Playing Doctor Ch. 06
Keywords: Doctor, Playing, Ch., 06,
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"
The nurse backed out, still grinning widely. "There's a detective waiting, so don't take too long," she sing-songed right before she closed the door.
I slid out of the bed and opened the bag holding my clothes. Then I looked over at Keven, still seated in the chair. "Out." If I pulled off this gown, there would be no doubt left as to how far gone I was for him.
He grinned. "But I've already seen you naked."
"And that will just have to tide you over," I said archly. "The next time you see me naked will be when we're ready to spend some quality time alone. There are too many interruptions around this place. Now, out." I pointed at the door.
Unrepentant, he slid out and closed the door behind him. I slumped against the gurney and let my breath out. What was I doing? I wasn't even trying to pretend we weren't going to make love anymore. Not even to Keven. Had I lost every ounce of self-respect I'd ever had?
I stripped off the gown and ran water over a washcloth. I had to freshen up. He'd driven me to the edge of sexual assault on his hard body and I had to get rid of the evidence. The question in my mind wasn't "could I delay sex for a few days?" anymore. Now it was "can I hold off on ravishing him until after dark?"
As I dressed, my emotions were a whirlpool of desire and worry. I realized that my mind had said 'make love,' not 'do the mattress boogie,' and I took some comfort in that, but that 'L-word' was enough to send both panic and desire spearing through me. Would this be the first step in something wonderful or an enormous mistake? I guess there really was only one way to find out.
The shell game at the police station went off smoothly, and in an hour or so I was in my car with Keven in the passenger seat. I'm not sure what machinations they had to go through to get Keven and my car, minus his bike, behind the police station, but it had all worked.
I drove and also kept an eye on the detective tailing me. He'd been back there since the police station where we'd been introduced. He faithfully stuck behind us at a distance and stopped at the city limits. That made me nervous, being on our own.
"I need to find a place to stop and get some clothes," I said, glancing at Keven as we left the urban area behind.
"For simple things, there is a Wal-Mart about halfway there. Will that work?"
I nodded. "That's fine. I need underwear, jeans and stuff. How rough is it going to be?"
"You'd better get some boots, too. It's way off the beaten path."
"It's been a while since I went camping."
He laughed. "Well, it's rough but not that rough. I have a cabin up in the foothills. There is some great hiking and all, but you'll have a roof over your head."
"Indoor plumbing and a bed..." Just starting that sentence set off a shock-wave in my belly.
"Indoor plumbing and a bed," he agreed. "All to yourself unless you decide you want company."
"I appreciate that," I said quietly. "I'm just still trying to figure out my feelings."
He grinned at me. "After the hospital, are you sure it's your feelings you need to figure out?"
I swatted his arm and laughed. "Can't a girl have some secrets?" His hand snaked out and rested for a moment on my leg.
I looked over and felt the heat flash between us. I licked my lips and forced myself to watch the road. No, I guess that secret was out of the bag. "Okay, so I have a pretty good idea how I feel about things. You win."
He pulled his hand back. "I love winning."
"Men!" I said derisively. "Hold onto those thoughts for a while, Slick."
At the Wal-Mart he picked up some food stuff while I found a selection of rugged clothes and underwear. I picked up enough to last a week or so.
I dithered over getting some sexy night clothes and finally gave in and added them to the cart. If I was going to give myself to him, I wanted to wrap the present really well. I could get them bought and sacked before he saw them.
When I got to the check-out I discovered I had no cash. That's right, I'd been robbed. I shuddered and handed over my check card.
The checker had just finished loading my bags back into my cart when Keven arrived with what looked like a month's worth of groceries.
"Good Lord! We can't eat all this stuff!" I chided him.
"Not all at once," he agreed, loading the stuff onto the conveyor. "But this gives us a selection so we won't be down to rice and beans in a week. Choice, my dear. It's all about choice."
"But I like beans," I confided. "And how long are we going to be out here? A week?"
He shrugged. "I can't guess, but it all depends on how accurate your assessment is of your cop friend. When he tells us it's safe for us to return, then we can come back. Not before then, however."
I frowned and tapped my foot. "I don't like being away from my patients that long, and I don't like open-ended time-frames, either."
"Do you like goons hiding out and waiting for you any better?"
A good point, I admitted. "No, but I'm not going to live like a prisoner."
Keven nodded. "Then let's run with it for a week or two and see how things settle out. They may have him in a few days and it will be a moot point."
I grimaced, but bowed to the inevitable. "That's as good a place to start as anywhere, I guess."
When the food was all bagged we went back out to the car. I started to pop the trunk but he blocked me. "I have stuff in the trunk, so this will have to go in the back seat."
I raised an eyebrow. "What's in the trunk?"
"You'll find out tonight," he said disarmingly. "It's a surprise."
"After the last few days, I'm not so sure I like surprises," I said, "but I'll wait and see."
-----
The remainder of the drive took us far from the well-traveled roads. First we left the blacktop for a one-lane county road and then a gravel road. As low slung as my convertible was, I started to get worried. "Is it going to get much rougher? This isn't a Hummer, you know."
"It's gravel all the way up, and there aren't any major dips," he said. "The road is a couple of miles in, though. Then we get to the gate to my place and its dirt, also without major bumps or holes. We'll make it."
I tried to hide my doubts and followed his directions. The gravel road rose higher into the foothills and took us deep through the tree line. The dappled sunshine made patterns of light and dark all along the road. Mixed with the sweet scent of the outdoors, it lulled my worries.
At the end of the road was a sheet-metal gate with a chain and combination lock. Keven hopped out and opened it for me and then locked it behind us. Now there was a flat dirt road that led to a house on the low ridge ahead of us. Well, perhaps house wasn't the right word. It was more of a lodge. Big and rough looking, it fit the mountains that framed it perfectly. Leave it to an artist to even make his house fit the theme.
I parked the car in a sheltered area under the lodge and climbed out, stretching my back. The place smelled of trees and flowers, even here in the garage. A wide set of stairs led up to the ground floor.
Keven popped out and grabbed my hand and the small ice-chest that had what little cold stuff we'd picked up. "Come on. I'll give you the nickel tour, and then I'll come back and empty the car."
I smiled and let him pull me up the stairs. The ground floor was wide and spacious. It was also decorated in a rugged way that set the tone. It was made to look like a camp house, though I soon saw that the kitchen was fully outfitted with everything from a Sub-Zero built in refrigerator to a massive cooking surface.
Keven efficiently stored the food and then pulled me into the living room with a smile that promised something special.
The huge picture window stopped me dead in my tracks. On the other side of the ridge was a small lake surrounded by trees. The terrain was shaped like a bowl with the lake at the bottom and it rose into the mountain range on the other side. The view was breathtaking. I was so overwhelmed that I almost didn't feel Keven wrap his arms around me.
"There's a gravel path up front that leads down to the lake. It's sheltered by the trees and it's private. The whole lake is private, and we won't see anyone up here but us. The lake is spring fed and crystal clear."
I relaxed into the shelter of his arms. "I didn't get a swimsuit," I said regretfully. It sounded wonderful.
"Since it's private and secluded, I think we can safely say that it's swimsuit optional," he whispered silkily into my ear, his breath tickling the small hairs on my neck.
I turned my head and smiled at him. "You just want to see me naked again."
"Well, you did say that the next time you get naked we would be spending quality time," he said disarmingly. "And I'd say swimming counts as 'quality time', wouldn't you? Surely you didn't have something else in mind."
"Let's finish the tour, eat something, and talk about shedding our clothes," I laughed.
-----
The place was massive. It had a master bedroom that was to die for and the guest rooms were almost as nice. The upper deck had a hot tub and even a shrouded telescope. Everything was in the style of a camp house, with every possible amenity imaginable.
Even with all the cool things, the one room that caught my attention was his studio. It was at the end of the house on the second floor and had a three-sided view of the pristine wilderness. It also had every known supply a painter would need from blank canvases to bushels of brushes to about a billion tubes and bottles of paint. The floor was covered with a plastic sheet - to protect the wood, I supposed.
I looked at him standing in the doorway. He looked like he was itching to come in and start painting and he was eyeing me. I smiled. "So, I suppose you'll want me to pose for you while we're out here."
Riley answered the door as soon as she knocked. Light flooded out of the cabin, making her blink and shake her head. Devon stepped up into the cabin, her eyes readjusting to the light, and turned to look up at Riley.
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Keywords: Doctor, Playing, Ch., 06,