Synopsis:
Being a doctor is everything to me, but I’m not going to let bureaucrats tell me how to practice medicine. It’s about saving lives no matter what, screw them and their paperwork.
When the one woman I could never forget, Ginger Crawford, shows up as my boss all bets are off. The heat between us is tough to ignore but I have to if I want a future at this hospital. It isn’t easy. Every time we argue, I want her even more.
But I’ve got secrets she can never know, and she’s always going to be way too good for me. So it’s best if she hates me…at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
SOUTHERN NIGHTS & SECRETS by Robin Covington
EXCERPTS
Excerpt #1:
Virginia turned left and headed toward the area that contained the gym equipment, the smell of pool chemicals giving way to the combined aromas of gym mats, sweat, and disinfectant. She pulled the door open to the state-of-the-art facility that was touted as a perk to those recruited to work at this hospital. She nodded to the desk attendant, scanned the well-lit room, and let her ears guide her eyes. Sure enough, Alex had been right. All she had to do was follow the sounds of fists hitting a bag and there he was⎯Dr. Beckett Sutherland.
She stood by the edge of the mats, hoping to catch his eye but it wasn’t going to happen. Virginia stooped to remove her heels before stepping on the rubber flooring and making a beeline for him.
He was wholly absorbed in his task, the sounds of his fist impacting violently with the bag and punctuated by grunts of effort expelled on each jab. His longish dark hair hung around his face, wet with the sweat that also ran down his bare torso and disappeared into the waistband of his gym shorts.
Virginia stopped a few feet away and waited for him to notice her, not crazy enough to surprise him within range of his fists. She took the time to continue her catalog of things the past nine years had changed in Beckett Sutherland. The body, always lean and muscled due to his dedication to all things sports and his inability to sit still, was sharper, more predatory in build and size than she remembered. His face, always handsome, was stronger⎯a fiercer rendition of his trademark boyish good looks.
The tattoo—a black, red and orange stylized dragon—covered his right side and that half of his back. When she’d asked about it back when they were lovers he’d replied as he thrust into her slowly that his destiny was to be a dragon slayer and that was his reminder. He’d never offered anything more than that cryptic explanation, and she’d never pushed for more. But the nipple bar piercings were new and her breath caught in an almost painful clutch with the impact of just how sexy they were.
He moved quickly, battering the bag with jabs and thrusts that would make any sane person afraid to get in between his fists and the target. Each move was quicksilver, exploding from different angles with each practiced shift of his body. If you blinked you would miss him and that would be a shame because he was gorgeous. Just simply gorgeous.
But she’d been fooled by the beautiful exterior before.
Excerpt #2:
“What the f*ck were you thinking? What were you doing?” She gritted out as he trapped her hands in his own tight grip, pulling her tight against him when she struggled even harder at the confinement. They shuffled backwards, her back slamming against the closed door, their exertions rustling the blinds closest to the door and joining the sound of the ER bustling just beyond the panel of wood.
“Damn it Ginger, stop it!” He hissed out trapping her hands between their bodies as he leaned into her, his face, his mouth less than a breath away from her own. She stared up at him, her lips opening to rail at him, to strip him down for scaring the sh!t out of her with a stunt like that but he spoke first. “I’m okay.”
His voice was a low, deep, reassuring balm against her frazzled nerves but she needed more. Needed more than words.
She kissed him. Soft and light. A quick brush⎯once, twice, a third time⎯enough to feel his warmth and taste his flesh. To know he was alive.
Beckett pulled back first, his gaze penetrating as he analyzed her, figuring out just where this thing was going. Virginia licked her lower lip, tasting him there and biting back a groan but not the tiny whimper that escaped her mouth. At that sound, Beckett’s jaw tightened, the edge in his eyes honing to a fine point of focused desire and decision and she shivered a little under his scrutiny.
He transferred both of her wrists into the grip of one hand and lifted them over her head, effectively pinning them there against the smooth, cool wood. The movement brought their bodies in full contact⎯from the hard length of his thigh inserted in between her own, to the granite-hard muscles of his chest pressed against her full, aching breasts.
She watched him like a hawk, even though she felt more like prey as he drank her in, taking his time to review every square inch of her before he returned to gaze into her eyes with a look so hot, she flinched from it, trying to shrink back from the passion it represented.
But he was having none of that, his hold on her wrists growing tighter as he leaned in, his lips teasing her own while he maintained eye contact.
“When you hate me again later, remember that you started this,” he growled.
And then he kissed her.
Excerpt #3:
“Hey,” he said as he stopped and joined their circle. “Ladies you look gorgeous as usual.” He stopped to focus on Ginger. “Especially you.”
She locked eyes with him, the slight tilt of her head a quick but silent thank you before she broke eye contact and looked down at the drink in her hand.
The iron woman façade she had in place tonight was light years away from the molten hot lava lover he’d held in his arms earlier today. He couldn’t forget her. It was like the first touch of their mouths had unlocked a reserve of want that he couldn't lock back up. But nothing about Ginger indicated that she was burning alive like he was.
“What about me?” Lucky asked, looking down at his tuxedo with a bewildered expression on his face. “Aren't I gorgeous?”
Beck cocked an eyebrow at Teague and Jack. “Is it my turn to stroke his fragile ego? I thought his getting married got me off the hook.”
“Don't be an a$$, we’ve got company,” Teague motioned to a man standing next to Ginger. He was tall, African-American and had his hand on Ginger’s waist. Beck didn’t like the twinge of irritation that flared in his chest.
“Beckett, this is Peter Fox” Ginger said, her voice cool but her glance warm as she looked at her date. “Peter this is Dr. Beckett Sutherland.”
“Pete,” he said, extending his hand in greeting. “Nice to meet you.”
“It’s Peter,” he said with a wry twist to his mouth. “Nice to meet you.”
Beck wasn’t a dick but the sight of the guy putting his arm around Ginger and pulling her in close flipped his switch. He couldn't help himself.
“So, Pete, how do you know Ginger?” To his right, Teague groaned at his childishness. He ignored him.
The guy’s jaw tightened at the sound of his name abused but then flickered with curiosity as he looked at Ginger. She smiled at him but it was tight, her own irritation just under the surface if you knew what to look for.
“Virginia and I met up again at a law school alumnae event a few weeks ago.”
“Well, that was poor timing on your part.” He flashed a smile at Pete’s confused expression. “Starting to date right before she moves here.” He let out a long whistle. “Long distance is tough. I presume you aren’t from around here.”
“Peter lives and works in DC,” Ginger offered, her eyes flashing a warning just for him. “He’s a lobbyist.”
“Right.” Beck didn't have anything against ole’ Pete. It’s just that he kept touching Ginger. And he had all kinds of problems with that sh!t. But her old man would love this guy. Admiral Crawford hadn’t said much to him the weekend he’d gone home with Ginger but he’d referred to him frequently as “that white boy” when talking about him.
Beck spotted a waiter going by and motioned him over. “Jack Daniels. Neat.” He looked at the full wine glass in Ginger’s hand and he remembered that she didn’t drink. Her mother had been an alcoholic who’d drunk herself into a stroke. “You want a club soda with lime?”
She paused, her eyes flaring with her surprise. Her voice was less poised as she nodded. “Thank you.”
Beck took the glass from her and handed it to the waiter, watching her face for any reaction when he deliberately brushed against her fingers with his own. Nothing. Not even a twitch as she kept her gaze mostly on her date. Were they a thing? Was he her boyfriend? He’d never thought to ask and he didn’t like not knowing. Not one little bit.
“You didn’t like the wine?” Peter asked, his glance at Beck showing a little bit of an edge.
“It was fine. I just don’t drink alcohol,” Ginger said, her cheeks tinted a little red as she glanced at Pete and gave him a smile. “No worries.”
“Wait,” Peter snapped his gaze back and forth between the two of them, his face screwed up in the universal expression for confusion. “You guys know each other?”
Biblically. Beck thought and clamped his mouth down to keep from saying it out loud.
CATCH UP WITH THE OTHER BOYS IN THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN SERIES BY USA TODAY BESTSELLER ROBIN COVINGTON!
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