pounding in my chest. My vision was starting to get a little spotty, and I was having trouble concentrating.

  "But anyway, the patient was obviously perpetuating an antiquated way of thinking. It's a whole new world now, and I refuse to be accepting of that type of behavior. It's crazy to think that someone would turn down any type of doctor while they are dying from a gunshot wound," John continued, only stopping to take a sip of his red wine. He had been telling me a story about how a patient was sent to him because she refused to be treated by a female doctor. "I'm sorry, am I talking too much?"

  "No! Not at all, I'm glad that you're not willing to tolerate sexism. I apologize if I seemed uninterested in your story, I'm just really nervous," I admitted.

  "Why are you nervous?" John cocked his head to the side.

  "Well… I don't go on dates often."

  "No? I assumed your online dating inbox would have been flooded by now. Did none of your other online dates go well?" John asked casually while winding spaghetti around his fork.

  "I suppose I received a good amount of messages, but I've only met up with one person from the internet. It was a pretty bad date, probably one of the worst dates of all time," I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I didn't want to tell John about Ken. I would rather pretend that they didn't even exist in the same world. Ken was a small blip in time, he wasn't really even worth mentioning, but I wanted to be upfront about my past—the good, bad and the ugly. I took a deep breath before telling the story. "My roommate Brooke was encouraging me to online date to get to know people in the area when we first moved out here. I was hesitant, but once I started looking, I figured there was nothing wrong with seeing where it would go. I ended up meeting this guy at a restaurant. I didn't know much about him before I went, we didn't speak for long. I suppose I was trying to be adventurous and spontaneous by meeting up with him so quickly, but it ended up being a complete disaster. I could tell within the first few minutes of the date that it was a big mistake. The guy ended up being a complete asshole. He was really rude and disrespectful the entire time. He blatantly stated he was only interested in a casual hookup and didn't even make much of an effort to hold a conversation. I left within the first thirty minutes of being there, he took another girl from the restaurant home. I would not even consider it to be a date. I wish it never happened, but at least it made me very cautious of who I was surrounding myself with in the future."

  "Wow, that's pretty bad. I'm sorry he treated you so poorly. I hate that men are capable of treating women in that way. Just so you know, I would never intentionally disrespect you or do anything to make you feel uncomfortable. I'm not that type of guy. If anyone even treats you badly in my presence, I will be sure to stand up for you," John smiled kindly.

  "Thanks, that means a lot to me. So what about you? Did you go on a good amount of online dates?" I stared at the plate of lasagna in front o
f me. I wasn't sure if I was ready for his answer.

  "You're the first person from the internet that I've met in person. I got a lot of messages from all different types of girls, but none of them really seemed like they had what I was looking for. I guess you could say I'm really picky. I didn't even have a long conversation with anyone else. In fact, I ended up deactivating my profile a long time ago when I didn't hear back from you. I kept the messaging active, but set it to not allow new message requests."

  I felt my cheeks burn, surprised to hear that he had deactivated his profile. I smiled and looked back up into his dark eyes. "Why did you decide to deactivate your account?"

  "To be honest," John set his fork down and leaned in toward the table. "I couldn't find anyone that caught my attention as quickly as you did."

  The pounding in my chest surged and then dropped toward my stomach. Did he really just say that? What was it about me that made him pay attention to me more than all of the other girls online? I wondered if he was being sincere. "Really? Are you being serious?"

  "Yes, have you seen yourself? You're drop dead gorgeous, and you have a great head on your shoulders. It's rare to find someone that is attractive and intelligent at the same time, especially in superficial places like LA. In addition, both of us have committed our lives to helping others. I think it takes a special type of person to make such big sacrifices for the betterment of society. I can already tell you go out of your way to do the right thing. I really admire that about you," John extended his right hand and rested it on top of mine, looking into my face.

  It was too much. I was caught off guard by how intimidated I was by romance. John seemed more like a character from a romance novel, rather than a real person. I felt the softness of his warm hand on top of mine. I took a deep breath and flipped my hand over to hold his. "Since you're being so honest with me, I want to be completely transparent with you, as well. This isn't only my first date with someone that I met online, this is my first date ever. It usually takes a lot for me to be attracted to someone. For a while, I figured I might not ever end up dating or in a relationship and that was okay with me because I have gotten really good at being alone. But I think there's something between us. There is a reason that both of us were drawn to each other online, there is a reason we both ended up working at the same hospital. Maybe this was just meant to be, maybe we knew each other in a past life, I don't know. I just know that we have this really strong connection and I want to explore that. The only thing is… I need to take this really, really slowly. All of this is new to me. I don't really know what I'm doing."