by Amy Brent
“I'm fine,” she said. She stretched and reached around to rub a hand against her lower back. “Just a bit sore after a long work week.”
“Here, let me take care of that. You shouldn't always have to be the one fixing other people's back problems.”
He led her over to the couch and started giving her a slow, sensual back rub. She laid face down on the sofa, letting his hands roam her body. It felt so good and started to relieve the tension in her aching muscles. Though her nausea didn't want to go away.
It wasn't long before Thomas's hands started to roam. She closed her eyes, wishing she could tell him to stop. It had felt so nice to have him touch her in a nonsexual way for once. And with the way her stomach was feeling, she wasn't really in the mood.
“Baby?” she asked, lifting her head up.
“What's up?” His hands continued rubbing her, straying now below her waist.
“Can we just relax for a while?” She twisted around a bit to look at him. “I'm really sorry to ruin the mood. I just need a little time to let lunch settle, I guess.”
“All right,” he said. “If that's what you need.”
He sat next to her on the couch. She could tell by the look on his face that he was disappointed, but he didn't say anything about it.
They ended up watching a movie on his big screen TV. Thomas had his arm around her the entire time, and she laid her head against his shoulder, pretending that this was just a normal Saturday with a normal guy. She knew what would have to come later, though she still wasn't in the mood. The obligation, the knowledge that there was only one real reason that he'd asked her here, made it hard for her to feel any arousal.
After the movie ended, Thomas started kissing her. She tried to respond, but her heart just wasn't in it. He picked up on that pretty quickly and pulled away, hanging his head and sighing.
“Listen, babe,” he said. “If you're not feeling well, we don't have to do anything today.”
“I don't want to be a let down,” she said. Tears started to well in her eyes.
He caressed her cheek and smiled at her. “It's okay. Really. We'll make up for it another time.”
He gave her a gentle kiss, then she gathered her things and got ready to leave. Though when she got to the door, he still handed her the envelope with her payment.
“But I didn't do anything,” she said.
“Yes, you did.” He smiled at her and kissed her hand. “You showed me a good time. Maybe not in the usual way, but I had a really nice time today, just spending time with you.”
She toyed with the edges of the envelope, torn between taking the money and giving it back. But he led her into the elevator before she could bring herself to return it.
“I'll see you next time, all right?” he said.
“All right.” She smiled at him, genuinely grateful for his understanding.
She went home and spent the rest of the day relaxing. The next morning, she was feeling sick again. On top of that, her breasts were sore, which confused her since she and Thomas hadn't even done anything together. Though a cold realization slowly dawned on her as she considered a possible explanation.
A home pregnancy test soon confirmed her fears. She'd been using birth control each time she'd been with Thomas, but she knew that such things were never 100%. She'd have to go to a doctor to find out for certain if the test was accurate, but as much as she wanted to deny it, she knew that it was true.
She was pregnant. And there was no way she could consider raising a child together with Thomas. She didn't know what she was going to do.
As the next couple of months passed, Jillian encouraged Thomas to call on her more frequently. She was determined to reach the end of their “business relationship,” but she couldn't do so until she'd earned enough money to get out of debt. Raising a child would be expensive, but she'd run the numbers, and found that once she was debt-free, she would be able to afford to feed and clothe the child with the money from her regular salary. She just needed to get out of debt before the baby was born.
For a while, Thomas gave no signs that he had any idea what was going on. She went to his penthouse each time he called. They ate, they danced, they enjoyed quiet evenings together, and she did her best to please him in bed. The more time they spent together, the more amazing their nights together started to feel. She found herself wanting to take her time, to linger with his touch. She even started spending the night again, in order to feel his arms around her all night long.
One Sunday morning, after a long night of passion, Thomas laid in bed and watched her get dressed. Her envelope of money was waiting for her on the nightstand, as usual. When she finished getting dressed and reached for the envelope, Thomas reached out and grabbed her wrist.
“Jillian,” he said, giving her a stern look, “when are you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?” Her heart hammered in her chest and her face started to feel warm.
“Don't play games with me.” He shoved her hand away from the envelope and sat up in bed.
Jillian took a few steps back. “I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Oh no?” He stood up and pulled on his pants. “You don't think I can notice the signs? You haven't had a glass of wine with dinner for months. You're in the bathroom plenty of mornings, claiming you're not feeling well. And, well...” He gestured to her body. “It's starting to show.”
Jillian looked at herself in the mirror, pressing her hands against her stomach. She had been hoping to be done with her arrangement with Thomas before the pregnancy started to show. “I...I just thought...” She sighed and shook her head.
Thomas glared at her. “Who's the father?”
Her head shot up. She stared him down, her face turning red. “What? How can you possibly ask me that?”
“Well, what am I supposed to think?” He threw his hands in the air. “You only see me once, maybe twice a month. You've got a whole life that I'm not a part of. How am I supposed to know whether there's another man?”
“You think I would do that?” she asked. “You think I'd cheat on you?”
“Cheat?” He snorted and shook his head. “Is it cheating when I'm paying you?”
She looked at the envelope on the nightstand, then grabbed it and threw it at him. It tore open and money scattered all over the bedroom. “Well, you can stop paying me now.”
She stalked out of the room and headed for the elevator. Thomas followed her and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him.
“Don't touch me!” she shouted.
“Jillian, I'm not just letting you walk out like this.”
“Why not?” she asked. She beat a fist against his chest as tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Isn't this what you want? For your whore to leave, so that you won't have to be burdened? You wonder why I didn't tell you? Because I knew it would never work. You don't want me as part of your life!”
He pulled her against his chest. She struggled, but he was too strong. “Is that what you think?” he asked, looking deep into her eyes. “You think I don't want you in my life? Of course I do!”
“Then why...why...?” Jillian choked on her words, tears falling down her cheeks. She didn't even know what to say.
“I've been trying to find a way to talk to you about this,” he said, caressing her cheek and wiping away her tears. “To tell you the way I feel about you. I only kept offering you money because I thought that was all you wanted. That if I asked you to come see me, just for me, just to be with me, that you'd reject me.”
She shook her head, a wry laugh escaping her lips. “You really think that? That I'd reject you?”
“You did the first day we met.”
Jillian held very still, thinking back to that first fateful encounter in her office. It was true, she had rejected him. But only because he'd been a patient. Now that he wasn't...
“Jillian,” he said, running his fingers through her hair. “Babe. Please. Don't leave.”
S
he looked at the door, then closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest. “But what about the money? And the baby? And...”
He stroked her hair, whispering soothing noises into her ear. “Don't worry about that. About any of it. I can take care of you. I can take care of you and the baby. That's all I want to do.”
She held him tight, her tears slowly fading away. “You mean that?” she whispered. She clung to his chest, savoring his warmth. She could feel his heart beating and she held her head against it, listening to the steady rhythm of his life. “You really want me? You want...us?”
“Of course I do.” He tilted her face up towards his. “Jillian, I love you.”
He kissed her, and for the first time when she kissed him back, it was without obligation, without any baggage attached. It was simply two souls uniting in a moment together, sharing the touch, the taste of each other. She held onto him, relief swelling in her chest. Her worries slowly faded, and she knew now that everything was going to be okay. Her baby, their baby, would have a wonderful life, and they would finally be together as a real couple, as a family. And it was more than she ever could have hoped for.
Chapter 197
RIDE
Tina was sitting there in her office looking over reports and there was a knock on her door. She had told her Secretary Jennifer to leave her alone for the next half an hour. She wanted to catch up with her work and not be bothered by any kind of interference that might keep her from getting out of here early tonight for a change.
The knock was this resounding echo that drummed into her skull. She was getting annoyed and tried to put it out of her mind, but it wasn’t going away. “Jennifer, I don’t think that I have to tell you this again, but I’m not ready for any of your nonsense.” She had long dirty blond hair and a body that she tried to hide from those eager eyes. She couldn’t deny that her work in the gym lately had gotten her the results that she was looking for.
“I really think that you should come out here, Dr. Sterling.” Jennifer stood on the other side of the door looking over her shoulder nonchalantly at the man that had just entered. He had walked in like he owned the place and was sitting there in a pinstripe suit looking as dapper as ever. “I don’t think that this guy’s going to take no for an answer. He won’t leave, until he talks to you face to face. I’ve tried to tell him that he could come back later, but he says it’s a matter of life and death.” Jennifer knew that this man was only using that term to get a quick response.
“Tell him that I don’t have time and that he should come back later. If he continues to be a nuisance, then just give him a card to one of the other doctors in the building. I’m sure that one of them will be able to see him in the manner that he requests. I will not be coerced into seeing a new patient. If you need to, you can tell him that I only see female patients.” Tina was getting this migraine. She knew that eventually she was going to have to pop a couple of pills to get rid of it. It was always that way on a Friday afternoon when things had piled up on her desk. She was a bit of a procrastinator. Her mother had warned her that these days would weigh heavily on her shoulders.
She mumbled something underneath her breath. The only person that could hear what she was saying was herself. She was lambasting Jennifer for being bullied and she thought that her assistant was above that sort of thing. She had made it abundantly clear from the moment that she hired her that she was going to have to be her last line of defense.
There was nothing, but silence and it gave her sense of calm to think that Jennifer was doing what she was told. She did like the spunk of this 22 year old kid. There was a small part of her that wanted to live vicariously through some of her stories of late night escapades. She remembered blushing the first time that she told her of the three some that turned out to be an all out orgy by the end of it. She secretly placed herself into those scenarios. She would never do such a thing in real life. She did feel this need to fantasize.
The knock came back, but this time it was louder than it was before. “Don’t blame your assistant. I told her that I was coming back here and if she tried to stop me that I would walk right past her anyway. To her credit, she did try to block my path, but I easily lifted her out of the way. She told me what you said and I’m afraid I’m going to have to use that against you. It is my right to be seen by any doctor that I choose without the threat of prejudice.” Keith Starr knew what it was to be put under the spotlight.
He was a charismatic young billionaire with a multiyear contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. He was worried about constant headaches and fatigue. He hadn’t told his trainer, but one of his best friends had given him the name of Tina Sterling. He was reluctant to see a female Dr., but his friend assured him that she was all about discretion. His friend’s sister was a famous tennis player. She had a condition that if made public would become an albatross around her neck. She would not be finding any sponsors, because they wouldn’t be able to take a chance on her not being able to play.
“I don’t care who you are and I certainly don’t respond to those kinds of threats.” Her voice was laced with annoyance. She rubbed her eyes. She was looking at these pages and knowing that there was no end in sight. “Leave or I’m going to call the police and tell them that I have an intruder.” She didn’t think that she would go that far, but she was trying to put this man back on his heels.
“Look, I can either report you or I can go to the press and make a big stink out of you being prejudiced about men. How do you suppose that will look to the public?” He was about to hammer down his fist on to the door one more time, but it wasn’t necessary. It swung open to the agitated expression on Tina’s face. He looked at her and for a moment became speechless. He couldn’t help, but to admire the woman’s confidence, but also her hidden need for something a lot more than just a good book to curl up to. Her curves and the way that she moved made him want to see more of what was under that lab coat. He loved his women with more than the average woman.
“You have 5 minutes to tell me what you want. It wasn’t necessary to become this belligerent. I would have gladly seen you, but I was busy and I demanded my assistant to keep my schedule light. Since you’ve already come all this way, I suppose I should listen to what you have to say. I’m sure that you think that you’re some big deal, but I really don’t know you.” She looked at him and the way that suit hung on his body and she could only think about what he would look like without it.
“I can’t believe that you have no idea who I am. It’s that close to the playoffs that you’d think that my reputation would precede me. I’m guessing that you’re not much for sports and that you find most if not all of them barbaric. I have the fate of my team riding on what happens here. They are expecting me to put on a show that’s going to put that cup in our hands.” He thought that he could make her see the importance, but she didn’t seem the least bit impressed.
“Like I said, I’m sure that you are a big deal to someone, but you’re not to me. Once you come through that door, you are my patient and I will give you my undivided attention. What exactly can I do for you and why is it that you insist on beating around the bush.”
The only bush that he wanted to be around was hers, but he was not going to make the mistake of trying to seduce a woman that had this ice cold exterior. He felt that cold chill through his bones, but she did seem like she was responsive to his advances. He wondered if maybe she could be that elusive whale that everybody was talking about. There was always that one that was unattainable, unless of course you had the good looks and charm to make their panties melt off their body.
Tina looked at this black man with short cropped hair and muscular physique. She knew him to be a slave to his body. She wanted to pity him for that, but she couldn’t. She had once been reluctant to step into a gym, but when she did, it was like she had been born again. She became addicted to looking at herself in the mirror after every workout to see the results. Those days of worrying about her physical makeup was over.
She may have been big boned, but she had found a way to mold that into something to be proud of.
“I was hoping that I could take things easy and get down to what is bothering me in time. It appears that you are in a hurry and I guess I’m just going to happen blurt it out. I have to take my annual checkup and I’m worried about what they’re going to find. There are times that I can’t sleep and my mind races with images of failure on the ice. At first, I thought it might be a panic attack, but now my hands are trembling and my breathing is getting a little heavy. I feel tired all the time and it’s an effort to just get out of bed sometimes in the morning.” He watched for any kind of reaction, but mostly she was stone faced through the whole spiel.
“Those symptoms could be a multitude of different things. Some are easily medicated and others are more severe that could cost you your career. I don’t want you be worried and we may as well get down to the meat of the matter. I’m going to have to ask you to disrobe and get completely naked. I’m going to be taking some blood samples and I will need you to pee in this jar. I’ll give you a few moments alone to complete the task, but then I will make a very quick study under the microscope. This building is equipped with its own test lab downstairs and I have a few markers that I can call upon to get them posthaste.” She didn’t know why, but she wanted to touch him. Tina knew that she didn’t really need him to get undressed, but that was the perk of being a Dr. and having that kind of power in the palm of her hand.
Chapter 198
He folded his suit and hung it over the chair that was near the table with the stirrups. He had a pretty good idea of what they were used for and was hoping that he wasn’t going to have to be subjected to that kind of humiliation.
Tina felt like her skin was on fire. She would need to do something to alleviate the situation. She easily undid the first couple of buttons on her white blouse underneath the starch white lab coat. Her stethoscope was around her neck and she had this giddy anticipation about porting it against his chest and watching him breathe with each breath making his chest rise and fall. She could almost envision what he would be like naked and vulnerable in a situation that was ripe with sexual tension.