Saving Forever - Part 2 (11 page)

Charity shivered and her eyes closed. Their kiss deepened and she felt Elijah’s hands work their way under her top. She wavered between kissing him and pulling back.
She wanted to go further. They were moments away from having sex.

It took
all her inner strength to have the willpower to stop. Breathing heavy, she held up a weak hand as Elijah moved to cover the space between them. “I want… this…” She inhaled a deep breath and pushed it out, trying to slow her rapidly beating heart. “I… I just think you should find out what time you need to meet the lawyer. I’m just paranoid you are going to be late.” She smiled. “Last time we almost missed my important thing. I can’t get into the habit without feeling guilty.”

His hands
gripped her waist and he pulled her tight into him. She felt his erection and her arms betrayed her, wrapping themselves around his neck. He brought his lips to her ear, purposely letting them brush against her as he spoke. “After I call, can we continue this?”

Her knees nearly bent as her legs turned to Jell-O.

He gave her a sexy half grin. “Maybe you should lie down.”

“Are you trying to take advantage of a swooning girl?”

He chuckled. “You’re swooning for me?” His lips brushed against hers.

She pressed her hands over his chest and firmly push
ed him back a step. “Call, pretty please?” Her body followed where her hands were. “Whatever resistance I’ve got left is nearly gone.”

Elijah’s eyes closed for a moment and Charity watched his face as he battled with his own raw needs. He swallowed and opened his eyes, calm and
, as always, so beautiful. “I’ll call. Then we can go from there.” His hand pressed softly against her cheek and he walked over to the phone on the nightstand beside his king-size bed.

The bed looked small compared to the size of the room. Charity sat on the corner of the mattress and waited. Elijah pulled a card out of a small leather case he had in the nightstand drawer.

He spoke to a secretary and checked his watch. As he asked about parking at the building, he stood and put his wallet in his back pocket. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hung up and tossed the cordless phone on the bed.

“Need to go now?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “’Fraid so. Apparently the lawyer is reading my father’s will and both my mother and I need to be there.” He gave her an apologetic smile. “The secretary said it’s going to take a while.”

“It’s fine, Elijah.” She stood, now feeling awkward and not sure if she should hug him or stay where she was. “I’m going to stay here, if you don’t mind. I don’t want you worrying about having to drop me off anywhere or having to pick me up.” She glanced out the window at the water. “I’ll hang by the beach and find a good book to read.”

“Are you sure?” He pulled his shirt off and changed into a dressier one.

Charity forgot to answer as she started at his taut muscles running across his chest and down his amazing six pack. She blinked a moment, not sure if she saw a new tattoo of a word across the first rib bone just below his left pec. Too soon his clean shirt covered the skin so she had no idea if it was real or a figment of her imagination.
Hopefully later she would have time to get a closer look.

He stared at her expectantly but also with an amused look on his face. She realized she still hadn’t answer
ed him. “I’m sure.” She kissed him gently and hugged him tight. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

Charity closed her laptop and yawned
again. She had spent the afternoon reading at the beach. She came back to the house finally for supper and since Elijah or his mother hadn’t returned yet, she grabbed her laptop and sent Julie an email, plus replied to all work-related messages. After that she decided to walk around the perimeter of the property to see if the place was as big as it seemed to be. She left a note to let Elijah know where she might be.

Dusk had settled
when she got back inside of the house. No one was in the kitchen or main rooms when she returned. She found a nice lounge chair by the indoor pool and worked on the Valentine’s Day website photos. When she started yawning more times than breathing, she shut the computer.
Time for bed.
She checked her watch and wondered if Elijah had returned and just fallen asleep in his room already. Hopefully he had. It would be better to leave him be and let the poor guy rest.

She headed up the stairs, past his closed door and on to her room at the end of the hall. She slipped in and closed the door quietly.

“Oh crap!” She caught her breath and nearly dropped the laptop when she noticed Elijah sitting at the foot of her bed. “You scared me.”  She set the computer on the desk to charge. “You alright?”

He smiled, swaying a bit as he spoke. “You know me, calm in a crisis.”

Charity pressed her hands on the small of her back. “Have you been drinking?”

Elijah’s eyelids fluttered and he held his hand with his thumb and pointed finger slightly apart.

Just a little.
“And you’re upset.” Charity sat down beside him. “Probably not the best combination for tomorrow.”

“Upset? That would mean I have to care and I don’t care.” He stared at the ground in front of him, his lips pressed tight together in a thin line.

Men! What was the benefit of faking tough? “Why do you have to act like you’re not bothered?” She rested a hand on his shoulder.

He leaned into her and sighed. “My father and I weren’t close. I basically ran from here and barely looked back. Tomorrow I have to put on my doctor’s face and go through something which I don’t want to be here for.”

She brushed her lips against his hair. “You want to be here. Pretending you don’t only makes you think it’s easier. It’s not. You can’t turn it off.”

His eyes grew shiny but no tears
escaped.

Her heart broke at his inner struggle and she could feel her own eyes fill. She blinked the wetness away. “I-I know. I tried. Six years ago.”

The way he looked at her, his pain and hurt struggling unsuccessfully to stay hidden behind his eyes, brought her back to losing her mother.

It was her turn to stare at the ground and for the first time in a long time, she let the shield down and the memories flood back in. “A lifetime ago, I was in my first year of residence and loving it. It’s just over six years now, but sometimes when I let myself think about it, it feels like yesterday. My mom had been sick with a cold or something for a while.” Charity played with a lock of her hair before tucking it behind her ear and folding her hands into her lap. “Looking back now, I should have realized the winter before
that something was more wrong. She never complained, never even showed signs of being sick. Maybe that’s why I missed it. Or maybe I was simply too caught up in my own life to notice.” She sighed; the guilt still weighed heavy. “When she called, I was annoyed because I didn’t want to talk to her but when she started to cry I knew something wasn’t right. She was a strong, beautiful woman who matched my father in stature and brains. All she asked was for me to come home.” Charity sniffed. She felt Elijah’s arm go around her shoulders. She was supposed to be comforting him, not the other way around. She straightened but he kept his arm on her. “Mom had cancer and I went home to help her. She didn’t want some nurse she didn’t know or end up in some hospice. She wanted me and to be home. My father was too caught up in his own doctor life of saving other people to be around while my mother lost her hair, her strength, her will, and finally her life.”

She stood so she could face him. She looked down at his handsome, rugged face. “I didn’t want to go home. I knew it would change me forever but it made me a better person. It’s the same for you. You didn’t want to come here and you’re probably struggling with the guilt that’s trying to bury you. You won’t regret coming back. I’m glad I did. I dropped out of med school but I wouldn’t change those last months of being with my mom for anything.” She’d change her father’s role if she could reverse time but Elijah didn’t need to hear that right now. “Your mother needs you. That’s all that matters; you’re here.”
Though she’s not that impressed I’m here with you.

He swayed again as his eyes closed and he lifted a finger to point at her. “You’re a smart girl but you’re wrong about my mother. She doesn’t need me here.” He sighed and dropped his arm. “She never wanted me around.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

One of his eyes opened. “Have you not met the woman?”

“She’s the female version of my father.”

Wrinkles of surprise appeared on his forehead. “I don’t get what is up with you and your father. He’s a great guy.”

“Appearances aren’t everything.” She turned away slightly so he might mishear what she said.

It appeared he hadn’t heard her at all. “I like working with him. He’s confident and you need that to be a successful doctor.”

She didn’t want to start this conversation tonight. He was saying goodbye to his father tomorrow and now wasn’t the time. “I won’t argue with you. My dad’s a great doctor and he has earned his right to be confident about his abilities. Even at nearly sixty-five, I would have him over any doctor I know perform surgery on me if I needed it.”

Elijah leaned over the side of the bed, nearly falling off as he bent down. He caught himself and straightened, holding two crystal brandy glasses and a bottle of whiskey. He set the bottle between his legs and patted the bed beside him. “Sit. Let’s have a drink to our fathers and their greatness.”

He probably didn’t need any more, but she sat down beside him anyway and reached for the glasses. They were heavy, probably Waterford or something extremely expensive. She was tempted to tilt a glass over and see if Tiffany and Co or whatever was etched into the glass. Elijah began pouring so she focussed on not spilling. “Oh, that’s enough for me. Thanks.”

He poured double into his glass, put the top back on the bottle and set it down beside him. He held his glass up. “To greatness.”

Charity tried not to cringe when they banged glasses. She took a small sip, fire burning over her tongue and down her throat. She kept her mouth closed but couldn’t stop the cough that tried to escape. She set the glass down on the floor close to her so it wouldn’t get spilled. As she turned, Elijah dropped his back onto her bed and laid there, eyes closed, knees bent with his feet still touching the floor and his glass held perfectly in his hands. She watched the rise and fall of his chest and reached for his drink.

“I’m not asleep.”

“I know,” she whispered, thankful he let go of the glass so she could set both of them down on the dresser. She sat back down beside him and angled her body to face him, her legs criss-crossing under her.

His arm dropped to the side and his hand found hers. She liked the way their fingers intertwined perfectly together and how they looked. His long fingers, strong and decisive
, made hers look feminine and small. Even his nails were perfectly even. Her eyes travelled over his wrist and up his forearm where lean tendons and muscles ran under his smooth skin. She was pretty sure she’d never been this fascinated with anyone’s arm before. It made her smile and double check that Elijah’s eyes were still closed.

It had been a very long time she had felt this vulnerable around a guy. It made her nervous, like a weird, eerie calm before a storm. She gazed vacantly at his tattoo. She always thought of a relationship as a rare piece of artwork. A masterpiece. What were the chances they could make a relationship work? They lived miles apart and he worked at the one place she had never wanted to set foot in again. Now she had two years on the contract in
Atlanta. What if he wasn’t looking for something serious? What if he broke her heart? Could they create a masterpiece of love; have it all come together or would it be torn up before—
STOP!
She warned her crazy train of thoughts to get off the track they were heading down.
You need to talk with him, ask him how he feels
.

Elijah’s even breathing and slightly muffled snore let her know now wasn’t the time to ask.

Time to be realistic. More than likely they were having a casual fling while she worked on the gala for her father.

She rose and slipped into the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she returned Elijah hadn’t moved. She grabbed a pillow and set it beside his head and then crawled beside him on the bed, snuggling against his body. His head rolled toward her and their foreheads touched. The snoring stopped.

His warm body, even drunk, felt delicious beside hers. She planned to lie beside him only a moment before gently waking him to go to back to his room. When he rolled over and his arm and leg lay protectively over her she snuggled closer to him.
I’ll just close my eyes for a moment...

A warm breeze blew frizzy wisps of hair across Charity’s face. She brushed them away and snuggled closer to the warm
th of Elijah’s body. Eyes still closed, she smiled against his chest. It felt nice to be in the arms of another, even if he still wore a T-shirt. His musky, delicious cologne filled her nostrils and she wet her lips. It made her hungry, but not for food. All she needed was right there beside her.