I'll Be Seeing You (15 page)

"Okay, so you won't do anything, right?" I ask, hoping I don't have to worry about him chasing Scott down the street.

"No, but if he ever touches you again I'll … I'll tell Jessie on him." We laugh and he pulls me onto his lap.

"No one touches you but me, baby," he says, holding me tight to him.

"No one but you.” As soon as his lips touch mine, I can't resist.

"Matthew …" I plead into his mouth, wanting him to carry me to my room.

"Oh, baby, please don't do this. Please. I can't. I have to get back.” My mouth covers his again. “Dammit," he says against my lips.

He needs to get back to the office, and I need time to heal. Touching his lips with mine once more, I reluctantly remove myself from his lap, helping him up off the couch.

"You’re mine tomorrow night, Doctor," I say with certainty. "Now, go."

"All right, I’m sorry, babe," he says, ruefully.

"Oh, before I forget, Laura wants me to ask you what you’re doing for Thanksgiving."

"I thought I would spend it with you, since Maddie and I aren't going to our parents in Chicago this year. They’re traveling, so we’re on our own."

"Well, Laura is spending it with Maddie and Brian, and she wants us there, too. I don't know where it is yet because all of our places are too small. She's going to ask Maddie if her place would fit us. I'll let you know."

"I know for a fact her apartment is too small. Why don't we do it at my place? On the Island. It's big enough, and Conrad can run wild."

"That sounds perfect," I say, excited at the prospect of having it there.

"Why don’t all of you plan on spending the night? There's plenty of room."

"Wait, I thought you said it was a cabin."

"Well, that's what I call it. It actually has four bedrooms, all with en-suites."

"Oh," I say, somewhat surprised. "Okay, then. I'll let Laura know. One more thing. I don’t think she’ll be seeing Jessie much longer. She’ll invite him to Thanksgiving since he’s our friend, but she won't be seeing him after that. I think she's figured him out," I explain, revealing some of what Laura told me this morning. "I know she really likes him, but she knows he’ll wind up hurting her in the end if she lets him in more than she already has. She's being smart for once."

"Oh, he told me the other day that he’s done with playing around and said Laura has it for him.” Of course, that was just before he checked out the waitress' ass.

I shake my head, sad for my friend and equally sad for Jessie who is about to lose out on a special woman.

"Okay, baby, all that aside. Tell me how you feel today? After last night, I mean. Are you all right?" he asks, pulling me against him for a warm embrace. Wrapping my arms around him, I lay my head against his chest, feeling his warmth and inhaling his unique scent.

"I'm fine. I’m a little tender, but I'll be fine by tomorrow. I'm afraid she's out of commission for tonight though."

"Do you want to go out for pizza tonight? I can have you home early. I ordered tickets to the ferry that leaves at eight forty-five in the morning, so I'll pick you up at eight. Better yet, why don't you just stay at my place tonight, and we can leave straight from there?"

The thought of sleeping in Matthew's arms pleases me very much. I get a warm feeling just thinking about it, and I smile at the thought.

"What?" he asks. "What is going through that mind of yours?

"You," I answer, still smiling. "All right, I'll be ready.” When he squeezes me a little tighter in the circle of his arms, I return it with a hug of my own.

"I need to get back to the office. I’ll call you about dinner later. Miss me while I'm gone," he says, into my ear.

"You know I will." I pull him in for a kiss and walk him to the door. "Bye."

"Bye, baby," he says and I shut the door behind him.

~.~

After spending the afternoon in my office working on my recent project, Laura shows up with coffee from the café, giving me a needed break. Not doing much apart from gossiping about our sex lives, I’m curious if there’s something that I can do for Matthew to please him. Embarrassed, I ask anyway.

"Um ... Laura, since I'm spending the night at Matthew's tonight, uh … would you tell me what I can do to … um …”

"For god sakes, Joy, spit it out," she snaps, turning her body toward me.

"What can I do to please him since I doubt we’ll be having sex tonight? There. Satisfied?" I giggle, smacking the leg she is draping over mine.

"See, was that so hard?" she says as she nudges my shoulder.

"Yes … and totally embarrassing," I reply, knowing my face is glowing red.

"Well, there's oral sex. Kind of what he did to you the other night, only you do it to him. Guys love that.

"How do I do it? I mean, how do I please him that way?" I ask, grateful that I have her to help me once again, since all of her advice has been valuable already.

I’m petrified to take the initiative, but dammit, I'm going to do it. I want to please him, and if Laura says he’ll like it, he's going to get it. By the time the tutorial is over, and my humiliation is complete, we sit down and start on a shopping list for Thanksgiving weekend.

~.~

Still angry that again Scott laid his hands on Joy, I walk past the café to see if he’s in there. Luckily for him, he isn’t. I would hate to have her mad at me for kicking the shit out of him when I promised I wouldn't. Shaking those negative thoughts, I hurry to the office to finalize the surgery for Monday and thankfully, Krista has saved the day by organizing everything for me.

"If you’re here to get ready for Monday, I've got it covered.

"Krista, you’re the best, you know that?" I say, grinning at her as I quickly walk past her desk.

"Yeah, just remember me at bonus time," she says, taking the messy file from me to reorganize it.

"I always do," I remind her.

"Okay, what else do I have? I want to take Joy to dinner, and then we’re heading to the Island tomorrow. Oh, one more thing … I’m spending Thanksgiving there. Would you call Rebecca and ask her to get it ready for six?" I mumble as I go through my incoming mail.

"Sure. Do you have a shopping list for her?" she asks, jotting down her notes.

"Not yet. Joy’s making one. I'll give it to you as soon as I can, then if you would give it to Rebecca, so she can stock the house, I would appreciate it."

"No problem. Anything else?" she asks, patiently waiting for me to answer.

"Um, yeah. Would you have Rebecca put honeysuckle all over the house, including the master suite?" I look up when I hear a snort come from her.

"Oh, Doctor, you have it bad," she teases.

"Yes. Real bad," I admit sheepishly, looking up. "I’m in love with her."

"Oh, Matthew, I am so happy for you." She comes around the desk and gives me a hug.

"Thanks, Krista," I say, returning the affection. "So, what's next?"

"You saw that you received a call from New York, right?" She points out a specific message she placed in my hand. It's from Dr. Fisher. I look up at her, and we stare wide-eyed at each other for what seems like forever.

"Well, don't just sit there. Call the man," she scolds, as she hands me the phone. "It's three hours’ difference, but that's his cell, and he said to call him when you can.

"Shit, Krista," I say with the phone in one hand and the telephone number in the other. She takes both out of my hands, dials the number, and then shoves the receiver back at me.

~.~

"Will Conrad be all right in the car while we eat?" I ask, looking out of the window at my car, not seeing him in the crate.

"He’ll be fine. He doesn't get to travel in the car much, so when he does, he really likes it," she says, taking a bite of her pizza.

"I'm glad you’re coming with me tomorrow. I must confess that I'm a little nervous about you coming over tonight though. I know you aren't familiar with my place, so if there's anything I can do, I need you to tell me, okay?" I run my thumb across her jaw, feeling the softness of her skin. Bending down, I kiss her and watch her eyes close at my touch.

"I brought my laser cane with me. It's very helpful in situations like this. All you need you to do is to show me around your house, and I'll take it from here. It's a piece of cake, really," she says like she's done this a million times. She probably has.

"It only took me a few trips to Laura's house to get familiar. The only thing is, you can't pull a bad Helen Keller joke on me and rearrange the furniture," she laughs before taking another bite of her pizza. I hope no one ever did that kind of thing to her. It’s not funny.

"This is really good, isn't it?"

"You astound me, Joy," I say, wanting to lick that little bit of sauce from the corner of her mouth, and when I see her lift her napkin, I take hold of her wrist to stop her. Cupping her face in the palm of my hand, I turn her to me. "I'm honored that you love me."

I graze my tongue between her closed lips, focusing on licking that sauce. When she slightly parts her lips, I open my mouth over hers, applying gentle suction when I hear a faint moan. When I feel her body go limp in my arms, I know her resistance is gone and smile into her mouth when she giggles.

"So, um …" I utter, not sure how to broach the subject of sex.

"We can try if we are gentle,” she says, picking up on my hesitation. “She's still a little tender, but I would love to be with you in other ways, Doctor."

"I'm just happy you're here with me.”

She touches my face again; much like she did the day she was seeing me for the first time. After she thoroughly looks at every square inch of my face, she asks me to take her home.

Letting Conrad out of his kennel is the first thing we do when we pull into the driveway. He eagerly jumps off the tailgate and takes off running.

"He won't run off, will he? I have three acres he can run on, but if you think he’ll run off, we'll bring him in," I say, watching him as he sniffs around the property.

"He won't run off, but let's not leave him out too long. Maybe ten more minutes?"

"Sounds good. Okay, let me show you round. There's five short stairs here, then a short step over the threshold." Her feet confidently take the stairs by kicking her foot out to touch the threshold, stepping over it like she's done it a thousand times.

"When you enter the front door, you enter into a large foyer. There's a table just inside the door, to the right. There’s an arched doorway to the left that leads into the formal dining room, and to the right is the grand living room." Guiding her deeper into the house, I point out the stairs. "There are thirteen steps in all that lead to the second floor bedrooms. I have one on the main floor that Rebecca uses sometimes when I have a dinner party.

"Who’s Rebecca?" she asks, feeling the wall that leads to the kitchen and family room.

"She’s my housekeeper. She lives down the street with her elderly father, but I think once he passes, she’ll move in here full time. I can keep her pretty busy, and with the board from New York coming next week, I’ll be hosting a dinner party, so she’ll sleep here," I explain.

"The board is coming here? To Seattle?"

"Oh, shit, I forgot to tell you; I've passed the first round. They want to come to see the facility and the more detailed research that I didn’t take to New York."

"I’m so excited for you." She stops moving and turns to hug me. "This sounds like it's really going to happen for you. When are they coming?"

"They’ll be here next Thursday and Friday. They’ll tour the hospital and I’ll make my presentation and then I’ll host a dinner party here on Thursday, On Friday night, they’ll go to Trinity night club," I explain as I guide her to the kitchen.

"So, I won't see you for a couple of days next week, then?" she asks.

"Well, I'd invite you to the dinner but, honestly, Joy, it’s boring, and that’s no lie. We’ll be talking about medicine the whole time, and I won't do that to you. If their spouses were coming, I’d have you right by my side," I explain, hoping she won't feel that I don't want her here.

"Yeah, you’re probably right. I can work late on the book. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Mr. White has let Scott go. He’s bringing his son in to do the male part of the story. Since Scott’s part wasn't very far along, Mr. White is having Peter start from the beginning of the story, and is tossing out Scott's work altogether."

"Peter?" I ask, wondering if I'll have to fight off another admirer.

"Matthew, please, baby. You have got to get over this." As soon as I hear her call me that, I pull her to me.

"Say that again."

"What's that … baby?" she giggles knowing what I want.

"That's so fucking sexy." I devour her mouth, never seeming to get enough of her.

“You call me that in the dark, and you won't walk for a week little girl."

"Mm, I'll remember that." She returns my kiss with the same passion and ardor that she’s receiving.

"Now," I say with ragged breath, "let me show you rest of the house."