His Bidding (The Best Medicine #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Thank you. That’s great.” Brynn narrowed her eyes as Maureen verily skipped out of the main office and through the front entrance. What was up with the hesitation in calling Sam “Dr. Hitchens”? Had he given the girl a similar “we’re all friends here” speech? The thought deflated Brynn’s ego a bit, but there was more to ponder about whatever her exchange with Maureen had meant than that.
    A glance at her watch told her now wasn’t the time for pondering. She picked up the neat stack of charts and pages Maureen had set aside for her and wended her way through the hallways to Sam’s door. Before she could knock, she was surprised when the door swung open, Sam standing directly in front of her. He’d shed his lab coat and now looked more like a Ford model than a doctor in his three-piece suit and Italian leather shoes. 
    “Oh!” they both said simultaneously, and then each laughed. Sam apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you. And nearly knock you over. Here, let me take that for you.” He carefully reached to relieve her of the heavy burden that was the pile of charts, and as his hand brushed against her arm, she shivered. Nothing seemed to escape his notice.
    “Chilly?” he asked. “I can turn the heat up a bit, if you like.”
    “Oh, no, I’m okay, thank you.” She found it quite warm all of a sudden, in fact. “I...guess it’s just that I was out by the front door when Maureen opened it to leave.”
    Sam set the charts down on his desk and took a seat, looking at her much the way he had first thing this morning. “Good kid, isn’t she?”
    This time it was Brynn’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Yeah. She is. She’s a huge help, and she’s always in a good mood, even when patients have been hassling her.” Brynn wondered again what was going on there, but she held her tongue. Sam gave no further hints, instead reaching for his phone.
    “Do you like Chinese food?” he asked. “I forgot to bring lunch, so I thought we could order in. There’s a place nearby that’s incredibly fast with their delivery.”
    Brynn hesitated. Lunch. With Dr. Hitchens. Sam. Heaven only knew if she could get through an entire hour without saying something ridiculous and incriminating. But in spite of herself, she said, “Dim sum is my favorite food on earth.”
    He smiled and motioned for her to have a seat across the desk from him. “Dim sum it is.”
    Mere minutes later, Brynn learned that he wasn’t overstating the speed and efficiency of the restaurant. Sam instructed her to stay put, and stay warm – oh, if he only knew, she thought – while he met the driver at the side entrance. It gave her an idea of how often he must do this, staying in his office over lunches or into the evenings, ordering takeout, and she found her mind wandering. When was the last time he’d had a home-cooked meal? And was there someone else who usually stayed here with him after hours? Maybe more than one “someone else”? She sighed inwardly at the idea, and at the fact that she was letting herself think about his personal life again.
    “Here we are,” Sam said, startling her back to reality. He swept into the room and closed the door behind him once again, setting the food out on his desk as though he were setting a fancy table. She couldn’t help the small grin that tugged at her lips. As usual, he picked up on it.
    “What? Too formal for food we’re eating out of cardboard boxes?” He grinned, looking a bit sheepish for the first time in Brynn’s memory. It was thoroughly charming.
    “No, no,” she replied with a quiet laugh. “Please, do whatever you need to do.”
    His grin became crooked as he shot her a teasing look. “Thank you for humoring my inner perfectionist. This –“ He reached to place her lunch in front of her on the desk, along with a bottle of water. “– is yours. I guess it’s just as well that we didn’t go for Japanese food instead. I’d have to insist on drinking my spare bottle