The Jinx: A Romantic Medical Comedy (Heartthrob Hospital Book 2) Read online

CeeCee shrugged. “Maybe. But I’m not taking any chances. I’ve seen enough divorce to last me two lifetimes. No need to make those same mistakes on my own.”

  “You wouldn’t.” Jack’s brown eyes shone with certainty.

  But CeeCee wasn’t so sure.

  “Self-fulfilling prophecy or not, the Jessup family whammy is no laughing matter. It’s very real. And I don’t have a clue what makes a loving relationship work. I made up my mind a long time ago. The curse dies with me. I’ll never marry and have children.”

  Jack made a choking noise. “I’m not afraid of your curse.”

  “I am.”

  Setting his glass down on the coffee table, he leaned forward and took her hand in his. “Why don’t you give me a chance to show you that you’re wrong? Somewhere deep inside your heart you know exactly what it takes to love and be loved.”

  She shook her head.

  “Go out with me, CeeCee. I know we would be great together.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered. She felt a drop of moisture on her cheek, and this time it wasn’t water.

  “Why not?” He tapped his foot, impatient, antsy. “Let me prove to you not all men are like your father and Lars. Let me show you I’m different.”

  “I can’t jeopardize our friendship, Jack. I won’t lose that.”

  He clenched his jaw and got to his feet. “You’re turning me down?”

  “Yes, but only for your own good.”

  “Friendship isn’t enough for me anymore, CeeCee. I want you. I’ve wanted you from the first time I set eyes on you. I’ve helped you pick up the pieces every time one of those guys has dumped on you. I’m telling you I can’t keep watching you hurt yourself.”

  CeeCee’s eyes widened in alarm, and her chin trembled. “What are you saying, Jack?”

  “I’m saying...” He paused a moment. “I don’t think we can continue being friends.”

  3

  “Something’s wrong with Jack,” CeeCee told her girlfriends, Lacy and Janet.

  They were browsing a bridal shop in search of bridesmaids dresses they could agree on for Lacy’s impending wedding.

  “Wrong?” Janet raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

  “He’s acting really weird.” CeeCee rubbed her chin. She’d been fretting about Jack all day.

  “What about these?” asked Lacy, a petite blonde surgical nurse. She fingered pink, puffy-sleeved taffeta dresses with bustles.

  “No!” CeeCee and Janet cried in unison.

  “Come on,” Lacy coaxed. “They’d go perfectly with the lime-green tuxes I’ve got picked out for the men.”

  Janet and CeeCee exchanged horrified glances.

  “Wh-what?” CeeCee stammered.

  Janet growled. “Forget it. I’m not dressing up like some bubblegum Southern belle and standing next to some guy who looks like a toxic spill,”

  Janet, a tall, willowy brunette with indigo eyes, possessed a no-nonsense personality that counterbalanced Lacy’s inherent sweetness and CeeCee’s usual optimism and CeeCee loved her to pieces.

  “Gotcha.” Lacy laughed and pointed a finger at them. “I was kidding.”

  “Thank heavens,” CeeCee said. “I thought we were going to have to call in the fashion police and have you carted away for violation of the good taste code.”

  “Go ahead.” Lacy waved a hand. “I didn’t mean to joke in the middle of your problem. What happened with Jack?”

  “Last night he told me he could no longer be my friend.” CeeCee pushed a hand through her curls.

  “Seriously?” Janet scowled.

  Jack’s declaration caused a strange emptiness inside her chest, and CeeCee couldn’t say why. As an outgoing, gregarious woman, she had tons of friends. Why would the loss of one guy affect her so strongly, especially when she was accustomed to losing the men in her life on a regular basis?

  “What?” Lacy asked. “But why would he do that? Bennett says Jack is about the nicest resident at St. Madeleine’s.”

  “Jack is a great guy and he’s a wonderful doctor. He interned with me last fall, remember,” Janet agreed. “What did you do to him, Cee?”

  “It’s the curse,” CeeCee whispered.

  Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

  “Oh, please.” Janet rolled her eyes. “Not that excuse again.”

  “It’s bad enough the darned curse keeps me from ever getting married, but now it’s even causing trouble in my friendship with Jack,” CeeCee said.

  “Hogwash.” Janet shook her head impatiently. “There’s no such thing as a curse.”

  “I don’t know about that. If there’s such a thing as the Thunderbolt,” Lacy said, referring to the incredible love-at-first-sight zap that had caused her and Dr. Bennett Sheridan to fall head over heels in love. “Why can’t CeeCee be a victim of the Jessup family whammy?”

  “You’re not helping,” Janet told Lacy. “CeeCee us to bolster her confidence, not perpetuate her belief in some superstitious mumbo jumbo. C’mon you two. We’re women of science. We should act like it.”

  CeeCee turned her back on her friends and blinked away the tears gathering in her eyes. They didn’t understand. No one understood what it was like to grow up in a fractured household where the men came and went like taxicabs.

  She had spent a lifetime trying to make lemonade from lemons, grinning and bearing it. Never getting too attached to any stepfather, step-uncle, step-grandfather.

  For the most part she maintained an optimistic attitude. She didn’t want to marry knowing it could only end in disaster, but she did want Jack’s friendship. More than she’d ever realized until the threat of losing him loomed.

  “Start from the beginning.” Janet placed a hand on CeeCee’s shoulder and guided her to a table and chairs situated in the back of the shop for customer convenience. “Now exactly what happened?”

  “Jack asked me out.”

  “The beast!” teased Lacy.

  “What a brute! You want us to call the law on him?” Janet joined in.

  “Ha-ha.”

  “Come on, Cee, is it so tragic that he asked you out?” Janet looked puzzled.

  CeeCee gazed at her dark-eyed friend. “Yes. I like him too much to hurt him.”

  “Do you suppose he could be in love with you?”

  She froze. Please, no, don’t let it be so.

  “Of course not.” CeeCee forced a laugh. Then she remembered the kiss and the way Jack had touched her, the look on his face. Groaning, she closed her eyes.

  “Do you want to be more than friends?” Janet nudged her.

  “It’s not an option, Janet. I can never fall in love. Ever. And especially not with Jack. He’s the kindest, most gentle man I know, and I will not hurt him by getting romantically involved with him.”

  Three days had passed and CeeCee was in the hospital swimming pool assisting a stroke victim with the woman’s aquatic exercises when her assistant, Deirdre, came over and told her that Dr. Travis wanted to see her.

  She glanced the door, spotting Jack standing in the archway.

  He wore green hospital scrubs, white leather sneakers, and had a black stethoscope tossed around his neck. His hair was sexily mussed, as if he’d been repeatedly raking his fingers through it.

  Her pulse hip hopped. She hadn’t seen him since that fateful night, and she worried he was upset with her.

  “Deirdre,” she asked, surprised by the tremor in her voice. “Could you finish up with Mrs. Mathers?”

  “Sure.”

  She and Deirdre switched places. CeeCee came up the ladder, fully aware Jack’s eyes were on her. She reached for a towel, wrapped it around her waist, and slid her feet into a pair of flip-flops. Pasting a pleasant smile on her face, she sallied to the door.

  “Hi!” She greeted him as if they’d never had an argument, as if everything was hunky-dory and she hadn’t spent her nights tossing and turning and worrying that she had wounded his feelings by refusing to date him.

  “Sorry to take you fro
m your work.”

  “No problem. You want to go into my office?”

  She indicated a door at the other end of the physical therapy room. A few patients ran on treadmills with monitors attached to their chests. Others lay on mats enduring range-of-motion exercises, or practiced crutch walking with attendants. Weights clanged. Voices echoed against the tall ceilings.

  “We can talk here. It won’t take long,” he said.

  Was he that afraid of being alone with her? CeeCee searched his face.

  His expression was deadpan.

  Anxiously she ran her tongue over her lips. All right, all right, she was the one afraid of being alone with him. She feared her hormones would kidnap her brain and do something really insane—like throw Jack on her desk and kiss him until he begged for mercy.

  “Okay. What’s up?” She forced a carefree note into her voice. No renegade estrogen was gonna boss her around.

  His gaze flicked over her. His pupils widened. Self-consciously, she unfurled the towel from her waist and held it to her chest.

  “I’ve come to say goodbye.”

  “Goodbye?” Her heart dived to her tummy.

  Plunk!

  He nodded solemnly.

  “You’re leaving St. Madeleine’s?”

  “Not forever.”

  “How long?”

  “For the rest of the summer.” The corners of his eyes softened, his smile deepened, and her tummy, which was currently swimming somewhere around her ankles, turned to pure mush. “Until September.”

  “B-but where are you going?” she asked, feeling strangely abandoned. It was a familiar sensation. She should be quite used to it by now.

  Why Jack should be any different, she couldn’t say, but her disappointment was as barbed as the day her real father had told her and her sister, Geena that he was moving to Louisiana without them.

  “I’m headed for Mexico. Remember, I told you I’d applied to volunteer for Dr. Blakemoore’s surgical team?”

  Yes, she recalled. He’d mentioned something about joining a group of doctors and nurses from St. Madeleine’s who traveled to poverty-stricken countries every summer to provide free medical care to children in need. She even considered signing onto the project herself, but it hadn’t fit with her work schedule.

  Now, she wished she had made a way to go so she could be with him.

  And that, right there, was a dangerous thought. She should be distancing herself from him, not getting closer. It looked like fate was doing the separating for her.

  Good, good, she told herself, but it did not feel good at all.

  “I was placed on the alternate list,” he continued, “and at the last minute one of the surgeons had to drop out, so I got bumped up. Since my internship is over and my orthopedic residency doesn’t start until September, this opportunity came at a great time. It even saves me from having to teach a lab class in summer school.

  “Oh.” CeeCee cleared her throat. “Well, that’s great, I suppose.”

  “It’s a great opportunity. I’ll learn a lot.”

  It was terrific that he so willingly gave of himself to others, but on a selfish note, she was going to miss him something fierce.

  He shifted his weight but held her gaze. “I also thought it might give us both some time to think things over.”

  She nodded. “Um-hmm.”

  “I brought you the key to my apartment.” He passed the key over to her.

  She clutched it in her palm. It was still warm from his body heat.

  “If you don’t mind, could you water my plants and feed my fish?”

  “Of course.”

  “And here’s the number to the place where we’ll be staying, too.” He took a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. “This is where I’ll be staying. Just in case you need to reach me for any reason. There are no cell phone service in the village we’re going to so if I don’t call back right away, don’t worry.”

  “You go on to Mexico and don’t fret about a thing here. Have a wonderful time. Help those children. Learn a lot.”

  “Thanks. I hope to.”

  He nodded, his gaze never leaving hers. He wanted to say more, she could see it in his eyes. But no words would soothe the bizarre sensation that he was leaving for good.

  So what? the tiny voice in the back of her mind sniped. The defensive voice from her childhood that reared up whenever some man left. Ta-ta. Bye-bye. So long chum. Been nice knowing ya. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Who needs you anyway?

  “Is that it?” she asked.

  “Oh, one other thing. My twin brother, Zack, might be dropping by to stay at my apartment while he’s in town for a competition. He’s the motocross champion, remember.”

  “Of course.”

  “Actually, you two will probably hit it off. He’s mad for adventure. He even goes by the moniker Wild Man on the circuit.”

  “He sounds like you’re opposite.”

  “He is. Zack loves extreme sports and never dates any one woman for too long. He’s always on the move, looking for excitement. Your kind of guy.”

  CeeCee didn’t know what to say. In a perfect world, Jack was exactly her type. But she couldn’t have him. Although Zack did sound like a lot of fun but only because he would have no expectations of her. No strings attached. How could she explain her fears to Jack so he could understand?

  Besides, it would be weird getting involved with Jack’s twin brother. She suppressed a shudder at that thought. Nope. No. Not going there.

  “Did you hear me?” Jack asked.

  “Are you identical twins?”

  “In DNA, if not temperament. Yes.”

  Jack and Zack looked exactly alike? Then definitely not. She couldn’t date her best guy friend’s twin.

  “Anyway, I percolated on your dilemma with the charity auction, after you lost Lars—”

  “That was sweet of you, but I’ll figure something out.”

  “Hopefully, you won’t have to. I phoned Zack and asked if he could help out. Zack couldn’t make any promises. He’s not a promise-making kind of guy, but he said he’d try to be there for you event and I told him he could crash at my place.”

  “That’s so sweet of you.” His kindness touched her deeply and she almost threw her arms around him, but then the thought of what she might stir up held her back. All right, Jack was better than most.

  He shrugged and gave her a lazy grin that lit up her spirits. “It was the least I could do after chasing off your pro-wrestler.”

  “You’re so thoughtful.” She laughed at his droll expression.

  His eyes darkened and his smile disappeared. “Thoughtfulness hasn’t gotten me anywhere with you.”

  “Oh, Jack.” She reached out a hand and touched his cheek.

  “I’m going to miss you, CeeCee.”

  “I’ll miss you, too.”

  This was awful. Too bad Jack wasn’t a self-centered, macho male who wanted nothing more than a casual fling. That, she could handle. Then again, if he were a self-centered, macho male she wouldn’t worry about hurting him.

  Despite her best intentions not to notice him in a sexual way, she found herself studying his strong profile, and admiring the way his short hair lay against his head.

  He was a good-looking man. Perhaps it was a positive thing that he was leaving town. By the time he returned, she’d have her attraction to him firmly under control.

  Jack cleared his throat and gestured toward the door. “I’ve got to go. I’ve barely got enough time to round up my gear before the van leaves for the airport.”

  “You’re leaving right now?”

  “Yes. May I ask another favor of you?”

  “Of course, but I can’t make any promises.”

  He smiled ruefully. “You sound just like Zack.”

  “What is it?” she murmured.

  “Will you think about me, about us, while I’m gone?”

  “Jack...”

  “It’s okay.” He eyed
her regretfully. “Your tone of voice just answered my question.”

  4

  A month later, Jack rattled north across the Texas/Mexico border in the bed of a 1952 Ford pickup truck. He was being driven home because one, he couldn’t afford the flight on his meager intern’s salary and two, because it was almost as far from the little Mexican village that he’d been working in, to the nearest Mexican airport, as it was to drive straight to Houston.

  His injured left knee, which he could barely bend, ached like the dickens, rivaling the chronic ache that had festered in his heart for four long weeks after he’d left CeeCee behind. She wasn’t expect him home until September.

  Jack took another slug off the tequila that Pedro, the pickup driver, had given him to ease his discomfort during the nine-hour journey home in the truck bed. He rode in the back because sitting in the cab of truck intensified the pain in his knee.

  Another slug of hooch and Jack found himself tongue-to-tongue with the worm.

  He’d reached rock bottom.

  “Ay-riba!” he sang to the darkness and swallowed the worm whole.

  If CeeCee Adams could see him now. Drunk, knee busted, eating tequila-soaked worms. Very Zack-like. He hadn’t shaved or cut his hair the entire time he’d been out of the country. His skin was bronzed to the color of whole wheat toast by the relentless Mexican sun even though he’d used sunscreen.

  Wild? CeeCee wanted wild? He’d show her wild.

  Pedro slowed the truck as they approached the Houston city limits and stopped at a signal light. He stuck his head out the driver’s side window. “You okay, amigo?”

  “Mucho fino,” Jack sang and wondered why the city lights kept fading in and out.

  “You’re going to have one helluva headache tomorrow.”

  “I know.”

  He needed some kind of crutch. He wasn’t ready to see CeeCee again. He had planned on being away for eight weeks. In eight weeks he might have come up with a plan for winning her over. A plot to convince her that she wasn’t cursed, that they could make a perfect couple and live happily ever after.

  But four weeks simply wasn’t long enough to form a dazzling plan. For the last month, he’d done nothing except work twelve-hour days and pine for CeeCee. When he wasn’t in surgery or checking up on the kids in recovery, his mind had been on his best friend.