9781631052347OnCallKenyan (14 page)

“You
still live in his apartment, rent free, I might add. You get to drive his car,
don’t you? Lisette and Catalella aren’t allowed anywhere near it, and those
girls mean the world to him. In fact the only two people who have driven it are
you and AJ. He’s trusted you with his stuff.”

“And I
betrayed him.” Katherine didn’t bother wiping away the fat tear rolling down
her cheek.

“You
had a minor setback. Now, do away with the roommates with benefits crap, and
start all over again. Give each other time, and if it’s meant to be—you’ll be
together.”

“We had
a sexual relationship first. He won’t touch me that way anymore.”

“If AJ
won’t even have pity sex with you, it means you have a long way to go,
Katherine. Now get out of my car, my girl is waiting for me at home.”

Katherine
looked around and noticed that they were in front of her apartment building.
How long had they been there? “Do you think we’ll be all right?”

Reno
just shrugged his shoulders. “By the way, he never slept with Rose. He hasn’t
been with anyone after he met you.” He pulled away and Katherine found herself
alone in the cold air, her fear of facing AJ making her shiver. She was an
idiot.

Chapter Twelve

AJ had
been pacing in his room. He had discarded the clothes he’d worn earlier on and
was just left with his black flannel pants. He was waiting for Katherine. He
wasn’t going to allow her to make a fool out of him any longer. She had to
decide, she was either going to be with him or Lyle. He heard the front door
open and for a second he thought about confronting her in the living room.

But he
stopped, his fingers inches away from his doorknob. If he went to her feeling
emotional, letting her see how hard she had crushed him, it would only leave
him vulnerable to her. He didn’t know whether or not that was a good or bad
thing.

Instead
AJ leaned on the door and listened as she went about the living room, and made
her way into her bedroom. When he heard her door click shut, he walked toward
his balcony. He stood, basking in the warmth of the moon, forcing his mind to
shut down.

AJ had
barely relinquished all thoughts of Katherine when he heard his door open. He
heard the hesitant steps, the labored breathing and a sniffle. He groaned
inside. She was crying again. How was he supposed to keep his cool façade in
the face of her tears? He refused to turned around and meet her fragile state.
He forced himself to remain a statue, the moon locking his gaze, keeping him
from turning to her.

“AJ.”
Her feeble voice called.

AJ
could feel his stone heart chipping, bit by bit. He didn’t answer. Instead he
inhaled the night air. His eyes closed as his hands trembled at his sides,
itching to hold her.

“AJ,
please, I’m sorry.”

He
still didn’t answer.

“AJ,
make love to me.”

That
had his whole body responding. He turned toward her, but didn’t trust himself
to move. She was dressed in his flannel shirt. It draped over her like a robe,
stopping inches beneath her knees. It seemed to swallow her, and that’s just
how he wanted to posses her. He itched to have her creamy short legs wrap
themselves around his waist. His heart beat thunderously in his chest, as his
cock throbbed with need. He took a step forward but then retreated. How could
he? Touching her would only bring him an enormous amount of pain.

“Make
love to me.”

“How?”
The question was asked in earnest.

“What
do you mean?” Katherine took a step toward him, but he held up his hand to her,
stopping her.

“I was
so proud of you, of us, knowing that I was the only man who had ever touched
you. I was the only man who had kissed you, and filled you with so much passion
that you gave yourself to me.” AJ didn’t expect the rage that filled him just
then. It was like a blur. One second he was trying to stay away from her and
the next, he had crushed her body to his. “I was the only man who had ever been
inside you, the only one who had watched you climax over and over again. Those
sighs of satisfaction were mine; the moans filled with lust belonged to me. How
am I supposed to make love to you when you let another man touch what was
mine.”

His
fist knocked his head a couple of times. “The image of him on top of you is
ingrained in here. How am I supposed to make love to you knowing that you
fucked him just last night?”

“You saw—”

“Rose
made sure of it.” AJ released her and she fell back on the bed, her eyes fixed
on a spot in the carpet. He knew that she couldn’t look at him. He suspected
Katherine knew he knew about her and Lyle. But she didn’t think that he had
seen it. “I can’t touch you again, not like that. I can’t. I just….”

“I
disgust you,” Katherine mumbled.

AJ
dropped to his knees in front of her. “Never. You could never disgust me. But I
just can’t be with you that way, not after Lyle—”

“Defiled
me.” He saw the rage brewing behind the gray waves in her eyes. “I touched you,
knowing that you had screwed half of New York.”

AJ
stood up and retreated into a corner. She would never, could never understand
how he felt. “I’m not strong enough, Katherine.”

“Strong enough for what? All I wanted you to do— If you
had—”

“If I
had loved you, you wouldn’t have slept with Lyle?” AJ asked. “I was beginning
to fall in love with you.”

“But
now you can’t.”

“I
don’t think it would hurt this much if I didn’t have feelings for you. But you
wanted to be ‘roommates with benefits’.”

“I
don’t want that anymore. I want to be with you. We can start over. Just you and
me, exclusive. No Rose, no Lyle.” She sounded so hopeful, but AJ knew hope was
a crippling emotion and so was love.

“You
still have to work with Lyle. Could you handle that?”

“Yes,
I’m willing to try. I want us to work out.”

AJ had
never been in this position before. But he had to concede one fact, she risked
being with him even after knowing what sort of a Lothario he was. They weren’t
exclusive at the time of her indiscretion with Lyle. Maybe he could forgive
her, but he could never forget. Would that ruin it for them?

“I
think you should move out.” She started to speak but he cut her off. “We should
date like normal couples. If we live together, I don’t think it could work out.
We need our space, and I can’t keep seeing you walking around in nothing but my
shirts.” He afforded her a smile as a peace offering.

“We
won’t make love?”

“Not
yet.”

“Will
we kiss at least?”

“Of
course.”

“You’ll
hold my hand?”

“Yes.”
AJ stepped forward and took her hand in his. “We can do all the things that
crazy teenagers do. But we won’t be intimate just yet.”

Katherine
sighed and looked out his balcony doors. “I never realized you had a balcony.”

“Well,
when you were here I had you busy with something else.” He grinned, as he
lightly stroked her cheek.

When
they got back to the hospital they both made an effort to behave like a normal
couple. They had lunch dates at the cafeteria in between surgery and trauma.
They saved the stolen kisses for abandoned hospital corners, but they never
risked going into an on-call room alone. Every time they kissed, held hands and
exchanged longing gazes, it was a promise of more, of something better and
greater. But while he had his desires and emotions under control, Katherine’s
spilled out of her. She was like a teenager at school around her first crush.
AJ never knew Katherine could be so clumsy. She couldn’t seem to stop falling
over herself, and crashing into people and walls as she paced backward away
from him. He twirled his finger, instructing her to turn around and walk with
her eyes forward. That way, he hoped she would bump into less people. He
chuckled as her cheeks slowly blushed.

Maybe,
somehow, he would be able to forget that image of Katherine and Lyle and
replace it with the rosy blush that lit up his face. He chuckled once more when
she bumped into an orderly. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he said. “Turn
around.”

Katherine
gave him thumbs up and turned around, walking around the corner and out of his
sight. AJ laughed, but his fun was interrupted by what he knew was a fleshy
breast rubbing up against him. AJ thanked God Katherine hadn’t seen the
seductive show the nurse was putting up for him. He couldn’t even remember his
name, let alone remember if he had slept with her before. He ignored her, but
that didn’t stop her from rubbing up against him like a cat on heat.

Dear
God, he was so pissed off about Katherine sleeping with Lyle—the bruise to his
ego and the final nail in the coffin that held his hate for the man—he didn’t
think of how she felt. It couldn’t be comfortable for her to be working,
interacting with and depending on the help of the women he’d had affairs with.
He needed to forgive her and hopefully she would forgive him for putting her in
such an awkward position.

“AJ,”
the horny cat meowed seductively.

“Not
today, babe, not ever.” AJ looked away from her pout with disgust. How the hell
did he bed all these desperate women without being disgusted with himself. “I’m
taken.” He registered the shock on her face. AJ knew that by the end of shift
every single nurse would soon find out of his relationship status. Hopefully
Katherine wouldn’t suffer because of his new chastity belt. AJ walked away and
immediately a crowd formed around the nurses’ station. He chanced another look
over his shoulder and Rose’s hate-filled smoldering glare froze him in place. A
woman scorned.

“Great!”
he muttered under his breath.

* * *
*

Katherine
tip toed around Lyle, only allowing him close when they were in a crowd of people.
She knew Adrian wasn’t lurking about trying to catch her in the act. But she
couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. She wasn’t going to mess this up. She took
out her phone and pondered for a while before finally texting Adrian. She
wasn’t sure about what she was allowed to do in the new parameters of their
relationship. So she hoped texting and asking about his day was all right.

Not bad. What about yours babe?

Katherine
wanted to do a back flip. But instead she did a happy dance where she stood. He
called her babe, just like he used to before this nightmare with Lyle started.
She thought of texting something bolder, but she was scared. She willed herself
to be brazen. After all would man land on the moon if they were afraid they
would be killed by tiny green aliens?

I miss you.

Me too Kitty Kat.

The
response came instantly so she didn’t check the caller ID when her phone rang.
“I guess you missed the sound of my voice.”

“Well,
dear, I am your mother. And I do miss you terribly.”

It her
mother’s southern drawl that echoed from the phone and not the timbre of AJ’s
voice. “Oh hullo, Mother.”

“I
assume you didn’t know it was me calling. Anyway that doesn’t matter. You have
to come to dinner tonight. It is of the utmost importance,” she said in her high
society tone. Sometimes Katherine wondered if the woman was real at all.

“Not to
me, Mother. I have plans.” She did. She was going to ask AJ on a date. She was
going to take him out to dinner, make an effort on jump starting their new
fresh relationship.

“Cancel
them. Your brother, Christian, has come up with the most idiotic idea ever.
He’s going to join the army. A gentle soul like his will be killed in his first
hour.”

“Don’t
say that. Really, Mother, the things you say. Wait. Did you say Christian is joining
the army?” Fear for her brother’s well-being gripped her. But it didn’t compare
to the feeling of loss for her only normal sibling. With him gone, she would be
the only normal Henry child in New York.

“Yes,
so you must come. We are going to try and dissuade him from this cockamamie
idea.” She snorted.

“I’ll
be there, Mother.”

“Where
is that?” Katherine turned to find AJ grinning down at her.

“I’ll
see you tonight, Mother.” Katherine hung up her phone and smiled back at AJ.
She tried to calm the wild beat of her heart before she spoke. AJ always had a
way of getting her tongue tied. It was worse now because of the egg shells she
was trying not to step on. “My mother is holding a dinner party for us.”

“A
party?”

“By
party I mean, a lunch not so different from the one your mother holds. The
difference is we have to get dolled up before we are fed. Then we sit in this
awkward silence listening to Father and Duke grunt about business. Christopher
usually manages to sneak in something inappropriate,” she rambled on. “But it
wouldn’t be met by the same humor as it is at your dinner table. Then it would
be left to Christian and I, the only normal children of Tara and Harold Henry,
to make the mood lighter.”

“I
think I’d rather go for a colonoscopy.”

It was
then that it hit her. Did AJ expect to come to the dinner? Duke and her father
would chew him up and spit him out even before he got to take his seat at the
table. How was she going to tell him he couldn’t come without setting their
relationship ten paces back. “Did you…did you want to come?”

“Was I
supposed to?” AJ asked in genuine surprise. It seemed the thought of joining
her had never occurred to him. “I thought we were taking this slowly. I get
you’ve already met my parents, but either way, Reno wanted to meet up with me
tonight. If I had known about the dinner and if—”

“And if
I hadn’t cheated on you, you would have come,” Katherine mumbled to herself.
She looked up and met AJ’s disapproving glare. “It’s okay. I just found out
about the dinner. Maybe we could go out tomorrow night?”