The Jaxon Effect Read online

  Copyright © 2013 KC Michaels

  The Jaxon Effect

  All rights reserved.

  Kindle Edition

  Acknowledgements

  I have so many supportive people to thank and without them this book wouldn’t have been possible.

  To my husband who is my rock and my knight in shining armor. You believed in me which made me believe in myself. I will always be grateful to you for that. I love you.

  To my children who left mom alone when she needed to write. Your unconditional love and support is what got me through difficult times during this process. I love you all so much.

  To two of the best friends a girl could ever have Maureen and Jules, the fact that I always had you both to talk to when I needed a break meant so much. You both have been creative influences on me throughout my life.

  To Tammy who was there with me from the beginning spending nights on the phone discussing my crazy idea of writing a book. Thank You I am so grateful you always answered the phone.

  To Tarryn my Aussie editor who taught me so much about writing in a short period of time. Thank you

  To Angie who helped me so much with the final stages of editing thank you.

  To create space Project Team 5 thank you for all your help getting my book created.

  To my parents who raised me to be the woman I am today, one who never stopped searching for her passion. Thank you.

  To all of my friends and family who supported me unconditionally. So many of you were as excited for my book to be complete as I was. Your kind words and positive reviews kept me going.

  Last but certainly not least I need to thank Jaxon and Kate who took up residence in my mind and refused to leave even when I thought the story was complete. I heard you loud and clear.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to two women who have touched my life forever.

  Helen McIntyre and Sandra Hogan

  I miss you both.

  The Jaxon Effect

  CHAPTER 1

  Dr. Katherine Sims pulled at her duffel bag—which had become firmly wedged inside her locker—until it finally came free. Coming off a thirty six hour shift at William Henry Hospital, she was left feeling utterly exhausted and was looking forward to a hot shower, before heading home for some much needed sleep.

  “Excuse me Doctor, I know your shift is almost over but I was hoping you would see one more patient before you leave.”

  Kate—which she preferred over Katherine—turned to see Jenny Berg standing in the doorway; a very pretty middle aged nurse who looked more like thirty than her actual age, forty-five—even in those standard issue hospital greens she looked good.

  Kate had cleared her patient board five minutes ago; but technically, she still had another fifteen minutes left on the clock. So close.

  She tipped her head forward to give the back of her neck a well-deserved massage. She really wanted to say no; boy did she want to, in the worst way. But she wouldn’t, no not Kate; she never refused that one extra hour—that one last patient.

  “Sure Jenny, just give me a quick minute to freshen up and I'll be right out.”

  Jenny flashed Kate a broad smile that could have easily been construed as mischievous—as much as appreciative. “Great thanks Kate, I would never have asked but I think this particular patient might do better with a woman’s touch. I left the chart in bay three with the patient.”

  It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Kate to be asked to take care of the more delicate situations which could be anything from a rape victim to a sick child afraid to let the more intimidating male doctors treat them. Although she wasn’t a hard-core, card carrying feminist she did believe some days it was easier being a man, especially in her profession. She grimaced at her reflection in the mirror. It had been nine hours since she last checked her appearance. She was not surprised to see that her usual pale skin looked pasty and her large green eyes that were surrounded by dark circles were swollen which gave the appearance that they were sunk deep into her face; evidence that the last thirty-six hours had taken its toll on her, not that she needed confirmation—the feeling that she had been hit by a Mack truck was evidence enough.

  The hospital was located in the heart of Manhattan and they received more than their fair share of emergencies—day or night. Although Kate was only twenty-nine years old, today she looked and felt twice that age. To make matters worse, her haggard appearance reminded her of Medusa. Like unruly snakes, the stray pieces of her blonde curly hair hissed in protest as she tried in vain to control them. She pulled her hair out of the thick band and attempted to finger comb it into submission. She gave up, tying the mass into a haphazard bun on the top of her head. It would have to do. Kate dug into her cosmetic bag for her mouthwash and lip gloss. Her mouth was stale and her lips were dry. A little mint always gave her just enough zip to get through the last few minutes of a long shift. Feeling marginally better than before, she scooped up her toiletries and put them back into her bag. She returned the duffel bag to her locker and left to find her patient.

  Jaxon Remington sat on a narrow hospital bed which was far too small for his imposing size—impatiently waiting for a doctor. The bed was large enough for the average person but Jaxon was far from average. His frame was broad and muscular and he stood over six feet tall. He had been jogging in the park that morning when a random dog flew out of nowhere and bit him on his ankle. It had hurt like a son-of-a-bitch and the gash he sustained—from the dog's sharp fangs—was deep enough that he knew he probably needed stitches. When he wasn’t being attacked by strange dogs, Jaxon often ran the equivalent of a small marathon. Sometimes it was how he liked to begin his day and, other times it was how he ended it. He checked his watch; it was seven thirty am. Making the best of a bad situation, he took out his cell phone to check his emails. It would take a lot more than a dog bite to keep him from working. He did business all around the world and was used to working at all hours of the day and night—due to the differences in time zones. He checked an email that was flagged for importance. It was from Juan. Jaxon had hired the guy to run his factory in Madrid. Unfortunately, the email informed him there had been a fire at the factory. He did the math in his head; it was around one thirty in the afternoon— Madrid time— so he was pretty confident he would be able to reach Juan before the guy left for the day, and hopefully find out the extent of the damage. He dialled the numbers on the keypad of his cell phone and waited. It only took three rings before Juan answered with his usual thick Spanish accent.

  “Juan, it's Jaxon. Tell me what happened.”

  There was nothing that got under Kate’s skin more than walking into a patient’s room to find him engaged in a phone call. She stood directly in front of him, pointlessly offering a disapproving look as she retrieved his chart from a holder above the bed. He appeared to be in a deep conversation so he hadn’t even acknowledged she had entered the room. She was beginning to think he hadn’t even realized she was in the room until he held up a hand to wave her off. As if that was going to happen. There was no way she was going to wait for him to finish his phone conversation before she began the process of treating him. Didn’t he see the sign that clearly stated no cell phone use permitted? She tapped her pen on the clip board loudly as she read the chart hoping he would get the hint and end his call.

  Patient: Jaxon Remington. Injury: Dog bite – Right ankle.

  Not willing to waste any more time waiting for Mr. Remington to be courteous enough to hang up the phone, Kate began removing the bandage that had already been placed around his ankle. The job had been well done even by her standards so she assumed it had been bandaged by a professional—likely the triage nurse. Startled by Kate’s unexpected touch, her patient lost focus on his con
versation and fumbled over his words.

  “Juan, I'll call you later.”

  Kate kept her head down as she carefully removed the bandage. She was still put off by the fact that he flashed her a stop sign hand signal in favor of his phone call. She wasn’t one for confrontation so she figured it was best to not look at him because she might be tempted to give him a piece of her mind.

  Ouch! The gash looked really deep—painful. She gently pressed her fingers to the outer edge of the wound to check for soft tissue damage. His breath hitched, the big baby, she hadn’t even pressed that hard. Normally if a patient winced she would apologize explaining the necessity of the examination, but in this particular case she remained silent because part of her thought it was karma biting him in the ass for being rude earlier. Surprised by her own lack of sympathy, she wondered if she was suffering from PMS because she wasn’t usually so irritable or bitchy. She was usually more sympathetic. It seemed that ever since she started taking birth control pills to control the cramping she experienced during her cycle, she tended to become less tolerant during that time of month. The bad moods were still a better alternative than the cramps so she continued to take the pills—but it really wasn’t fair that the patient suffer the brunt of her mood swings.

  Her intention was to give him a peace offering—a dose of some really good drugs that would take away his pain. However, when she forced her head up and was met with the most brilliant blue eyes that she has ever seen she was awestruck and forgot all about her initial intentions. His large almond shaped eyes were as blue as the ocean, brilliant blue surrounding irises that were so dark; under the reflection of the hospital lighting they appeared violet. His lashes were long and thick. Lashes that Max Factor’s most rich and luxurious mascara could never recreate. Those eyes dazzled next to his perfect bronzed skin and packed a major punch against his thick black wavy hair. Her words momentarily failed her as she realized this was the most beautiful human being she has ever laid eyes on in her entire life. Normally Kate was immune to pretty boys, but this rugged beauty—too sexy for words—that was sitting on the narrow hospital bed in front of her, was something else entirely. The incident with the cell phone was long forgotten. In fact, she had forgotten everything including the reason he was there. He is a patient and I am a doctor. Right—I need to focus.

  He cleared his throat, pulling her out of her momentary brain freeze. “Sorry about that, I was speaking to one of my employees in Madrid. We had a fire in one of our factories and I was just getting an update.”

  Even the sound of his voice was sexy, Kate thought. Deep and raspy as if he’d just rolled out of bed. No! She had to stay professional and to make matters worse she felt like she had cotton-mouth. There was something about the way he was looking at her, something about those eyes that made her feel vulnerable. Even if she had been naked she couldn't have felt more exposed. She had to look away; regain her focus. The fact that he’d hung up the phone didn't help matters; in truth, she wished he was still occupied by his phone call. At least it would have masked the sound of the slow, deep breaths she was taking in order to calm her libido.

  “Sorry about the phone call,” he repeated glancing up at the sign that she had completely forgotten about herself, which read the use of cell phones was strictly prohibited.

  “Sure, don’t worry about it.” The cell phone was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. She straightened up from her crouching position and was finally able to think clearly enough so she could ask a question.

  “Mr. Remington please tell me what happened.”

  “We aren't sure yet. They think the fire started in the electrical room but until we get the final report from the inspector we won’t know for sure.”

  She cocked a perfectly arched eyebrow at him. “Well I hope you get your answers, but I was actually referring to your ankle.”

  “Right—my ankle.” He tilted his head up to the ceiling and blew out a long breath as if frustrated with himself.

  “I was running in the park this morning when a dog decided my ankle looked like breakfast. He got a pretty good piece of me too, before his owner caught up to him.”

  “Did you get the dog owner's information so you could report the incident?”

  “No, I was a bit preoccupied.”

  “Of course, do you know the type of dog breed?”

  “Does it matter?” She could tell he didn’t appreciate her questions.

  “Not to me it doesn't Mr. Remington but as far as the law goes there are some breeds that are not supposed to be in public unless they are muzzled. It’s always good to report these situations to the authorities.”

  He rolled his eyes in response.

  “I'm sorry Mr. Remington, of course your main priority was your ankle,” she apologized. “Your laceration is pretty deep. I'll give you something to numb the pain, and you will definitely need stitches.”

  He wasn't surprised to hear he needed stitches; he had been expecting it and was relieved to see that she was finally cutting him some slack by ending the interrogation. He was the most competent person he knew; hell, everyone knew it. As far as the pain medication went he didn’t need it and he would have told her as much if he hadn’t been so distracted by the perfect curve of her hips through her scrubs. Normally he thought scrubs were as attractive on a person as a potato sack but on this woman they were damn sexy and then he found himself wondering what she would look like out of them. He frowned at himself. Where did that thought come from? He wasn’t used to his mind wandering places it had no business going. In fact, he usually had exceptional mind control.

  “I am going to clean the wound with this, to get rid of any bacteria. It's an antiseptic and it might burn for a few seconds, but the feeling won't last long. It should keep any infection out,” Kate advised as she poured a small amount directly over the wound. Jaxon didn't flinch.

  “You have a high tolerance for pain, Mr. Remington.”

  Her words caused him to force back a laugh. “You have no idea, Doc.”

  Of course, he was talking about more than his ankle. He used pain; it never used him.

  “I'll be back in a few minutes. I am going to give you a topical anesthetic to numb the area before I give you the stitches. You will also require a tetanus shot as a precaution since we don’t know for sure if the dog has had his shots.”

  Before he had a chance to reply, she walked away. He couldn’t help but watch her. The movement of her rounded behind actually caused a tightening in his groin. This wasn't good. He was wearing cotton running shorts and the last thing he wanted was his already formed semi to stand at full attention.

  Kate was so completely distracted—picking out the supplies she needed from the emergency room’s main storage room—that she hadn’t realized that she wasn't alone.

  “So how's your patient?"

  She glanced up and was met with another big mischievous grin from Jenny.

  “I didn't know anyone else was in here.” She noticed Jenny was smiling but in an odd kind of way, the same look she had earlier in the locker room. “Okay, let’s have it.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jenny asked, innocently.

  “That smile of yours. What are you up to? You look like the cat that swallowed the canary.”

  Jenny pressed her lips together. “I was just wondering about your patient, that’s all.”

  Kate didn’t buy the innocent act, for a minute. “Uh huh?”

  Something was up with Jenny, but she wasn’t going to waste time trying to figure it out. She no longer felt as tired as she had been earlier; a new rush of adrenalin was running through her body. She would have called it a second wind but that had come and gone around three that morning. This was something different.

  Trying to convince herself that he—the man waiting in curtain three for her—had nothing to do with it, she picked up some gauze and added it to the pile of supplies. No, he couldn't be the reason. It had to be something else that was making her f
eel the way she did.

  Thinking back to the awkward conversation, Kate knew she sounded condescending, but it hadn’t been her intention. She had only been trying to keep the conversation going so she wouldn't feel so awkward. Her behaviour was not going to score her big points in the bedside manner category on “ratemyphysician.com”, but that was far better than the alternative—a lust crazed, libido fuelled idiot. Maybe all those years of celibacy had finally taken its toll on her and it was time to re-think that whole idea of preserving her virtue. Then again who was she kidding? Celibacy wasn’t something she decided to achieve. It was actually the result of a non-existent love life. She had been out on a few coffee dates; most of the men had been drop dead gorgeous—by any woman's standards—but she had never felt an attraction strong enough to actually want to have sex with any of them, or even a second date for that matter. Surely her stagnant, almost non-existent libido’s unwillingness to react to gorgeous men, was not going to choose today to make a statement. She had known the guy for all of five minutes. It's not like she had never treated other good-looking men. In fact, she often treated athletic type men with lean muscles and movie-star looks. There have been countless times she had to treat upper and lower body injuries which required men to practically strip down to the buff while she felt around freely—professionally, for torn muscles, and other more serious injuries. Mr. Remington hadn't even removed his shirt. The only thing he had removed was his socks and shoes, but if she was being honest, she did find his feet sexy.

  She let out a scowl. This was so stupid it bordered on lunacy; they were just feet!

  “I thought you might have appreciated this one,” Jenny said with that mischievous look still on her face.

  “Appreciate what?” Kate asked as she casually added another item to her growing pile of supplies even though she knew exactly what Jenny was getting at.