“And I fight even harder.” She pulled him into a sitting position, bracing his back against the bottom of the bed. “Open your mouth for me.”
“Why?”
“I want to be sure you swallowed those pills.”
He chuckled. “Woman, you’re crazy.”
“I know. Now open your mouth.”
He complied.
She peeked inside. “Stick it out.”
“What?”
“Baptiste, don’t go there with me. Stick it out.”
When he stuck out his tongue, she swept her finger underneath his tongue, and along the space between the gums and teeth. She wanted to be certain he hadn’t hidden the medication.
He chuckled again. “Where did you learn that little trick?”
“When I worked in pediatric oncology.” She sat back on her haunches. “Boy, I swear I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. You got dizzy, didn’t you?”
He nodded and immediately groaned.
“Umm-hmm. And your head hurts?”
He winced.
“Baptiste, you sustained a complex concussion, busted ribs—”
“And I stink.”
“You do not stink. God, you’re the most stubborn man I’ve ever met in my life.”
“Look who’s talking. If I opened a dictionary and looked up the word stubborn, your picture would be next to it.”
“Boy, hush. Tell me, how many of me do you see?”
“Three.”
“Well, the real me is in the middle.” She stood and leaned over slightly, locking her knees. “Okay, arms around my neck.”
“I’m too heavy for you to try and lift.”
“No, you’re not. We just gotta work together.”
He wrapped his arms around her neck and locked his fingers together for added leverage.
“All right, move with me on three.” She planted her feet firmly apart. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
She bore most of his weight, and after a couple of tries, managed to pull him up until his hips were on the edge of the bed. Slowly, she guided him down to the mattress and slid a pillow beneath his head. Moving down a fraction, she swung his legs up on the bed, then pulled the sheet up to the middle of his chest.
“Baptiste, if you get out this bed one more time, I’ll kill you. Do you hear me?”
He chuckled. “Yes, Honey.”
After folding back the covers, she sat on the edge of the bed and smiled. “Got the clinic covered for you.”
About a week after they met, Vic learned of A.J.’s efforts for the past eighteen months to set up a free health clinic for the residents of East Oakland.
He smiled back. “Merci, mon amour.”
Thank you, my love. Every time he uttered those words to her, she melted. “Okay, what else is on your agenda for the rest of this week?”
Now that the cobwebs had finally cleared from his head, he closed his eyes and sighed softly. Even though his family’s corporation, BF Automotive, the top-ranked black-owned dealership in the country, had given a multi-million-dollar donation from their corporate philanthropic foundation, there was still a funding shortfall.
“I had meetings scheduled with a couple of foundations today to secure more money for the clinic.”
He reached for the phone.
She caught his wrist. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”
“I need—”
“You need to stay right where you are and get well,” she reminded him, tucking his arm under the comforter. “I’ll take care of it. Just tell me who your contacts are.”
“The information is in my office,” he slurred.
She nodded. “Anything else?”
His medication had kicked in, and he yawned. “We need to talk.”
She stood and adjusted his pillows. “Later. Right now, I want you to go to sleep and rest.”
Fifteen minutes later, Baptiste was in a deep slumber. Vic decided it was a perfect time for a sponge bath. After returning from the bathroom with a basin and towels, she methodically dipped the cloth into the water and carefully cleaned his face, mindful to avoid the left side. She used another towel, wringing the excess water out, to cleanse his neck, arms, and upper torso, which was covered with thick, black curly hair at the center.
Even though her touch was professional, Vic openly admired the magnificent male specimen lying before her. His body was well toned, and she knew that type of conditioning resulted from a rigorous exercise regime. Before she knew it, her fingertips ran lightly over the tattoo on his right bicep, trailed down the flat surface of his stomach, and even farther to stroke up and down powerful thighs and legs. His manicured hands and feet garnered her full attention. Caressing the softness of his palms, she could envision the calmness babies felt in his care. Then she wondered how they would feel on her.
Vic taped the left side of his chest, and then pulled the sheet up to cover his body. Once she drew the drapes to dim the brightness, she quietly closed the door and headed to his office downstairs.
Seated behind an antique wooden roll-up desk, she searched through every file neatly stacked inside a desk organizer to locate the information for the health clinic, but she couldn’t find it. She sighed, wondering where it could be. Suddenly, she remembered a few months back overhearing Marcel tease Baptiste about writing the things he felt really passionate about in a diary. She knew his clinic was as fervent as they came. Thirty minutes later, she located the diary in a bottom drawer. Shifting through the pages, she quickly discovered not only had he journalized the information about the clinic, he’d also documented every detail of their relationship from the day they’d first met. Pleasure rippled through her body despite the faint alarm going off inside her head. All these months, he’d known exactly what he was doing in his effort to break down the barriers she’d placed between them. When she read his last entry from two days ago, the day of the christening, she knew she was in trouble. He wanted her and was coming after her with the full intention of winning her love. Tears blurred her vision as she read what he’d written again:
When a man loves a woman, he will stop at absolutely nothing to win her heart, her trust, but most of all, her love.
* * *
Later in the afternoon, around two, Vic knocked on Baptiste’s bedroom door and entered, along with his best friend, Kevin Martin Bullock, who everyone referred to as K-Mart.
“K-Mart, don’t let Baptiste get out of this bed while I’m gone,” she said, walking over to hand Baptiste a bottle of Perrier. She leaned down and softly whispered next to his ear. “I’ma run a few errands, then pick up the girls. I won’t be gone long.”
A.J. smiled. “You promise to come back to me.”
She smiled back. “I promise. Remember what I said, Baptiste.”
K-Mart drew a glass of iced tea to his mouth. “Don’t worry, Vic. Even if I have to sit on his big behind the entire time, I won’t let him out this bed.”
A.J. and K-Mart watched Vic walk out the room.
“Doc,” K-Mart said with a chuckle, turning back around to face his best friend, “I told you years ago you needed to give up your Hell’s Angel’s ways.” He set his glass on the table next to his chair and peeled out of his suit coat. “Damn near took you out of here this time, huh?”
“Shut up, K-Mart,” A.J. replied, his voice full of humor. “Good to see you. I wasn’t at fault this go-round. Whoever hit me came out of nowhere. I didn’t even see them coming.”
A.J. knew K-Mart would rib him for the passion he’d developed for motorcycle riding, which began when they were roommates back in medical school at Howard University. Slowly, he pulled to an upright position in the middle of the bed while K-Mart adjusted the pillows at his back. “All right, who called you?”
“Everyone,” K-Mart answered matter-of-factly, loosening his tie. “Of course, you know Moni got to me first. After that, the rest of your clan started blowing my phone up every thirty minutes. Even talked to Cates th
e night you were admitted.”
A.J. chuckled. “I’ll say. He told me when I checked out that you called every hour for an update.”
“Absolutely. Listen, doc, we go back a long way. I needed to know what was going on with you.”
A.J. was thrilled K-Mart had finally accepted the top spot as the health officer for the Alameda County Department of Public Health and would be relocating to Oakland from Atlanta. Suddenly, he frowned, and a puzzled look fanned over his features. “Wait a minute. Your flight to Oakland was for next—”
“I know, I know. When I talked with Marcel, he offered to send the corporate jet down to fly me out, so here I am.”
A.J. nodded. He knew Russ Jenkins, the pilot for BF Automotive’s corporate jet, had no doubt flown out immediately. “Merci, mon frère.”
Stretching his legs in front of him, K-Mart smiled. “Listen, doc, you didn’t do justice with your description of Vic. You are one lucky dog. Man, she’s gorgeous.”
A.J. beamed proudly. “I told you.”
K-Mart shook his head in amazement. “How in the world did you luck up and find a woman who loves your girls as much as you do, is a public health nurse, has a master’s in public health on top of that, and heads up a clinic?” He lifted his brow. “Think she’d come work for me?”
A.J. didn’t hear most of K-Mart’s accolades because he was too busy trying to figure out which one of his five gossiping siblings had provided K-Mart with Vic’s life story.
“Moni told you all of this, right?” Before he got a response, he added, “You would think since Little Zach has been born she wouldn’t have so much time to spend running her mouth.”
K-Mart shook his head and chuckled. “Wasn’t Moni this time, doc. Zach spilled the beans on this one.”
“When?” A.J. asked, stunned.
“When he picked me up from the airport.”
“What?” A.J. exclaimed. “You mean Marcel forgot his manners and didn’t send a limo over for you?”
K-Mart snorted. “A limo? For what? Listen, we’re family, right?” He tossed A.J. a sly wink. “Besides, I got the latest update on the entire clan from Zach. That’s better than a limo ride any day of the week.”
A.J. laughed out loud. “Zach’s been living with Moni too long.”
K-Mart chuckled. “Listen, Zach also said your woman can burn.”
A.J. patted his stomach and released a sigh of contentment. “Yes, she can.”
“Hey, doc, thanks for downloading the last set of pictures you took of the girls and e-mailing them. I tell everyone my goddaughters are cuties. But I’m just a tad bit biased, you know.”
“I know, and so am I.”
K-Mart took another sip of tea and slowly shook his head. “You know, it’s just like you to do the daddy thing without benefit of a wife.”
“What’s wrong with that?” A.J. asked, giving his friend a nonchalant shrug.
“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with it. It’s just in line with all of your other unconventional ways, that’s all.”
“So,” A.J. drawled slowly, “I do things a little differently, unlike you. There’s more excitement in my way. Your behind is as straight-laced as they come. You’re always playing strictly by the rules.”
“That’s all right. At least I didn’t have three quarters of the medical faculty happy to see me graduate.”
“Stop lying, K-Mart,” A.J. said, chuckling.
“Doc, I’m not lying. You were one scary, brilliant medical student and put all of us to shame. But trust me, darn near all of the professors lit candles when you strolled across the stage at graduation.”
“K-Mart, man, you should stop lying,” A.J. repeated, laughing so hard he had to brace his hand against his left side to ease the throbbing.
“You know I’m telling the truth,” K-Mart said, snickering just as much. “You caused Dr. Wilson to turn in his resignation the same day.”
A.J. snorted. “Come on, K-Mart. He was past seventy. He needed to retire anyway.”
“Never ran across anyone who could miss three quarters of a class lecture and still ace the course.”
“It was only a couple of times, and you know it. Besides, why sleep in a chair in a classroom at eight in the morning when I could be snoozing in bed?”
“I’m feeling you, but come on, doc, admit it. You can come up with some strange stuff. Who else would show up wearing shorts, no shirt, and sandals at graduation?”
“K-Mart,” A.J. mildly protested, “we lived in D.C., and graduated in the middle of August, with a heat index close to a hundred that day. There was no way I was going to wear a suit and tie under a thick, black robe.”
K-Mart nodded in agreement. “I almost roasted my damn self. So, when’s the wedding?”
A.J. explained Vic’s reluctance to marry him, leaving out the reason why and how his plan to quarantine her had been interrupted by the car accident.
“What?” K-Mart shouted and was on his feet in an instant, remembering the repercussions from the dean for his role in the quarantine prank he and A.J. concocted in medical school. “Doc, I want to look at your CT scan, personally. I think you sustained permanent brain damage before the concussion.”
“Sit down, K-Mart. You’ve been in public health so long you wouldn’t know what an X ray looked like if it slapped you.” After sharing a long laugh, A.J. probed, taunting his friend. “What about you? Who’s the lucky woman in your life?”
With his focus on his glass, K-Mart’s face grew somber. “What are you talking about?”
“What am I talking about? You know exactly what I’m talking about, Doctor Workaholic. If a woman isn’t sitting on top of your desk, you’ll never see her.”
K-Mart shrugged. “Look, I just haven’t found her yet. But trust me, a man knows what he knows when he knows. You understand what I’m saying?”
A.J. nodded. He truly understood what his friend meant about finding the right woman because he’d found Vic. Despite the accident, which had interfered with his plans to win her love, he took it all in stride. The recent turn of events was much better than anything that he could have come up with.
With a confident smile, he settled back deeper onto the pillows. His only goal from here on out was to use the circumstances to his advantage.
And the results would be well worth the effort.
Chapter 5
“Yes, lawd.” Zach closed his eyes and inhaled the tantalizing aroma of barbecue ribs, baked beans, and peach cobbler as soon as he walked inside A.J.’s house Friday afternoon to check on his brother-in-law’s recovery.
A.J. chuckled and stepped aside to let Zach enter.
“Oh yeah, Baby Girl got it smelling real right up in here.” He tapped his watch. “Know it’s almost lunchtime, don’t ya, brother-in-law?” He glanced around. “Where’s Baby Girl at?”
“She had to run a few errands.” A.J. headed toward the kitchen while Zach followed. He pointed to the overhead cabinets. “Grab a plate and help yourself.” Suddenly, he frowned. “Has Moni stopped feeding you?”
Zach threw back his head and roared with laughter while washing his hands at the sink. “Come on now, brother-in-law. Everybody knows I love my baby, but cooking ain’t exactly one of her strong points.”
Zach fixed a plate for A.J. as well. Afterward, they headed back toward the dining room.
Once they had settled at a huge polished table, A.J. glanced over at Zach. “Any leads on the accident yet?”
Zach leaned back in a rattan chair with a frown etched on his face. “Not a one. This is one of those cases where things went down without any witnesses. The only person who could even remotely help us crack the case is Baby Girl. The problem is, she can’t recall anything more than what she’s already told us.”
A.J.’s eyes narrowed and his fork clattered against his plate. “Wait. Back up here. What do you mean, Honey can’t recall anything?”
Zach shook his head. “Uh…nothing. Better finish eating before ya food ge
ts cold.”
“Zach,” A.J. uttered somewhat impatiently.
“Brother-in-law, I’m sorry. I-I thought she’d told ya by now.”
“Told me what?”
“It was Baby Girl’s car that hit ya.”
A.J. stared at Zach, stunned. “It was?”
Zach pushed his plate away and put his hand up in defense. “Listen, now, don’t be mad at her. She couldn’t help it. Another car rear-ended her and caused her to hit ya.”
A.J. was silent for a moment. Then a wide grin stretched across his face.
Zach lifted his brow. “So that means you ain’t mad at her, right?”
“Elated is more like it.”
Zach’s mouth dropped open. “Whatcha mean, elated? Man, ya got tossed around last Saturday like a rag doll, and ya sitting here telling me ya happy about it?”
A.J. shifted in his chair to take some of the pressure off his side. He didn’t need Zach to tell him what he already knew, because the dull ache was reminder enough. “Zach, you know when it comes to Honey, I’m an opportunist. Now you wouldn’t want me to miss out on the chance to have her here with me for a while.” He smiled and waggled his brow. “Would you?”
Relaxing in his chair, Zach chuckled. “So, ya gonna take full advantage of the situation?”
A.J. shook his head. “No. I’m going to use the situation to my advantage and convince Honey to see things my way. There’s a big difference between the two.”
“Whatcha got up ya sleeve here, brother-in-law?”
A.J. grinned. “Nothing.”
“Yeah, right,” Zach drawled with reservation.
A.J.’s carefree demeanor quickly shifted to concern. “Listen, back to the accident. If you don’t have any witnesses, what happens now?”
Zach sighed, releasing his pent-up frustration. “Got the boys from the lab analyzing the paint chips left on the cars, but it’s a long shot at best.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin and reached over to pick up a glass of iced tea. “Ya know, I’ve been a cop for over fifteen years, and a hit-and-run ranks right up there with child molestation. Both burn the crap out of me. I want to nab the bastard who did this. Bad.”
When a Man Loves a Woman (Indigo) Page 5
