Everything You've Got: Anything & Everything, Book 2 (23 page)

“I’m just imagining you going at it hard and fast and maybe not bothering to fully undress.” It made sense. He didn’t think that Kat let people see her plain pink underwear.

“Why do you think that?”

He traced a finger over the swirling pattern of body paint she had on her right shoulder. “Seems like there’s a difference between what’s on the surfaces that people see and the ones they don’t.”

She shrugged his hand away and turned toward the bathroom. “Whatever.”

He knew he’d hit on something and even if he didn’t fully understand it he felt pretty good about being someone who’d seen her bare-assed naked.

How did he know that stuff about her? As she shut herself in the bathroom Kat made sure to lock the door. Luke wouldn’t hesitate to let himself in, she was sure, and she needed a few minutes.

He understood that seeing under her makeup meant something. He said he loved her. He thought they were getting married. He wanted to get her
pregnant
. And not necessarily in that order.

He was overwhelming her.

She wanted all of it. When she was in his arms, and he was filling her body and heart, she believed it could happen.

Kat was amazed. Not that he’d noticed her body decor only went as far as what her clothing revealed, but that he knew there was more to it.

She stepped into the shower, which ironically was going to wash all the paint, makeup and hair dye from her body. The stuff that Luke had realized was more than a simple fashion statement.

There were always reactions to how she looked—positive or negative—and that kept people on the surface, focused on what they could see, rather than noticing the deeper stuff, like mistakes or flaws or insecurities.

In Justice, everyone was so used to her appearance that she wasn’t regarded as strange anymore. Which made practicing medicine a little easier. It was tough to be aloof and rebellious when taking care of someone’s fever or split lip.

Still, no one asked
why
she dressed the way she did. Some people accepted it, some didn’t, but no one had asked. Luke hadn’t actually asked, but he’d hinted that he had some questions.

And she kind of wanted to tell him. The potential malpractice suit hanging over her head made her feel even more vulnerable and—

She let her head thunk against the shower wall. There was a potential malpractice suit hanging over her head. Luke had helped distract her from it for a little while, but it was still there. It still made her feel sick to her stomach.

She wanted someone she could talk to about it. She wanted to confess that she was scared to death, that she felt terrible about Tom and that she felt guilty. If there was even the smallest chance that she could have prevented Tom’s stroke she didn’t think she’d ever get over that.

But she couldn’t tell Luke. She couldn’t tell him that she might have done something wrong and that not everyone in Justice loved her anymore.

The phone call just before Marge needed her had been from Marc—who knew everything that happened in Justice and would be honest with her.

Tom was still in the ICU and there were murmurings in town that there was more to the story than just a sudden stroke. Tom’s son was also in town. He’d flown in from Indianapolis and was, in Marc’s words, pissed and raising hell at the hospital over his father’s care. He wanted to know what had been done, why, what had not been done and why, and everyone who had been involved. She didn’t know for sure that her name or Tom’s visit to the clinic would come up, but Tom’s wife knew about it and she’d mentioned it to Brickham. It stood to reason she’d mention it to their son.

Kat needed to call her lawyer. She knew that but had been putting it off until she could find several uninterrupted minutes alone. So far, thanks to Marge and Luke, that hadn’t happened.

Luke.

Pretty soon the only thing on his top ten list that she could fulfill would be the blow jobs.

Stepping out of the shower, she quickly dried off, leaving her hair wet with the thick, extra-strong-hold gel in it, spiking it up in an easy style. She made some of the tips of the spikes pink—Luke seemed to be fascinated with her affection for pink—and quickly applied her eye makeup.

It was funny really. Her eye makeup and lipstick were always so dramatic that people didn’t look closely enough to notice that she barely wore anything else on her face. Her skin was naturally pale and smooth without being too dry or too oily. She had no freckles, no blemishes, no uneven spots. She knew she was lucky and appreciated the fact that a simple face powder was enough. It meant she could spend more time on her eyes.

Satisfied, she started to turn away, then couldn’t ignore the body paint. It allowed her to be creative and feel fun or sexy but wasn’t permanent like tattoos. She liked changing it up every day. Luke was right—she never painted where people wouldn’t see it. The paint was part of her “costume”. So the elaborate swirling design on her left inner thigh was new. No one saw her left inner thigh. Until now. She added an arrow at the top pointing right to where she wanted Luke’s attention later on.

She dressed quickly, then gave Luke the bathroom.

“You sure you don’t want to come in?” he asked, moving past her, close enough that his whole body rubbed against hers.

She did, she really did. “I just redid everything. Wouldn’t want all this color to go to waste,” she said, her hand running over the pink tips of her hair.

Something that looked a little like frustration flashed over his face, but disappeared as he smiled. “I’ll be quick. The party’s going to start without us.”

He showered but didn’t shave, leaving stubble on his jaw. He’d also pulled on new jeans and a T-shirt. It was nice to see Luke this way. She usually saw him at the Camelot where he wore khakis and dress shirts, often with ties. This was a more relaxed Luke. He was completely comfortable in his restaurant, but he was also focused on making sure everything ran smoothly and that his patrons had a fabulous experience. Here in Rolland, he could just enjoy. He looked fantastic in a tie, but this look was equally sexy.

They drove to the park and then, holding hands—something she
never
did with men—joined the group that had gathered near the pavilion where the band had already started playing. Beer and wine were flowing from the stand set up by the local bar and Luke deposited fifty dollars in the jar marked
$10 Suggested Donation
as they each took a glass of beer and headed for a picnic table where some friendly faces were sitting.

“Luke!”

“Kat!”

They were greeted enthusiastically and Kat couldn’t help but smile. It was nice. She wasn’t that different from Luke in that she preferred to hang out with people she knew well. People she was sure liked her, accepted her…

With that her stomach knotted.

She might need a new group to hang out with. The people in Justice might not like or accept her now that she’d almost killed someone.

Kat took a deep breath and tried to forget about the mess at home, not overreact, and just enjoy the evening. The trip with Luke that had seemed so long yesterday was suddenly going by quicker than she liked.

But she couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t forget about the mess, not overreact or convince herself it was no big deal.

She had to call her lawyer. Like right now.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said to Luke.

“Where are you going?” He wouldn’t let go of her hand.

“Just need to make a phone call.”

“To who?”

He was watching her closely and she looked at his earlobe instead of his eyes.

“Just checking on some things back home.”

He leaned in. “What things?”

“Just some stuff with the clinic. No big deal.”

Luke grabbed her chin between this thumb and finger to hold her still. “What stuff?”

“Luke, I can’t tell you.” Couldn’t he let it go as a confidential medical issue?

“You can tell me anything.”

She pressed her lips together. She wanted to tell him. So much. But she felt like she needed more details—like just how fucked up her life was actually going to be—before she filled him in.

“I need to make this phone call, okay?” she asked. She let her vulnerability show in her eyes. “Please.”

He looked at her for a long moment. Then sighed. “Fine.”

But she could tell that he was very hesitant to let it go.

Before she could change her mind and blurt the whole damned thing out, she headed off to one side of the party, away from other ears. She quickly dialed Brad Conner’s cell number. Thankfully she still had it in her phone from when they’d served as co-chairs on the committee to redo the landscaping at city hall.

“Dr. Dayton.”

He picked up right away and didn’t sound surprised to hear from her. That couldn’t be a good thing.

“Hi, Brad.” Brad had been a classmate. He was also Marc and Luke’s lawyer. He’d never called her Dr. Dayton in his life.

“Dr. Brickham called to say that you’d spoken with him,” he said.

“Yes, he filled me in on the situation with Tom Martin.”

“I’ve been expecting your call.”

So she did need to talk to him. “I was afraid of that.” She was also afraid of Brad’s formal tone.

“I’m going to advise you not to speak about it to anyone else. Especially Mr. Martin’s family. They may be trying to get ahold of you. I feel it’s a good thing you’re out of town, and I would encourage you to stay in touch but not return to Justice until things are stabilized and the partners decide how to handle this. I don’t want you in a position of saying something that might hurt the medical practice or the other physicians.”

And what about her? Did she have a say in how things were handled? Did he care about protecting her? “Brad, do I need to have you present if I speak with anyone?”

He cleared his throat and Kat felt her stomach tighten.

“I don’t know that I’m going to be able to represent you, Dr. Dayton.”

“So I need representation.”

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have someone familiar with the situation.”

“And why can’t that be you?”

“I represent the medical practice and the partners.”

“But I’m…” She wasn’t a partner. “Their legal counsel doesn’t extend to their physicians?”

He cleared his throat again. “You should know that Dr. Taylor informed me this morning that they’ve chosen to rescind the offer of partner.”

Dr. Colin Taylor was another of the partners. She wished she were shocked. But no matter how things turned out with Tom, her reputation as a physician was tarnished. Yes, she’d grown up in Justice and knew everyone, but now there were questions about her abilities. There was nothing in her past that would definitely protect her in that regard. She’d been valedictorian, never gotten picked up by the town cop and served as head of three committees in the past year, but that didn’t mean that she could save a life. Which was, obviously, something they were counting on her to do.

“But as an employee—” She stopped and took a deep breath as a thought occurred to her. “Are they firing me?”

“They would like you to take a voluntary leave of absence,” Brad confirmed. “The family has reported this to the state licensure board. If they suspend or revoke your license, your employment will be terminated. The partners will also have to investigate the situation further and decide if there was any breach of company policy and procedure. Decisions will be made at that time.”

She’d been turned in to the state licensure board. And she had to take a leave of absence.

Awesome.

“The leave of absence won’t look like an admission of guilt?”

“Are you admitting guilt?” Brad tossed back.

“No.”

“Then it’s just a leave of absence. And that’s the story you should tell anyone who asks.”

Which would be everyone she knew. Even more awesome.

“I assume you’ll be in touch?” she asked dryly.

“Yes. But when you get an attorney, you should give him or her my number.”

“Right.” Sure. When she got an attorney. How did one go about doing that? She’d never needed one before and Brad was the only one she knew personally.

She realized there was nothing more to say to Brad except good-bye. They disconnected and she shut her phone off. There would only be people calling with questions. Questions she wasn’t supposed to answer. Not that she really had any answers. Except that she’d never meant to hurt anyone.

She was surprised her parents hadn’t called yet. If they hadn’t heard yet, that wouldn’t last much longer. This would be terrible for them to hear.

She took a deep breath, then another. Then she wiped her eyes.

The window of opportunity to enjoy her time with Luke was getting smaller. She was going to take full advantage of it.

“Are you okay?”

She wasn’t surprised Luke noticed that she seemed out of it. Or that he asked about it.

“I’m…not great,” she admitted.