Instant Gratification Read online

  She pulled her hands from beneath her coat. One was cradling the other, wrapped in a towel.

  Spence immediately reached for her. “What happened?”

  “A new knife and a stubborn piece of chocolate.”

  Emma grabbed her keys for downstairs. “Let’s go take a look.”

  “No, I pick Dr. McHottie,” Serena said.

  “Sorry. I’m the doctor on call,” Emma told her lightly, trying to save Spencer. At the very least, Serena would walk all over him. At the most, she’d eat him up and spit him out.

  But Spencer smiled. “I’d love to earn my keep. I’ll be happy to take this one.”

  Emma swiveled to look at him. “Earn your keep?”

  “Seeing as you’ve put up with me all week.” He slid an arm around Serena’s waist and guided her down the stairs as if she was an invalid.

  Not that Serena seemed to mind.

  Emma followed. Earn his keep, her ass. Inside the clinic, she flipped on the lights and prepared a tray, but when she moved to wash her hands, Spencer was already ahead of her, washed up and unwrapping Serena’s hand to examine it. “Ouch,” he murmured sympathetically.

  “Yeah.” Serena held her breath as he touched. “Bad?”

  “No.” He smiled into her face. “Just a couple of stitches. Probably only two.”

  “Oh boy.” Serena nibbled on her lower lip. “I don’t like needles.”

  Must be a Wishful thing, Emma thought, and opened her mouth to say something, like consider it Karma with a capital K, but Spencer spoke first.

  “Don’t you worry about a thing,” he told Serena. “I’ll make sure you’re comfortable.”

  “Really?” Serena’s eyes locked on his. “Can you do that?”

  “I specialize in it.” He glanced at Emma with the unspoken question, and with a shrug, she gestured him to go ahead.

  The bedside manner he’d mentioned didn’t escape her notice. He was good at that, making a patient forget their pain, putting them at ease. He could read a person like no other, and know what they needed in any given moment.

  In Serena’s case, a little harmless flirting had taken her mind off her pain, and Serena would never forget him. As Emma brought him the tray with everything he’d need, she thought of her last needle-phobic patient.

  She’d treated Stone to a textbook T. Yep. She’d fixed up his body and he’d heal quickly and wouldn’t scar.

  But she’d ignored his other needs.

  As much as she hated to admit being second best at anything, her very lack of “bedside manner” is what made Spencer a better doctor than her.

  She watched him continue to keep Serena at ease and wished she’d learned the art of it. Why hadn’t she?

  Because she was focused.

  Because she tended to be concerned first and foremost with a patient’s physical well-being.

  In Stone’s case, because she’d been unnerved by him and her reaction to him.

  There.

  That was the bottom line, the truth.

  And it shamed her. She’d always prided herself on being the best she could be, on giving the best care she could, and in doing so, she’d actually concentrated on herself more than her patients.

  By now, Spencer had Serena leaned back and was making her comfortable, distracting her with an easy smile and quiet voice.

  “So are you Emma’s?” Serena asked him.

  “Nah,” Spence said easily. “She wouldn’t have me.”

  “She always was shortsighted.”

  Spence grinned.

  “We’re just friends,” Emma said a little tightly. “Though sometimes I wonder why…”

  Spencer kept on grinning, thoroughly enjoying himself.

  “Are you from New York, too?” Serena asked him.

  “Yep. Dr. Spencer Jenks, but any friend of Emma’s can call me Spence.”

  “Oh, we’re not friends,” Serena told him, still studying his face. “I used to torture her in first grade. But I did try to make it up with brownies the other day. Double fudge, warm, soft, out-of-this-world brownies…”

  Spencer groaned appreciatively. “Now you’re just teasing me.”

  Serena smiled. “I have a fresh batch…I could share.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Spence assured her. He had the syringe in his hand, low at his hip where Serena couldn’t see.

  Emma had always scoffed at that practice. In her opinion, assuming the patient wasn’t a kid, she believed they wanted things upfront and honest.

  “What else do you make?” he asked Serena.

  “Name it.”

  “Really? God, I love a woman with talent in the kitchen.”

  Serena smiled. “Honey, I’ve got talents in every room of the house, trust me.”

  He laughed again, clearly enjoying the unmistakable hum of attraction between them. “Not fair,” he said. “I hiked all day and I’m starving. Tell me what you have in your front case,” he directed, “and I’ll pretend it’s right here in front of me.”

  “Oh, you should see today’s pies.” Serena’s eyes were closed and she smiled dreamily. “I love pies. They’re my specialty.” Her lips curved. “Amongst other things, of course.”

  “Of course. But what’s your favorite?”

  “Pumpkin. My pumpkin pie is completely and totally out of this world.”

  “I bet. A quick prick now,” he murmured. “That’s it, that’s all there is. Keep breathing. So do you use whipped cream on that…?”

  Much later that night, Emma lay in bed staring at the ceiling trying to figure things out. Why she suddenly felt so restless. So out of place in her own skin.

  So…alone.

  She didn’t have to be. Stone had made that clear. What she hadn’t told him was exactly how tempted she was to go to his cabin and take him up on his offer.

  He could alleviate all her restlessness, and leave her humming with pleasure while he was at it. But…

  But.

  Something about his challenge to connect with him scared her, because she knew that she could connect with him, big time.

  And then she’d leave.

  It was in the cards, the plan all laid out—as soon as her dad was better, she was gone.

  Even she couldn’t repair a broken heart.

  Chapter 20

  Emma dreamed about Stone and woke up wishing he was in bed with her. What was up with that? She got up and showered, and thought about how it’d feel to have him soaping her up.

  Okay, this Stone obsession she had? It had to stop. In fact, she wasn’t going to think about him again.

  For at least five minutes.

  Helping with that, Spencer made an extravagant breakfast, waiting until she took her first bite and moaned in amazed culinary pleasure before he leaned in. “Em.”

  “Ohmigod.” The perfect way to put Stone out of her head—with food. “This is fantastic.”

  “Of course it is. Listen, you know I’m leaving in two days. I have a little favor.”

  “Anything,” she murmured, shoveling in more food. “Name it.”

  “I want to ask Serena out.”

  She slid her gaze to his. “Serena, bitchy Serena?”

  “She’s not all bitch.”

  “Don’t fool yourself. She’s purebred bitch.”

  “I can handle myself. Now take me out of my misery. Yes or no?”

  She set down her fork. “You’re serious.”

  “Yes.”

  “You won’t let her skin you and eat you alive?”

  “Not on the first date,” he promised.

  Emma picked her fork back up. The food was too good to let it go cold just because he wanted to get his heart kicked. “Will you still cook for me?”

  He grinned. “Always.”

  Later that morning, Missy Thorton came by the clinic carrying a casserole dish and Emma sighed. “What’s wrong today, Missy?”

  “Nothing. Just wanted to bring you this.”

  Emma peeked inside the ca