9781631052347OnCallKenyan (3 page)

“I am
not falling for his charms.” Katherine scoffed. She turned her back toward AJ,
but still watched him over her shoulder. Katherine bit on her lower lip, while
her tongue swept over her plump lips. Her back straightened when AJ’s eyes
darkened with desire. She watched as he stepped around the redhead, and took a
step toward her. To Katherine, he seemed to be floating toward her. Her heart
crashed to her stomach when he winked at her, his lips spreading into a sly
smile.

“Oh,
dear God,” she swore, when she felt the moisture pool between her thighs.

“Katherine?”

“
Mmmh
?” She turned toward Kenneth, the whole time her body
whined from being denied the view of the subject of its desire. She smiled,
beside herself. Katherine willed her mind to take over her body—she took a deep
breath trying to control the out of control pitter-patter her heart was doing.

“Maybe
I could give you a heart transplant. Replace it with a man’s heart.” Kenneth
laughed. “Oddly enough he has some men swooning over him, others wanting to be
him and the rest—emasculated whenever they are around him. He makes men feel
ugly being around him.”

“What
about you?” She was curious which category he put himself in. There was no way
he could compare to AJ. Kenneth was cute; his blonde hair cut short, his green
eyes smiling, while his talented hands worked magic on any ailing heart. He was
a seasoned heart surgeon. But she knew he was also threatened by AJ. Everyone
in the hospital was talking about AJ’s talent. The departments were already
fighting over him. The Neurology and Trauma were the last departments standing.
She knew Kenneth was glad AJ had taken his interests elsewhere.

“My
knees are steady. I don’t quake under the glare of his toothpaste commercial
smile.”

“What
about his surgical talent?” Katherine wished she hadn’t said anything the
moment the words left her mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“That’s
alright. But just because he’s talented doesn’t give him an excuse for being a
jackass.” The steel in Kenneth’s tone sliced through her. Kenneth had been the
wonder kid before AJ. But now Kenneth was thirty-four, and AJ was ten years
younger than he was.

“He’s
not a jackass, he’s just…” Katherine looked over her shoulder again. A swarm of
women surrounded AJ. Weren’t there any sick people needing nurses to take care
of them? But if AJ wasn’t a jackass, he was just—what? Katherine felt a need to
find out who the true AJ was—she had to. She couldn’t live with herself,
knowing she had given up her virginity in the back seat of a Range Rover Sport
to a jackass. She needed to find something good in him, or she needed a
do-over. Since the latter was close to impossible she would have to work on the
former.

“He’s
just what?” Kenneth sneered. “Let me guess, he pitched his tent in your
panties. Now you can’t see him for what he really is.”

“And
maybe you are just pissed off that someone ten years younger
than you, barely out of medical school,
beat your time at replacing a heart valve. A final year intern, who by the way
isn’t specializing in Cardiology. Who only got the surgery because they were
trying to use it as a bribe to lure him to the specialty.” She couldn’t control
the steel at the tip of her tongue. “I heard you didn’t have any Heads of
Departments fighting for you either.”

“Wow,
you’ve really got a hard-on for this guy.”

“I
haven’t—I just…I just—” She just what? Katherine had offended her attending and
couldn’t come up with a reason why

* * *
*

Katherine
snapped her gloves on as she walked up beside AJ at the Emergency Room arrivals
bay. They were expecting the results of a six car pile-up. Facing a dozen
mangled bodies wasn’t as daunting as being in AJ’s presence. She looked up at
him and could see the serious set on his face. He was in the zone, and for a
second didn’t look like the Lennox Hill Lothario.

“Why
can’t you be this way, every minute of every day?” She raised her voice to
speak above the sirens of the oncoming ambulance.

“I
don’t know what you mean,” he said as he turned toward the sirens.

Katherine
tossed her head. It was as if she wasn’t there. As if he hadn’t been flirting
with her five minutes earlier. Or had she misread the signals? She breathed a
sigh of relief when AJ turned a cold shoulder to his admiring redhead.

“What I
mean is.” Katherine began as she stepped in front of him. “When you are in this
“doctor zone”, you don’t flirt or make sexual innuendos with your body
language.”

AJ
threw his head back, his laughter occupying the cold air of November. She’d
never thought she would have heard laughter which sounded so appealing. It was
low, throaty, an exhibition of life. Katherine noticed that everyone around
them had stopped looking for the ambulance, and were now staring at him. She
even caught the flirty smiles of the emergency room nurses, but also Kenneth’s
disapproving glare.

“There
is this verse in the Bible that says there is a time for everything.” He winked
at her. “I can still turn you on while I’m elbow deep in someone’s chest. But I
choose to give my full attention to my patients. It’s the respectful thing to
do.”

“It’s
not that you can’t multitask.” Katherine’s eyes were glued to his smile, and
she didn’t realize her lips were aping his.

“I can
definitely multitask. I would like to show you, but duty calls.”

Katherine
stilled at that suggestion. What exactly did he mean?

Katherine
realized the ambulances had arrived as the doctors and nurses rushed past her,
almost knocking her to the ground. When she got her senses back and her feet
moving, she raced toward the ambulance Kenneth had charge over. But his scowl
made her make an about turn. The only other ambulance available was the one AJ
was working. She took an uncertain step toward him, half expecting his
attending to turn her away. But the trauma surgeon had taken a step back, a
smile curled on his lips as he watched AJ at work.

“I need
hands!” Katherine’s head lifted to AJ’s at the sound of his bark. It was more
like a command from an officer, and like a good soldier, Katherine volunteered
her hands, applying pressure on the patient’s chest. Before she knew what was
happening, AJ’s hands were around her waist, hoisting her onto the gurney. She
found herself kneeling over the patient.

“Don’t
worry, you won’t fall. I got you.” His voice was now calmer. Katherine felt as
if she could trust him. She shot a look at his attending, and his proud grin
had curled the corners of his mouth. With AJ around the old goat didn’t have to
do anything.

Katherine
fought to stay steady as they pushed the gurney into the hospital door. Once or
twice she thought she would fall, but AJ’s grip that held her in place.

“We are
going to need to open his chest up.” Katherine nodded feverishly, her hands
still applying pressure as AJ lifted her off the gurney. She caught the sigh
her excited body was about to whimper as he settled her on the ground. “Do you
think you can do it?”

Katherine
could hear him barking out orders. But her mind could only focus on two things,
applying pressure to the chest wound, and keeping her body from crying out for
AJ’s touch. She realized he was talking to her when a dozen eyes turned to her.

“What?”

“I
asked if you could open him up.” His brow furrowed with intensity. “This is
your area of expertise.”

“B-but
I’m just an intern.” Katherine head whipped to her right, and there stood
Kenneth his hands folded on his chest, watching, doing nothing to help. “Doctor
Lyle?”

Kenneth
stood back, not answering her plea for help. The corners of his lips curled in
a smirk and she knew—he was setting her up. She shouldn’t have praised AJ so
much, implying Kenneth was second best. Now he was playing his hand. Katherine
could feel her body shiver with fear and uncertainty. She could try going it
alone, but risk killing the innocent patient, or proving to Kenneth she was
better than he was. She stared at her bloodied hands. The patient had already
lost too much blood. Her eyes flicked to the monitors, and watched his vitals
plummeting with each wasted second.

After
looking at the patient’s face, her eyes caught sight of AJ’s confident gaze. He
gave her an encouraging smile and a nod, and for a second Katherine thought she
could do it on her own. That was all she needed—her back straightened in
confidence. “Let’s crack him open.”

Chapter
Two

Katherine
sneaked into the house, just as the sun was rising. The last thing she needed
was to be the recipient of her father’s disapproving glare and her mother’s
pleas for her to choose an appropriate career. But she was glad of one thing.
Their reservations over her medical career hadn’t stopped them from footing the
bill.

Once
she got to her room she dropped her bag on the floor and crawled into bed with
her shoes still on. When her eyes finally closed, her thoughts were memories of
Adrian Ross.

Two years
ago Katherine had been walking in between her two younger brothers, the height
and strength of them making it seem as if she had disappeared into a wall. She
didn’t think anyone to her right or left could see her. And those who could see
her from the front and the back wouldn’t have dared approach her.

The
twins, Christian and Christopher were very intimidating when they wanted to be.
Especially Christian, who hid his smile and reserved it for those he loved.
They were both beautiful boys. It wasn’t too biased a view because every single
girl at that bonfire kept on staring at them. She felt like an anchor, weighing
them down and stopping them from netting some willing females to their loft.
The twins had managed to convince her to take a break from her medical books
and to have some fun with them. It was the last day of summer and school was
starting again—the reason the NYU seniors were throwing the party.

“I’m
going to go that way,” Katherine said.

“I’ll
come with you,” Christian offered.

“I’d
rather you didn’t. The last thing I want is my face on the side of a milk
carton. These girls would literally kill me to be close to you. So I’m going to
go before one of them challenges me.” She was obviously teasing, but Katherine
had been dodging “evil eyes” all night. If looks could kill, she would have
been dead the instant she’d stepped onto the sandy beach with her brothers.

“Well,
we’d rather be with you,” Christopher put in.

Katherine
gave her baby brother a slanted look then chuckled, “Yeah right, lady-killer.
Like you want your big sis chasing away all the willing females.”

“That’s
not what I’m worried about.” Christopher looked around the crowd as if he were
scouting for danger. “I’m more concerned about the jerks who are going to try
and make a move on my sister.”

“With
the two of you here, no one would dare. You could scare the hair off a cat. No
one would dare approach me,” she’d joked.

“Well
not now,” Christopher leaped on a beer keg and called the crowd to attention.
“This beautiful blonde here is my sister.”

Katherine
shrank back as Christian climbed on another keg, “We wouldn’t want to get to
know anyone of you too closely. If you know what I mean.” He punched his fist
into his palm.

“God
help me,” Katherine moaned. “Get down here, you idiots.”

“Now,
no one will mess with you,” Christian said.

“I can
hunt in peace.” A kiss on the cheek and Christopher waved goodbye.

Katherine
walked through the crowd alone. She could see boys retreating.
“Oh great, now I’m going to finish medical
school, single and a virgin.”

Katherine
walked to the car park, accepting her night had gone to the dogs. There was no
reason for her to stay anymore. But just as she was about to get into her car,
a black Range Rover Sport drove up.

Beautiful.
That was the first thing that
came to mind. His dark skin, brown eyes and wicked smile…it was a miracle she
could see all that, and he hadn’t even stepped out of the car. And when he did,
there were no words to describe the insanity going on in her body. His T-shirt
hugged his biceps, pronouncing his
pecs
and a shadow
of the six-pack abs he had. He bit down on his jaw and the veins in his neck
popped.

“Dear
God,” she moaned.

He
seemed to have heard because he turned around and smiled at her, and the devil
was in that smile. He turned back to an approaching car and when the occupants
alighted he went across to the driver. He towered over the other man, his
finger pressed against his chest.

All
hope deflated from Katherine’s chest, of course the exotic girl clinging to his
arm was his girlfriend. She was exotic looking and definitely his type. As for
Katherine, she’d always thought of herself as rather plain, with blonde hair
and eyes with an identity crisis—they seemed not to know if they were blue or
gray. The girl walked away with the other man, leaving the chocolate god
behind. Katherine was getting into her car when a velvet baritone echoed in her
ear and tortured her body with promises.

“Going
home already?” He leaned over her, trapping Katherine between the hard metal
frame of her car and his sexy body. The man was built like bricks. She tucked
her hands behind her, just in case one of them decided to go rogue and feel him
up.

“I’m
AJ. And you are?”

Dead,
she thought. AJ smiled, slowly
and sexily. “Katherine,” she cleared her raw throat and tried again. “I’m
Katherine.”

“You
are beautiful, so is your name.” AJ’s lips quirked. “Don’t tell me you’re here
alone.”

She
could tell him she had come with her brothers, but then he probably wouldn’t
talk to her again. AJ didn’t seem the kind to be intimidated. In fact,
Katherine thought he would find her brother’s over protectiveness a bit
juvenile. “Yes, I’m here alone.”

“I’d
offer you a drink, but it looks like you are driving.”

“Yup, but if you want one—”

“No,
none for me.” He gave her a bawdy wink. “I know something we could do that is
just as intoxicating.”

He wants to have sex with me.
I’m not that easy. But I am definitely not finishing this school year a virgin.
He seems like he knows what to do, and besides…that body—

“Would
you like to include me in that conversation?”

“Oh!”
she felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. “I was just wondering what exactly
you have planned for me. We’ve known each other for, I don’t know, five
seconds, and already you are making promises.”
Play it cool, smart but slutty. Not too slutty though, you need to seem
like you are in control.

A
wolfish grin claimed his lips. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.” His voice
was deep, his smile sexy as if they shared a secret.

AJ
closed her car door and took her hand. He pulled her behind him to his car. He
opened the boot and flattened the back seat, making his car interior look like
a big bed. “After you,” his said. “Are you sure, because once I start—”

“I’m
sure. The question is are you?” Katherine could hear her heart thumping in her
ears. She could only hope that AJ didn’t hear it too.

“It’s
the perfect night to be bad.” His voice dropped an octave.

AJ
helped Katherine lay back on the car’s carpeted interior. “Perfect night,” he
repeated.

“Be
gentle with me.”

* * * *

“Wake
up ‘Doctor Do Little’.”

Katherine
groaned as she covered her ears against the assault. Just when the memory was
getting good

“Leave
me alone.” She could still feel the echoes of his caresses as if it had
happened yesterday. But they were just a whisper of yesterday.

She
woke up with a yelp when she felt the force of two bodies slam onto her bed,
almost bouncing her off it. “Damn those bloody birth control pills.”

“Hey!
That’s not a nice thing to say,” her brother protested.

“If
they had worked I wouldn’t have two monsters nagging at me when I’m trying to
sleep.” Katherine fought to pull the covers back over her head but it proved to
be a waste of time when her brothers pulled back. Unwillingly she opened her
eyes and stared into the faces of blue-eyed blond twin boys, two years her
junior. She growled at the identical grins they flashed at her.

“Mom!”

“Christopher,
Christian, get out of your sister’s room!” their mother yelled back.

Katherine
wondered how their mother had managed to tolerate the terrible twins
misbehaving and the yelling that followed. She promised herself she wasn’t
going to have any children. She needed to move out. Sure, she wouldn’t be able
to keep a maid, but a room in a house without her brothers sounded like
paradise to her.

“How
long did you work yesterday?” Christian’s brow furrowed in concern. That was
the way she told them apart. Christian was the sensitive one, the one concerned
for others. Christopher wasn’t that noble. But the two balanced each other out.

“I got
in at around six a.m.” Katherine looked at her clock and groaned. It was noon,
she needed to get up and get to the gym. “Could you guys give me a second? I’ll
come down and have lunch with you. By the way—why aren’t you at school?”

“Its
Saturday, you loser.” Christopher put in.

“Saturday.
That means—” Katherine buried her face in her pillow. She had known she would
lose some time working as a doctor. Unfortunately it meant she didn’t always
have time to prepare for the weekly brunch with their father. It was noon—that
meant she had missed it. She expected Harold Senior would be sitting in his
study, waiting to reprimand her.

“Is he
pissed?”

“His
face turned red, and his gigantic head looks like it’s about to explode.”
Christopher teased. “You’d better get dressed and get ready to be served.”

“You
might get lucky, Uncle Ethan and the black sheep just left. Dad may have too
much on his mind to focus on you.” Christian reassured.

Katherine
stared at both her brothers in wonder. Physically they were so alike, but
everything about them was different. Even in their perfection they still
managed to mess up in ways that took the attention from her. She felt sorry for
Ethan Junior, an only child with no mother. She shivered when she remembered
the times when their fathers tried to fix them up. Ethan Junior was too much of
a play boy to focus on one girl.

“Ethan
is just misguided.” Katherine muttered.

“No.
He’s foolish.”

Katherine
stiffened, and saw her brothers freeze. The booming, commanding voice at her
door meant her father had not waited, but come to find her. She forced her lips
to move and managed a smile, in spite of how she felt.

“Good
afternoon, father.” She jumped out of bed and gave him an unwelcomed hug.

“Why
weren’t you at breakfast or brunch?” His face was a study of dark fury. It
meant his meeting with the
McCreeys
didn’t go well.
“Ethan was here to see you.”

“I got
in early this morning. I had to sleep. I’m sorry I missed it,” she rambled
quickly.

He
leveled a glaring gaze at her. His tone low and cautionary, he said “You will
call him and meet him for lunch. Better yet, dinner. You will be nice with him,
and before long—”

“Before
long what, Father?” Katherine’s fingers dug into her thighs and grabbed a
fistful of her jersey jokers, which she clenched to channel her fury. “We
aren’t giant pandas. You can’t throw us together in a cage and expect us to
mate. Ethan and I barely speak to each other. He acknowledges me with a nod as
if I am one of the guys. Do you seriously think we can move from a nod, to him
dropping on one knee and us living happily ever after with a bunch of babies?”

“Yes,”
he replied unapologetically.

“I
don’t even know if I want kids.” Katherine felt her breath hitch in her chest
at that revelation. As a child she had pictured the white dress, the picket
fence and the baby room. But as she grew up she discovered all she ever wanted
was to be her own person.

Now,
the one thing she couldn’t live without was a scalpel in her hand and the
feeling of someone’s beating heart in her palms. Sure, it sounded kind of
serial killer, psychopathic, but she wanted to save lives more than she wanted
to bring lives into the world.

“I want
to be a cardiologist. I want to save lives. I don’t want to be the wife of a
spoiled little rich kid who’s never done an honest day of work in his life. You
cannot make this decision for me.”

“That’s
what you think.” Harold’s tone didn’t rise. It maintained the same low
calmness, but shouted volumes. He had made his decision and Katherine knew no
matter how hard she tried to fight his will, he would win in the end.

Her
mouth opened and closed, lost for words—not knowing how to put her
determination across in a manner, which he would hear and respect her. But her
strength, courage and resolve began to buckle under the weight of his intense
stare. Before she could shrink back, her pager went off, saving her from
further silent assault.

The 911
read clear on her screen, which meant she needed to run. Katherine chanced a
sniff at her armpits. The smell wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t hygienic either.
She decided she would take a shower at the hospital. Moving away from her
father’s imposing glare, she shoved a pair of clean clothes into a duffel bag
and shot out of the room without a backward glance. As soon as she got into her
car she was glad to be away from her father. But the worry of what awaited her
at work began to set in.