What happened in Vegas: Didn't Stay In Vegas! (11 page)

Bradley filled
in the gap.
“
NICK,
”
his voice was filled with not so
subtle hostility and his eyes went dark. Chase
’
s eyes shot
up at his brother. He appeared to be surprised by the animosity. It
was incredible how the tone of one word painted a picture. Chase
already knew that Nick and I had something going on and now he was
learning that Bradley didn
’
t like Nick for some
reason...

Nick whispered
in my ear,
“
Talk about
jealous!
”

Nick
’
s eyebrows shot up to
Bradley,
“
Very intuitive considering you
’
ve never
met me before, BRADLEY.
”
Oh my, Nick was
practically challenging Bradley, where did this hostility come
from?

I looked over
at Nick giving him a warning glare,
“
Red
”
I hissed in a whisper to
him.

“Do I sense
hostility?
”
Chase asked coming off as being
oblivious to what was going on. It wouldn
’
t have taken
much for the rest of the group to put it together if this kept up.
I addressed Chase,
“
Sorry for the
tardiness. It won
’
t happen
again.
”

Chase studied
me and then Nick before resuming,
“
I
’
ve assigned
tasks to everyone except for you and Nick. Chanel, would you like
to do hiring or decorate the room?
”

I looked at
Nick and it was a no brainer knowing his Girly Flare,
“
Hiring,
”
I volunteered.

Chase addressed
Nick,
“
You will work with Bradley and Chanel you will be
working with me.
”

Chase glared at
Nick and Bradley like the cat that caught the bird,
“
Chanel, I will enjoy the honor of working with you in
making all the necessary arrangements. Nick and Bradley, I assume
you will act more professionally and tolerate each other for this
important event?
”

“That
won
’
t be a problem,
”
Nick assured
Chase.

Bradley
stood,
“
I
’
m being
paged.
”
He glared at his brother and then nodded to me
before storming from the room, letting the heavy door fall loudly
behind him.
I was going to
have to do damage control with Bradley after the meeting
adjourned.

~21~

We were dismissed shortly after Bradley had excused
himself. I went looking for him in the nursing station, the Cath
lab, our usual lounge, Tim
’
s, and finally the
smaller lounge we had been to once before.

I found him in
the last place I looked, the private lounge. He was sitting on the
couch brooding. His stethoscope and jacket were carelessly tossed
on the seat next to him and he appeared to be nursing a coffee from
Tim
’
s.

“Do you want to
talk?
”
I offered.

He looked so
lost in his own thoughts. It had me more than worried about what
was bothering him,
“
Your friend is a real
piece of work,
”
he complained.

“How did you
know it was Nick?
”

“You came in
with him, and I sensed chemistry. I hated him on site
Chanel.
”

“Can you try to
at least tolerate him so we don
’
t have those kinds of
scenes anymore? You know how gossip flies in
hospitals.
”
Snatching the cup of coffee from his
hand I took a sip of it, the one I had in the meeting was gone and
this conversation was making me nervous.

“Your ex-fuck
buddy? I think you
’
re asking too much
from me.
”

“This is hard
for him too, please? He
’
s had to give up our
sexual excursions so you and I can have a chance at a relationship.
That
’
s asking a lot for him to do. I
’
m in
demand,
”
I said jokingly. I was desperate to lighten his
mood.

“I will attempt
civil.
”

Pleased with
Bradley I encouraged him,
“
It
’
s a
start.
”

He grabbed my
hand making me lose my balance. I dropped awkwardly onto the couch
next to him. His face was soft from shaving and his lips covered
mine as he embraced me,
“
I need to be with you
again,
”
he mumbled between kisses. He pulled the blouse I
had nicely tucked into my skirt loose and slid his hand up my top,
pinching my nipple hard. I moaned into his mouth as his tongue
danced with mine. His mouth was warm and inviting and he tasted
like sweet coffee.

I pulled away
for a second and asked,
“
Do you want to come
to my loft after work? I
’
d love it if you
stayed over.
”

“You
won
’
t be able to get me off you,
”
he
threatened.

My tongue
lunged deep into his mouth, and then as I pulled it out I nipped
hard on his lower lip making him groan before answering,
“
I would never want to pull you off me.
”
We kissed
for a few more minutes until our conscience got the better of us
and we went back to work.

We finished
later than normal because the meeting at noon set us back. Bradley
left Hummer in the hospital parking lot and
he
drove me
home in Snowball. I don
’
t know if he
understood the significance of it. Nobody but me ever drove
Snowball. What this implied about our relationship were life
altering. Nick never even had the honors!

Bradley
’
s presence this
morning at the hospital was greatly missed by me because I was so
used to working with him. I noticed his fancy dress pants and how
he
’
d shaved today when we were leaving the hospital. I
dared not ask why, not yet anyway. When we got to the loft he went
to hand me the keys. I pushed his hand away gesturing for him to
open the door. He entered the loft first.

I looked at
him,
“
Drink?
”

“Please.
”

I went to the
fridge, and grabbed two beers. I twisted the cap off one and handed
it to him, and then my own. Looking at my sectional sofa now, I
really felt embarrassed for still having it. He sat down and tapped
the cushion next to him. I responded immediately by sitting, and
then I succumbed to my curiosity,
“
I missed you this
morning.
”

He played with
a lock of my hair sending a chill up my spine,
“
You did,
did you?
”
His voice was deep and playful.

I placed my
hand on his leg closest to me,
“
Where were
you?
”

His eyes went
all broody on me. His lips melted into mine, he was so smoking hot,
but I knew this was his way of evading the question. I
wasn
’
t having it. I pulled away,
“
Where were
you?
”
I repeated.

“Court, I was
in court. My divorce with Maggie was finalized.
”

He moved in for
another kiss me but I placed my hand between us preventing
it,
“
Pardon me?
”

He repeated
quietly,
“
I was in court. My divorce with Maggie was
finalized.
”

Alarm bells
were going off in my head; I had to hold onto the couch because my
head started spinning.
“
Let me get this
straight, Bitch ex-wife is Maggie? Bombshell Maggie? Cath lab
Maggie? You have got to be kidding!
”

“I thought you
knew.
”

“How would I
know? You never mentioned her name. You are so pleasant to Maggie!
You should have told me. We even talked about you together. She
knows I liked you. She even warned me about HERSELF! Oh my God, I
feel like such an idiot!
”

“You
’
re not an
idiot.
”

“I wish you
would have told me! Why are you always so pleasant to
her?
”

“We
’
re
professional.
”

“Oh, you are,
are you? You talk like you are still a couple
‘
we
’
re professional!
”
That
’
s why you fucked me
in the Cath lab, real professional. If you don
’
t act
professionally with me should I take that as a sign of
disrespect?
”

“No.
”

“Does she know
about us?
”

“No.
”

“Why not,
embarrassed? I
’
m not as pretty or
maybe I
’
m just not good enough for
you.
”

“It could have
affected the divorce.
”

“Your divorce
was almost finished, what
’
s the real
reason?
”

“It was none of
her business.
”

“Do you still
sleep with her?
”

“No we
haven
’
t done what you and Nick do.
”
He sure knew
how to bite back.

I ignored his
comment and my urge to tell him to go fuck himself because I was
trying to prevent this from escalating further,
“
Do you
still love her?
”

“No, I
don
’
t,
”
he said confidently.

I stopped and
tried to take it all in. Then I talked out loud, not really to
him,
“
I don
’
t think I can handle
seeing her all the time. It
’
s too
weird.
”

“Likewise with
you and Nick. I was furious when you told me that you slept with
him the other day. At the fundraiser meeting, you walked in with
him all happy and smiles, you don
’
t think
that
’
s going to bother me? I just wanted to reach over and
smash his face in. At least I don
’
t like Maggie. I
can
’
t even remember the last time I slept with
her.
”

“Maggie is
worse because you were in love with her. That
’
s something
I never shared with Nick. I love him but not the way you loved her.
Does that kind of love ever go away? Let me answer that, no, it
doesn
’
t. You should have told me about Maggie when we first
got to know each other, or better yet, when you introduced us. You
could have said something like,
‘
this is Maggie my
soon to be ex-wife.
’

What was I
thinking, letting myself feel for you?
”

“Mag,
don
’
t say that!
”
He
pleaded.

I gasped and my hand struck his face hard. I
slapped him with everything I had. I stormed past him and he
grabbed my arm, I tried to shake it free but his grip was
tight.

He was blurry
through my tears,
“
I need my phone, give
me my phone,
”
I sobbed. I started pulling away and
reaching for my purse with my free hand. He allowed me just enough
movement to grab my purse and I rifled through it with my free hand
finding my phone. I started punching in a text message to
Nick:

Chanel: CODE BLUE

Bradley snatched the phone from my hands and
texted:

Chanel: CANCEL CODE BLUE