He came in, closed the door, and turned to face me with drooping shoulders. Apparently, whatever it was he was about to say was of the utmost importance to him, and he had given it much thought.

We need to know, "What's wrong?" I had to lower my voice.

This is none of my business, and I feel terrible saying it, but David-" He knitted his brows together thoughtfully. In other words, "You need to cut ties with him."

The thought of standing up so quickly made me dizzy. "What? Why?"

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke up. To make matters more challenging, his chest rose and fell with each breath, making it more difficult for me to ignore his movements. In my head, I ran a number of possible explanations for why he might ask such a question, and one of them was completely out there.

'Cause,' he explained, 'I've seen the way he treats you, and it's not right. He has reached a stage in his life where he is completely self-centered, and this is not going to change. That won't be happening anytime soon. Dr. Johnson looked as though he had given up. I speak from painful experience when I say, "Not until he learns to stop taking things for granted. This describes me perfectly when I was his age.

I had to take a moment to process everything, and my throat got very thick. You couldn't focus on anything when he was in the room. Perhaps there was something in the lemonade that made people feel woozy.

To tell him I had ended things with David five minutes ago, I opened my mouth, but he kept talking.

I realize how terrible this may sound. But what kind of a parent am I to suggest that you end things with him? In response to his own query, he shook his head. Regardless of what you do, I fear that one of you will be hurt. This is on him, not you; I'm probably going to leave this room regretting anything I said.

He scratched himself on his defined jaw with his hand, irritating the whiskers.

You deserve more than my son can give you at the moment because you're a wonderful girl, Jessica.

"Wow." As opposed to a spoken word, it was simply a breath.

Dr. Johnson's shoulders tensed up and his face contorted in embarrassment. I apologize. I apologize for saying what I did.

I shouted, "No, wait!" as he started to walk out the door. "I just broke up with him."

"You did?" He stilled. "Why?"

I dropped my gaze to the carpet. It was too hard to look him in the face as I told him his son was less than perfect, even when Dr.Jonson seemed to know David was human. "For the same reason you just said. David and me, we're different people from who we were three years ago." My gaze crawled up Dr.Jonson's body until I could meet his eyes. "I'm not sure the new me likes the new him all that much," I admitted.

"I get it," he said, and he genuinely seemed to. There wasn't defensiveness or anger in his eyes. It looked mostly like relief. "I grew up a lot when I was in school. I did stupid shit until I figured out how to be an adult, and I'm guessing that's where he is right now."

"Still figuring it out?" It was a half-question, half-statement, because I knew it was true. David couldn't get a handle on all the freedom of college life, and he'd gone overboard.

"Yeah. He's got a ways to go," his father said.

"I'm sorry."

Confusion flooded Dr.Jonson's face. "For what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. That I couldn't make it work."

He looked at me like I was being silly. "Don't do that. This isn't your fault. Things don't work out sometimes, and that's just life."

I inhaled deeply. It seemed uncomfortable to discuss it with him, but also pleasant. It was good to know I wasn't at fault. I was already feeling down, but thinking about how he always seemed to know just what to say or do made me even more so. It's terrible. Even after we split up, I still feel like we're not together.

As soon as it left my lips, I regretted it. His irises sprang out in shock

Because," I said, "we'll never see one other again." Do we, like, part ways?"

When I left, I left a big hole in David's heart. Pictures of my boyfriend and I were all around the home. Indeed, I spent last summer's vacation with the Lowes.

I didn't get too choked up, but I did blink away the tears that threatened. Can I mention that I'm going to miss you without seeming weird?

Dr.expression Jonson's and voice had a similar gravelly quality, making it difficult to listen to. Absolutely not. It's not only you that I'm going to miss.

He came toward me, arms outstretched for an embrace as I cleared my throat of the lump. I quickly entered in and let him to press his chest on mine. He obviously didn't mind that my bikini was damp, so I decided to stop caring about it, too.

It was easy to feel safe and secure with him.

Tears threatened again as he held me in his increasingly tight embrace. The status quo was OK with me. Not wanting this ###Chapter to end.

I put my face on his chest and could feel his pulse racing. As his fingers calmly combed through the hair at the back of my head, I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears. If I stayed like this, how long would he stand for it?

Again, the feel of his warm hand on my flesh had me gasping for air as it was placed on the small of my back. He shifted the position ever-so-slightly, as though to settle me into his arms, and I felt a flash of unexpected pleasure. The feeling of embarrassment followed it immediately. All he was doing was giving suggestions and words of comfort. Getting sexual at this very moment was the worst possible idea.

Yet, the more I stayed in his arms, the heavier I became, because I just wanted to be with him more. His perfume was alluring; it was like a combination of wood and leather. He seemed to respond to whatever was going on between us by tensing up and contracting his muscles where I was holding him.

He gripped the side of my face and pulled me back so he could look down into my eyes while his hand in my hair shifted. The intensity of his stare took the life force out of me. cause a tingling sensation in all my nerves.

His stare was menacing. Wild. It made it clear he was contemplating a horrendous act.

We were two individuals standing on the edge of a cliff, terrified that the earth underneath them might give way at any moment and send them tumbling to their deaths. The quick, irregular breathing only helped us raise our shoulders somewhat. My eyes closed as his hand burned across my face.

I knew we were doomed as his eyes wandered to my slightly parted lips, and the worst thing was that I didn't care. Actually, I was hoping it would. As he leaned down to kiss me, I angled my head to meet his.

His soft, tentative kiss shook my whole body and drowned out any other noise. I responded to the tentative probing of his delicate lips on mine. Still, I pushed for it. I let his inquisitive tongue to enter my mouth.

When our careless kiss reached a new level, he took a long breath in via his nose, but it didn't stop him from exploring my lips. The palm of his hand pressed into my back, pulling me closer to him, and his hold on my face tightened. His silky tongue glided past my lips and into mine, sending shivers down my spine.

As he kissed me, I was paralyzed with fear that the spell would be broken if I did something so simple as think, breathe, or move.

By raising me higher with the hand that was cupping my face, Dr. Johnson was able to break the seal between our lips, but his mouth remained on my skin. Rapidly, it swept over my cheekbone and down the side of my neck.

I shivered.

The tremor that rocked my shoulders had nothing to do with the fact that my skimpy bikini was still wet and that air conditioning was blowing on us from a vent above. It wasn't the reason my breasts had become so firm that they protruded from the triangles of my bikini top.

Johnson, MD, was the man in charge.

As he approached and started walking me backwards toward the wall, I almost went tumbling over. He withdrew his hand from behind me and slammed his palm on the wall next to my head.

The sound of his labored breathing invaded my head and ears. What the heck am I doing?

Was he talking to himself? For the simple reason that he didn't stop. A fresh surge of shivers ran through me as his wet lips brushed over my neck and closed on the point where it joined my body. An electric shock surged between my legs as he sucked gently. My hands were tightly clutching his t-shirt while my arms were around his waist.

I knew I shouldn't like it, but I did, and it was fantastic.

I closed my eyes as I lowered my head into his palm, making more place for a kiss on my neck.

The question "You mean, what the heck are we doing?" To be honest, I didn't say much, but I was as invested in this as he was.

The notion slammed in my head as I ran my fingers through his thick hair. Is this dishonesty? The answer is obviously not that. The relationship with David was over when I terminated it. We both wanted more resolution after what I had finished, but we never got it.

As Dr.hand Jonson's slid down the wall and settled on my shoulder, the tips of his fingers brushing against the black thread that held my top in place, my heart sprang into my throat.

In an instant, the temperature in the room went from sweltering to icy. The battle between my mind and body was making me hot and cold. His lips closed over mine as his mouth climbed again up the incline of my neck.

He was older than me by twenty years. The dad of my ex-boyfriend. The question remains, "What was I thinking?" As we are? It was imperative that we seem completely crazy. A wet triangular pattern from my swimsuit bled into his shirt as he forced me up against the wall.

Upon his kiss, I melted into the floor. His mouth's movements on mine were more than merely alluring; they compelled submission. I wanted more of his rapacious kiss than I could possibly get.

What we're doing is wrong, and we need to stop, I said under my breath. The words coming out of my mouth contradicted the message my body was sending. Because of the arch in my back, I was able to push off the wall and make his hand drop. His fingers slowly traced the contour of my breast over my flesh

He moaned into my lips, "I know." When he nibbled at me, the point of one of his fangs just missed my lower lip.

His fingers moved slowly and deliberately along the string, through the fabric, and then out into the cup of my top. The sensation of the swimsuit rubbing on my tender nipples was incredible, and I yearned for more.

His voice crackled with effort. He paused for a while, then said in a shaky voice, "I'm going to keep going until you tell me to stop."

I didn't know whether he was trying to scare me off or convince me.

When I tried to speak, my throat suddenly became tight. I was hoping he wouldn't quit on me. For a while there, I lost any sense of perspective and focused only on myself. To myself, I kept thinking about how remarkable and fascinating this adventure was.

My silence must have given him the idea that I wasn't going to say anything, since his fingers moved slowly inside from the rim of the cup and over my ribs to the bottom string.

As he moved the cloth triangle to the side, revealing my nakedness, I let out a gasp and a little mumble as his hand brushed across my skin. It was enticing to go from the damp, chilly cloth to his warm grasp.

Our kiss was shy at first, but it blossomed into something more passionate as we got to know one another. To my horror, he dove into my lips and ran his tongue lustfully over mine. His fingers trailed and pinched at my nipple, and it teased.

The feelings were so intense that I could feel my body temperature rising to a thousand degrees and I moaned. A dull ache had settled into my gut, and it was becoming louder and more urgent by the second. As soon as Dr. Johnson moved his leg between my knees, everything went nuclear.

When the towel unraveled from around my waist and landed at our feet, I paid it little mind. Instead, I focused on the guy who was applying pressure to my painful spot with the top of his leg. With only one kiss, he had me completely under his control. I'd had a few other male partners before David, but nothing like this.

Oh, I groaned. The grind of his leg against mine sent a jolt of intense pleasure up my spine.

He pulled back from me, and I could see that his eyes had gotten blurry from lack of sleep. His eyes were ablaze with want.

God bless you, Jessica.

His voice was shockingly thick and sexual. I'd known him for three years and had never heard him sound like that before. I gave a little shiver, reveling in the sensation and being unable to stop myself.

As I slumped against the wall and said, "Shit," my heart sank. It was always a goal of mine to avoid using profanity in his presence, but I found myself unable to hold back the swearing this time. I was ready to collapse from weakness in my legs. "Dr.Jonson-"

I'm sure he was aware. He steadied me by tightening his grip on my hips and stepping back. "Carl."

My lungs couldn't take another breath. "What?"

"Carl. It's me; my name's.

Of course I was aware of it. Nonetheless, he insisted that I address him by his first name. He was no longer a child. Really, really elderly compared to me. To me, Carl sounded like the same man I'd only known as Dr.Jonson.

Someone who is unfamiliar with you.

The term was difficult for me to form. My lips parted to call out his name, but no words came out. The silence that followed his departure made the room seem even colder. As his passion faded and was replaced with an unfathomable countenance, the temperature dropped even lower.

Was he beginning to grasp the seriousness of the situation? The phone rang before I could finish my sentence. I recognized the ringtone coming from the pocket of his pants. It was his own personal hospital gown.

When I flinched, his whole body stiffened, and we both became immovable. The expression on his face said he wanted to ignore it, but he couldn't. The phrase "I'm on-call" is used to indicate that you can reach me at any time. I need to get going-"

Yes, "I know you do." I hurriedly nodded and readjusted my bikini in an effort to make it seem like nothing had happened. It's not as if we suddenly realized we were in error.

When he turned off his body heat, the room became chilly. He took out his phone, answered it, and walked around the room as the other person talked.

Although I was slowly gaining composure and coming down from my desire, my eyes lingered over him as he enquired about the patient. His arms, not only his hands, were gorgeous. His forearms and biceps were toned and muscular. Completely lean and toned up.

He seemed quite serious when the conversation ended and we both looked at each other. It's time for me to go. Forgive me.

When he apologized, I didn't press him for details. That he had to go since he was in the middle of something and we were interrupted? The actions we took before to receiving the call? In any case, I was unable to express myself. I couldn't even think of anything to say.

"Jessica." I could see he was in distress. The question "What just occurred..."

He seemed at a loss for words for the first time. I just looked up at him, unable to do anything except take a few quick breaths.

"I took full responsibility for it," he said.

In a moment of confusion, I closed my eyes. Exactly what was he referring to? I was neither forced or convinced by him. He was kissed by me. Everything had been on both sides. I tried to speak out for him, but no words came out of my lips and no thoughts formed in my head.

A deep furrow formed between his eyebrows as he drew them together. The longer the stillness persisted, the more distressed he seemed.

Then it was evident he couldn't hold off any longer. The patient required both his attention and the precision of his scalpel.