Laurann Dohner - Slade

“But—”

“An hour. Don’t argue with me. I’m just the messenger.”

“But where are we going? I’m on duty right now and tomorrow. What does Justice want with me?”

He shrugged, still smiling. “I just deliver the messages. See you in an hour, Doc. I’ll pick you up in front of your house.”

She watched him leave the clinic. A curse passed her lips before she could refrain.

He loved to annoy her and he had a real talent for it. She picked up the phone to call Dr.

Ted Treadmont, the second doctor they’d hired part-time, to cover some of her shifts.

They really needed more medical staff. Two doctors and nurses weren’t enough.

She made a mental note to bring that up again with Justice when she spoke to him. He headed the New Species, was their appointed leader, and made most of the decisions at Homeland.

She glanced at the phone, half tempted to call him to say she wasn’t going wherever he wanted her to go but then changed her mind. She respected Justice and for whatever reason, he needed her to go somewhere that required packing. She might not want to go but she would.

Trisha had no idea what to pack. She cursed and decided to just take a bit of everything. She grabbed a few pairs of jeans, a few pairs of slacks, and some nice shirts along with a universal black dress, just in case. Underwear followed. She took one pair of high heels, a pair of slip-ons, and decided to wear the comfortable running shoes she had on. She also packed up a few sets of sweats to sleep in.

She walked into her bathroom to pack her overnight bag. Makeup and personal items went inside it. She remembered her shampoo and conditioner in case they were heading for a hotel. She hated samples. Her hair was too long for them to be of any use.

A black SUV pulled up and honked in front of her house. Trisha glanced at her watch to see he’d arrived fifteen minutes early. She clenched her teeth. Slade did enjoy aggravating her. She grabbed her purse, her suitcase, and slung her overnight bag across her shoulder. The weight of all her luggage made her struggle to get out the front door.

27

Laurann Dohner

No one came to help her. She stared pointedly at the security guard driving the SUV but he just watched her as she closed her front door and fought with the keys to lock the deadbolt. Some of her irritation eased since the driver wasn’t Slade. She relaxed, took a deep breath, and turned. She tried not to groan as she moved down the sidewalk. Her suitcase was heavy and the bag dug painfully into her shoulder.

The back door opened on the vehicle and Slade jumped out. He smiled at her, glancing at her bags. With a shake of his head he walked to the back of the vehicle to open up the hatchback. He stepped out of her way, chuckled, and waved her to put her things inside.

“Gee, thanks for the help.” She shot him a nasty look.

“I said we were going to be gone two days, not two weeks, Doc. I guess you can stow your own gear if you think you can wear all that crap you have jammed into those bags.”

She did groan when she hefted the suitcase up to dump it into the back of the SUV.

“I didn’t know what to pack and I had to bring different kinds of clothes. It would have saved a lot packing if someone,” she glared at him as she tossed in her overnight bag,

“told me where I was going and what this is about.”

He closed the hatchback. “Let’s go, Doc. We don’t have all day to stand here chatting.”

Trisha was pissed. She gripped her purse in a stranglehold. The door to the back of the SUV still stood open, she moved before Slade could and climbed inside, knowing he’d been sitting there. She shot him a mean smile while getting comfortable in the still-warm-from-his-butt seat. She slammed the door and turned to ask Justice what was going on. The vehicle was empty except for the driver and Slade, who opened the other door across from her and climbed inside. The door closed.

“We’re picking up Justice last?”She hated the hopeful tone in her voice.

Slade put on his seat belt. “Buckle up, Doc. Nope. Justice already left. We’re meeting him in a few hours.”

She sighed, securing her belt. “Where are we going?” She gave her attention to the security guard behind the wheel in front of her. “I’m Dr. Trisha Norbit. What’s your name, driver?”

“Bart,” he shared cheerfully. He met Trisha’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “We’re heading up north to a private resort.”

Trisha frowned uneasily. “Why?”

“Oh,” Bart started the SUV, “Mr. North has set a bunch of meetings up there. They figured it would be remote enough to make the press really uncomfortable if they wanted to attempt to follow him there and camp out to see what he’s doing. We’re hoping they don’t find out about it until after the fact.”

Trisha ignored Slade. “What kind of meetings? Do you know?”

28

Slade

“Oh sure.” The young guy was really talkative, which suited Trisha. “Mr. North wants to buy some land up there for New Species. He’s set meetings with all the officials out there and the guy who wants to sell the land. I heard he wanted you present in case someone has any questions about medical crap.” He took a breath. “You heard those stupid rumors about how people can catch parvo and stuff from New Species, right? I was kind of worried but Tiger swore it was bullshit. Do you know Tiger, Dr. Norbit? It’s not true, is it? I can’t catch any animal diseases from working with New Species, can I? Because that’s something I would really hate. I think they should give us hazard pay if that’s true. My mom says I should go to a vet and get vaccine shots just in case bec—”

“Shut up,” Slade snarled.

Trisha jumped at the tone of Slade’s voice and Bart closed his mouth. She swung her head to glare at Slade. He shrugged.

“He talks too much. It annoys me.”

Trisha tried to hide her disgust. “I promise you can’t catch parvo from New Species, Bart. Thank you ,” she stressed those words, “for telling me where we are going and why.” She shot Slade another nasty look. “Some people don’t appreciate someone who is polite but I certainly do.”

Slade turned a little, faced her more from his position on the seat, and smiled as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. He openly stared at her breasts and kept his focus there. “I can be really nice when I want to be. I know how to stimulate conversation.”

His gaze rose and he winked at her. “I’m pretty good with my oral skills when I’m motivated.” He glanced down to her lap and his grin widened. “I’m very good with my oral skills.”

You son of a bitch. Trisha ground her teeth, refusing to say it aloud. He wasn’t talking about conversation and she knew it. Why did he always try to annoy her?

Maybe he thought he could embarrass her by his blatant sexual innuendos but she was a doctor. She took a deep breath and forced a smile. She’d been harassed by drunk men in the emergency rooms far too often to allow him get the best of her.

“Oral skills are always a wonderful thing to have, Mr. Slade.” Her gaze lowered to the crotch of his black pants, lingered there. She slowly allowed her gaze to travel up his body to examine every inch of him until they were staring into each other’s eyes.

She saw his smile had faded, knowing her actions had wiped the amused look from his face. “I guess you could say I have a real oral fixation myself.”

She smiled wider at him, licked her lips, letting her tongue glide slowly over the surface. His jaw clenched as he adjusted his weight. She noticed his interest.

“Good conversation is very important, don’t you think? It’s so stimulating and pleasurable if done right. As a doctor it may surprise you how much I’ve learned on the subject. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a really good conversation and sometimes I nearly ache from wishing someone could stimulate me.” Her eyes narrowed. “But 29