Cured: Heal Me Series, #1

By Stacy Eaton

Ember Greene and Trudy Parker met during their college years and on the night that they meet at Shot Therapy to reconnect, Embers's life begins to change. For six years, Ember has closed off her heart, moving from one man to another, trying to feel something other than her own pain and guilt.

Colt Barnes is a plastic surgeon who strives to give people a better quality of life, especially children. The night he watches Ember leave the bar with another one-night stand, he resolves to offer up a challenge to get her to view herself in a new light.

Little does he know that the challenge will change both their lives, but when Embers's secret is exposed, will Colt be able to accept it and trust her, or will Ember go back to her old ways and leave Colt broken?

Love Medical Romance? Check out the rest of the Heal Me Series for sexy romances that will warm your heart as they deal with life altering medical and psychological issues. While each book in the Heal Me Series is a stand-alone book, the characters cross between books and are best enjoyed by reading them in order.

Cured, Book 1

Revived, Book 2

Mended, Book 3

Rescued, Book 

Eaton's romances are perfect steamy romances for fans of Melissa Foster, Carly Phillips, Mona Risk, Leanne Banks, Mimi Barbour, Carolyn Brown, and Lexi Blake and other small-town romance fans. The characters are flawed and real dealing with real life issues and overcoming real life odds and earn their happily ever after.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stacy Eaton
• Release date: Aug 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386966715

Book preview

Chapter 1

Ember

T hat guy over there is so hot, I said to my friend across from me at the scarred wooden table of our favorite bar, Shot Therapy.

Trudy peered over her shoulder and mumbled, Yeah, I guess.

Oh, come on, Trudy, he’s fucking hot! He’s got a friend, too. Why don’t I bring them over?

Trudy rolled her eyes and shook her head. I’m not interested.

Trudy Winter and I had met years ago when we went to college in Maryland, and out of the blue, she’d contacted me to crash at my place while she interviewed for teaching positions. It sounded like more work than I wanted to do, but Trudy was a lot more focused and intense than I was.

Back in college we were housed in the Weaver Dorm and hung out with some of the same friends. I was a year ahead of her in school and had never expected to hear from her again once I graduated with my business degree—which I managed to obtain by the skin of my teeth.

A week ago, Trudy had sent me a message on Facebook asking if she could stay for a few days while she underwent her interviews. I’d cringed at the thought of sharing my small place, but I owed it to her. I couldn’t remember the number of times she’d been my excuse to get some random dude out of my room after a quick hookup.

Trudy had spent a lot of time hanging in the common space on our floor. Sometimes she’d watched television, other times, she’d read. Many times, I’d found her lost in her own world as she’d stared at the painted cinderblock wall.

You sure? I asked Trudy as she sipped her water.

Yeah, I’m sure, but knock yourself out. Trudy drummed her fingers on the table.

Okay, I’ll be right back. I wet my lips as I slid out of the booth and straightened my short skirt. I winked at Trudy and strutted between the tables to the bar. The guy was eyeing me as I approached, a cocky smile on his full lips. His brown eyes predatory as they slid down my body, and it jacked up my need.

Oh, yeah, I was getting lucky tonight.

Can I buy you a drink? I asked as I stopped close enough to him that I could feel the body heat wafting off his nicely-built chest. I was never shy when it came to approaching men. If I wanted someone, I went for it. Well, as long as he didn’t have a wedding band or an indentation on his ring finger. Even I had my limits.

Here at Shot Therapy, men were a dime a dozen. I wasn’t in the market for one man to keep. The last thing I was interested in was settling down. The mere thought made my wrist tingle where I had a forever reminder of what settling down could do to a person. I absently rubbed my wrist to stop the tingling as I popped my hip to the side and gave the guy a smoldering look while batting my eyelashes seductively at him.

A burst of laughter reached my ears, and I turned to find the source. A guy with short dark hair eyed me with a bright glimmer of humor in his light green eyes. I thought guys were supposed to offer to buy the ladies a drink. he interrupted as I tried not to let my jaw drop. He was freaking gorgeous. In fact, he put the guy I had just approached to crying shame, but as my eyes roved longingly over his body, I noticed the fancy watch on his wrist and the large gold class ring on his right hand.

D-O-C-T-O-R—my internal radar screamed. It was obvious that the guy had money, and that alone put him ten times out of my league. The fact that he was hanging out in Shot Therapy meant, he probably worked at the hospital around the corner. Doctors were my other limits. I gave him a knowing smirk and turned my attention back to the guy I had already propositioned.

I’d love a drink. He threw his buddies an I-got-this smile that kind of irked me and climbed off his stool. Want to head over to your table? I can bring a friend for yours.

I glanced over my shoulder towards Trudy. Her knee was bouncing a fast rhythm under the table. No, she’s not up for anything tonight.

The guy snatched my hand and led me back to my table. What’s your name? he asked as we wiggled between the packed tables.

Ember, what’s yours?

It’s Jed. He threw over his shoulder, and I wrinkled my nose when he turned back around. Jed? What the hell kind of name was Jed? It sounded like he should be driving a tractor out in Hickville, not hanging around the Big Apple.

We slid into the booth, and I introduced Jed to Trudy. She nodded unthinkingly but didn’t say much else for a while. During the next hour, I tried to pull Trudy into a conversation, but she seemed more intent on tearing apart the bar napkin in front of her.

Jed, on the other hand, seemed quite thrilled with Trudy not taking part in the conversation. In fact, he wasn’t much for conversation at all. Instead, he was more interested in rubbing his hands up and down my legs and throwing out sexual innuendos. He was also throwing the shots back and had just finished his fifth one when he leaned over and whispered in my ear.

Let’s blow this joint. I can think of better things to be doing. I gave him a sly smile and found myself flicking my eyes back to the table on the other side of the room where the high-rolling hottie was sitting back in his seat and unabashedly watching me. What the hell was his problem?

Trudy, do you mind hanging out here for a little while? Maybe an hour? I dug into my purse and pulled out a spare key. Here’s the key to my apartment. You remember the address I gave you earlier?

Trudy stared at me and then at Jed. I felt guilty for doing this to her, but I wasn’t going to turn down a little bit of action. As it was, it had been over a week for me and I needed the release—bad. It could be her payment for crashing on my couch.

Just give us like an hour. I wiggled my eyebrows at her and pushed Jed out of the booth. As we stood, I turned to find a man over six feet tall, built like a brick shithouse and hotter than Hades staring at Trudy like he wanted to eat her for dinner. I suddenly didn’t feel so bad for ditching her, so I grabbed Jed’s hand and strolled out of the bar.

The cool night air felt good on my hot skin, and the minute we were on the sidewalk, Jed pulled me into the alley beside Shot Therapy and pushed me up against the brick wall. You are so fucking hot, he said before he began kissing my neck—well, more like mauling my neck, but it still felt good.

Jed was hot, not quite as hot as the guy with the light green eyes and the one day’s growth of beard who’d been staring me down, but he was hot in his own right. His shoulders were wide, and his hair was light blonde and cut short. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the brick. I tried to remember what color Jed’s eyes were, but I had no memory of them. I guess I’d had too much to drink at this point.

How far is your place? he asked as he ground his pelvis against my stomach. He was rock hard, and I both appreciated it and wanted it, but I was having a hard time getting into it, because I kept remembering the guy inside.

Not too far, a few blocks, but you need to let go of me, or we will never get there, I said teasingly as I arched into his hands while they squeezed my breasts.

Then let’s go. He stopped almost as fast as he started and pulled me back onto the sidewalk.

Ten minutes later, I pushed open the door to my little apartment, and Jed was right back on me. His hands were everywhere, and his lips were not too far behind. I managed to get us into the bedroom and closed the door before he pushed me onto the bed.

It wasn’t too hard to do since I only had about six inches between where the door could swing open to where the edge of my bed started. Jed fumbled with my clothes and his, or maybe I was the one fumbling, who knew. My mind seemed to have gone numb from the amount of alcohol I had tossed back at the bar.

The sex was nothing to get excited about, in fact, if you’d asked me the next morning if it had been good, I couldn’t have told you—just another hookup, just another night.

I was standing in my tiny kitchen the morning after, trying to find a clean coffee mug to use, when Jed stumbled out of my room, buttoning his pants. Hey, your friend said thanks, but she was going to go stay someplace else. She left your house key on the counter.

Trudy? When did you talk to Trudy? It wasn’t until he mentioned her that I remembered she was supposed to have been staying on my couch. I glanced over the small counter and saw a blanket folded haphazardly over the end. Had we been too noisy?

I knew Trudy’s life hadn’t been easy, she’d hinted at things from time to time, but she never really shared any of it other than that she had been in foster homes after her mother had died.

We had that in common—not the foster homes—but the death of a mother. As I glanced around the counter, I forced those memories back into their abyss. I didn’t want to think about that right now.

I shrugged the thought away. It was probably better that she went someplace else. This place wasn’t big enough for more than one person on a good day. As I glanced around the apartment, all three hundred square feet of it, it obviously wasn’t a good day.

I gotta get going, Jed stated, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t into the whole morning-after routine of Can I get your number? and Want to have breakfast? just to starve off the guilt of walking out the door. I knew even if I did give him my number, he would never call. They never did.

Okay, thanks for a great night. I put on my best smile and gave him the obligatory hug goodbye.

You’re welcome, he paused, so, I’ll see you around?

Of course, I grinned and threw in a soft laugh for the hell of it.

He gave me an abrupt nod and took off. I rolled my eyes and went back to searching for a clean coffee mug. Maybe today I should clean my apartment.

Yeah, that’s not going to happen. I glanced at the clock on the stove. Aw, shit, I’m late.

I ran into the bathroom, stubbing my toes on the door frame and swearing up a storm. I was supposed to be at work in about sixty minutes, and normally the trip to the store took me at least thirty. With a broken toe or two, there was no way I was going to be able to walk as fast as I normally did.

Crap, I’m going to be late, again, I sighed as I turned on the shower and slipped inside to wash away another night of nothing.

Chapter 2

Colt

Normally a night out with my friends was what I needed, but tonight nothing seemed right. Shot Therapy, which was traditionally packed on the weekends and fairly well-attended during the week, was jammed this Tuesday night. The room sounded too loud, the food tasted too salty, and the beer was kind of warm.

I sighed. I knew it didn’t really have anything to do with the record number of people who, like me, were out trying to relieve stress in the middle of the week. In the back of my mind, I knew that I should have just gone home after work. My mind was wrapped up in an earlier medical procedure that had not gone as planned. The patient was going to live, but he would have a constant reminder of what he had gone through.

Colt, you need to stop thinking about it, Whitney said as she leaned over and stole one of my sweet potato fries.

I would have slapped her hand away, but right then, I really didn’t feel like eating. I pushed my plate closer to her, Have as many as you want. I wiped my hands and mouth off before I threw my napkin on the table and leaned back, slinging my hand around to the back of her chair and resting my forearm on it.

Stop thinking about what? Walker asked before he took an enormous bite of his burger.

Whitney waved her hand, Some medical procedure that didn’t go the way Colt wanted it to.

Walker raised a brow and finished chewing before he spoke. You’re kidding. Doctor Barnes wasn’t able to pull off a miracle?

Funny, Walker, I growled at him and glanced around the bar. My eyes passed over a table and then bounced back to a woman I had noticed several other nights in this same bar. She was leaning over the table talking to another woman. Her long blonde hair hung straight around her face, curling on top of the table, but it was her eyes that always captured my attention. They were a bright clear blue and every time I saw them, they gave me pause.

All kidding aside, Colt, what went wrong? Walker asked and pulled my attention back to our table.

I shrugged, I don’t know, I thought it would be easier. It wasn’t until I opened him up that I saw the mess that had never been fixed correctly. It made my job a hell of a lot harder.

Were you still able to fix the problem? Walker asked.

I sighed, The best I could. Unfortunately, the jawbone wasn’t put back into place correctly, so the skin isn’t going to lie flat like it should.

Hey, man, you did your best. You can’t take the blame for someone else’s mistakes.

Walker and I had been friends since medical school when we had shared an apartment off campus. He knew how important my job was to me. It wasn’t just about fixing the problems, but also about giving the person a better quality of life.

I am well aware that I shouldn’t take the blame for other people’s shoddy work, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother me.

We get that, Colt, Whitney consoled as she put her hand on my thigh and squeezed it.

Whitney was a nurse in my practice and a very close friend. Once a week, Walker, Whitney, Josey, and I normally met here for dinner. Josey wasn’t able to make it tonight as she had taken an extra shift at the hospital. I had the feeling she had the hots for Walker, and I wasn’t sure why he never went for it, maybe he didn’t see it.

Whitney had more than once shown me she was interested in something with me, but while I thought she was great, she just didn’t hit my sweet spot. I glanced across the bar and looked at the girl in the booth again.