Wash (18 page)

He wiped one of my tears away and
gazed into my eyes. “When it comes to protecting you, Ashly,
there’s no length I won’t go to.”

His
words truly touched my heart.
From the tone
in his voice, I believed every word. I rested my head against his
strong chest, and he softly stroked my hair. “Thanks, Jake. I feel
the same way. I’m sorry I got so upset, but the thought of losing
you to that thing….well, I was scared to death.”

He held me close. Jake had
risked his life to save mine, the kind of thing that only happened
in books and mushy movies.
Or maybe in
dreams too,
I thought with a smile and a
sniffle.

After our croc escapade, our camping
trip was over, and we headed back to the Royal Malewane. The staff
was so friendly and greeted us with glasses of champagne and cool
towels.

* * *

The next day, I woke up early and
smiled when I saw that I’d caught another beautiful sunrise. I
wrapped a robe around me and walked out onto the deck to take in
the pink and orange swirls that had painted the African
horizon.

“
It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?”
Jake said from behind me.

I spun to face him “Yes, just
breathtaking.”

He grinned.

“
Thank you for all of your
bravery back there with that croc,” I said.

“
That’s what I’m here
for.”

“
You’re very brave. I just
want you to know that.”

“
I’ve been thinking,” he
said.

“
Aw. Does it hurt?” I said,
laughing.

“
Very funny,” he said,
smiling back at me. “Anyway, I know things aren’t the best between
us, but I’m more than willing to work on our friendship. We can
start out as friends and see what happens.”

I bit my lip hard as I pondered.
“That’s great, Jake, but you need to know that it won’t make up for
the past.”

“
I made mistakes, and I’m
sorry, but you said yourself that we need to leave the past in the
past. Is there any way we can both forget about that and
concentrate on what’s right here in front of us? I think we could
have something really good.”

I shook my head. “You can’t just come
back and suddenly jump in where you left off.”

“
I really think we still
have something very special,” he said.

I stared into his eyes, then purposely
drifted my gaze to the sunrise. “We’ll always
be…friends.”

“
Maybe I want
more.”

“
Jake, I—”

“
Only you can decide if I’m
worthy of a second chance. Just because things went horribly wrong
the first time around doesn’t mean we should never try again. Let’s
start out slow, as friends, and see what happens. It can’t hurt to
try.”

“
You’re an ex for a reason,
Jake. I won’t deny that part of me wants to jump into those
familiar arms. I mean, maybe the timing was off between us. We were
both so young and naïve. Then again, I see no reason why I should
get back together with an old flame who shattered my heart and
humiliated me the way you did.”

“
I thought you were a huge
believer in giving people second chances.”

“
Excluding my love life,
yes.”

“
You might be throwing away
a good thing here, Ashly. Won’t you always wonder what could have
happened if you just—”

I cut him off and turned to leave.
“I’m gonna have breakfast on the patio by the watering hole. I’m
anxious to see what animals are out.”

He paused. “I remember that about you
too.”

“
What? That I like to eat
breakfast?”

“
No. I remember that you
always dodge uncomfortable questions by changing the
subject.”

“
See ya later, Jake,” I
said.

* * *

Almost all day, I relaxed on the deck,
haunted by Jake’s words. Am I throwing away a good thing? Would I
regret it later? I set my apple down and went back inside to get my
bottled water, but when I returned, the apple was gone, as if it
had vanished into thin air. I glanced around and quickly spotted
the culprit, a monkey who was noisily chomping away on his bright
red prize. I laughed, then watched my new entertainment, a tree
full of monkeys and baboons who seemed just as curious about me as
I was about them.

Still fascinated by the wildlife, even
after our near-croc experience, Jake had gone to look for elephants
and lions with our tracker, so I decided to take a dip. I sat in
the little private pool on the deck that overlooked the bush. As I
sipped on my bottled water, I thought a lot about Jake. I couldn’t
get him out of my head. I was still so attracted to him, even more
so after he’d risked his life to try and save me from the croc. I
also thought about our dreadful wedding day. Jake was supposed to
be more than my hero; he was supposed to be my husband, but he
wasn’t. My mind raced through a tumult of emotions. I was still mad
at him, and that was what had kept us from moving forward as
friends. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready to give up that anger,
an emotion I had every right to feel after the despicable thing
he’d done to me.

To Be
Continued…

Book 2 is available now! (see cover
below)

BOOK TRAILER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ8m9f7JDzk

If you enjoyed this story, please let
others know by adding a review. This helps others find new authors
that they may have never heard of before, but may enjoy. Thank you
so much for your support. I appreciate it so much.

Love,

Sierra

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BOOK 2 – by Lexy Timms will begin now.

Saving Forever

Part I

By

Lexy
Timms

Copyright 2013 by Lexy Timms

All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of
both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this
book.

This is
a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and
incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or
dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author
acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various
products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used
without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not
authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark
owners.

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2013 by Lexy Timms

Cover design by: Book Cover by Design

No part
of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in articles and reviews.

Website:
https://www.facebook.com/SavingForever

Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABs_uaeEamo

Chapter 1

“
You do realize you have a very unique name for the business
you’re in?” The doctor smiled and winked at her. His hazelnut eyes
sparkled with mischief. “I’m sure you’ve been told that a million
times.”

Charity
laughed. “My mother must have planned it all while I was in her
tummy.” She tucked a chunk of her long blond hair behind her ear.
It had been six years since her mother had lost her battle against
cancer, which had completely changed Charity’s career course. The
day after the funeral, she had dropped out of medical school and
hadn’t looked back since. She couldn’t say the same about her
father. She forced a grin and focused on the moment. “It’s even
more ironic now that I’m signing a two-year contract with you guys.
How shall we put the press release? Forever Hope Hospital hires
Charity Thompson as their new Fundraiser Liaison. Kind of a tongue
twister, eh, Dr. Parker?”

“
Just Malcolm, please. We’re working together now. It’s in the
two-year contract you just signed. It says you are to refer to Dr.
Parker as Malcolm only.” He held it up, teasing her.

Dr.
Parker—er, Malcolm—couldn’t be much older than Charity, maybe five
years tops. Cropped hair and chiselled features probably made him
popular talk amongst the staff and patients. She knew he was
single, recently divorced, with no children. She wondered how long
it would take a first year or nurse to ‘make the rounds’ with him.
Or maybe he would surprise her and actually be a decent
guy.

“
As for the press release, I can’t wait to see everyone and
anyone’s reaction. It’s going to be a big success. Between the
humor in your name and job, your awesome track record for success…”
He pointed and in a very kind voice added, “Your beautiful face,
plus the fact that your father is
the
Doctor Thompson, I’m not sure we should send the
press release to the local papers or to the American Journal of
Medicine.” He stood and reached out his hand. “I’m teasing again,
of course. We’re all very excited to have you on board.”

Charity
stood and shook his hand, making sure to add just the right about
of firmness to show her strength and still remain feminine. “I’m
excited to get started.”

“
This hospital needs your help. We’re in dire straights.
Between the state cutbacks, the simple lack of funds, our long term
care ward, and our outpatient surgery floor is anciently outdated,
we either need to update or close down. People are starting to skip
past us and are driving the extra forty-five minutes to Atlanta
General.” He shook his head. “You already know this, sorry. I just
hear it everyday, a million times a day.”

Charity
sat back down and pulled her iPad out of her briefcase. “Then we
need to get started right away.” She flipped to the screen she’d
written the list of things she needed from the hospital. “I’m going
to need the hospital’s financial records, and a calendar of events
you already have set up. I’d like to plan a charity luncheon in
about six weeks to get the ball rolling. Remember, this isn’t going
to be fixed overnight. It’s a process and two years is the goal.
We’ll get there.”

Vibration from the doctor’s cell phone on his desk made her
pause. They both looked at the phone and then at each
other.

“
Continue, please.” He glanced at the phone and then back at
her.

“
You’re busy. You need to take care of hospital issues. Why
don’t I talk to your assistant and check your calendar? We need to
pick a day in five or six weeks that you can take a long lunch
break.” She thought back to his comment about her having a pretty
face. “We need to use those good looks of yours and get some lovely
high society ladies wanting to spend money on the hospital with the
hot doc.”

He
blinked, surprise clear on his face. “I’m not sure if I should be
insulted or pleased. Hot doc?”

She
laughed. “Sometimes pretty works and you have to use it.” She stood
and slipped her briefcase strap over her shoulder. “Sorry, doc, but
you’re single, good-looking, and funny. I’m going to have to use
you as a marketing tool to get a few charities going.” She held up
her hand. “I promise no cheesy date auctions or prostitution. Just
need to use your… your atmosphere to see how awesome the staff and
hospital really is.”

“
I’ll do whatever it takes. I love this place and want everyone
else to love it as well.”

They
were going to work together just fine. “You need to go be a doctor
and I need to set up my office.”

The
doctor slapped his forehead. “I almost forgot! Your new office is
to the right of the elevator. I’ve had it cleared and your name’s
supposed to be up on the glass by the end of the day. I’ll get my
assistant to show you where and she’ll also bring any information
you need.” He pressed the red button on the intercom phone on his
desk. “Amanda, do you mind helping Ms. Thompson?”