Until Autumn - Sheridan Anne Page 0,58

tell him, my mood only slightly getting better now that he’s here. “She said she was going to speak with the ethics board about us, but I reminded her that while she certainly has the power to fuck with my career, that it’d be a big mistake to try and mess with yours.”

“Shit, babe,” he says with a heavy sigh before crossing the room and stepping right into my side. He reaches out and grabs me, instantly pulling me off my chair until his arms are wrapped around my body and my face is buried in his chest. “She won’t get away with it, don’t worry. She can’t touch us.”

“I know, but … paperwork?”

Thorne laughs. “Yeah, I don’t think there’s much I can do about you getting stuck with paperwork, that’s her domain, but she can’t take you off my service. If I say I want you working under me, that’s where you’ll be and she knows it.”

“What about the ethics board?”

“They won’t do shit,” he tells me. “They’ll want to investigate, but they’ll back off after realizing that we’re in a committed relationship.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, glancing up at him.

“Positive,” he tells me. “Besides, Patricia has been around for years, thinking that she’s the top dog on my ward. She threatens a visit to the ethics board once a month, and so far has never followed through. She’s all talk and no action.”

I nod my head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “Okay,” I finally say. “But I better warn you, after calling me a whore, I’ll be doing everything in my power to make her life miserable. Whenever she sees me walking down the hall, she’s going to turn and run the other way.”

“Good,” he says with an amused chuckle. “It’s about time we get a little excitement on this ward. Though, don’t underestimate her. If you’re going to war with Patricia, then you need to be prepared.”

“Is that your way of telling me to back off?”

“Nope, the woman called my girl a whore. I hope you take her down. It’s just my way of telling you that if you’re going to go in for a punch, make sure you have the muscle to back it up. I’m always in your corner, no matter what.”

I grin up at him, and not a second later, his lips drop to mine. He kisses me tenderly before finally pulling back and giving my ass a gentle squeeze. “Now, get out of here and get back to work. No girl of mine is going to be hiding out in a break room all day. You’re stronger than that.”

With that, Thorne releases his hold on me and walks straight back out the door, leaving me with a renewed confidence to face the day head-on, Patricia be damned.

CHAPTER 17

AUTUMN

My face scrunches into a pissed-off scowl as another stack of paperwork is added to the pile of shit that I’ve been busily filtering through for the past two days.

When will this torture end?

Thorne was right, Patricia couldn’t have me removed from his service, but she could certainly get me to do all the paperwork in the world. It’s too much. Why should I be punished for being in a relationship with an amazing man? It’s complete bullshit and the kind of crap that only comes from a woman who needs to get laid.

I watch as the busy midwives rush past me, going from patient to patient and doing everything that I so desperately wish I could do.

This sucks.

I try to focus on the paperwork lying scrambled across the desk of the nurses’ station, but when Thorne walks past, desperately trying to hold back an amused grin, I fly up from my desk, needing to walk off my irritation.

Thorne watches me, and I roll my eyes before making a gesture that would make any grown man blush. He laughs and gets on with his work, and I can’t help but feel slightly better about my situation.

Being stuck on paperwork isn’t exactly ideal, and while it’s definitely frustrating, the looks and jabbing that I get from Thorne every time he walks past makes it worth it. Don’t get me wrong, he’s more than annoyed at the situation and constantly telling me that he wishes he could make it all go away, but he’s also doing everything he can to make it bearable. Which, unfortunately, means teasing the living daylights out of me.

If it was coming from anyone else, I’d be pissed,