Read His Bidding (The Best Medicine #1) for Free Online Page B

looked at his Rolex, registering the same surprise Brynn had, but said, “I’m pretty sure your boss won’t be upset with you if you take a few extra minutes to warm up something to eat. Especially after some thoughtless jerk took up all of the time you had.” He offered her that irresistible grin again, and she was glad she was sitting as her knees weakened.
    They both stood, simultaneously, exchanging a shy smile as they did so, and Brynn reached to gather some of her food to rescue it. But her extended hand was instead taken into Sam’s grasp, gentle but firm, and her breath hitched. She looked up at him, surprised by the contact.
    “Thank you for this, Brynn,” he said softly. “I’d been worried about how I was going to bring this up – or if I should mention it at all – and you made it much easier on me than I expected. So...I appreciate that.”
    She felt another strange wave of confusion, as their conversation had swung back and forth between professional and...well, what was it? Friendly? Informal? Flirtatious? It was the latter about which she wasn’t so sure, and that made her question everything about what she’d just agreed to do, and what this was going to mean.
    “No problem,” she breathed, their hands entwined in an almost-handshake, loaded with thoughts and feelings she knew neither of them had quite sorted out here. They were still standing like that, gazing at each other, when his office door suddenly swung open.

SEVEN
    “O h!” A gasp followed the surprised exclamation in the doorway. “I’m...wow. I’m sorry.”
    Brynn’s heart jumped into her throat, and she flushed with guilt as she turned and saw Maureen standing there, staring at the pair who was awkwardly attached across the desk. The girl’s coat was still on, and she’d clearly just returned. Her cheeks were as pink as Brynn imagined her own had turned.
    “I knocked...” Maureen said weakly, averting her eyes as though she’d caught them in an act far more scandalous than an attempted handshake.
    “Hey, there,” Sam said with a big smile, carefully letting go of Brynn’s hand and facing Maureen as though nothing untoward had been said or done in the past hour. “Sorry. We were just packing up these leftovers.”
    He was so breezy, Brynn thought. She was somewhere between disconcerted and impressed.
    “Do you need help?” Maureen’s offer was in direct conflict with her distinct look of discomfort, which made Brynn shake her head.
    “No, thanks – I’ve got it. I’ll be right out to your desk in a minute, okay?”
    “Brynn, take the time to eat something. You can afford five minutes.” Sam gave her a look she couldn’t decipher before turning to Maureen. “Can you fend off the afternoon patients for just a little longer, sweetheart?”
    “Yeah, of course,” Maureen replied with a still-embarrassed smile, and then ducked out of the doorway as quickly as she’d appeared.
    Brynn, in the meantime, was thoroughly surprised by his affectionate words toward the young woman. She’d nearly forgotten her earlier suspicions about Maureen having a crush on their boss, but now it came roaring back with a vengeance. It was impossible to think that it would be reciprocated, of course – not by someone like Sam, Brynn thought – but “sweetheart”? That was just plain weird.
    Brynn finished putting the boxes of food back into their paper bags, Sam helping her while returning to his careful avoidance of any accidental contact. “I’ll, uh, leave the rest in the staff room fridge so you can take it home?” she half-asked.
    “As long as you promise you’ll eat as much as you want before you get back to work.”
    She nodded, feeling oddly disconnected from the entire situation. “I will. And I’ll make sure to phone for that follow-up on Mrs. Holland, because you know she’ll be asking you about it when she comes in later.”
    Sam smiled, back to business. It was unnerving. “Good call. Thank you.”
    With one