Until Autumn - Sheridan Anne Page 0,59

yet when it comes from Thorne, and I know it’s coming from a place of compassion, it’s the moment of my day that I look forward to most. Besides, at the end of the day, I know he’s going to be there to put his arm around me and make sure that I’m doing alright. If I take the last two nights into consideration, it means making me forget all about it until all I can remember is the sound of his name as it comes screaming through my lips.

I take myself for a walk, needing to stretch my legs after being cramped under that ridiculous desk for the past five hours. Patricia wasn’t kind in her punishment, especially as she set me up on the small desk where I’d hardly be able to move, rather than the one that I could spread out on and keep a little organization in my day.

It’s bullshit. I hate it, but I’ll grin and bear it because in the end, being with Thorne is worth it.

As I make my way past the break room, my stomach growls, and I make a detour. A quick bite to eat could never go astray.

I make my way into the break room, passing Suzi, Thorne’s senior midwife, as she exits. She gives me a tight smile and a nod, and I do the same in return. She hasn’t exactly warmed to me, and now that word has gotten out that I’m with Thorne, her disdain has seemed to get worse, making me wonder if she’s been pining over my man all these years. She doesn’t say anything and I’m grateful, but I know it’s coming. She has a world of hurt to throw my way, and the longer she waits and bites her tongue, the better.

The break room door closes behind her, and as I walk deeper into the room, I quickly realize that I’m not alone. Dr. Harding sits across the room on the old, worn couch, watching me like an eagle.

“Oh,” I say, speeding up my strides. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were in here. I’ll just grab my lunch and go.”

Dr. Harding stands. “What? You think so low of me that you assume I need an empty room just to eat a meal?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I … I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I had assumed you were after some peace and quiet,” I explain, looking anywhere but at him. “I heard about the difficulties you had with your patient this morning …”

The walk to the fridge seems to take forever, but when I finally reach it, I couldn’t be happier. I all but dive through it, quickly searching for my lunch so I can get the hell out of here before it gets any more awkward.

“You’re that student fucking around with Dr. Mayson, aren’t you?” he asks, his voice coming a lot closer behind me than I realized.

I straighten out from the fridge and glance back over my shoulder to find Dr. Harding standing right behind me, his eyes roaming hungrily over my body before focusing solely on my ass. “Excuse me?” I question, forcing his eyes to snap up to mine.

“That’s right,” he says, his voice lowering to a chilling whisper as he subtly adjusts himself to leave me no room for escape. “I’ve heard all about you, trading favors for grades.”

“I—”

“Shhh,” he cuts me off, moving in closer and forcing me to step back into the open door of the fridge. “You’re in a world of trouble,” he says, almost as though he’s trying to tease me. “If the big guys upstairs hear about this, you can wave goodbye to your shiny new career, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“You need to move away from me—right now,” I warn, my heart racing as my palms begin to sweat. My eyes flick back to the door, desperately wishing to be on the other side of it.

Dr. Harding’s hand comes up to the side of my face as he takes that final step, closing the gap between us. “Come on, baby,” he tells me. “No one has to know. We can both win here.”

I bring my hands up and shove them against his chest, but he resists, keeping on top of me as he tries to slide his hand inside my scrubs. “Get off me,” I demand.

“What’s the matter, huh?” he spits, pulling faster at my clothes as I desperately struggle against his tight grip. “You’ll be a