Here Comes Trouble Read Free Page A

a
judge.
    Joel told his attorney to press home that
point, and give her a deadline of a week from last Monday. Today
was the deadline, and if he hadn't heard from his lawyer by this
afternoon, he was going to call him and tell him to schedule the
court date.
    ***
    With a moan, Terri Cassidy opened her eyes and
looked at the pillow beside her to make sure she was alone. She'd
had that dream again, and it was driving her crazy. Why the hell
couldn't she forget about him? It was like Joel Rhode's sexy smile
and sad eyes were haunting her, the memory of his mouth and hands
on her body was branded on her mind.
    It had been almost a year since the night
they'd torn up the sheets in Amarillo. There was no reason she
should still be thinking about him. They both knew it had been a
one night deal. Joel wasn't ready for a relationship, he was still
grieving the breakup of his marriage, and Terri wasn't looking for
a relationship either. That night, although an eleven on the
passion scale, had been more about offering comfort.
    Even though one night stands weren't her
thing, Terri had given into temptation. Joel had needed to know he
was still alive, attractive and wanted, and she had needed
something too. For just a little while, she needed to forget she
was losing her best friend. If truth be told she was also feeling a
little insecure and jealous of Jenny's budding relationship with
Chase.
    Those hours together with him helped her
forget those things temporarily, but as she was sure had happened
to Joel, once the sun rose she was right back where she
started.
    Divorced for five years, Terri hadn't been
celibate during that time. She'd had two year-long relationships
since then, and sex. Those experiences were easy enough to forget.
The men were easy to forget, after she figured out they weren't for
her.
    Joel Rhodes was proving not so easy to
forget.
    Blowing her hair out of her eyes, Terri threw
back the covers with frustration and headed for the bathroom. There
were other things she needed to deal with today, and she'd better
get in the right mindset before she left for work.
    Avoiding her new touchy feely boss at the
hospital was job one. For some reason, the man they'd hired to
replace Jenny thought because he was a doctor, and her boss, he had
the right to put his hands wherever he pleased. To say crude and
demeaning things to her whenever he pleased. And he thought she had
to take it.
    Terri had seriously considered filing a
complaint with the hospital board for sexual harassment, but she
knew she'd wind up on the losing end of that deal. Doctors were
revered like gods at their hospital, and the board backed them one
hundred percent. Even though she'd given them eight years of her
life, and he'd been there less than one, she knew challenging him
would be a losing proposition.
    Dr. Wayne Gregory knew it too, the dirty old
bastard.
    Damn, but she missed Jenny. Ever since her
best friend and former boss had left the hospital to move to
Amarillo, things had gone to shit. Not only was the doctor that
replaced her a lecher, he was also incompetent and lazy. More than
once, Terri had saved his ass, and that was getting old
too.
    It never failed, if a nurse said white, he was
going to say black. If they suggested a particular treatment, he
would choose the opposite, without fail. It didn't matter to him if
his arrogance put patients at risk.
    Someone was going to die because of him, and
Terri had a bad feeling she would take the blame for it, because
she had no choice but to follow his orders. Documenting her patient
files meticulously could only save her to a certain extent. Files
could be changed. Their computer system security was crap. It
hadn't been updated, since the 1980s and all of them knew each
other's passwords, even though she tried to keep hers
safe.
    Terri huffed out a frustrated breath and
turned on the shower spray then stepped under it. What she needed
was a break, a real vacation, something she hadn't had in