I is for Ian: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Men of ALPHAbet Mountain) Read online

  I IS FOR IAN

  AN ENEMIES TO LOVERS ROMANCE

  NATASHA L. BLACK

  Copyright © 2022 by Natasha L. Black

  All rights reserved.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  CONTENTS

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Epilogue

  H is for Hawk (Sample)

  A Note from the Author

  Books by Natasha L. Black

  Connect with Natasha L. Black

  INTRODUCTION

  We clashed from the moment we met.

  Now we’re stuck here, just the two of us.

  Snowed in together.

  She’s a gorgeous doctor, mad about the noise

  From my construction on the floor above.

  When a generator blows during an epic storm,

  They evacuate everyone but us.

  Trapped together in an empty hospital,

  With nothing but body heat to keep us warm.

  Though the storm still rages outside,

  Her icy demeanor starts to melt just a little.

  We find interesting ways to pass the time.

  When we’re finally rescued, I don’t want to let her go.

  It’s more than a fling.

  I want her to be mine forever.

  1

  MINA

  “Where are all the damn pacifiers?”

  I groaned, walking toward the back of the storage room.

  Meghan, one of the head nurses on the pediatric unit, was behind me, half-heartedly looking in boxes or totes to see if she could find the pacifiers. She had already searched this room twice. If she couldn’t find them, they likely weren’t there. I typically found peace and solace at work, no matter how chaotic my job as a pediatrician in the hospital could be. Well, I used to find peace and solace until the damned construction crew on the floor above us came in and started making enough noise to raise the damn dead.

  Meghan

  They were renovating, creating a new and improved floor where the pediatric unit could be separate from the OBGYN and birthing center, with all new state-of-the-art equipment. And offices. Lots of offices.

  They had better be some really nice offices for all the God-awful noise they were making.

  “Nothing?” Meghan asked as I lifted one box to check the one below it.

  “No,” I said. “Dammit, we don’t have the time or the people for this.”

  “What do you want to do? Do you want me to send someone out for some?”

  Meghan

  “I’d prefer if you went. I know I can trust you’ll be back quickly.”

  “No problem, Doc. Want anything else while I’m out? Dinner?”

  “No, thank you. I’m clocking out the second you get back. Dr. Richards will be on call for the rest of the day if there are any emergencies, but everything should be pretty smooth.”

  “They said they’ll stop construction at five,” Meghan said, pointing to the ceiling. “That’s only twenty minutes from now. That will help.”

  I shrugged.

  “Go to the dollar store down the street. Pick up as many pacifiers as they have. I’ll have the hospital put an extra hour on your clock for the week or something.”

  “Alright,” she said. “Be back soon.”

  With that, Meghan took off, and I went back to work. I hadn’t sat down in at least six hours. My sandwich was still in the refrigerator, uneaten from lunch. The Ashford Baby Boom had hit in full force, and I was burning the candle at both ends just to keep up. Meghan knew that if I didn’t have such a reliable staff, I wouldn’t survive it.

  Ashford was a tiny town but growing. Just in the last year, there had been quite a few additions to the town population number. Five Corners Hospital sat at the nexus of five separate towns, servicing all of them and the surrounding area. There were babies suddenly coming out of every town, all the time. The entire time period between Valentine’s Day and Easter must have been very busy indeed.

  I felt like I was always on call, which wasn’t far from the truth. But with my lack of hobbies, it was starting to wear on me. Every once in a while, I would try to pick up something to spend my time on, but nothing clicked. Crochet, teaching myself guitar, those fancy adult coloring books, none of it worked. I just went home, crashed, showered, and did it all again the next day.

  “You know they’re just getting started,” one of the nurses said to another as I passed the breakfast nook where the coffee and snacks were kept. “They said tomorrow is when it gets going full force.”

  “You mean this isn’t full force?” I asked, interrupting them as I went to the tiny fridge there and grabbed a cold water.

  “Apparently,” the one with the red curly hair said as she turned. I recognized her as Daisy, one of the newer nurses, transferred here from another area of the hospital. “I was chatting up this cute guy up there, but he didn’t seem all that interested. His name was Bobby. Very fit.”

  Daisy had one of those accents that sounded fake when you first heard it because it was such a cliché. In Tennessee, there weren’t many voices that sounded like hers. The Brooklyn came out of her not as a hint, but as a whole, fully formed story of her life and made sure you knew all about her background with just a handful of words.

  “Dr. Sutton said they were building him a new office,” the other one, a woman named Su-Ling. said.

  “Yeah, a whole suite,” Daisy said. “I saw the plans when I was up there snooping around.”

  Rolling my eyes, I stuffed the water bottle in my pocket and went back to the floor, checking in with various patients before I clocked out for the day. Dr. Richards was already in the building, and technically I could leave at any time. But I wanted to bring the pacifiers to the babies that needed them before I left. So, I waited on Meghan to return.

  When she finally did, I grabbed the pacifiers, took them to the disinfecting area, prepped them, then brought them out to the little ones. With that done, and the grateful looks on their mothers’ faces making sure I was ending the day on a good note, I clocked out and headed home.

  My drive back to my home just off the main road in Ashford was pleasant, if cold. The winter was coming in strong, having held off most of December with warm holidays only to dump the cold on us as the new year began. But I couldn’t stop ruminating on Dr. Sutton and his offices being the primary reason for all the noise.

  Dr. Sutton continued to bring fame and attention to our hospital, which was lovely. It meant we had all the best eq
uipment and could afford to take on patients that we knew might default to us simply because the place was flush with cash. Unfortunately, it also meant dealing with Dr. Sutton. He was brilliant and talented but also a bear to be around and getting more and more cantankerous as he aged. And he was pretty damn cantankerous to begin with.

  When I finally walked in the door, I decided to let it all go. I would think about it tomorrow.

  The only stop I made on my way home was to grab some fast food, and I tossed the bag on the couch as I got in. Slipping off my shoes, I crashed onto the couch and started eating right out of the bag. I frankly didn’t have the energy to grab a plate, arrange everything, reheat what had gotten cold, then wash a dish when I was done. That was just too much work.

  I flipped on the TV and put on a documentary show about hoarders and zoned out as I shoveled fries into my mouth. When I was done, I balled up the bag and sunk a three-pointer from across the room into the trash can. I still didn’t have the energy to get up. Instead, I pulled a pillow under me, lay down, and watched the show until I drifted off to a deep sleep.

  Hours later, I snapped awake, unsure of what time it was. It was dark outside of my window, and the clock on the wall said it was almost six, but that didn’t mean anything. It could be six at night or in the morning.

  I pulled open my phone and groaned. It was six in the morning. My alarm was set to go off in five minutes. Rolling my eyes, I decided to lie back down and wait for the alarm. Five more minutes. I needed those five minutes.

  When the alarm went off, I sluggishly sat up and yawned. Undressing as I walked to the bathroom, I started a shower and hopped in. The smell of the perfumed shampoo and the hot water got my brain going a bit again, and by the time I got out, all I wanted was a coffee.

  I wrapped myself in a towel and headed to the kitchen. I made the coffee with a towel around my chest and another holding my hair. With a mug in hand, I made my way back to the bedroom. I got dressed quickly and grabbed my coffee to head back to the living room when I stubbed my toe on the dresser.

  “Shit!” I said, spilling the coffee on myself.

  I quickly threw on a fresh pair of scrubs, leaving myself no time for error.

  Grumbling, I put on my shoes and limped my way to the car. When I arrived at the hospital, my frustration hit its peak. There were four parking spaces set aside for the four pediatricians. Dr. Sutton was first, then two others, then me. The first three spaces were open and fine.

  The fourth had a giant construction truck turned sideways in it.

  This day was not looking promising.

  2

  IAN

  The fourth floor of the hospital had a spectacular view of Ashford, Tennessee. Nestled in the mountain at the intersection of five towns, it was an anomaly in that it was a major center in the midst of not much else. The surrounding towns were a bit bigger than sleepy little Ashford, but the hospital itself faced in its direction, and I couldn’t help but admire the view every once in a while. Especially when I wanted to take a break to eat.

  I leaned forward in the little metal chair to look down over the small parking lot set aside for the doctors and nurses and saw my truck still sitting where I’d parked it. I knew it was an obnoxious way to park, going sideways across four or five spaces, but I needed it close to the building, and Dr. Sutton was so insistent. When I pulled in that morning, he was waiting in his spot.

  I had heard that he was rather fussy and difficult to deal with, but he seemed fairly genial when I met him. He shook my hand and informed me that I should park the way I did. Considering that the window it was below was where most of the work was going to be done that day and we were going to be tossing things out of it, it was better to have my truck there since it was insured along with our equipment.

  “Ian,” a voice behind me called, and I looked over my shoulder to see Bryant on his way over. Bryant Percy was one of my best friends and my right-hand man on the job. He was holding a notebook, as usual. He was a notorious note-taker and preferred to do it with pen and paper.

  “What’s up?”

  “Whoa,” he said, looking out of the window. “Nice view. Anyway. I have the plans for the day.”

  “Let me see,” I said, taking the notebook from him.

  “Did they give you any indication on if they were thinking about the new wing for us to build or if they were going to someone more local?”

  “They haven’t said,” I said. “I think a lot of that depends on how well we can do with this renovation and if we come in at or under budget. You know how these types are. They want it to be fast and flashy, but it’s a hospital. We have to make sure it’s perfect.”

  “But…” he said, knowing there was more to it. If anyone knew how ambitious I was, it was Bryant.

  “But I think we can do it,” I said. “We’re talking about a massive job, and very high-profile. It would be huge for me.”

  “Hell yeah it would,” Bryant said. “You’re thirty-two, man. You’re already young to be doing what you’re doing. You get this, all I’m saying is you better hook me up.”

  “You know it,” I said.

  “So, demo?”

  “Yeah, get to the demo work. I’ll oversee the offices. Oh, and Bryant?”

  “Yeah?”

  “When I have my own company, you know you’re my foreman, right?”

  “I better be,” he laughed.

  Bryant walked away, heading to the other side of the building, where the demolition crew was. He was about to make a lot of noise, which was his favorite aspect of the job. To that end, it was why I brought him down in the first place. Being in control of the scheduling and essentially running the company for an owner that preferred to stay at home most of the time, I had my pick of who to bring on.

  What Bryant said was true. I was already young for my position. Being a foreman, especially on a job this big and this important for the company, was something that usually went to older and more experienced guys. Me being in this position meant I was as good as I thought I was and that there was trust in me to get it done. And get it done right.

  The board overseeing the renovation was expected to come in and take a look at things at various points in the process, and Dr. Sutton was also very keen to know what was happening on the ground as well. I was going to have people crawling all over the place and had to be on top of my game at all times. I was okay with that. I was good under pressure.

  I was thankful for the opportunity, but it was still just a stepping-stone for me. I had big plans. Like I told Bryant, I was planning on starting my own company by the time I was forty. If things kept going the way they had been in recent years, that wouldn’t be that much of a stretch. Bryant was the first guy I was going to hire.

  Aside from him, I didn’t really have many friends. I just didn’t have time for them. Throwing myself into work as hard as I had right out of college meant that I didn’t have much time for anything else. The occasional trip to the sports bar to watch games, usually with Bryant in tow, or occasionally hitting on a girl I’d met at one of the places I tended to be because of work were the only things I did.

  My luck with women wasn’t terribly good either. Relationships fizzled after the first date or two, when the girl realized that I wasn’t as interested in having a real relationship as I was having someone to distract me in the few hours I wasn’t actively at work. It was my own fault, but most women my age had been interested in deep, meaningful relationships, and that wasn’t where I was in life.

  A cold chill blew in from the empty window hole, and I pulled my jacket tighter. The plastic over the window wasn’t fully battened down, which was going to be the first thing I did when I got up. By the end of the day tomorrow, the windows would be installed. I aimed to have all the construction work done by then, so when the windows went in, there would only be decorating left. Then we could show Dr. Sutton and get on with the process of him being thoroughly impressed by me.

  I ate the last bite of my
lunch and washed it down with a big gulp of my sweet tea.

  I stood up, stretching. It was going to be a good day. I could feel it. I just needed to do what I did best and keep things moving on time.

  I glanced out of the window again at the truck. Satisfied that it was safe, I turned and headed back to the area we had designated as our breakroom to fill up my bottle get back to work.

  3

  MINA

  “Are they exploding bombs up there?” I looked up at the ceiling as I walked back into the breakroom.

  “I’m pretty sure they don’t use dynamite inside buildings,” Meghan said. “But you never know, I guess.”

  “I don’t know what else it could be,” I muttered. “Whatever it is, it’s bothering the hell out of the young mothers and the new babies in the ward.”

  “Not to mention pissing us all off.” Meghan stabbed at her salad with her fork like she was punishing it. “I swear, I am going to lose my mind.”

  “I’m with you there.” I grabbed my lunch from the refrigerator and sat across from her. “I just got out of room four, and a loud sound shook the room so hard, I thought we were under attack. I had to pretend it was all fine, and the mom started freaking out. Her baby was just not having it. I had to spend ten minutes helping her calm that baby down and go over her discharge plans.”