Attraction: (A Temptation Series Stand-alone) (The Temptation Series Book 4) (33 page)

‘Thirty-eight,’ I said through gritted teeth.

‘Carly, I love Nic with all my heart. She, Alexander and
Bryce are all I have. You need to understand that I wouldn’t have Alexander if
it weren’t for Derek. And because of that, he will always be special to me. He
is such a kind, generous, giving man —’

‘It would appear so,’ I said, sarcastically.

She gave me a light shove on the shoulder, forcing me back
onto the bed. ‘Sit down, shut up and just listen,’ she scolded.
Jesus, she’s
pushy.

I sat there, dumbstruck, while she pointed at me.

‘Derek is probably the best man you will ever come across in
this lifetime. He loves you, and you love him. Don’t take that for granted. You
have no idea what it’s like to love someone who the majority of society says
you should not love. Just the simple fact that a man and a woman can love each
other freely is something you heterosexual couples take for granted. You can
say I love you to each other in public. You can hold hands, embrace and kiss
without being ridiculed. Your love is recognised legally. Fucking legally, Carly.

‘Love is uncontrollable. It’s chaotic and disorganised, but
it is what everyone seeks in life. When you find it, you fucking grab it and
you don’t let it go, no matter what or who gets in your way. Love is there
right in front of you in the form of Derek, and I’ll be damned if I’ll stand by
and let you close your eyes to it.’

I stood up, tears welling. ‘Are you finished? Firstly, I
wish we could all love freely. What a happy sunshiny world that would be,’ I
said with a hint of cynicism. ‘But love is not free for a reason. If it were,
then
it would be taken for granted. Love is precious and rare and only bestowed
when it’s truly deserved.

‘Secondly, I offered it to him. I wanted him to have it. But
what I got in return was an illusion, a misconception. What Derek gave me was
akin to a fake Louis Vuitton bag. It looked like the real thing, acted like it
... hell, it probably even smelled like it. But it wasn’t genuine; it was
forged. I don’t do counterfeit, I never have and I never will.’

Walking over to my bedroom door, I opened it and gestured
she leave. ‘Your minute is up. You may go.’

Lucy smiled at me and it was almost evil ... almost. ‘He
won’t give up, Carly,’ she said as she walked up to me. Then, leaning forward,
she added in a lower tone, ‘I know him. And I think deep down in the pit of
that stomach of yours, you know him too.’

***

After Lucy left, I threw on a pair of shorts and runners and
took Sasha out for a walk. Lucy had riled me with her cunning assertiveness and
pushy manner. But it was the sincerity in her delivery that had me pondering
and, because of that, I had to clear my head with a walk.

‘What about your phone?’ Libby called out from her position
at our letterbox, holding my iPhone in the air.

I turned and walked backward as Sasha pulled me, eager for
her walk. ‘It’s dead. I let it run out of battery.’

She ran up to me and wedged it in my bra. ‘I charged it.’

‘I know what you are doing and I don’t want it,’ I said,
thrusting it back at her.

‘Take it. You may run into a murderer or a rapist, and if
you do, you’ll need it.’

‘Right, and this murderer or rapist is going to let me make
a call,’ I said dryly, clearing my throat and sarcastically adding, ‘Oh, excuse
me, Mr Bad Man. Can you just hang on a minute while I call for a pizza?’

Looking past me, she sighed with defeat. ‘I liked you better
when you were in love,’ she said sadly, and turned back to the house.

‘I wasn’t in love,’ I shouted back. ‘Love is reciprocated
and that sure as hell wasn’t the case.’ I turned around to continue my walk and
slammed straight into a man-wall.

‘It fucking well was,’ Derek bit out harshly.

I stumbled back in shock. Shock, because he was right there
in front of me, and shock, because he just came out of nowhere.

After taking a few seconds to compose myself, I straightened
my shoulders and summoned my inner bitch. ‘Are you sure you don’t have “actor”
listed on that extensive résumé of yours? Because if you don’t, you should,
you’re really good at it.’

Much to Sasha’s disgust, I swung around and pulled her back
toward the house, desperately wanting to get away from Derek. His presence was
the most potent form of temptation I’d ever come across.

‘Are you sure you don’t have a doctorate in denial? Because
you are really good at dismissing the facts,’ he called out behind me.

‘Just because you say they are facts doesn’t mean they are.
Facts need verification, you idiot. And you verified fuck all,’ I yelled.

Derek jogged around me and blocked any further escape I had
planned. ‘I verified everything, baby. Each time I entered you, I fucking
verified that we “are”.’

I let go of Sasha’s lead so that she could run into our yard
and therefore free my hands to shove caramello con artist out of my way. ‘We
“are” nothing. Each time you entered me, all you did was verify our attraction
... and a fucking orgasm. That’s it,’ I shouted and shoved him.

Derek grabbed my hand and held it over his heart. ‘Stop.
Just stop with the bullshit, Carly,’ he said softly. ‘What we have is more than
just attraction. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. And if you think I
am just going to walk away because you want to protect your pride, then you
have another think coming.’

‘You are wrong. You think you love me, but you don’t. You
don’t know what love is, Derek. Fuck, I don’t know what it is either, but it’s
not this,’ I said gesturing to the both of us with my free hand.

‘Don’t tell me what I do and don’t know. I know what love
is,’ he said with hesitation as he glanced slightly to the side.

Curious as to why he was distracted, I also glanced sideways
and spotted Sasha making her way toward us in a stealth-like fashion.

What happened next was a blur. Sasha’s steps quickened until
she was past us and stopped in the middle of the road, face to face with a cat.
The screeching sound of tyres and the blare of a car horn pierced my body like
a thousand bolts of lightning. But it was Derek I witnessed, rolling across the
road in a haze of colour and moving body parts that had me frozen with profound
terror.

‘Derek!’ I screamed.

The shrill sound of Sasha’s yelps brutally churned my
stomach as she stumbled around on the side of the road, before settling next to
Derek who was lying motionless.

The car that hit them pulled to a stop and a middle-aged
lady climbed out. ‘Oh, my goodness. I couldn’t stop in time. Oh my goodness,
I’m sorry.’

‘Call an ambulance,’ I yelled as I ran across the road.
‘Derek, are you okay? Oh my god, please be okay. Please be okay.’

He groaned then opened his eyes, squinting, pain evident on
his face. ‘I couldn’t be better.’

‘Oh thank god. Is anything broken?’ I asked frantically,
checking for visible protrusions that I honestly didn’t want to find. ‘Where
does it hurt?’

‘Here,’ he answered, pointing to his chest.

‘Please don’t move. You could have internal bleeding or you
could be having a heart attack or something,’ I explained, anxiously.

He reached for my hand. ‘Carly, if my heart is bleeding it’s
because of you. I love you, baby. Why can’t you just accept that?’ He went to
sit up and winced, holding his arm in a nurturing manner.

‘Don’t move!’ I yelled at him. ‘Stay still.’

‘I’m all right, but Sasha may not be. I hit the car, but
when I rolled, I rolled on top of her.’

Scrambling to my feet, I walked around to where Sasha was
sitting and panting profusely. I went to pat her, but she yelped in
anticipation of my touch. ‘Oh, Sashy, it’s okay,’ I said reassuringly.

‘Here,’ he winced again, turning to the side. ‘Get my phone
out of my pocket and dial Layla.’

***

The ambulance and a police car arrived minutes later,
followed by Layla who had made an emergency dash from the surgery.

‘Her leg is broken,’ Layla informed me. ‘I’ll give her
something for the pain, but I’m going to have to operate. I’ll take her back to
the surgery now. Okay?’

‘Just put it back in,’ Derek demanded quite harshly of the
paramedic assessing him.

Standing with Layla and Libby alongside Layla’s car, not too
far from the ambulance, I glanced over at Derek, unsure as to what to do.

‘Carls, you go and see Derek. I’ll go with Layla to the
surgery and stay with Sasha,’ Libby said, as she placed her hand on my shoulder
reassuringly.

‘I’ll take good care of Sasha,’ Layla said. ‘She’ll be a
perfect patient. Derek, on the other hand, will not. Go with him and keep him
in check.’

I sighed. ‘Okay, but please call me if anything changes.
And, Layla ... once again, thank you so much.’

‘No, I have to thank you. Since you and Derek have been
together, I’ve seen more of him than in the past couple of years. So thanks,’
she sadly replied.

I nodded and made my way over to where Derek was still arguing
with the paramedic. ‘Is he okay?’ I asked timidly.

‘I suspect he has a dislocated collarbone,’ he explained.
‘He’ll need an X-ray before it can be reset.’

Derek huffed in annoyance. ‘Just put it back in now and
we’ll be done with it.’

‘Sorry, mate, but I’m not taking that risk.’

‘I’m not riding in that thing,’ Derek said with disgust as
he surveyed the inside of the ambulance. ‘Forget it.’

‘Suit yourself,’ the paramedic replied, unfazed.

‘Thank you,’ I said graciously. ‘I’ll take him to the
hospital.’

After giving the police a report of the incident and
apologising to the lady for Sasha running out in front of her car, I took Derek
to the hospital. He tried to talk to me during the trip, but I shut him down.
My emotions were all over the place. I was head-fucked beyond repair, not only
due to our break-up, but because he risked his life to save my dog.

I needed time and space to clear my head.

Arriving at the hospital, he saw the triage nurse, who sat
us both in a cubicle with the curtains drawn around us. He was sitting on the
edge of a stretcher bed and I on the visitor’s seat across from it. He’d had an
X-ray taken which confirmed the paramedic’s diagnosis and, because he was a
professional firefighter who relied heavily on full movement of his body parts
to do his job successfully, the doctor on call wanted a specialist to reset it.
That specialist was not due to arrive for another thirty minutes.

‘I’ve always wanted to fuck in a hospital,’ Derek said
quietly, abruptly snapping me out of my inner deliberations as I intently
stared at the urine collection jug.

A smile threatened to creep across my face and betray my
battle to remain indifferent in his presence. I knew exactly what he was up to.
‘Why?’ I asked, flatly.

‘Because there are people everywhere,’ he answered, clearly
undressing me with his eyes. ‘It’s hot.’

His salacious appraisal of my features stirred the hunger
between my legs and, uncontrollably, I shifted in my seat and crossed them.

Derek, in turn, adjusted his pants, letting his hand linger
over his cock. ‘You’re getting wet thinking about it, aren’t you?’ he asked,
amused.

I turned my head away and swallowed dryly. ‘No. Don’t
flatter yourself.’

‘Baby, you lie like a bucket of shit,’ he said with a low,
devious chuckle.

I watched from the corner of my eye as he slowly rubbed
against the denim covering his groin, his rubbing actions creating an obvious
bulge underneath his hand.

Powerless in the face of his seduction, I turned to meet his
blazing eyes. ‘Play with it all you like, because I won’t be.’

‘This is not something you
play
with,’ he said
pointing to his now cylindrical-shaped front.

At that moment the curtain was pulled aside and a young,
pretty, brunette nurse entered the cubicle. ‘Mr Ki—’ she stuttered, as her eyes
fell on Derek’s evident erection.

I bit my lip to refrain from laughing.

‘Yes,’ he said with a flirtatious smile, choosing to boldly
display his wood for her rather than concealing it.

She blushed and moved her stare to his face. ‘How are you
feeling?’ she asked, emphasising the
feeling
part.

Her equally bold flirtatious manner removed my amused smile,
replacing it with a scowl.

Derek noticed my transition and smiled smugly before using
it to his advantage. ‘I’m
feeling
a little
stiff
,’ he explained.

She picked up his file and raised an eyebrow, glancing at
his package one more time. ‘I can see that.’
Um ... hello, ex-girlfriend
here in the room with you.

His eyes met mine and the challenge in them was profound.
‘Can you give me something for it?’ he asked, without removing his stare from
me.

‘Oh, I’d love to. But unfortunately, right now, I can’t,’
she responded.

There was silence in the cubicle for what seemed liked
moments on end as Derek and I killed each other slowly with accusatory glares.
I unleashed my anger-fuelled, jealousy-ridden, telepathic war on him and he
seemed to revel in it.

‘Right,’ the slutsky nurse interrupted. ‘Dr Wang will be
here shortly to relieve that stiffness. Hopefully you will not have to endure
it for much longer.’ She opened the curtain and exited the cubicle and, the
moment it swished shut behind her, I shot up from my seated position. Derek,
too, straightened.

My heart was pounding like a jackhammer within my chest. I
was so angry, furious, jealous and feeling wanton. I wanted nothing more than
to claw at him, cause him grave pain, then wrap my arms around him and his
around me. I wanted to get lost in him and never be found. I wanted to love
him.

Fury surfacing in my pores, I strode toward him and smashed
my lips to his, viciously delving my tongue into his mouth. My hand fell to his
crotch where I clutched his hard cock, feeling its solidity in my grasp. He
groaned harshly, thrust his pelvis toward me and pushed, making me stumble back
just slightly and separate my lips from his.