Page 20 of We Own Each Other

Instead, I carefully folded it into thirds, just big enough to slide into my back pocket.

This was no doubt a huge mistake on my part, as this went against every code of ethics I had learned in this profession. Noah Abbott had never truly consented to my services, and he certainly hadn’t consented to me taking his private information out of the sanctity of this facility. Yet, I couldn’t let it go.

Once again, I was falling for my desires, and after having tasted the pleasure of doing so once, I had no intention of denying myself of it again.

MY CAR WASN’T that far from the employee entrance of the jail. So, even though it was nighttime and I was surrounded by imposing barbed wire fences, the brisk walk from the facility to the parking lot wasn’t too bad. I was more relieved than anything else.

As I clicked the key remote and the lights flashed, calling me to my car, the weight of the workday steadily poured from my shoulders and pooled at my feet, to be left behind. It was Friday, and I had the weekend off. As soon as I was in my car, the real countdown could begin, and in just a few hours, I would be out on my first date with Luke.

It was enough to make me dizzy.

My hand shook as I popped open the door and slid into the driver’s seat. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I could feel it when I pressed my palm to my sternum. And less apparent than even that was my little dick, steadily hardening against my pants. I couldn’t shake it, the image of him peering over his shoulder as he leaned across the hotel desk, mouth open as his fingers slid in and out of himself.

It was too intoxicating a sight.

And it took far too much effort to stop myself from masturbating to it right then and there.

Instead, I stuck the key into the ignition and cranked the car.

Releasing all of my sexual frustration with a deep sigh, I pulled out of my parking spot and made my way to the exit gate. There, the guard was sitting in his security box, head bobbing out of clear exhaustion. As I neared and my headlights flashed across his window, he jolted awake, sat up, and leaned forward to watch me pull up.

I rolled my window down as he pushed his up.

Our eyes met, and he smiled.

“Dr. Attwater. Good evening. I don’t usually see you leave this late. Bunch of intakes hold you up?”

I chuckled, pulled out my work badge, and passed it to him to scan.

“Intakes and patients in general. What time you getting off?”

It was all just mindless small talk. We went back and forth like that for a while as he struggled to get the card reader to actually pick up my badge. Meanwhile, I stared out onto the main street, trying my best to sound enthused by our conversation when a rusted, yellow beater car suddenly flew by.

For just an instant, as my headlights flashed over it, I caught sight of someone with bright pink hair in the driver’s seat.

I sat up and leaned forward, trying to watch it as it disappeared around the corner. All the while, his paperwork crinkled in my back pocket. I squeezed the steering wheel, my heart racing again, but for a completely different reason.

He was so close.

He was right there.

If this gate would just open, I could follow him and—

“Dr. Attwater?”

My entire body suddenly lit up with goosebumps as my gaze shifted back to the security box. The guard was staring at me intently, his brows knitted together in either concern, confusion, or suspicion — maybe even a combination of all three. In his outstretched hand was my badge, but the gate remained firmly closed.

I realized my breathing was loud and ragged, and I did my best to close my mouth and swallow to give it time to settle down, but with little success, before reaching out and taking my badge.

“Sorry. Thought I saw a former patient.”

The guard bobbed his head, though his brows were still firmly nestled together.

Thankfully, his attention shifted to his computer so that I could focus less on my appearance and more on the empty road ahead of me. If it actually had been Noah Abbott, he was long gone by now. Still, I was compelled to try to follow where he had gone.

Most doctors would probably be comforted knowing their patient was out there living life just fine, but I apparently wasn’t most doctors.

Finally, the gate began to move.