Between the Evergreens (Part One)

The water

     Sheridan had been loving her time at the lake so far, it had only been 2 days and she finally stumbled into the boat house that housed jet skis.

     "Please, lets take them out. We have some at the house in the Bahamas, I know how to drive them."

     "Emmett will definitely go and probably Jasper and Alice, go ask them. I've never been on them." Sheridan had quickly ran off to find Emmett and the others to beg them to take them out with her. Emmett took very little convincing since he was about just as excited as Sheridan when the words jet ski left her mouth. Sheridan and Emmett had each taken their own while Alice and Jasper shared the remaining one. They were out for a more leisure cruse on the water opposed to the speed race Emmett and Sheridan were on.

     "Sheridan! Lets race and see if you can really ride like you say." Carlisle was watching them from a chair on the dock. Warning bells being set off in his head as he heard Emmetts proposition.

     "Your one, race from the island to that rock by the dock!" The distance was probably close to. two miles, it wouldn't take them long if they managed to get to top speed. Both made it over to their starting point, arguing over whether one of them was closer than the other. Jasper was off to the side bobbing in the small waves waiting to yell go. Once he did both of them clutched the throttle taking off as fast as possible. For being human Sheridan really had no fear of an accident. Something about being on the water was comforting to her, she loved the way it felt.

     Carlisle watched from the dock nervously, both of them picking up speed and getting far to close to each other. Sheridan managed to get in the lead laughing loudly over the sound of them washing over the waves. Emmetts competitive side kicked in full forced and he clutched the throttle as tight as possible shooting himself just past Sheridan and cutting her off. Surprised Sheridan swerved to the side sharply effetely tossing her light body and cutting the engine. The had been going far to fast, tucking her arms around her head she rolled on top of the water finally sinking in a few feet away from the empty jet ski. Without thinking they had let her get on without a life jacket. Jasper had already dove in and was swimming towards Sheridan who was thankfully treading water where she landed.

     "Sheridan! Does anything hurt." Jasper tried to asses her body from above water but even he couldn't see through the darkness.

     "Well everything hurts right now. Can you help me back up." He had initially grabbed at her waist but moved to her hips when a grunt of pain left her lips harshly. Jasper pulled himself up caging Sheridan between his arms while she slump into his chest. Docking the jet ski he got off pulling her along with him. Carlisle was already waiting for them, quickly moving in front of Sheridan asking questions a mile a minute.

     "I'm quite fine, just a little tumble. A little stiff but everything feels alright." The faint bruising could already be seen along the side of her body that hit the water first.

     "You have to let me check, you quite literally rolled on top of the water like it was the ground Sheridan." Carlisles eyes had been racing over her body making her feel very self conscious until he looked into her eyes. he held her gaze firmly, daring her to back down.

     "It really wasn't that bad, I'm still walking and I can look at the sun so no concussion." Carlisle was ready to put up a fight with her but she sighed in defeat. "But if you insist, let's go inside Dr. Cullen." Her voice slowed and she let the title leave her lips while she looked casually at Carlisle. The name made his words get caught in his throat and brain a little fuzzy. Everyone referred to him as Dr. Cullen but when she said it, it sounded much, much different.

     With a smile he took after her retreating figure leaving the kids to make snide comments about his little moment. Sheridan had gone up stairs to retrieve a t-shirt. the doctor cleared his throat when he noticed her tentatively making her way down the stairs playing with the hem of the large shirt she had on. All he could think about was Sheridan walking around the house in his own t-shirt, muddling her way through the kitchen making those awful things she decried as grilled cheese. She perched herself on the kitchen table right next to where Carlisle was standing, keeping her eyes fixated on anything but him.

     "Im going to put a little pressure from the sides of your chest going down to see if there are any stress fractures of major bruising." Delicately he placed the pads of his fingers on her body, applying light pressure like he said. The tension was palpable between the two but he ignored it making sure he was focused on the task at hand. He had gotten right between the last two ribs and she sucked in a hard breath wincing beneath him. "Can I look?"

     "Yeah." She pulled the t-shirt out from under her letting him take over and pull it up slowly. The soft curve of her hips became visible making Carlisle suck in his own breath, restraining his hands from feeling the softness under the shirt. He could see the tail end of what would be a nasty bruise forming, feeling around he couldn't pick out any major problem. With the intentions of pulling her shirt back into placed he pulled it down accidentally rushing against the soft skin on her waist. She let out a soft giggle shying away from his touch, intentionally he brushed over the same spot lighting pulling a much louder laugh from her. A wide smile spread across his face while his hands began assaulting the tickling spot.

     The close proximity left no room for Sheridan to wiggle out from his hold, her only option was to attempt and pull his hands from her. Despite the ticklish feeling, his cool touch warranted some other feelings. The excitement she felt made her heart race and cheeks flush right to the tips of her ears. She never thought she'd be so close, let alone be tickled by seemingly untouchable man she harboured a crush on. When her breathing became more laboured he released his tight grip allowing Sheridan to pull his hands from her. Her hands pulled his down to the table on either side of her making his body lean even closer to her, their eyes practically eye level now.

     Sheridans laughs had gotten caught in her throat while she stared wide eyed at Carlisle. The words Rosalie spoke to him the first time she mentioned Sheridan played in his head, just bring on the charm, pushing any doubts away he smirked at her confidently.

     "Careful now Sheridan." His hands slipped out from under hers resting on her thighs instead. "Wouldn't want anyone to catch us like this now would we?" He squeezed her thighs and shot a playful wink her way before straightening up and exiting back out the door. Sheridan had felt like she stopped breathing. This was the first time Carlisle had ever been close to her and she was freaking out. She had attempted to brush off what Rosalie had said in the car but now she couldn't stop thinking about it, replaying the words over and over. Could there possibly be some truth to what she said she thought.