Wicked Pleasures Read online

  Renae’s eyes began welling with hot tears as she leaned her head against Lucky’s shoulder. Because she knew without her friend telling her so that the woman she was referring to was her.

  18

  THE FOLLOWING DAY Will found himself pacing inside his apartment—again. But this time it was for a completely different reason than last time. He glanced at his watch. Half past noon. Renae would be at work….

  He rubbed his forehead, just then realizing he didn’t even know where she worked. Back when he’d indulged in lesbian fantasies of her with her roommate, he’d allowed himself to imagine she worked someplace seedy and sexy, what with the naughty belly-dancer costume she wore and all.

  How was it that in all the times they’d slept together, that he hadn’t asked her?

  Well, wherever it was, he knew she didn’t knock off until after nine. And he wasn’t in any condition to wait that long. His mind was clogged full of things he wanted to say to her. Things he wanted to know about her. They’d been there all along, but had somehow been eclipsed by what he’d viewed as the greater problems in his life. Not the least of which was his letter of resignation on the dining-room table behind him.

  After the disastrous dinner last night, he’d understood that whatever future he’d thought he had at the hospital was now at an end. The Medical College of Ohio had been after him for years to join their staff. And while they didn’t pay nearly as well as the private center where he had worked for the past six years, at least he wouldn’t have to sleep with the chief of staff’s daughter in order to get a bloody promotion.

  Of course, he hadn’t begun dating Janet with any such designs. That it had worked out that way—that he’d finally gained Dr. Nealon’s attention because he had been dating Janet—had been an unfortunate turn of events.

  Without the promotion he was left facing an indeterminate amount of time on the night shift. And right now there was something else he’d much rather be doing with his nights.

  More specifically having wicked, marvelous sex with Renae Truesdale.

  The mere idea of seeing her again, having her in his bed, sent him heading toward a destination beyond his hall carpet. He hauled open the outside door, climbed the steps to the third floor, then knocked on 3B. He was about to knock again when the newer girl to the apartment—Nina, Renae had said her name was—opened up and stood staring at him.

  “What do you want?”

  After what Will had been through, her attitude was nothing more than a minor irritation. “I’m looking for Renae.”

  “She doesn’t live here anymore.”

  Whoa. Now that was something noteworthy, not to mention shocking. “I see. And when did this…parting happen?”

  “Yesterday.”

  She began closing the door and Will caught it with his hand. The woman looked like she would have liked nothing better than to slam his fingers in the door if she’d had the strength. “Forwarding address?”

  “None.”

  Will pushed harder on the door to keep her from closing it in his face. “I was wondering if you might tell me where she works?”

  “I don’t know. Now if you don’t let go of this door I’m going to call 911.”

  “Mmm. We wouldn’t want that to happen now, would we?” Will asked. “You might actually have to answer their questions.”

  Nina glared at him.

  Then it dawned on him. He did know where Renae worked. She worked with Lucky. That’s how the two women had met. How could he have forgotten that? Colin talked about Lucky’s opening a satellite shop all the time. A satellite of the original where Renae worked.

  He released the door, saying, “Have a good day now, won’t you?”

  The door slammed so hard it shuddered on its hinges.

  Will shook his head, grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and began dialing Colin as he rushed back to his place.

  “Where does Lucky work?” he asked his friend without preamble.

  “Ah, I was wondering when I was going to hear from you.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Just that a certain somebody has spent the last couple of nights on my girlfriend’s couch. Don’t tell me it took you that long to notice she was gone?”

  “Okay, then, I won’t.”

  Colin chuckled. “The name of the shop is Women Only. But which address did you want? To the shop Lucky’s opening downtown? Or the original?” he asked in a way-too-innocent voice.

  Will said nothing simply because what was on the tip of his tongue wasn’t very nice.

  His friend finally shared the address to the original location.

  “But I wouldn’t do anything hasty, friend. She’s going through—”

  Will hung up on him with nary a thank you.

  Will knew where the shop was, if only because he and his college buddies—Colin included—used to frequent the nearby strip joints where they’d get nice and sloshed and empty their pockets of dollar bills every Saturday night.

  It seemed ironic that he would be going to the same general location now in order to find the woman he intended to marry.

  Marry…

  “Now, now, not so fast, man. Get to know the woman a little better,” he told himself as he hurriedly collected his wallet and his keys from his kitchen table, then left his condo. “Besides, she may not even want to see your sorry butt again much less marry you.”

  Marry…

  Even during his five months with Janet and her repeated “I’m waiting till my wedding night” speeches, he’d never really given any serious consideration to marrying her. Sure, he’d idly thought she might make good wife material when they began going out. But at no time did he think himself incapable of living without her in his life. At no time did the mere thought of not being able to see her drive him out of his skin.

  Renae…

  Was it him or was the hair on his arms standing on end?

  The change of temperature from the air-conditioned building to the hot outdoors, he explained away, although he fully admitted that Renae Truesdale was enough to make any man stand at attention, literally and figuratively.

  Why hadn’t he seen it before now? Why hadn’t he understood that she offered everything and more than he would ever need in a life mate? Had he been blinded by sex? Distracted by stupid preconceptions? Occupied with the other details of his life?

  He climbed into his SUV, summing up every ounce of his willpower not to flatten the gas pedal to the floor in his hurry to drive to Women Only.

  Before he knew it, he was pulling into the commercial parking lot. Renae’s old pink Cadillac stood out like a neon sign outside the shop. He parked in the first free spot he saw, shut off the engine…then froze, Colin’s final words finally registering.

  “I wouldn’t do anything hasty, friend. She’s going through—”

  What?

  Will realized he’d hung up on his friend without letting him finish his sentence.

  There was movement near the shop. He watched as a young woman approached the door to Women Only, clutching her purse to her side as if her life depended on what was about to happen. Will blinked several times as he watched none other than Renae herself greet the new visitor with a welcoming smile.

  His heart turned over in his chest.

  He fished his cell phone out of his pocket and redialed Colin. “What were you going to say?”

  “You do realize I have a life, don’t you? In fact, I have an entire career. Which includes patients that don’t appreciate these interruptions.”

  Will gestured impatiently with his free hand. “And?”

  “And what I was about to say before you so rudely hung up on me is that I don’t think the emotional place Renae is in at this moment is conducive to…well, whatever you have in mind.”

  “Go on.”

  “She’s just made a very important career step that is causing her a great amount of stress, she’s lost her home and is sleeping on Lucky’s co
uch—”

  “Then my asking her to move in with me should solve all of her problems then.”

  Silence.

  “Great. Thanks.”

  “Will?”

  He resisted the urge to disconnect the call but kept his hand on the door handle. “What?”

  “My advice would be for you to take this slow.”

  “Like you took it with Lucky?”

  “Lucky and I are still not married, not even engaged, even though I want both so bad it hurts.”

  Will found that a difficult pill to swallow.

  “Am I making sense here?”

  “Too much,” Will grumbled.

  “Slow. That’s how you want to take this. You go into that shop, guns blazing, and she’s liable to shoot back with ammo you’re unprepared for.”

  Will grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Is this the way you talk to your patients? It’s a wonder you even have a practice.”

  Colin chuckled. “That means you get my point. Good.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Yes, I think that about covers it.”

  Will moved to disconnect.

  “Oh, and one more thing.”

  Will closed his eyes and cursed.

  “Good luck, buddy.”

  “Luck has nothing to do with it. It’s all skill.”

  And patience.

  And unfortunately he’d already demonstrated he wasn’t very good with that.

  “IS THAT WILL?”

  Renae stopped talking to the girl she was interviewing midsentence and froze at Lucky’s words. She glanced toward her friend, then followed her gaze through the shop window. Sure enough, an SUV identical to Will’s was at the far end of the parking lot.

  Her stomach gave a squeeze…then dropped out altogether when the SUV backed up and pulled out of the lot, instantly disappearing into the heavy traffic.

  “Sorry.”

  Renae glared at Lucky.

  “Honest mistake. The car looked just like his.”

  “As do about five percent of the cars in Toledo.”

  Lucky tried to hide her smile as she wrapped up a customer purchase.

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “Miss Truesdale? Is everything all right?”

  Renae blinked, almost having forgotten about the girl she was interviewing.

  Jenny Naxos was twenty-one, more than qualified for the position with a number of retail jobs on her application, and was currently working at a mall store that sold costume jewelry.

  But it was the soft look in her dark eyes that won Renae over more than anything on her application.

  “Everything’s fine,” she said, smiling. “In fact, it’s more than fine. You’re hired.”

  She’d been talking to the girl for no more than five minutes. But that didn’t matter to Renae. She’d gone on gut instinct when taking on Lucky months before. And look what had happened there.

  As far as she was concerned, how you felt around a person was more important than anything else.

  “What?” Jenny whispered, staring at her.

  “I said you’re hired. I mean, if you’re still interested in the job?”

  “Interested? Oh my God!”

  She shocked Renae by hugging her, briefly but tightly.

  Okay, Renae thought, startled off her heels. They’d have to work on the physical demonstrations. Then again, she thought with a smile, maybe not. Maybe what the shop—and she—needed was someone who not only understood how she felt, but wasn’t afraid to show it.

  “Welcome to the family,” Lucky said to Jenny after the customer she’d helped left the store.

  As Lucky and their new employee conversed, Renae felt herself drawn to the shop window and the spot where the SUV similar to Will’s had been parked.

  If what she’d just thought was true, what were her gut instincts when it came to Will Sexton?

  Now that was something that would take a little bit of thinking.

  Okay, a lot.

  THE HOSPITAL’S TRAUMA center was quieter than it had been all week.

  And Will was about to jump out of his skin.

  It was more than just this blasted waiting stuff in connection to Renae. He’d personally taken his resignation to the chief of staff’s office before clocking in and now it was merely a matter of Nealon officially accepting it and releasing him of his hospital obligations.

  He shifted where he stood at the nurses’ station then signed off on a resident’s opinion, noticing that it was Evan Hadley’s opinion he was checking.

  Interesting, but he couldn’t remember actually seeing the other man in the past two hours. Or the night before, for that matter. This when they were usually bumping into each other all the time as they came and went.

  He handed the chart to the attending nurse then turned to take in the area, halls included. Luckily he didn’t have to worry about running into Janet. Although he’d met her when she’d worked nights, she’d been transferred to days a few months ago. But Evan…

  He looked into a few of the examining rooms and found Evan in the fourth, alone, making notations on a pad.

  Will pushed the door open. “There you are.”

  Was it his imagination or had the other man jumped?

  Definitely not his imagination. In fact, he was a little concerned that the young resident had just swallowed his tongue and might be in need of some medical attention himself shortly. “Will!” he fairly croaked.

  Will grimaced and looked into the hall behind him. “Expecting somebody else?”

  “N-no. Yes.”

  At his stuttering, Will had no doubt Evan had been avoiding him because of Janet.

  He opened his mouth to say there was nothing to worry about, that he and Janet had parted amicably—well, as far as Will was concerned anyway—but he was suddenly struck with the most devilish desire to draw this out a little.

  “So, Janet told me you two ran into each other in L.A.”

  Evan’s eyes were as round as a nearby bedpan. “Yes, we, um, did.”

  In fact, Evan had told him that himself, but the other man didn’t appear to be in any condition to remember small details like that.

  “And did you…enjoy each other’s company?”

  Evan made a small choking noise.

  Will chuckled, incapable of making the poor guy suffer any longer. “Oh, forget about it, man. Janet told me what happened.”

  The resident gaped at him. “And you’re not upset?”

  Will shook his head. “No, strangely enough, I’m not. In fact, allow me to congratulate you on your great taste in women.”

  He extended his hand for a handshake but Evan was staring at the appendage like he didn’t trust what Will’s true intentions might be.

  “Dr. Sexton, please report to the nurses’ station. Dr. Sexton, please report to the nurses’ station. Stat.”

  Will grimaced at the P.A. announcement as Evan finally put his hand in his and they shook.

  Evan looked like he’d just been given a reprieve while strapped into the electric chair. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you’re okay with this.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Will said and sighed. “Well, duty calls. Give Janet my best, won’t you?”

  “Yes…sure.”

  Will left the examining room shaking his head. What had the man expected him to do? Box him about the ears over a woman?

  Of course had the woman been Renae…

  He spotted the reason he was being summoned and stopped dead in his tracks. At the nurses’ station chatting with the head nurse was none other than Janet’s father, Stuart Nealon.

  Crikey.

  He wondered if the chief of staff would notice if he walked in the opposite direction.

  “Will!” Stuart shouted a greeting.

  Too late. He was in for this confrontation whether he was ready for it or not.

  “I’m glad I caught you during a quiet stretch,” Stuart said, meeting him halfway and pretty near k
nocking him over with a pat on the back. “Come with me to the staff lounge, won’t you?”

  “Actually I…” Will began.

  Stuart looked at him, his face unreadable.

  “Never mind. I guess I can spare a few minutes.”

  He couldn’t help registering that he felt the way Evan Hadley had looked a few minutes ago.

  Still looked, he corrected, as he spotted Evan exiting the examining room while they were passing. The resident immediately dropped his gaze and scurried in the opposite direction.

  Will reflected that after what he’d just done to the poor guy—making him suffer before setting things straight—that this was exactly what Will deserved.

  Truth was, if Nealon wanted to put the brakes on his leaving, he could. There were eight months to go on his contract with the hospital, which meant Nealon could make him stay for at least that amount of time. Then there was the option for the hospital to keep him beyond that.

  Nealon opened the door to the staff lounge and allowed Will to go in first. The three staff members currently in the room mumbled greetings then quickly left them alone.

  “So…” Nealon drew out.

  Will had begun sitting down at one of the tables, but halted when he noticed the other man had chosen to stand, his arms crossed in front of him.

  Will gulped.

  “I understand things between you and my daughter are a little rocky right now.”

  Oh, boy. Not exactly an auspicious beginning. “Yes, sir, they are.” An image of Evan’s purple face emerged in his mind and he wondered if he looked just as ridiculous. “Actually, sir, your daughter and I are no longer dating.”

  Nealon didn’t say anything for a long moment. Merely stood there looking at him as if expecting him to continue.

  Will didn’t. Instead he squared his shoulders and returned the other man’s stare.

  To his surprise, Nealon laughed. “Not an easy man to shake up, are you, Sexton?”

  Will managed to remain unblinking. “Does that surprise you?”

  “Actually, no.” He took a piece of folded paper out of his white physician’s coat pocket and held it up. “This look familiar to you?”

  “Yes, in fact it does. That would be my letter of resignation.”