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Cussing softly, he switched on the light in the car and pulled her closer. “The light bright enough for you?”
“What…”
He kissed her, effectively shutting her up. At first, her mouth was cold and unyielding, but within seconds, she sighed, opening her lips, making it possible for his tongue to quickly slip past her lips.
Only when she shuddered against him, did he lift his head. He brushed her hair away, his hand not quite steady. “Now that we’ve established we like kissing each other even when we’re both stone-cold sober, I’d like to finish my sentence.”
“You’re leaving in four or five days.”
His eyes followed her tongue as she flicked it out to wet her lips. Desire streaked through his body like lightning, leaving him aching. “We have four or five days to get to know one another.”
“You’re here for a story. You’re nosey and poking into my life. I don’t like that.”
Frowning, he stared down at her. “I’m trying to help. I know a trashy piece of writing when I see it. What has been written about you must’ve been devastating. Annie has mentioned you received another email from this so-called reporter. I don’t know the facts—you won’t tell me, but I can—”
She threw up her hands. “You want the details? Okay, I’ll give you the details. Brett Carson was my immediate boss at the hospital in Sacramento. He knew my dad who was also a doctor but at another hospital. While our parents were still alive, Brett was friendly, helpful, and supportive. But then…” She leaned back against the seat, gripping her hands together. “My mom was a social worker. Dad sometimes accompanied her, and one day, while he was with her, visiting a family in a seedier part of town, they were both killed in a drive-by shooting.” A tear slipped down her cheek.
Groaning, he gathered her close again. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
She wiped her cheek. “Mitch was amazing. He stepped in and handled everything. Annie and I kinda fell apart. I had to go back to work, though, and a few weeks later, Brett asked me out on a date. Apart from the fact that he was my dad’s age, I was still reeling from what had happened to our parents—we were in the middle of sorting out their affairs, and I didn’t want to go on a date with him. I declined, and that was when things turned ugly.”
“What do you mean?”
“He started following me around in the hospital while I was seeing patients, making derogatory comments, belittling me in front of colleagues, and he tried on more than one occasion to grab me.”
“What the hell? Didn’t you report his behavior?”
“I did but he’s the head of the department and has friends in high places. It just got worse after that.”
“The photo of you undressing…”
“He took it while I was changing in the locker room after a shift. In the photo, it looked as if I was stripping for someone, but I’d just finished an eighteen-hour shift and could barely stand.”
“So, was he the one who put the photo up on social media?”
She nodded. “He tagged me in all the posts. I only heard about those days later when a colleague teased me about it. I’ve never been very active on social media, and during that time, I barely had time to sleep, let alone keep up with what was happening online, so I missed it. Anyway, the story about the ‘sex-starved young doctor’ as he so eloquently put it, went viral and was picked up by a sleezy newspaper in town. What made it worse was that the name of the hospital was mentioned. That’s probably the article you came across.”
“I don’t understand… if Carson was the one who put the story on social media, why didn’t anyone confront him about it?”
“He used a fake profile. I didn’t have any evidence it was him, and to be honest, I simply wanted to get away. He made it impossible for me to stay at the hospital, so I resigned. Around the same time, we sold our parents’ house, and Mitch had the idea we should move to a small town and start over. He used to be in finance but was fed up with the lifestyle and wanted out. Annie remembered Marietta from a trip we had with Mom and Dad, I heard about a temporary position in the ER at Marietta Medical, and well, here we are. I didn’t really care where we were moving to as long as it was as far away from Brett Carson as possible.”
By the time she’d finished speaking, Aiden was so angry he opened his door and got out quickly. He was ready to punch, kick, and seriously hurt. Inhaling a deep breath, he got back into the car.
Without a word, he started the car and took her hand in his. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
*
Aiden stopped thecar in front of Annie’s house, but he didn’t immediately open the door. Since he’d gotten back in the car, he’d been quiet. Vivian had no idea what he was thinking.
She couldn’t believe she’d just shared her story with this stranger. The past was going to stay in the past—that had been her motto ever since they’d arrived in Marietta. However, within days of Aiden’s arrival, she’d somehow reached a point where she’d felt comfortable letting down her guard. For goodness’ sake, she’d even let him kiss her and—this was freaking her out—she’d kissed him back. Passionately.
Pulling in a deep breath, she put a hand on the door. “Thank you for dinner, for taking me to the hospital, for waiting for me. I honestly hadn’t planned on burdening you with my pathetic story. Please forget about it…”
With teeth clenched together, he looked at her. “The bastard hurt you. How the hell am I supposed to forget about it?”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing anybody can do about it now. Let it go. I have.”
“Annie mentioned you received another email.”
