by Lexy Timms
“Nothing’s up.” How did she tell him she was wondering what he was up to? It sounded silly if she said the words out loud.
A single eyebrow rose on Elijah’s handsome face. “That was a sisterly kiss and you wear a t-shirt when you’re pissed off. You’re not pregnant, are you?”
“I’m not.” She stared at him, wondering why he’d said it like it might be a bad thing. “What if I were?”
“We haven’t really talked about it, but I’d be more than happy to have another little one running around,” Elijah said. He cradled her chin to look directly into her eyes. “Jamie’s already two. It’d be nice to have someone for her to play with.”
“How can we manage another baby? You’re busy enough.” Charity bit her tongue to stop the comment about Elijah and Simon hanging out together all the time now.
“You married a surgeon.” He sat up and stared at her. “You know what the life of a doctor is like. You’ve walked in my shoes. I wish I could spend more time at home with you and Jamie. That’s why I hired Sara at the office. You don’t need to be working. We don’t need the money.”
“So now you want me to quit my job?” She couldn’t believe he was implying that. She slammed her pillow against the headboard and leaned against it. If he wanted a fight, he was going to get one.
“I never said to quit your job. I just meant, if you feel it’s too busy. Or if you wanted another baby, then you could spend time at home without stressing about making money for some hospital.”
“You make it sound trivial!” she snapped. “Because I’m not saving lives on the operating table my job is less important?”
“I didn’t say that!”
“You didn’t have to. I hear you loud and clear.”
He looked at her like she was crazy. “Why are you mad? You just said a minute ago you weren’t.”
“I’m not!” She stared straight ahead, refusing to look at him.
“Charity.”
The single word carried so much emotion in it, she couldn’t stop herself from looking into her husband’s eyes. Elijah looked so sad, and confused. Perhaps she had been wrong. She leaned forward and ripped off her white t-shirt, which acted like a security blanket, and jumped on top of her husband. She had so much tension built up inside of her, and it wasn’t fair to take it out on Elijah.
Elijah leaned forward, his lips close to Charity’s ear. His scruffy cheek rubbed against her smooth skin. “I’m suddenly very horny.”
“Really?” she whispered back, giggling. She attempted to pull away but Elijah moved so she ended up under him, his muscular body hovering inches away from hers. Her breath caught and her heart sped as it beat fast against her chest.
Elijah let his hot breath move from her ear down her neck, trailing soft tickles as his lips pressed against the crook of her neck and onto her bare shoulder.
Charity moaned.
Elijah pulled his lips away from her skin and cool air replaced them, leaving goosebumps on her skin. He moved his head so she had to stare into his hungry eyes. He slowly brought his mouth against hers, dragging his tongue across her bottom lip.
She parted her lips, wanting to taste him. Elijah thrust his tongue into her mouth and groaned, pulling her hand to his chest and his fingers found their way into her hair and curled into a fist. She slid her other hand against the warm skin of his chest and ran her fingernails lightly down. She moaned again when Elijah pressed his naked body against hers, needing to get closer.
Elijah’s lips moved away from her mouth and his tongue swirled over her hardening nipple. He moved to the other breast and down over her ribs, along the center of her tight stomach towards her inner thigh. She bit her lower lip when he licked her exactly where she was silently begging to be touched.
“Fuck,” she mumbled when his fingers dipped inside her as he licked. She felt dizzy as her hips rose and rotated against him, powerless to do anything but focus on his touch. She clenched her jaw as she came, surprised at how quickly it had happened.
Elijah moved above her and timing it just right, he entered her deeply just as his lips connected with hers again. He pressed his body tightly against her, thrusting his hips in and out, the pace frantic and exotic at the same time.
Charity gasped, her hips lifting to meet each thrust, her hands rubbing his abs, his back, his derriere. She felt herself getting close to coming again and wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, digging her heels into the small of his back to push him harder against her. Her body began to clamp around Elijah.
He thrust harder, his chest heaving as his breath came out in hot gasps. They were both covered in sweat, the beads of moisture sliding down his bare chest and falling onto hers. Charity tightened as she came again, primitive sounds escaped her lips. Elijah groaned deep from within his chest, thrusting hard inside of her as he convulsed and shivered on top of her.
“Sexy woman,” Elijah panted and grinned wickedly. “Any time you wanna take your aggressions out on someone, you know where to find me.” He tucked his hands behind his head and grinned as he lay naked and spent beside her. “What’s on your agenda for the day, after this amazing moment?”
Charity grinned and stretched like a feline cat. “Morning with Jamie and then I have a meeting with Hal Jaworski. We’re eating lunch at Judith’s so I’ll have to wear my power suit.”
“Not with that low-cut silk blouse you pair it with. Hal Jaworski has quite the reputation,” Elijah joked as he tried pulling her back toward him. “Another round to get out your aggression?”
“Hands off.” She laughed. “I have Mommy-duty.” She twirled as she reached for his white shirt she’d worn to bed and slipped it on. She felt ridiculously happy. They’d almost had a stupid fight, but whatever the issue was, it hadn’t been important.
“Mm.” He nodded as he watched her. “You’re one sexy mommy.”
Charity blew him a kiss as she left the room to scoop up Jamie. Elijah wasn’t hiding anything. Julie’s crazy hours must have caused her to get her signals crossed with Simon. Trust was the bedrock of their relationship and she decided to believe it was strong.
Chapter 9
Springtime meant driving with the top down, which Charity lived for. She had just dropped Jamie off with Margaret. They were going shopping so Charity was in for a good story to look forward to after her meeting. Elijah had left for the hospital an hour earlier and had promised, barring no major emergency, he would be home for dinner. It was a brief moment when all of the components in her life seemed to be safely tucked away. The wind blew through her hair and she turned up the radio. She should have worn some type of head covering but hadn’t bothered. She stuck it in a pony and checked her watch. She had time to drag a brush through her tresses before lunch with Hal Jaworski. She pulled into the parking lot at Judith’s and quickly fixed her hair before slipping out of the car.
Hal was already waiting for her. She had only seen pictures of him in the press. He was a decent looking man, but she had the feeling he made sure the press photoshopped his pictures. She smiled when he stood up from the table and held his hand out to her.
“Dr. Charity Thompson! I heard through the grapevine you were stunning, but everything I heard was understated,” Hal said with a Cheshire cat grin.
“It’s Thompson-Bennet, but you can just call me Charity.” She smiled. She had a feeling this was going to be a short lunch if Hal thought running his eyes up and down her body was completely professional.
“That’s right. You married that Aussie doctor.” He undid his suit jacket and slipped it over his arm after he’d taken it off.
“Elijah’s actually from New Zealand. How do you feel if we sit outside on the patio? Seems too nice a day to be stuck indoors.”
Hal made the request to the host, who showed them to their table. Hal Jaworski had to be sixty-ish and about sixty pounds overweight. He had wavy dark hair, which was thinning, and greying, around the temples. He made a habit of marrying women and divorcing them. He had d
one so five times according to the media. The one distinguishing characteristic about Mr. Jaworski that anyone cared much about was his enormous wealth. That and his brilliance. Hal knew how to get what he wanted. Now he was interested in his legacy in the form of an excellent cancer institute. It was not a bad goal and it was Charity’s job to help him achieve it. He might not be doing it for the right reason, but he was doing it, so she’d agreed to take him on.
“With that figure I can tell you’re not pregnant.” Hal chortled. “Should I order us a bottle of wine so we can get the ball rolling?”
Charity sipped on her water, trying to hide her disgust. She would rather be elbow-deep inside a patient’s gut than be sitting with this pig. “Water is fine for me. My two year old gives me a run for my money and I can’t afford to be off my game.” She pulled her notebook out of her briefcase and once the Mac was on, she flipped to the file on Hal. “You mentioned a list of donors, which you think, might be generous to your cause. I’d like to get started with that.”
Hal pushed an envelope across the table. His pudgy fingers were without a wedding ring and they purposely made contact with Charity’s. “Here’s the list.” He leaned forward. “I’m putting my money on the table for a good cause, but it’s just as easily snapped away if St. Luke’s Hospital can’t raise two hundred mill of their own. I know more about you than you know yourself. Certainly more than your husband or father do. I believe we’re going to make an excellent team.” Hal raised his glass of expensive wine to toast.
Charity raised her tumbler of iced water.
What did this fat-ass think he knew? Maybe he realized her relationship with her father was strained and wanted his hospital ward to be bigger than the one at Scott Thompson Hospital. Was she supposed to thrive on competing with her father? It wasn’t a competition. Maybe taking on this job had been a bad idea.
Her personalized ringtone started playing from her bag. Shit, she thought. Forgot to put it on silent. Elijah, just before his mom had arrived, had programmed Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off” as his ringtone. Charity frantically fumbled through her purse to put an end to the anthem.
Hal Jaworski laughed. “You are way too young to have a kid, much less be married.”
Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? She ignored his comment and set her phone on vibrate. She missed working with Dr. Malcolm Parker at Forever Hope Hospital in Atlanta. He had been such a great doctor and hospital chief to work with. She’d heard he had gotten back together with his wife and was very happy for him. She needed to get through this lunch and get focused on the job. She loved a challenge and this definitely was going to be a big mountain to climb. “I’ll give your list of potential donors some consideration. These people will want to know what their donation is paying for. I’ll need some specifics. Is the money going toward research or the acquisition of top-notch doctors? Will you be targeting a specific type of cancer?”
Hal shrugged. “I want a big plaque with my name on it.”
She sighed. “You’ll get that on the floor when it’s built or redone, depending on what the hospital wants to do. However, you need to let me know what you want me to focus on.” She softened her voice so she didn’t sound like a stern teacher. “You don’t have to be a physician to know how broad the term cancer is. Different people and businesses may donate towards childhood leukemia while others would focus on colorectal cancers. And then there are those people who would want to put their money toward cancers that concern women specifically.”
“I’m the one with the checkbook, baby. All the specifics will come from doctors like yourself at St. Luke’s.” Hal sat back in his chair and drained his glass of wine.
Did he just call me baby? “Hal,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m not your baby. Two hundred million is a nice amount of money, but it’s peanuts in the game of cancer treatment.” She wanted to fist pump when she wiped the smug look off his face. “We can make a dent with four hundred million, but we need to work professionally as a team. I’m going to work hard to match the amount needed to raise. When all this is said and done, you will be touched by those affected by cancer and it will change you. You’re not just a checkbook. You’re going to be a life saver.”
He grinned. “Like a superhero? I like that.”
She closed her eyes so he didn’t see her rolling them. She needed to remember this day and then when the work was finished, have lunch here again and see if he had changed. She hoped it would be for the better.
She managed to make it through lunch. Her feet had not been crammed into a pair of high heels in months and they were killing her. She picked at her overpriced lobster salad and drank about three glasses of water. She had to pee like a racehorse, but held it in hoping the luncheon would finish soon. Images of Jamie danced in her head and she couldn’t wait for finger painting and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Charity wanted to burn her power suit and slip into her yoga pants, never to take them off.
Hal took his last bite of steak au poivre and finished his third glass of Syrah. “Do you have room for dessert? I don’t think a woman like you has to worry about calories. I’m sure you work out like crazy to keep that figure. Lucky man, that Aussie.”
“Kiwi. Elijah’s from New Zealand and no thank you on the dessert,” Charity corrected Hal for the third time. “I’ve got another meeting to attend to shortly.” An ice cream social with her daughter, but he didn’t need to know that.
“Whatever, tell the mate I said cheers.”
Charity knew for certain Elijah would detest Hal Jaworski. He did not get on well with people who boasted about their wealth. Charity stood up to signal the end of their lunch meeting. She extended her hand but Hal decided a hug was in order. Hal gave her a bear hug with a brush on her ass. She cringed and then held back from saying anything in case he had accidently done it. “I’ll be in touch. I’m going to be using a lot of support from Pinnacle so if I’m unavailable, someone will be able to help.” She was going to avoid the man as much as possible.
“I’d prefer working with you directly. We’ll be able to cut through the bullshit more efficiently that way. Starr Inc. didn’t get where it is by working through a middle-man.” Hal pulled his belt up around his swollen belly.
“If you’re unable to reach me, go through Pinnacle. We’ll stay on top of things and be moving quickly. Thanks again.” Charity walked away quickly.
Outside and free, she flipped off her heels when she sat inside the car and slipped on a pair of flip flops she kept under the seat for an emergency. She checked her phone and noticed the missed call from Elijah and two text messages. The first was from Elijah.
Luv…you’re my inspiration. Tonight?
Charity smiled and texted him back: So available!
The next text came from Margaret. It was a photo of Jamie and her. Jamie wore a new dress. Pink of course, with a straw hat. She looked like a doll. She was so stinkin’ cute!
I’m cooking tonight. Scott’s coming to BBQ. Jamie and I are grabbing groceries now.
The pressure of work diminished quickly.
She sped home. She wanted to change her dress and slip into something sexy underneath it.
Chapter 10
Charity beat the girls home and dashed straight into the house, leaving a trail behind her. She kicked off her shoes one by one in the foyer. By the time she reached her room she was down to her bra and panties. They were off when she reached the bathroom. She jumped into a warm shower, washing away remnants of her lunch meeting. The thoughts of billionaire Hal Jaworski circled the drain and disappeared. She was looking forward to sipping an adult beverage with her hot husband and watching the evening unfold. She’d watch Margaret and her father with an eagle eye and Jamie would be the center of everyone’s attention. She grinned in the shower. It would be an amazing night, before and after the company left.
In celebration of spring, she pulled on a fresh blue and green sundress. She put on a pair of leather strappy sandals to comple
te the look. She slipped on the lace bra that made Elijah moan whenever he saw it on her. No panties. It was her house and she was in command—commando. She giggled at herself in the mirror.
The kitchen door opened, followed by cheerful voices entering the house.
Let the fun begin.
“Mommy? Mommy! I pooped in the toilet! Big and squishy just like you and daddy,” Jamie screamed.
Charity laughed as she ran and scooped Jamie into her arms. She’d missed the all-important first poop in the toilet and didn’t have a moment of regret! “I’m so proud of you, Peanut! I’d say you earned a treat, but I’m sure Gamma has been treating you all day long.” She turned to Margaret. “Did you happen to take a picture of it?”
“A picture of the poop?”
“Yes, is that over the top?” Charity teased, trying to not break into a laugh and give herself away.
“Absolutely not!”
“Oh, bummer.” Charity could barely keep a straight face.
“I have the entire thing on video, complete with facial expressions and the final product.”
“You didn’t!”
Margaret laughed. “Of course not!”
“Wait… what?!”
“Of course I didn’t video tape the silly thing. She’ll have plenty more to share with you.”
Charity burst out laughing. “I was trying to fool you.”
“You can’t fool an expert.” Margaret winked at her, looking like Elijah as she did it. “Okay, enough of this silliness. I have dinner planned and need to get sorted. We’re having grilled chicken and a wonderful Mediterranean salad I make. It’s heathy, but you would never know it. I fear every bite that goes down Scott’s throat is going to send him to the hospital. He, on the other hand, is scared of anything meant to be healthful. I’ve figured the whole thing out,” Margaret said as she proudly gazed upon her granddaughter.
