by M. O. Kenyan
Katherine saw his jaw tighten, a dark shadow loom over his face and his expression close. She had over stepped.
“It’s exactly what I do with my bed. I lie on top of it, and once I am rested and satisfied I roll off.” He hissed through clenched teeth. “You want me to treat you like my bed.”
“You didn’t just lie on top of these other women, and then roll off.” She could feel her embarrassment burn in her cheeks. “I want the whole show.”
“Then pay for a ticket.” AJ bit back before he stalked off.
Katherine ran after him determined to get in the last word. “What’s so different about me? You sleep with everything with a vagina, but not me. Is it not good enough for you anymore? What’s so different about me?”
“A lot of things. But the sad thing is, now you’ll never know.”
“AJ!”
They both looked up at the older man, a smile on his face and a spring on his step. Katherine always wondered why the head of neurology was always happy. Maybe he found a way to tune his mind and had left the whole medical community out of his discovery.
“I don’t want to interrupt anything. I know you are pretty much set on trauma. But your fellowship isn’t in another year.” He rattled on without taking a breath. “What I am trying to ask is if I could woo you to my side, for the afternoon at least. I’ve got this major brain bleed, complicated by a tumor—”
Katherine could see AJ make up his mind. He wasn’t up to being enticed to join a different team. But the severity of the surgery was making his mouth bleed. Just then it hit her, what was the case again? “If it’s that bad why are you here?”
“I want AJ Ross.” The neurologist spat out. “She’s a twenty-six year old girl. Just finished law school, after touring Europe for a year. She’s got her whole life ahead of her. I want you to come help me make sure she’s going to live it.”
Katherine jumped when she heard AJ grunt. “Looking into the mind of a woman. How could I pass that up? Maybe while I’m there I can finally figure out how their minds work.”
Katherine refused to make eye contact with AJ. She was afraid to. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel the intense white hot, anger burrowing through her skull. Before she knew it she was alone and without an answer.
* * * *
“Katherine Marie Henry!”
Her spine stiffened, and her body froze under the weight of her father’s angered bellow. Slowly and in doubt, Katherine turned her weary body toward her father, a weak apologetic smile on her face. “I know father, I missed breakfast and brunch again.”
“Let’s not forget lunch, and your grandfather’s memorial dinner.” He was roaring at her even as he strode out of his office.
“I seem to remember you missing some dinners, birthdays and my recital. You sure as hell didn’t go to any of Duke’s football games. I wonder, maybe that’s the reason he turned out to be such a stick in the mud.” The second Katherine shut her mouth; her eyes were wide with disbelief. The exhaustion and crazy hours had finally gotten to her. She had been robbed of her sanity. Being crazy is the only way she could justify standing up to Harry Henry Senior, the seventh, and badmouthing Harry Henry the eighth, also known as Duke.
But she had already started and she felt the impulse to finish. “Most parents ask their children how they are. Especially if they just walked into the house, in the middle of the day, from a thirty-six hour shift. Especially since she has to go back to work in four short hours.”
“You chose your profession.”
“And you chose yours. I don’t work for you. I don’t have to answer to you—”
“You live under my roof and you have to do what I say.”
“Maybe I’ll just move out.”
“With what money?” he sneered.
“What do you mean with what money?” Katherine let out a nervous laugh. “The trust fund grandfather left to me has already been released to me.”
“That won’t last you long.”
“Not everyone needs a private chef and a million workers in the house to actually live.” Katherine knew it was true, but she didn’t know how true it would be for her. She had spent twenty-four years living in a house with an army of staff. Everything she had wanted had been given to her. She didn’t have to exert herself, or think ahead about what she needed. Everything she had needed and wanted was always there for her, even before she asked or thought of it.
Panic slithered into her heart and settled there. Maybe she should take back the challenge she’d just dealt her father. She thought about apologizing and almost did, but her father cut into her thoughts.
“If you think you can make it on your own, so be it. You can move out before your shift. I’m sure your brothers won’t mind helping you.” Harry began walking away but stopped to deal his final blow. “Your allowances won’t change. But there will be no moving company to help you. My realtor will also not be helping. Don’t take the Evoke, it belongs to me. And please don’t disturb Duke with your problems. That stick in the mud is running a multi-billion dollar company.”
* * * *
“She asked me to sleep with her.” AJ barked out a strangled laugh.
“Is that a problem?” Reno looked at AJ over the rim of his glass, hoping it would hide how absurd he thought AJ’s problem was. AJ shot him a look of disbelief that urged Reno to say something else, something useful. “Maybe she just wants to move past that awkward phase of your relationship. Try it, if it doesn’t work out, at least you would have had some fun.”
“I don’t want fun. She’s different. I don’t know why or how, but she just is.” AJ shook his head in disbelief. What exactly did he want? His tone low, barely a whisper, afraid that the world would hear him, afraid that he would hear. “I want what you have with Lisette, what Dad and Mama have. I want someone to call me every ten minutes, just to tell me they love me, or to check on me. I don’t want to sleep alone, or with so many different faces. I just want one body next to me, the same smile to greet me each morning for the rest of my life.”
“AJ, are you saying that you want a happily-ever–after?” Reno mocked him.
“The reason you can laugh is you already have what you want.” AJ looked down at his buzzing phone and saw a number he didn’t recognize. He let it ring, sure that the person on the other end was a woman whom he didn’t want to talk to. He was going to ignore the phone once more when Reno picked it up.
“Hallo? What?” Reno’s puzzled face drew him in. “AJ, it’s for you. It’s Katherine Henry.
Chapter Four
“Katherine Henry, I never thought—”
AJ was silenced by a kiss. The pressure of Katherine’s fingers into his biceps confused him more. He took a step back as she pushed him into his apartment. “What?”
“Sweetheart,” Katherine chirped. “This is my brother Christian. Christopher and Duke couldn’t come. I see your sisters aren’t here. Just as well. You can put my bags down here Christian. AJ will take them into our room for me.”
AJ looked up and for the first time noticed the gigantic blond, blue-eyed man behind Katherine. He studied both of them, and the resemblance was staggering. He also recognized him from the bonfire he’d met Katherine at.
“You are Katherine’s boyfriend.” AJ took the hand stretched out to him. “I am Christian Henry, the last born. Christopher has class and Duke has work. I’m afraid you will just have to settle for me.”
“That’s…that’s fine.” AJ followed him as Christian walked into the large apartment and set Katherine’s bags next to his couch. “Suitcases. Why—”
“We can move them in later on,” Katherine blabbered on. She walked over to her brother and took his arm. Quickly and not subtly, she hurried him out of the door. Christian could barely get out a goodbye when the door shut in his face.
“What’s going on?” AJ finally asked after a few minutes of strained silence.
“Not now, please. I need to be at work in two hours. I didn’t get a
ny sleep before my father tossed me out. Bedroom?”
“First door on the right,” he mumbled.
“I just need two hours of uninterrupted sleep. We can talk about me moving in after our shift.”
“But—” AJ’s protests was met by a slight click as the door shut behind Katherine. He fell onto the couch, his head resting in his palms, shocked into silence.
AJ sneaked out of the house the next morning. What exactly was he supposed to say to his fake girlfriend, his new roommate he couldn’t have sex with, but wanted to? AJ sighed and rubbed his temple. He could feel a migraine coming on and its name was Katherine Henry. His phone buzzed and it was his little sister. Maybe she could offer some comic relief.
“Hey, Piggy.” AJ answered his phone as his eyes searched around the room for Katherine’s sandy blonde hair. “Sure, whatever you want sweetheart,” he answered absent mindedly. When he saw Katherine’s loose pony tail, he ended the conversation with his sister, not really knowing what he had committed to.
He pushed his way through the crowd of residents to where Katherine was. Leaning forward, he whispered. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Just a second,” she said distracted. “Do you see the size of that tumor?”
AJ looked up and through his foggy exhausted eyes he saw the patient. He was in his hospital bed, unconscious, probably sedated. The residents were all gawking at him like he was some world wonder. The tumor was occupying the left side of his chest. That explained why Katherine was there, but the other hundreds were only there to stare. Thank God he was unconscious.
“It’s about our living situation.” He whispered.
“I’ll pay half the rent. I won’t get into your space. We’ll both chip in for the groceries, but under no circumstances am I doing your laundry. I can’t even do my own,” she muttered under her breath.
“What about the other thing.” AJ hoped she understood what he meant. There was no way he was rehashing their sex talk in the midst of a dozen nurses he had taken to bed.
“Other thing?” Katherine turned to face him. It took a few seconds but he could see the realization in her eyes. “You mean the other thing. We can do that if you want. I’m glad you finally agreed.”
“That’s not—” AJ was silenced by the sea of eyes glaring at him. He stepped closer to Katherine and leaned down, so that his lips were close to her ear. “That’s not what I meant—”
“Doctor Ross, Doctor Henry, I’m glad you both agreed to scrub in on this.” AJ heard Lyle’s scornful voice.
“I never agreed to scrub in on this surgery.” AJ pointed out.
“I do, I agree.” Katherine chirped.
“Are you saying Cardiology is not good enough for you?” Lyle snapped. “Do you think the heart is not as important as the brain? Or Cardiology is not as cool as trauma?”
“I didn’t say that.” AJ could feel the rage build up inside him. Lyle was putting him on the spot, trying to make him look bad. Lyle was challenging him in his own field, and AJ had no other choice but to accept. AJ didn’t have that many hours in cardio, and it seemed like Lyle knew that. But he wasn’t going to fail—he was a Ross after all. “Fine, I’ll scrub in.”
“Great!”
AJ wished he could knock Lyle’s triumph smug clean off his face. But in order to get to the snake, he would have to push past other doctors and nurses, and leap over the patient’s bed. On a normal day, he would probably do it, but he was exhausted. “I’m headed home.”
“Let me grab my gear.”
“You live together?” The redhead gasped.
AJ stared at her, the whole time trying to remember her name. But when it didn’t come to mind, he shrugged and walked away.
* * * *
“I’m exhausted!” Katherine groaned as she dropped into the sofa. She studied the hard set of AJ’s face and knew what was brewing in his mind. She couldn’t blame him. She had barged into his home; lied to her brothers that he was her boyfriend, and now because of her, he probably can’t get laid. But I offered, she thought.
“You can use the spare room. I’m just going to study the notes your boyfriend gave us then go to sleep.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” She groaned.
“Lyle and I never used to interact. But when I start talking to you, all of a sudden he’s got something against me. He’s out to get me, and it’s because of you.” He was snarling.
It was somehow true. She should never have belittled Lyle and sung AJ’s praises. Now he was stuck in a surgery he didn’t want. On the positive side, they were a few hours from performing a life-saving surgery.
The tumor had taken over the left side of his chest, feeding off the same artery that supplied the heart’s blood. It was also in the patient’s chest cavity, pressing against his ribs and lungs. And if that wasn’t enough, the skin tissue which had been affected was massive. They would not only try to cut out the unhealthy tissue but they would also be doing a skin transplant. This mix of surgeries made careers.
“Don’t pay attention to him. Just ignore him.”
“What? Are we in kindergarten?” AJ snickered.
Katherine dragged her weary body to the bedroom. With a loud oomph she dropped into bed. She didn’t bother snuggling into the covers. She pulled the duvet around her body and slowly started to fall asleep.
“What the Hell?”
Katherine leaped out of the bed, her body charged from sleep by the shrill shout of an unknown female. She stood with the bed between her and the sexy Latina in a mere rumor of a towel. “I know karate,” she lied.
“And I know whoop-ass.” The Latina half snorted a laugh. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here.” Katherine straightened from her defensive crouch and dropped the fists already balled before her. There was only one explanation for this. I am SO going to kick AJ’s ass. “I’m sorry but I think you are in the wrong room. The service department is down the hall. It’s the only room at the end, you won’t miss it. But if you like, I could draw you a map,” she said with excessive politeness.
“What are you doing here?”
Katherine began to get worried. What if she was the intruder? The other girl was about the same size as herself. She could take her, or hold her own until help arrived. Katherine didn’t like the clench in her jaw, or how she kept questioning her with her teeth in a tight lock, the words barely getting out of the tiny gaps they left.
But Katherine wasn’t leaving. AJ had given her this room, and besides, she had nowhere to go. If she had to defend it against a seething woman, she would.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Katherine breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of AJ’s voice. She exhaled and all the tension left her body. But when she turned around to look at her defender, the tension rushed back into her body, a different kind of tension. AJ looked like he had just left the bathroom. His body glistened from the water. His cotton trousers hung loosely around his waist, revealing the powerful muscles of his thighs under the cloth. The six-pack on his torso went well with his strong pectorals. He was like a large bar of chocolate begging to be devoured. Katherine groaned inwardly, taking in his appearance. She then huffed in annoyance, knowing that with the Latina here, there was no way he would want Katherine.
Katherine looked back at the girl who was now wearing a T-shirt. Her hair was like a thick, black long mane. Her olive skin was a huge contrast to her full red lips. She had long curvy legs, and a rack and an ass to keep any man occupied for days. Standing next to her Katherine felt like chopped liver. Her heart jumped to her throat. What if AJ is comparing the two of us? She chanced a glance back at AJ and noticed he wasn’t looking at her. It was like Katherine wasn’t in the room and all he could see was the bombshell in the towel. But the look in his eyes wasn’t desire, but white hot burning fury.
* * * *
AJ was in the shower when he heard a loud shrill that sounded all too familiar. Too familiar, because he had been heari
ng it for more than twenty years of his life. “Lisette!”
He slid on the bathroom tiled floors as he tried to scramble out of the room. AJ grabbed his cotton pants and put them on, struggling to get each foot in each pant leg, but missing each time. Finally he pulled them up to his waist and dashed to the room down the hall. He had half expected Lisette to have Katherine out on her ear by now. Lisette wasn’t the biggest fan of his philandering. And it wouldn’t be the first time that she had kicked out his date. He just hoped Catalella wasn’t with her.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He heard Lisette ask again. He could almost hear her teeth gnash together with the clench of her jaw. Katherine was in big trouble.
“What the hell is going on here?” He stepped in front of Katherine, facing Lisette, intercepting the daggers being aimed at the unsuspecting woman. “Why are you here?”
“I called you and I told you I’m coming to crash here. What is that?” The venom in Lisette’s tone could out-do that of a cobra.
“Put some pants on, Lisette.”
“Put some pants on Lisette!” She mimicked him, down to the angry tone of his voice. He watched as she left for the bathroom to retrieve her jeans. The whole time he couldn’t turn to face Katherine. He could guess what she was thinking. But he didn’t think he cared to set it straight. Lisette called back “Don’t take that tone with me Adrian Jackson Ross. I bet you won’t be telling that to put her pants on. Will you AJ?”
“Where is your car, Lisette?” AJ’s tone softened. It didn’t do them any good if they were both angry.
“What do you care?” She used a sad little voice. “You didn’t even ask why I came here in the first place.”
“All right.” AJ could feel the guilt consume him. He muttered a curse when he saw tears well in her eyes. “Okay, come to my room and we’ll talk.”
“I’m not going into that STD infested zone.”
AJ could feel his patience wear thin when Lisette stuck out her stubborn jaw. He hated that. “Let me grab a T-shirt, and we can talk in the living room.”
