Free Zenith Rising by Leanne Davis

I’m swamped
right now.”
    “You’re always swamped. Come on. Live a
little.”
    Have a little fun , Joelle’s voice
echoed in her head. Roy came around, and pulled her up, bringing
her against him. They stood head to head and he pushed his groin
into hers, so she could feel him growing hard. She sighed, feeling
nothing; she was not aroused or wet, much less, even interested.
The kiss was expected: sealing her mouth, opening her lips, and
deeply probing with his tongue. It was nice. Fine. She eased back,
putting some inches between their bodies. She thought about what
Joelle suggested, that she was just passing the time with Roy, like
she had with Nick. Judging by her own reaction to his kiss, she
decided Joelle was right.
    But what else could she do? She had to date
these men, and let some time pass to get to know them, in order to
see how she felt about them. She had no other way of knowing. She
was never one to fall in love or lust over a momentary glance.
    Roy’s hands rested on her hips as he pulled
her closer again. It became irritatingly obvious he was feeling
frisky. It had been a while. How long? Why couldn’t she remember?
It didn’t matter; she wasn’t feeling like it right then.
    The knock at her door startled her. She
flipped around to find Spencer in the open doorway. He was about to
turn away, no doubt, having just caught her being groped by Roy.
She silently cursed his timing.
    “Did you need something?”
    He stopped and turned back towards her, his
expression completely blank. Damn, even then, his dark eyes
smoldered at her and made her insides quiver in an involuntary
reaction. “Sorry, Doc, didn’t know you were busy.”
    “It’s okay,” Erica quickly answered as she
stepped away from Roy. Roy took one glance at Spencer, clad in his
work clothes, and turned away. He dismissed Spencer that quickly as
the custodian, and therefore, unimportant. Erica noticed. It was
just like the preacher did to Spencer and it infuriated her. So
what if Spencer wasn’t dressed like Dr. Roy? So what? He was a
steady, hard-working, reliable employee, who easily deserved as
much respect as Roy. With this in mind, Erica said, “I’m not. What
did you need?”
    Spencer’s stare was piercing. She stepped
around Roy, and came closer to the door, gripping the edge of it.
There was something in his face, or his tone, that usually wasn’t
evident. Something was wrong. And his demeanor seemed like
Spencer’s version of being upset. “What is it, Spencer?”
    His eyes raked over her. Why? What could he
be thinking? That she was a gross, old matron, desperately seeking
attention from Roy? So desperate that she let him grope her in her
place of business?
    “Preacher’s out front, distributing pamphlets
about you.”
    Erica jerked back and put a hand to her
chest. “About me?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Saying… what?”
    Spencer handed her one and Erica opened it.
Startled, she stepped back as if someone just took a swing at her
and felt as if she’d taken the punch to her stomach. “ Oh my
God. No. No, I don’t do that. I’m not like that.”
    “What is it?” Roy’s voice came up behind her,
alerted by her whimpers of protest. She handed the offensive
literature to him. The pamphlet had a picture of her plunging a
knife into a newborn’s belly. Erica turned away, utterly nauseated
by the photo-shopped image.
    “What’s this all about?” Roy asked, a frown
contorting his chiseled face.
    Erica sat down on the couch in her office,
feeling shaken like nothing had shaken her in a long while. She
rarely performed abortions. She didn’t run an abortion clinic, for
God’s sake! It wasn’t even a commonly known service she provided.
It was only ever done on a case-by-case basis. And something she
strove to keep quiet and confidential. Why would this preacher
target her? She thought she mollified the man. But no. Not so.
Obviously not.
    “You perform abortions?” Roy didn’t try to
sweeten his tone, which oozed