Taming Her Navy Doc (11 page)

Erica laughed until her sides hurt. “So what else is happening on the ship?”

“Same old same old. There’s nothing new to report other than Captain Dayton has a new protégé. His name is Lieutenant Clancy and he’s really good-looking.”

“How good-looking?” Erica asked, having an inkling where this was going. Regina was married to an officer who worked in San Diego, but just because Regina was married it didn’t seem to stop her from scoping out gorgeous guys and potential husbands for Erica.

“It’s my hobby,” Regina had remarked once.

Regina scanned the crowd and then subtly pointed ahead of them. “There. That’s how good-looking he is.”

Erica glanced over, trying to be nonchalant. Regina was right; he was handsome. Tall and broad-shouldered from the rigorous training. His officer ranking meant he was probably fresh out of Annapolis: Captain Dayton only picked protégés who came from his alma mater. It also meant that he was most likely a trauma surgeon, as was Captain Dayton.

As she was looking at him, he glanced their way and smiled at her. One of those smiles that made Regina swoon and Erica want to put up her defenses.

“He’s coming this way,” Regina hissed in Erica’s ear, barely containing her excitement.

“Hi, there,” he said.

“Lieutenant Clancy, this is my friend, Commander Erica Griffin.” Regina could barely contain her excitement.

Lieutenant Clancy came at attention and saluted. “I’m sorry, Commander. I didn’t realize who you were.”

“At ease. It’s okay, Lieutenant. I’m not wearing my uniform. How would you know?”

Clancy smiled. “Are you assigned to this base, Commander?”

“I am. My previous assignment was the
Hope.
”

“Really? So you’re the surgeon who Captain Dayton has been gushing over since I arrived on board.”

She chuckled. “One and the same.”

“He didn’t mention how beautiful you were, Commander.”

Erica tried not to roll her eyes. She really didn’t have time for this kind of come-on. And, no matter how cute the lieutenant was, he was Navy and off-limits. All Naval men were.

Except one.

If Thorne had come up to her and given her that cheesy pickup line she might’ve fallen for it, but then Thorne would never do anything like that. He had pride—an alpha male through and through.

A hero.

“Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant, but Regina and me have some catching up to do and it’s my day off.” Erica gripped Regina by the arm and forcibly marched her away from the docks at a quick pace.

“Are you crazy? He’s really into you.”

“Regina, we’ve been together for what…five minutes?…and you’re already up to your old antics.”

Regina laughed and squeezed Erica’s arm.
“And you love it. Come on, admit it, you’ve missed me.”

Erica chuckled. “I’ve missed you and possibly your tomfoolery.”

“Tomfoolery? Easy there, Shakespeare, or I may start up with my buffoonery or clownery.”

They laughed together.

“I have missed you,” Erica admitted.

“What’s it like on the base?”

“Good. It feels odd to not be at sea. When I was back in San Diego before this assignment it was hard to get my land legs back.”

Regina grunted. “I know. Every time I have leave and I’m in San Diego with Rick, for two days I swear I’m walking around like I’m drunk.”

“You don’t have the best land legs.”

“Don’t even get me started.” Regina glanced around. “It’s pretty here, though. How far are we away from mainland Japan?”

“Well, you have to take a twenty-four-hour ferry to get to Kagoshima.”

“Wow. That’s far. I guess living it up in Tokyo is out of the question.”

“Yes. You seriously suck at geography.”

Regina stuck out her tongue. “So, what else is interesting about this base? You’re holding something back. Something you’re not telling me.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“I know when you’re hiding something from me.”

“I’m not hiding anything from you.” Erica let go of Regina’s arm. Damn, she hated that Regina was so intuitive. It was what made her a good nurse; she could always glean that little nugget of information out of a patient. “Are you hungry? I’ll take you to that pub I was talking about.”

“What are you hiding from me?”

“Nothing! I’m just trying to feed you.” Then Erica spied exactly what she was trying to hide. Thorne was walking their way.

Regina had been there, working with Erica when Thorne had come in. She’d been his nurse for the few brief hours he’d been on board. Of course, he hadn’t pleaded with her about his leg; he hadn’t reached up and kissed her and called her beautiful.

“Angel.”

“Oh, my God!” Regina froze. “Look who it is.”

Erica grabbed her and pulled her behind a shrub. “Get down!”

“What?” Regina smiled then. “That’s what you’re hiding.”

“Shut up!”

They crouched behind the bush until Thorne
walked past and was out of sight. Erica let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s that SEAL from…what…five years ago? The one who you were fighting so hard to keep on the ship. I thought for sure he would’ve died.”

“I thought he did too.”

Regina crossed her arms. “So why are we hiding from him, then?”

“We’re not.”

“Please. What was with the ‘get down!’ then?”

“I thought I saw a bug.” Erica was not the best liar in the world, especially when she tried to lie to Regina; she didn’t even know why she bothered with it.

“Please. Since when have you been afraid of bugs? Remember when we stopped in Hong Kong? You were the only one who tried those fried bugs. Which, by the way, still freaks me out to this day.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Who is he?”

“Captain Wilder is my commanding officer,” Erica responded. There was no point in hiding that aspect. Regina would find out.

“Does he know?”

Erica shook her head. “I’m not talking about this. I’m going to get something to eat.”

“Well, first can I drop my duffel bag off at your ­quarters?”

“Okay. Then eat.”

“Yes. Then eat.” Regina rolled her eyes. “In time you’ll tell me. You always do.”

Not this time,
Erica thought to herself. She wasn’t saying anything more, because there was nothing to tell. Absolutely nothing.

Except undeniable chemistry.

She cursed silently to herself. It was happening again and she didn’t want it to.

Yes, you do.

No. There was nothing secretive or gossip-worthy in nature about her and Thorne. All Regina needed to know was that Thorne was her commanding officer and that he would be running the simulation tomorrow. That was it. End of discussion.

W
HY IS HE TOUCHING HER?

It was ticking him off because he should be focusing on the simulation lab, which was about to start. He’d been collected and ready to start at zero nine hundred hours, until some young lieutenant had come in and sat down next to Erica.

She was smiling at him as they spoke quietly to each other and then the lieutenant put his arm on the back of her chair. He wasn’t totally touching her, but it was close enough.

Why should you care?

He shouldn’t. He had no prior claim to Erica. She was off-limits. She wasn’t his. Though he wanted her. He desired her. There was no use denying it anymore, to himself, at least. That was where those feelings were going to stay, buried deep inside.

Thorne cleared his throat and shuffled his papers, trying to ignore Erica and the lieutenant, but he couldn’t.

Just like he hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off of her last night at the pub. She’d been laughing and having a good time with a friend from the
Hope
. The lieutenant had been there, joking and smiling with them.

Thorne’s only company had been Scooby.

“She doesn’t laugh like that with you.”

“Thanks for pointing that out, Scooby. I appreciate it.”

Scooby had shaken his head. “That’s not what I mean. It’s all fake.”

“I find that hard to believe, Scooby.”

“It’s fake. When she looks at you, that’s something more. It’s better.”

Though Scooby hadn’t been able to elaborate on how it was better.

Thorne found that hard to believe. She didn’t look at him
different
. Not that he could tell. Then he uttered a few oaths under his breath, mad at himself for thinking about Erica and thinking about
looks
and lieutenants.

He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nine. Time to start.

“Welcome everyone to my simulation lecture today.” He moved around the other side of the podium. “Today we’re going to be using robotic simulators and your tools would be the general tools that could be used in battle or emergency situations. There will be very basic tools, be
cause in extreme circumstances you have to think with your head and improvise. I will be breaking you off into teams and each team will be given a different scenario.”

“How long do we have, Captain?” a young ensign asked.

“I will start the timer. The first team to finish successfully, well, I don’t have a prize.” He grinned. “But perhaps I can be persuaded.”

There was a bit of laughter and his gaze fell on Erica. She was smiling at him warmly. The same way she’d looked at him when they’d had pizza together at Scooby’s place and, though he should just ignore it, he couldn’t help but return her smile.

Concentrate.

“Okay. Organize yourself into teams. I want a ­mixture of levels of command. Not all surgeons with each other. I want to see a true team of medical professionals.”

As they organized themselves into teams, he got his cards ready and Erica came up beside him.

“I think your prize should be one of Scooby’s house pizzas.”

“That might appeal to some, but really, what’s so special about a pineapple pizza?”

“That it’s one of Scooby’s,” she said matter-of-factly.

He chuckled. “Well, if I’m offering that, I don’t think it’s very fair that you’re participating in this simulation. You’ve already had a taste of the prize. It might drive you to cheat.”

“Are you calling me a cheater, Captain Wilder?”

“If the shoe fits.”

“I’ll have you know…” She trailed off and then the joviality disappeared. “Well, I better get to my team.”

He watched her walk away, and then turned back to see that friend of hers watching them with a strange look on her face, like she’d caught them doing something naughty. What the heck was happening to his hospital?

Since when had he reverted back to high school? Because that was what it felt like and he was not happy about that.

“Can I help you…?”

“I’m a nurse, Captain.” She stepped forward. “My name is Regina Kettle. I’m a nurse on the
Hope.
”

Thorne nodded. “And is there something I can help you with? Do you have a question about the simulation?”

“No, not at all. My apologies for staring, but I think I know you.”

So that’s why she was staring and why Erica was ­acting weird.
Did this nurse remember him
as a patient? Had this nurse seen him when he’d been so vulnerable? That thought made him nervous.

“I don’t think so.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Well, maybe not, then.”

“We’re about to get started.”

“Sure thing, Captain.” She moved past him and returned to her team.

Don’t let her shake you.

It didn’t matter if she remembered him. It didn’t matter if she’d been there when he’d lost his leg. It didn’t make him less of a soldier or a surgeon.

Something it had taken him a couple of years to deal with himself when he could no longer be a part of the Special Ops.

So why is it bothering you so much?

He silenced the niggling voice in his head. When he looked over at Erica she was on the lieutenant’s team and he was leaning over her, whispering in her ear while they went over what supplies they had.

“Lieutenant!” he snapped.

The lieutenant in question looked up, his cheeks flushing with color. “Yes, Captain Wilder?”

“What’s your name, seaman?”

“Lieutenant Jordan Clancy.” He saluted.

“Tell you what, I’d like you to switch places with the Ensign Fitz over here. I think the ensign would benefit more from working with Commander Griffin.”

The blush remained. “Of course, Captain.”

Lieutenant Clancy and Ensign Fitz switched places. Thorne felt a little inkling of satisfaction and then he noticed the nurse was smiling smugly to herself, as if she’d uncovered some kind of secret.

He was not handling this well.

Pathetic.

And he was angry with himself for being so petty. This was what Erica did to him. She made him think and act irrationally. Before she arrived he’d led a relatively quiet existence. He didn’t wrestle with his guilt every day.

What existence?

“All right, I’ll be handing out your scenarios. Do not look at them until I start the clock.” He passed cards to all the teams and then pulled out his timer. “Okay, go!”

The teams began to move quickly, moving through the scenarios and working together with the minimum equipment they had.

There were some promising officers, surgeons and medical personnel training in the simulation today. Erica handled her team efficiently as they dealt with the trauma to the chest
wall. She immediately reached for the plastic bag and tape to stop the wound and the patient from bleeding out so they could properly assess them.

It gave him a sense of pride to watch her.

She was incredibly talented, beautiful, poised and a commendable second in command and officer.

And totally off-limits.

At least that was what he kept trying to tell himself, but he wasn’t sure if he wholly believed it anymore.

* * *

“Are you sad your team lost?”

Erica was startled to see Thorne taking the seat next to her at the bar.

“No, not at all.” She took a sip of her drink. “We would’ve won except for Ensign Fitz’s blundering ­mistake.”

“You mean when he killed your patient?” Thorne asked.

She laughed. “Yes. That does put a damper on the contest.”

“He needed to learn.”

“I could’ve won had you not taken Lieutenant Clancy from me.”

His expression changed just slightly and he shifted in his seat. “Were you mad at my decision?”

“No, other than I lost.” She leaned over. “I hate to lose, by the way. Just for future reference.”

He smiled and nodded. “Noted.”

“So why did you pull the lieutenant from my team?”

“I thought you said you weren’t mad,” he replied.

“Not mad. Just curious. I want to know what drove you to your decision.”

“Ensign Fitz has a lot to learn and you’re a damn fine surgeon.”

Somehow she didn’t believe him. Regina had suggested that Thorne had moved Lieutenant Clancy because he was jealous and possessive at the time. Regina had said she saw the way Thorne looked at her and, the moment Jordan had begun to whisper sweet nothings in her ear, Thorne moved him.

Erica thought the whole thing was preposterous.

Although the “sweet nothings” wasn’t totally off; Lieutenant Clancy had been flirting with her, telling her how good she looked and asking her out for a drink later—which Erica had promptly turned down, much to Regina’s chagrin.

“It’s Captain Wilder, isn’t it? You have the hots for him.”

“I don’t have the hots for him, Regina. I just have no interest in dating a superior or any officer.”

Regina had rolled her eyes. “Then who are you going to date?

“No one.”

“You’re hopeless.”

This was why Erica didn’t date. Maybe she was hopeless, but there was good reason. Her career was too important.

She would never risk that for anything. Even a stolen moment with Thorne.

“Thank you, Captain. I appreciate the compliment.”

“Thorne, remember? We’re off duty.”

“Right.” She began to peel at the label on her domestic beer. The happy-looking squid was starting to lose tentacles as Erica nervously shredded the label, which was soft as the water was condensing on the outside of the bottle.

Don’t think of him that way.

“So what did you think of the simulation today?” he asked.

“I thought it was good. Better than some other simulations I’d been involved in. Some are just endless lectures.”

“I don’t lecture.”

She laughed. “I saw you tear down Ensign Fitz when he killed our robotic patient.”

“That’s a stripping down. It’s not a lecture.”

“It sounded like one of my father’s.” She took ­another swig of beer.

“Your father served, didn’t he?”

“He did. He was a good officer, but I’m not like him.” She didn’t want to talk about her father. Not because she wasn’t proud, but because people’s condemnation and their scrutiny of her father cut her to the quick.

“How do you mean?”

She shook her head. “I’m not as strong as he was.”

“You’re just as strong. I see it.”

“He wasn’t called mentally unstable while he served.”

It was only after.

She sighed. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. I apologize for that. It was uncalled for.”

“I’m used to it. It seems wherever I go I’m judged on that. Judged for making one mistake. I’ve had so many psychiatric evaluations and understanding conversations…”

Thorne held up his hands. “Erica, I was just making conversation. I don’t think that at all.”

Had she just heard him right?

“You don’t?” she asked in disbelief.

“Why would I? Why I would judge you on the mistakes another made? You’re a totally dif
ferent person—I think, perhaps, stronger with all you’ve had to deal with. Was your father a medical officer?”

“No.”

“Well, then, I don’t know how you can be held to the same standard as him and vice versa. Serving as a medical officer is totally different than a plain officer.”

“And being a Special Ops SEAL is so much more.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “Did you deal with PTSD when you returned home?”

“That’s classified.” He winked.

“I can always request your medical record as your surgeon.”

He leaned over and she felt his hot breath as he ­murmured in her ear. “You can’t. You’re not on my record. It was wiped. I have never been on board the
Hope.
”

“That’s terrible! So who did they say did the ­surgery, then?”

He shot her a wicked grin. “Me.”

“You?”

“Me. I was the medical officer with the unit.”

“So you amputated your own leg, in the field in a very neat and dare I say brilliant way?”

His blue eyes twinkled. “You got it.”

“You’re not serious, are you?”

“Would I lie to you?”

Erica laughed. “Really, we’re going to head back into
that
territory, are we?”

Thorne shrugged. “I’m absolutely dead serious. According to my official medical file out of San Diego where I recuperated, I was the chief medical officer in my unit, and I alone amputated my own leg.”

Erica muttered a few choice curses that were quickly drowned out by an inebriated seaman shouting for music.

“No problem!” Scooby got up and selected music on his tiny digital jukebox, blasting a song at an obnoxious level as people crowded the dance floor.

Thorne laughed. “Do you want to dance?”

“Are you insane?”

“No, I’m serious. Come on; this is a fun song.”

Erica shook her head in disbelief as a weird, drunken crowd formed on the small dance floor in front of them.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

“What, the dance or the crowd?” Thorne teased.

“Both.” Erica took a swig of her drink. “I’m surprised that no one is filming this. This is going to end up on the internet.”

“Good idea.” Scooby scurried away.

Erica gave Thorne a sidelong glance. “You don’t think he’s going to get a camera, do you?”

“Don’t put it past him. He might actually still have a camcorder back there.”

Scooby returned and held up his phone. “Come on, Captain Wilder and Commander Griffin. Get out there and dance.”

“She said no, Scooby.”

Scooby frowned. “Why?”

“I don’t dance in such an organized fashion.” She winked at Thorne, who was laughing.

“Bah, you’re no fun. I’ll film you anyway.”

“I have to get out of here,” Erica shouted over the din. She set the money down on the counter. “Do you want to get out of here, Thorne?”

“What?” he asked, wincing.

“Let’s go!” she shouted and took his hand, pulling him out of the bar. They managed to avoid Scooby’s camera by disappearing in the throng of people that was now gathering around the edge of the dance floor.

She hated really thick crowds in small spaces. So it wasn’t that she was afraid of dancing, or being caught on Scooby’s video and ending up online
,
she just knew it would be a sudden crush of people and she didn’t want to have a panic attack in front of Thorne.