A Fine Line
By- Jeanine Binder
Genre- Contemporary/Romantic Suspense
Undercover narcotics. Lori had no clue how dirty this business really was until Dr. Leigh Matthews walked into his life, late-night in an emergency room. She was blonde, beautiful, and intelligent - to Lori's amazement she was just as happy with him and his job as he was. His father's financial success meant nothing to her. She was a bright ray of sunshine in an otherwise dismal world.
But as Lori prepares to bring down the largest drug operation in the county, can their love survive the stress of his long absences, the dangers of his job, as well as ultimate betrayal? Can they keep their relationship alive and well when the whole world turns upside down?
Gang fights had to be one of the worst things they got in the emergency room. A whole bunch of teenagers, beaten up or worse, still trying to kill each other when they got to the hospital. Hospital security was not enough to handle it - local police had to be there to keep everyone calm so they could be seen and treated. The critical cases always went first - usually those were gunshot or stab wounds. Stabilizing them was the difficult part so the surgeons could fix the rest. Most of the time they bled out in the emergency room before they ever got to the OR.
After four hours of non-stop teenagers, Leigh was exhausted. It was past ten pm, more than three hours after she should have been off work on her rotation Saturday. But the cases had kept coming - there was no way anyone had been able to leave on time, and she probably would have been called in to help anyway, despite it being her day off, as they had called in one of the other ER doctors to help as the cases seemed to be never ending. Two deaths from gunshot wounds and one from a knife in the chest were the worst casualties - there were numerous other stab wounds and three more teenagers had been shot, although those hadn't been life threatening. There were also two toddlers who had been caught in the gang crossfire - both of the little kids were not critically injured and were going to survive. Leigh was thankful. She hadn't wanted to tell either set of parents their child had died.
Leigh left the hospital around eleven and, when she arrived home, she saw the familiar BMW parked next to her normal spot. She had given Lori a key the last time he had come up for air, as she called it - their relationship was at a point where she knew she could trust him. They'd been dating over four months. It had been almost a month since she had seen him last - at least he'd appeared hale that time, compared to the broken ribs and jail fight she'd seen before. Hopefully, everything had been going all right - she worried about him every time a gang riot or a drug overdose came in. She wasn't going to say anything contrary to him - but she would not be disappointed if he decided to do something different than undercover narcotics sometime in the not-so-distant future. A normal relationship was always a possibility.
Unlocking the front door, she went inside. There she found Lori sitting at the breakfast bar in front of a laptop, typing what appeared to be notes of some kind. Dropping her purse on a chair, she went over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She laid her head on his back, soaking in the warmth and smell of him. She felt like everything was right in the world, just holding onto him.
"Missed you," she said softly.
"I missed you, too," he told her, hitting save and closing the laptop cover. He moved out of her embrace long enough to stand then pulled her back into his arms, hugging her close.
She pulled back a little to look him over. "No visible bruises or broken bones. Just not sure if you need a haircut or a dog license though."
He laughed as she teased him. "No, I managed to get through this in one piece for a change. You're running pretty late tonight."
"Gang fight - was a huge, snarly mess."
"Usually are," he agreed, his mouth finding hers.
They made it as far as the couch. She could feel his need for her and there was no lingering involved. There was never any hesitation from her- they were enveloped in a mutual desire. When they were finished, they moved upstairs to the bedroom. Leigh was happy he was there. Things had been much easier when she wasn't in a relationship - there hadn't been anyone to miss. But she knew how she felt about Lori - she also knew he was pretty off about marriage. His failed attempt and the hassle with his ex-wife kept him fairly jaded about the process, although he no longer had to pay alimony since she had gotten re-married. For now she was good with what they had together. He was attentive when he was there and she was content in his arms. She was thankful for any time they had together - knowing the dangers of his job could make this his last.
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