The Surrender: Falling In Part 6

Scout threw her hands in the air, completely exasperated. "Fine, ten hours, but I need to see if that's even possible."

"Consider it handled. Now, do you have any other conditions?"

She thought about Pearl. "I need two afternoons a week to myself."

"Fine. Why?"

"None of your business."

"I thought I explained that everything in my hotel is my business."

Scout folded her arms over her chest, mimicking his stubborn posture. "Well, that time won't be spent in your precious hotel so it doesn't count."

"Careful, Evelyn."

"Two afternoons or the deal's off."

His eyes narrowed, but she held his gaze. If this was going to happen, she couldn't continue to let him intimidate her.

"I don't believe you," he whispered, eyeing her critically.

"Try me," she said slowly, a.s.suming her best poker face.

"Fine. Take your two afternoons for now, so long as they don't impose on my scheduled time with you. Now, let's talk about s.e.x."

Her breath siphoned down the wrong pipe, and she choked. He patted her back as she sucked in tight gulps of air and coughed. Hand pressed to her chest, she leaned forward.

Lucian stood for a moment and returned, offering her a gla.s.s of water. She gulped half of it down and placed it back on the table, wiped her eyes, then turned on him.

"What?"

"Come on, Evelyn, you're a big girl. You knew what this was about the moment I suggested it. Eventually you will be in my bed, so let's just cut to the chase and put everything on the table. You seem like a straight shooter so I'm just going to lay it out there. I like control. Lots of it. I'm a healthy, virile male. I enjoy s.e.x and like my female to be available to me whenever the mood suits me. She must know how to prepare herself for me and I expect her to see to my needs and grant me control. Now, I know that sounds like a lot, but I promise I've never had any complaints from my partners. Does this sound like something you could agree to?"

She gaped at him. How did one even reply to such a statement? She knew s.e.x would be part of the deal, but he was so blase about it. She'd thought they would agree to do the deed once every few nights. What he suggested left no room to hide. "You expect me to have s.e.x with you whenever you want?"

"Exactly."

Scout reached for the gla.s.s of water and chugged the rest, then placed the empty container on the table and stared straight ahead, unable to face him at the moment. He stood, retrieved a silver pitcher and refilled the gla.s.s.

It wasn't necessarily the control thing that bothered her. He'd have to be in control. She was clueless and inexperienced. Dear G.o.d, the thought of him touching her . . . A warm, b.u.t.tery sensation tightened her stomach.

Her face was burning up. Taking the freshly filled gla.s.s, she held it to her forehead, resting her elbows on her knees.

"Is the idea of sleeping with me that upsetting to you, Evelyn? I like to think I'm a fairly good-looking man for my age."

"It's not your looks," she mumbled, still unable to face him.

"Then what's causing your hesitation here? Tell me and I'll fix it. I have no intention of sleeping with anyone else while our arrangement stands and the same will go for you."

She snorted. She couldn't help it. "Oh, that won't be a problem."

He didn't seem to see the humor. "Good. I also plan on having my medical records shared with you after you visit my physician and have your own physical done."

"Physical?"

Scout hadn't seen a doctor since she was eleven and visited the hospital with pneumonia. It was a horribly frightening experience being that Pearl had left her there and taken herself on a five-day bender. They had to escape once she sobered up enough to realize her abandonment of a hospitalized daughter had attracted the notice of Children & Youth. She had no desire to voluntarily step into another medical facility ever again.

"If you can't commit to having a screening, Ms. Keats, I'm afraid the entire arrangement is off."

Back to Ms. Keats again. She sighed inwardly. What if they discovered something terrible? Her mom was sick and she never allowed herself to forget that, but what if she'd somehow contracted hepat.i.tis or some other illness? Knowing what diseases did to people, she wasn't sure if she could handle that kind of stress, but on the other hand she was rarely sick. Her body had a high threshold for pain and a fairly tough immune system based on her track record. If she were sick, there would probably be symptoms. Maybe it was best to know.

"Okay, I'll see your physician."

"Good. I'll make the appointment for this afternoon. Are you on the pill?"

Everything was moving so fast. "The pill?"

"Birth control."

"Um, no." She couldn't look at him, but sensed her answer disappointed him. He'd likely be disappointed about a lot of things once he discovered how ignorant she was about this sort of stuff.

Again, he jumped topics without warning. "Now that we have the majority of our agreement taken care of, how about if I order up lunch and make some calls? The concierge can get your room situated and I can inform Ms. Jones about your schedule change. After that I'll have Dugan bring the car around and we can do some shopping for any personal items you might need."

Before she could answer, he was already moving to his desk and ordering lunch. She thought about Parker. He'd be worried sick if she didn't return to St. Christopher's this evening. Why hadn't she told him this was a possibility the night before? Oh, right, because he'd never understand.

Lucian put a call in to his physician and had lunch ordered and on its way within minutes. She excused herself to use the bathroom and when she returned, he was on the phone with someone else and room service was delivering lunch. This time they carried in a sharply dressed table and two chairs.

"Right there's fine, gentleman," Lucian said, and the men quickly placed the trays on the table and backed out of the room.

One man made eye contact with her before the door cut off his view. It was incredible, the amount of shame and judgment that swamped her in the span of that brief glance. Did they know?

"Wonderful, Ms. Jones, I'll let her know."

Scout turned at the mention of her general manager's name.

Lucian hung up the phone. "Your new schedule's been arranged and you'll be occupying suite 3000, just below. A key's being sent up."

She simply stared at him. She always knew money made anything possible, but actually witnessing its influence was something else entirely. And now Tamara will know what she'd done.

Lucian stood and went to the table. He acted so nonchalant about all of this. Was this something he did all the time? How many women came before her? How many would come after? She figured ignorance was best in situations like this. Too much self-examination and she'd worry herself into a moral meltdown.

Chapter 6.

Check UP After lunch there was another visitor, Dr. Vivian Sheffield. Once Scout was over her initial shock that Lucian could arrange for house calls at the drop of a hat, she realized Dr. Sheffield was intimidatingly striking. The doctor also seemed to have a standing rapport with Lucian on more than a professional level.

They moved to the sitting area and she waited silently, not quite sure what would happen here.

"Did you bring it?" Lucian asked.

"I did." Dr. Sheffield gracefully sat on the edge of the club chair, her one long leg crossing delicately over the other. She lifted her briefcase and removed a folder.

"Here are all your most recent test results." She pa.s.sed the file to Lucian who in turn pa.s.sed it to Scout. "You're in perfect health, Lucian, but you already knew that."

She smiled charmingly at him, her deep red lips curling softly over her pearly teeth.

Lucian looked at Scout. "Go ahead and see for yourself."

Opening the blue folder, Scout found a typed list of sorts and pretended to read it. Turning page after page at what she hoped was an appropriate reading pace. Somewhere around the fifth page, Dr. Sheffield gazed over at her, her long neck extended gracefully, and her sophisticated diamond stud earrings winked in the light.

"Oh, you don't need to read that, Ms. Keats. That's just the HIPAA contract."

Scout blushed and shut the folder, handing it back to Lucian. He grinned and tucked the folder away on the seat next to him. "Ready?" he asked, looking at her.

Scout felt incredibly stupid. "For?"

"Dr. Sheffield came to take your blood work and give you an exam," he said as if it were obvious.

"Here?" No hospital?

The doctor smiled empathetically. "I a.s.sure you it'll be quick. And don't worry. I'm excellent at drawing blood if needles bother you. It'll be quick and painless."

Growing up the way she had, needles were the least of her worries. She had gotten over any squeamishness years ago.

Scout turned to Lucian. "Where will you go?"

He frowned. "I'm not going anywhere."

The doctor hesitated a moment then gently said, "Lucian, perhaps Ms. Keats would be more comfortable if she had a little privacy."

"That's ridiculous. I'll be reading all her results anyway-"

"But I'm sure you can understand this must be a bit awkward for her. I'll take her to your spare room and we'll return in a few moments."

The way Dr. Sheffield handled him amazed Scout. The next thing she knew they were sitting alone in the spare bedroom of the suite and Lucian was waiting, alone, in the common area of the suite, sulking.

They sat on the edge of the bed and Dr. Sheffield softly said, "Do you mind if I call you Evelyn?"

Scout shook her head and the doctor's kind eyes softened.

"Okay, Evelyn, let's start with a few questions. Be as honest as you can and I want you to know that if at any time you change your mind about sharing this information with Lucian I'll respect that. You're my patient and as such, how much information I share is completely up to you. However, I won't lie. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." The doctor opened up a new folder and picked up a pen, quickly jotting down some words.

"How long since your last physical?" She waited with her pen poised just above the paper, eyes on the folder.

"I've never had a physical."

Dr. Sheffield moved to write then stilled. "Excuse me?"

"I've never had a physical. When I was eleven I was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, but that was it."

"Surely, you had physicals when you were younger in order to get your vaccines."

"If I did I don't remember."

Dr. Sheffield blew a deep breath past her red lips. "Okay, let's start with some general background information."

Dr. Sheffield asked her about her family's medical history. Scout didn't want to tell her about Pearl and other than that she didn't have many answers. For almost everything the doctor asked, Scout said she didn't know, and she could see her frustration mounting, but the doctor never became short with her.

After she'd asked Scout a long line of questions, she listened to her heart, looked in her nose, mouth, and ears, examined portions of her skin and pressed her fingers along her spine. It was odd being touched in so many places by a stranger.

Dr. Sheffield wrapped a cuff around Scout's arm and pumped it full of air until it hurt. After making some notes she asked, "How much do you weigh, Evelyn?"

"I don't know."

Her brow puckered. "Okay, let's have a look at your legs and stomach. Do you mind lying down for a moment?"

Scout scooted onto the soft bed and eased onto her back. It was the most comfortable place she'd ever rested her head. Shutting her eyes and going to sleep was tempting.

The doctor gently lifted her legs and bent her knees, checking her range of motion. "I'm just going to feel around your organs for a moment. My hands may be a little cold."

Scout's back pressed into the mattress as if she could somehow save herself from being touched in such intimate places. Dr. Sheffield's contact was clinical and quick. She pressed into her stomach at various places, asked if anything hurt.

"When was your last menstrual cycle?"

"It ended three days ago."

"Have you ever been pregnant?"

"No."

"Are you on any form of birth control?"

"No."

"Are you currently s.e.xually active?"

"No."

Her pen quickly moved across her notes as she recorded each of Scout's answers.