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

  “Oh, no.” She struggled to sit up.

  He moved aside and watched her prop herself against the headboard and give him a look that was part regret, part longing. “No?”

  “It’s not that. I’m not interested in a long-term relationship, either. In fact, I never plan on marrying.”

  “Why not? Beautiful woman like you?” He reached out to finger a curl. He asked because he wanted to know if she’d tell Zack the same fantastic tale that she’d told him.

  “It’s a family curse.” She waved a hand. “But I don’t want to get into it right now. Suffice it to say that because of my childhood, I don’t believe in the institution of marriage.”

  “That’s great, ’cause neither do I. Not that I had a bad childhood. In fact, my family was a bit like Leave it to Beaver. But heck, maybe that’s why I want something different.”

  A thrill blasted through him. Yea! She hadn’t made up that Jessup family whammy story simply to let Jack down easy.

  “But,” he continued, “I do believe in having a good time.” It was hard knowing how to strike the right balance between Jack and Zack. He didn’t want to come off egotistical, but on the other hand, he didn’t want her to think he cared too much. Insouciance was the only thing that would keep her interested. “So let the good times roll.”

  “No. Not tonight. We’ve both been drinking and after all, we just met.” Her curls bobbed seductively across the top of her breast. “Don’t rush the thrill of the chase.”

  He had to glance at the ceiling for a second and compose himself, before turning his gaze back to those mesmerizing sea-green eyes.

  “You’re right.” He took her hand and ran his thumb across her palm. “And I apologize if I overstepped my boundaries, but you’re so damned sexy, CeeCee; it’s all I can do to keep my hands to myself.”

  “This isn’t a forever no.” She slanted him a coy, sideways glance that was almost his undoing. “Just a not-right-now no.”

  “So there’s hope?”

  She simply giggled.

  “I pray that’s a yes.”

  “I better go.” She scooted off the bed. “My party guests are probably wondering where I’ve gotten off to.”

  Quick, do something, she’s getting away.

  “Are we still on for whirlpool treatments?” Jack gingerly rubbed his knee and sent her a hangdog expression, playing on her sympathy.

  “Of course I’ll still give you therapy. I’ll see you Monday afternoon when I get off work.”

  “What about tomorrow?” he said. “On your day off.”

  “You’re pretty persistent, aren’t you?” She adjusted her swimsuit strap and smoothed down her mussed hair.

  He angled her a grin. “Didn’t Jack tell you? That’s my middle name. Zack Persistent Travis.”

  “Until after you get a woman into bed, and then I bet your middle name switches to Zack See-Ya-Around Travis.”

  He laughed. “You’ve got my number.”

  She shook her head and chuckled. “That’s what I like about you. You might be an intractable rapscallion, but at least you’re honest about it.”

  “Rapscallion?” His laugh echoed hers.

  “A bad boy.”

  “Babe,” he drawled. “I’m no boy.”

  “Hmm.” She raked her gave over him and licked her lips.

  “CeeCee, I don’t leave a trail of broken hearts behind me. I tell it like it is. Only those with heavily armored chest protectors need apply.”

  She leaned over, giving him a superior view of her excellent cleavage, and boldly chucked a finger under his chin.

  Jack just about swallowed his tongue.

  “You don’t have to worry about me. After my crazy childhood, I’ve developed a heart of titanium. You’ll never burn through it.”

  “Good,” he said, but what he thought was we’ll see about that.

  “Until tomorrow.” She turned away, wriggling her fingers behind her.

  Until tomorrow, my sweet, he thought and watched her walk out the door.

  Tonight, he’d struck out. But that was okay. He had a whole month to convince her. Eventually he’d get her where he wanted her—denying that damned family curse and letting herself be loved.

  Now all he had to do was find out how to burn a hole through titanium.

  “So?”

  CeeCee blinked at Janet. She’d been daydreaming about kissing Zack. Remembering how his lips had felt on hers—strong and hungry. Thinking that he tasted exactly like Jack. But of course, they were identical twins. And if it weren’t for the scratchy beard, she could almost pretend he was Jack.

  “So?” Janet repeated.

  Focus. Here. Now. Get out of Zack’s bedroom. “So, what?”

  It was well after midnight, and the guests had departed. They were cleaning up the courtyard, stuffing plastic cups, aluminum cans, and paper plates into different colored trash bags for recycling.

  “So, how was Jack’s brother?”

  “What do you mean how was he?”

  “Come on, you were with him in Jack’s apartment for almost an hour. Are you going to tell me your physical therapy session didn’t turn a little more physical than a simple knee massage?”

  “Janet! Why on earth would you even suggest such a thing?”

  “You mean besides the hickey on your neck?”

  “What!” Appalled, CeeCee slapped a hand to her throat.

  “The other side,” Janet pointed out.

  “Oh gosh.” She slumped into a nearby lawn chair. “Now everyone will know.”

  “CeeCee, you would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see the sexual chemistry snapping between the two of you. The air was practically electric.”

  Groaning, CeeCee plunked her head in her hands. “I don’t want Jack to find out about this. It would break his heart to know that I made out with his twin brother.”

  “Hmm. Made out? Just how far did you go?”

  “Janet!” CeeCee lifted her head. “What do you think I am?”

  “I think you’re a healthy, red-blooded American woman with no strings tying her down, who came across a man who really turned her on.”

  “We just kissed.”

  “That’s it?” Janet sounded disappointed. She sat at the edge of the pool and dipped her toes into the water.

  “Well, I was in my bikini and he was in his underwear so of course there was body-to-body contact. Is that second base?”

  “Any touching below the waist?”

  “No.”

  Janet stuck her hand out straight, twisted it in a half wave. “First base, stealing for second.”

  “Am I horrible?”

  “Not at all, honey.” Janet leaned over and shook her foot. “You’re wonderful.”

  “I bet Jack wouldn’t think so if he knew.”

  “Why are you so worried about Jack? He’s over six hundred miles away and he never put a ring on it.” Janet stared at CeeCee’s bare hand.

  “He probably would if I gave him half a chance. Hence the problem. I feel like I’m cheating on Jack. Sounds weird, doesn’t it?”

  “Considering that you’re nothing more than friends, yes.”

  “I know. But I’m wondering if I’m simply attracted to Zack because he reminds me of Jack.”

  “Could be.”

  Why couldn’t she shake this feeling she was betraying Jack? And why, the entire time she’d been kissing Zack, had she kept wishing that he was his twin brother?

  “You’re thinking too much,” Janet said. “Where’s the lighthearted, carefree CeeCee we know and love? I’m supposed to be the gloomy cynic in the bunch, remember?”

  CeeCee smiled. Thank heavens for her friend's clarity. She was obsessing over nothing. “You’re right. There’s not a problem. I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. Jack is my friend. Zack is my patient. Neither one of them is my lover, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”

  Okay, this was the plan. Jack had to find a way to convince CeeCee to become Za
ck’s lover. Or rather his lover. Doggone it, he was confusing himself with this identity shifting. It was getting so he didn’t know where he ended, and Zack began.

  Last night, in his delight at having discovered a surefire plan to help CeeCee overcome her fear of that silly family curse, he’d moved too quickly, scaring her with his boldness. Subtlety was the key. A slow, simmering seduction.

  He would use Zack’s persona to get her into bed, but it would be he, Jack, who would keep her there. Once CeeCee realized that she could indeed fall in love, that she was worthy of all the love in the world.

  That was his only goal. To give her the love she deserved, the life she secretly craved but was so afraid to reach for.

  He had gotten the masquerade off to a good start. He had awoken just before noon with his first hangover ever. Head throbbing, he had stumbled to the medicine cabinet for three aspirins. After washing back the pills with a gallon of water, he checked his phone and noticed he’d gotten a voice mail from her.

  Heart suddenly racing, he played it.

  The second he heard CeeCee’s voice spinning into his room, he forgot his aching temples. She was going out to lunch with her friends, but she could supervise his whirlpool treatment at three-thirty. Would that be all right?

  Yes, he texted her. Three-thirty is perfect.

  Spurred into action, he spent the next hour at the outdoor mall shopping for “Zack” clothes. Black leather pants, a leopard print Speedo, Harley-Davidson T-shirts. Although his beard was driving him crazy, he would not shave it, for he feared once the hair was gone the line between him and his twin would disappear. He needed the hair as a crutch to separate himself from his brother.

  At least in his own mind.

  Because the landlord had called and said he couldn’t repair the window for two days and because he was bored with nothing else to do, he detoured by the hardware store for a new pane of glass and repaired the window in record time. Still it was only two o’clock.

  He called Zack’s house to tell him not to bother coming to the charity auction, that he’d act as his stand-in, but he got Zack’s roommate who told him Zack was on a three-week motocross run. Had his twin forgotten his promise?

  Jack made a mental note to call his brother again in three weeks. He didn’t trust the roommate’s message-relaying skills. He certainly couldn’t have his twin showing up at an inopportune time and blowing his whole cover.

  He spent the remaining time pacing his apartment and practicing his twin’s lower-pitched, slower-paced speech patterns.

  Every time he heard a car engine, he popped over to the living room window, lift the curtain, and study the parking lot, hoping to catch a glimpse of CeeCee returning home.

  After about the nine hundredth time of peeking from behind the curtain, her lime-green late-model VW Bug slid into her parking space.

  Stomach in his throat, Jack watched her get out and toss her fiery mane over her shoulder in a familiar way that made his gut clutch.

  She flowed up the stairs to her apartment, moving so gracefully it seemed her feet never touched the ground. She had on a lavender floral print dress with a matching beaded choker and cute little white ballet slippers.

  Jack, realizing he’d been holding his breath, inhaled deeply, his gaze fixed on her trim athlete’s hips. The door closed behind her, and he moved away from the window, perspiration beading his forehead.

  She gives me a fever, he thought, delirious with need. Break out the aspirin STAT! Grab an ice pack or two. And while you’re at it, wheel in a defibrillator in case my heart stops.

  His cell phone rang.

  Jack shot across the room and snagged it off the table where he’d left it. “’Lo” was all he could manage.

  “Zack?” CeeCee’s voice came through, rich and sweet. “Are you ready for your treatment?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Meet you at the whirlpool in ten minutes. Do you know where it is?”

  Jack knew, but Zack shouldn’t. “No.”

  “Through the courtyard to the left, past the laundry room, behind the gym.”

  “See you there.”

  Pulse bumping with anticipation, he raced to the bedroom, jammed himself into his new Speedo for his new persona, and mentally reminded himself of his goal. Win her over. But slowly. In fact, make her work for it.

  7

  The minute Zack sauntered into the steamy, fern-filled whirlpool pergola favoring his left knee, CeeCee’s jaw hit the floor and her eyes rounded wide.

  Most men would look ridiculous in a leopard-print Speedo. Jack wouldn’t be caught dead in such swim trunks. But on Zack the tiny strip of material fit.

  Perfectly.

  He looked wild and masculine. With his washboard abs, and well-developed biceps, he flat put Alexander Skarsgard in Tarzan to shame.

  From the time she was a small girl, she’d had a secret crush on Tarzan. A lingering jungle fantasy that included making love on a bed of banana tree leaves, but to heck with the King of the Apes. Zack Travis was the absolute sexiest thing she had ever clapped eyes on, and she was about to get into the whirlpool with him.

  She wanted to ask him to pound his chest, throw back his head and do the Tarzan yell. Her toes curled at the notion. Last night had been no margarita-induced anomaly.

  Bummeroo.

  She’d hoped a good night’s sleep and the stark light of day would help her see things clearly.

  Apparently not. Inwardly, she groaned. It was official. Like it or not, she had the serious hots for Zack Travis.

  Then again, what wasn’t to like?

  Great body, handsome face. Adventuresome, sexy, fun-loving, decidedly not marriage-minded, he was the perfect guy for her. They had a lot in common. Besides, what was so wrong with a red-hot fling?

  It had been a long time since any man had moved her to this degree. The only one that even came close was the very one she refused to feel anything sexual toward.

  His twin brother, Jack.

  Zack closed the door behind him, then moved across the room to where she perched on the edge of the Jacuzzi, her feet dangling in the warm, bubbly water.

  The closer he came, the harder it was to breathe. She peeked surreptitiously at him from lowered lashes. Despite his limp, he moved like a predatory cat on the hunt, nimble and smooth. He had a white towel, that contrasted sharply with his tanned skin, thrown over one shoulder.

  She stared at the sinewy muscles bunched across his chest. Her pulse fluttered, as weightless and fast as hummingbird wings.

  He stopped and peered down at her.

  CeeCee felt his gaze igniting the top of her head, but she was too nervous to turn and meet his stare straight on.

  The humidity in the room accentuated his scent. A fragrant masculine aroma, not cologne, she decided. Lighter, milder. Probably one of those zesty manly soaps.

  His abdomen was chiseled; his belly button a provocative innie just begging to be tickled. His body hair swirled in a dark line that disappeared into the waist of the compact, low-slung swimsuit.

  Her eyes grew even wider. The suit hid absolutely nothing.

  Embarrassed, she spun her gaze across the room and focused on a Ficus plant in the corner.

  She was so aware of him. His broad-shouldered presence encompassed the entire building. She wished that some other apartment dweller would pop inside to join them in the whirlpool and defuse the moment.

  No such luck.

  “How you doin’?” he drawled, his voice pushing through her like heated chocolate.

  “Fine, fine.”

  “I had a great time last night.”

  “Me, too.” She couldn’t keep avoiding his eyes. Bravely, she raised her gaze, bracing herself for the head-on collision.

  Whack!

  Their eyes locked as they had the night before.

  Steam rose around them in lazy, drifting curls. The water gurgled like smothered laughter. CeeCee felt flustered and girlish and completely out of her depth.

&nb
sp; He was an unbelievably...virile male, no escaping it. Standing there in nothing but that skimpy spotted swimsuit, proud as the King of the Jungle, he was extravagant eye candy.

  Thank heavens for that! Eye candy she could handle. No danger of her falling in love with eye candy. Because she certainly wasn’t falling in love. No, siree. She might be riding the fast train to Lustland, but that was hunky-dory. Lust was fine.

  Stop this, CeeCee. You’re in charge here. You’re the therapist. Take control.

  She squared her shoulders. “Ease into the pool slowly,” she commanded. “Hold on to the railing for support.”

  “Oooh. A forceful woman. I like that.”

  “We’re here to heal your knee, Zack. Least you forget.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, not at all contritely, and settled himself beside her.

  Their legs touched. Bare thigh against bare thigh.

  Zip! Pop! Sizzle!

  The heat that swamped her body had nothing to do with the humidity in the closed confines and everything to do with her body’s spontaneous reaction to Zack.

  She wanted him, oh, yeah, but the intensity of her desire scared the stuffing out of her. She’d never experienced anything like this raw, animal chemistry.

  “What next?” he whispered.

  “We get wet.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Good grief, the man could make the simplest statement sound like sexual innuendo.

  CeeCee slid into the Jacuzzi and across to the other side, away from Zack. Her heart pounded and her face felt flushed. She tried desperately to convince herself it was due to the water temperature and nothing else. Heaven forbid she could keep her libido under wraps for a mere twenty-minute session in the whirlpool.

  “We’ll start by just sitting here a couple of minutes, letting our muscles relax.”

  “Whatever you say.” He was looking at her lips now instead of trying to catch her eye.

  “Why don’t you tell me about winning the moto-cross championship,” she suggested.

  He shrugged. “Not much to tell.”