is normal, like he’s just supposed to be here.
“I don’t know how the fuck a pair of scrubs is sexy, but you pull it off, Iz.” Damien brushes some hair off my shoulder and presses his lips to my neck as I finish putting a light swipe of blush on. “I cannot tell you how many times I stood on the other side of that counter and fought gettin’ hard just talking to you.” He nips my ear. “The amount of restraint it took to keep my hands to myself.”
I love knowing that he feels the same way, and it wasn’t a new thing—that he wanted me as badly as I did him over the past year. “Probably the same number of times I wanted to hop over the counter and climb all over you.”
He squeezes my hips and pushes his hardness against my backside. “The things you do to me, baby girl. Christ.”
“Stop turning me on when I need to leave.”
He chuckles. “Shit. I do, too.” And then he doesn’t move.
“You’re not leaving.”
“I know.”
Pressing up to my toes, I kiss his jaw, then his lips. “Go.”
“It’s gonna be hard to walk away from you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good. I wouldn’t let you anyway.”
I kiss him once more, and then finish up and shut my light off, following him downstairs. After petting Judy, I hug Damien once more, and with a promise to call me later, he heads outside to his Escalade.
As soon as I close the front door, I bang my forehead on it. “Shit, shit, shit.” Turning around, I slide to the floor and wrap my arms around my bended knees. “He’s one of them.”
How did I not put two and two together? This is not good… He works with my brother. I thought they were alike before but knowing they’re both in the same business has everything falling into place now. “Why didn’t I just tell him?”
Probably because I know Gio is going to be so mad. He has no right to tell me who I can date, but for my entire life, he’s always been crazy protective over his little sisters, and being grown adults doesn’t factor into that.
Gio told me about how the boss’s daughter is now married to Royce, one of the bodyguards there, and how that ordeal was a huge struggle with her father, Erik, but also with the rest of the guys, too. They all know each other very well, including the not so good parts, so when you involve a family member in a romantic relationship, it’s not an easy road. Which also makes me wonder how the hell I never met Damien before or even heard of him.
I don’t have time to think about how I’m going to fix this because I have to go to work. I’ll figure it out later because I’m already running late.
But the thought doesn’t leave my mind as I drive to work. In fact, my brain is so absorbed in thought that I don’t even remember driving here, parking, or walking inside the building.
“Isabel, my office,” Dickman snaps, which breaks me out of my conundrum. I haven’t even set my purse down, so I carry it with me.
Once I reach his office, he’s already seated behind his huge glass desk, playing the part of the ass he is. He slides a piece of paper over. “You’re suspended without pay.”
“Excuse me?”
“You signed out a client’s pet and took them out of the building with you. You know the rules, and you know that is not okay. If something happened to that dog, I would be liable. Not you”—he points at me—“but me.” I jump when he slaps his hand against his chest. “I would be in a world of hurt, and then I’d have to clean up messes and lose money… and I do not like to do either of those things. Now sign the paper and get the hell out of my office.”
The truth is, he’s right. I knew it was against policy when I took Judy yesterday. For once, Dr. Rickman has every right to be mad at me. Sure, it’s not the most professional way to go about it, but me taking the dog wasn’t professional, either.
“How could you do something so stupid? Jesus, Isabel, I thought you were smarter than that.”
Ignoring the continued criticism, I take my punishment silently by signing the paper, then walking out. Jesse smiles at me, but I don’t return the sentiment. I just go straight to my