Saving Forever - Part 2
Page 13
“You’re not going! Charity and I are fine. Let me grab us another bottle of wine.”
“Wait! Dr. Thompson…Scott.” Elijah swallowed, his words stopping Charity’s father from going to the kitchen. “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”
Charity had no idea what Elijah was doing. She looked back and forth between the two men, as if they were suddenly sizing each other up.
“I’m seeing your daughter. She came with me to New Zealand.”
Her father said nothing. His nostrils flared as he exhaled a short breath. Charity could see wheels turning. He knew Elijah’s playboy dating style. He knew little of hers. It didn’t matter, it didn’t add up. “You don’t date women.” His words were curt, full of daggers and anger.
Elijah stood his ground but wouldn’t make eye contact. “I know we’ve joked about my, uh, dating habits in the past.”
A sense of trepidation filled the pit of Charity’s stomach. Something was missing. Or hiding.
Her father jabbed a finger in Elijah’s direction. “Get out!” His chest heaved. “I took you under my wing, made you chief and this is how you repay me? You have the choice of any woman in the world to play with, and you suddenly want my daughter?” His voice rose. “There is no way in hell this is going to happen!”
“It’s already happened.” Charity said the words quietly.
“No!” Her father’s eyes grew large and he covered his mouth with his hand.
“Why not?” She didn’t understand his overreaction. “You basically treat him like a son.”
“He’s not dating material!”
“How do you know?”
“When did you start seeing each other? A few weeks ago? A month? More? You took her to New Zealand?” He glared at Elijah. “You bastard. You tell her or I will.”
Charity straightened. “What are you talking about?”
He jerked his head in Elijah’s direction. “Ask him.” He stomped to the kitchen. “I need a drink. A real one.”
Charity didn’t think she could handle any more emotion for one day. “What’s he talking about, Elijah?” She stared into his piercing blue eyes, wondering if they had the strength to break her heart.
“Your dad has it all wrong.” He reached for her hand but she stepped back before he could touch her.
“What does he have all wrong?” She pressed her lips tight against each other, not wanting him to see the tremor that had already started on the lower one.
“Can we talk about this outside? Go for a walk?”
“No. Whatever you have to say, you can say it right here.”
Elijah ran fingers through his hair, still holding the coffee in his other hand. “Your dad walked in on me…”
She knew it. His playboy image, the awful trip to New Zealand, she should have known something like this would happen. She should have prepared herself better.
“…but it wasn’t what he thought he saw! I never explained what happened. I figured it didn’t matter. And then, well, I figured he wouldn’t assume I was interested in you. Didn’t you make it clear you didn’t want him to know we were dating?”
“Whatever!” Her father scoffed from the kitchen.
Elijah glanced down the hall but touched Charity’s wrist so she would look at him. He huffed in frustration. “It’s not what you think! I can explain. Remember the nurse you saved me from? It was her! She was the one coming on to me. She cornered me in an examination room. The nut had another nurse call me on the intercom system at the hospital. She hid behind a curtain and when I opened it, she zoned in. She threw herself at me and wouldn’t get off! She was like a leech all over me.” He shuddered. “Somehow she paged, or called, or whatever she did, but she sent for your father. The bitch timed it all perfectly. When you dad walked in, she played the embarrassed girl and ran out. I was too stunned to explain to your dad what had happened.”
Charity blinked and something in the back of her mind clicked. The elevator! Yesterday. That weird girl was the nurse! She’d acted all smug and weird. What had she said? The timing couldn’t be more perfect. And something else… something about things getting messed up. “Is that the truth?”
“It is. I swear. I would not lie to you.”
She didn’t know if she should let her guard down.
“I should have told you.” He clenched and unclenched his fist. “It happened a couple days after I got back from New Zealand and I wasn’t sure… you know.”
Her father came back from the kitchen, drink in hand. “Are you trying to tell my daughter you were set up?” He shook his head. “Lame. Smart doctor, dumb man.”
Charity rubbed her temple, just above her eyebrow. “Dad, I believe him. Elijah sle—went out with the woman before he and I...” She was going to say hooked up but stopped herself. She giggled suddenly at the thought of her dad’s face if she’d finished the sentence. All the pent up emotion of the evening suddenly burst out. It was either tears or laughter. She tried to stop, but it only made her laugh harder. She was nearly hysterical when another thought hit her. “Th-That nurse is k-kinda the reason we got together.”
Her father stared at her like she was half mad. Grinning, Elijah handed Dr. Thompson the coffees. “Your daughter basically did the same thing and set it up so the nurse walked in on us.” He cleared his throat. “Well, not really the same. The crazy nurse was stalking me and Charity let her know I wasn’t interested.”
Thank goodness he didn’t go into detail on what she’d done. She laid a hand on her abdomen, trying to stop the giggle-fit.
Elijah put his hands on her shoulders and dropped his head so she couldn’t avert her gaze. Her laughing subsided at the serious look on his face. “For the record, it wasn’t crazy nurse Jackie who brought us together. I fell for you that first night at the Twisted Cork. You can blame your father for that.”
“You kids are ridiculous.” Her father shook his head but Charity caught the mischief on his face before he turned around. “I think I need another drink.” He walked back to the kitchen.
She watched him go. They had a lot of fences to mend but it seemed like they were going to work it out. “You know what I think,” she said to Elijah. “I think he planned on getting the two of us together.”
“No! Hmm… Maybe.” Elijah wrapped his arms around her, his touch leaving her breathless. “He is an incredibly smart man.” He pulled Charity tighter against him. “We managed to make a mess of things in New Zealand but…” He stared intently into her eyes and then kissed her with a reverence that made her entire body tingle. “I’m not perfect, but if you let me love you, I swear I’ll love you right. I promise.”
His words made her eyes well up with tears. They were so damn sweet… but would they last? She wanted so hard to believe them. She didn’t know what the future held, but she knew she didn’t want to be without him. Not now, not ever.
~ to be continued ~
THE END
- of part 2 -
SAVING FOREVER PART 3 COMING
MAY 2014
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Part 1 is FREE!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABs_uaeEamo
I hope you enjoyed Saving Forever Part II.
I love to hear from readers so please leave a review if you would like to let me know your thoughts on the book!
Lexy Timms
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If you enjoyed Saving Forever, another series I would suggest is from my good friend Sierra Rose:
My Despicable Ex by Sierra Rose
My Despicable Ex http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FXAG6MS
UK LINK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FXAG6MS
She thinks he’s despicable. He wants her back…with a vengeance.
BOOK TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ8m9f7JDzk
Ashly Roberts and Jake Connors are barely twenty when they decide to take the proverbial plunge and walk down the aisle to exchange vows in front of the dearly beloved. Basking in bridal bliss
, Ashly feels she is living the perfect fairytale, until she’s faced with a runaway groom, dumped at the altar by bad-boy fiancé, Jake Connors.
Five years later, Jake steps back into her life…
He realizes that being a no-show for their nuptials was the worst mistake of his life. A little older and more mature, he is ready to fight for Ashly’s love once again. When Ashly sees him, she can’t deny the attraction she feels, but her hormones are overruled by the horror of what he did to her in the past. Nevertheless, Jake’s most potent weapon, those dazzling baby blues, ignites a spark in Ashly, no matter how angry she wants to be. She cannot deny the spark, and she only hopes the inferno it ignites will not consume her heart again.
*This is NOT erotica* This is a love story and a romance. Ashly is a photographer and took this hot, shirtless picture of Jake before they broke up. He hopes they can rekindle the magic and re-take this picture.
*This is a two book series* (All of your answers won't be answered in book 1)