Free Zenith Rising by Leanne Davis Page A

anger as well as disgust.
    Spencer’s gaze was on her, then on Roy, and
back on her. She could feel him watching her, listening to them,
and no doubt, judging her.
    “Rarely. Not very much at all. Private
matters, Roy. I am a doctor. A women’s doctor.”
    “I just didn’t think you would that.”
    “You never asked. I help women, however I can
with whatever they need. Medically, as well as sometimes,
emotionally. I do what I can. It’s not any of your business. Or
anyone else’s, for that matter. It’s a private decision, and one I
never take lightly.”
    Roy took a step back, moving away from her,
as Spencer stepped into the office and moved closer to her.
    Erica was dazed. She put her face into her
hands, shaking her head. How could this be happening to her? She
was a good doctor. She did exceptional work here, and now this
preacher was trying to suggest that performing abortions was her
real objective? She looked up at the two men in her office and
licked her lips before whispering, “What do I do?”
    “Nothing. Preacher’s gone.”
    Her gaze jerked to Spencer. “Gone? But
how?”
    “I told him to leave.”
    “And he left?”
    Spencer hesitated. “Not exactly. It took a
little persuasion.”
    “What kind of persuasion? Like Kenny kind of
persuasion?”
    “Something like that.” No smile. No reaction.
He simply looked her straight in the eye, waiting for her
reaction.
    What had Spencer just done? She could be
sued! If he antagonized the preacher, he could go directly to the
media! She glanced down again at the lies and filth in her hand
that were being claimed about her. Looking up, she saw Spencer’s
scowl, and stared deeply into his eyes, saying softly, “Thank
you.”
    “Thank you? I was afraid you’d fire me.”
    “Yet you did it anyway?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?” she asked, tilting her head with
confusion.
    “Because you don’t deserve having such lies
said about you. That pamphlet’s not helping anyone. You help women.
So I tried to first explain that to your preacher. When that didn’t
work, I convinced him to leave.”
    A laugh escaped her lips and she shook her
head. “With the help of a brick wall, I assume. And your undeniable
height and irrepressible anger?”
    “Yes, those can be very convincing.”
    “What am I going to do about this? My
reputation?” Erica couldn’t even look at the sickening portrayal of
her again. Spencer came closer, and picked it up. Then he pulled a
lighter from his pocket, and lit it on fire, before throwing it
into the sink in her office.
    Roy rushed over to the sink, quickly running
water over it. “What are you doing? You’ll set the sprinklers
off.”
    Roy glared at Spencer and his eyebrows
furrowed in visible anger. At least, he wasn’t looking through Spencer anymore.
    “Proving a point,” Spencer said, without
looking at Roy. He was still staring at Erica, who was trapped by
his deeply, powerful eye lock. She finally dropped her gaze and got
his point. Fuck them. Burn it. Screw it . She wasn’t a baby
killer. She got it. Roy didn’t. She looked up again, and felt
Spencer’s eyes burning into her: dark, smoldering, and very
serious. “Point taken, Doc?” he asked softly.
    Erica nodded her head in a jerky yes as she
straightened her spine and stood up. She gathered strength from
Spencer’s cut-and-dried actions in her defense. If he felt that
sure of her, and what and who she was, then she could be that sure
of herself, her practice, and her morals. “Yes, point taken.”
    Spencer turned to leave without another word.
His back was rigid and his smirk insolent as he glanced from her to
Roy. She cringed at what he must think of her choice of
boyfriend.
    Erica was left alone with Roy, who was quiet
for a moment. Then he came closer to her. “Who is that?”
    “Spencer? He works here, doing maintenance
for the building.”
    “Yes, I know his job title. But who is he?
What is he to you? That was no handyman addressing you then. That
was a