Everything You've Got: Anything & Everything, Book 2 (30 page)

She stared at him. “You brought the RV? So you could spend time with me?”

“Yes. And not sex time. Real time.”

The corner of her mouth curled. “Sex isn’t real time? It’s fake?”

“It’s fantasy,” he said, his voice a little gruff. “And very real. And I love every second. But I want to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Nothing.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I mean, everything. Nothing specific. I just want to talk.”

She propped a hand on her hip, her blouse gapping and showing a hint of pink satin. “Why?”

Luke pulled his eyes from the peek of her bra. “Why what?”

She gave him a knowing smile. “Why do you want to talk to me?”

“Something is going on with you,” he said, again focused. “And I want you to tell me about it. I want to know about work. I want to know why Dr. Davidson is still covering the clinic in Justice. I want to know how Tom Martin is doing and how you feel about the licensure investigation going in your favor. I want to know what you had for lunch, for God’s sake.” He thrust a hand through his hair. He sounded like an idiot. “Enough with the sex already.” A complete idiot.

Her eyebrows were up by the time he finished. “Okay. Davidson is covering the clinic because I’m here. Tom has a feeding tube but came off the ventilator. I feel great about my license. And I had a turkey sandwich and barbecue chips. And iced tea.”

He sighed, actually feeling—stupidly—relieved to know all of that. “Thank you.”

“Now can we have sex?”

He sighed. She didn’t get it. “No. I want to
just
talk.”

“Well,
I
want an orgasm.”

His blood heated in spite of himself. “No.”

She moved in closer. “I really, really want your hands on me, Luke.” She started unbuttoning again. “I want your mouth on me. I want my mouth on you. I want to suck and lick and—”

He was weak. He needed help. “I was afraid it was going to come to this.” In fact, he’d been pretty sure it was going to come to this. He reached in his pocket and pulled out the handcuffs. “We’re going to
talk
.”

He grabbed her wrists before she could react and linked them together.

She recovered quickly. “You cannot lead me out of here handcuffed, Luke.”

“Why not?” He’d throw her over his shoulder if he had to.

“People will notice.”

There weren’t any people left to notice. Thank goodness. “You brought this on yourself.”

“By wanting to have sex with you? Well, gee, I’m so sorry.” She was clearly irritated.

“By distracting me with your body and mouth and…” He focused on her lips. What had he been saying?

“You’ve enjoyed every single stroke,” she purred, leaning in close again.

“I have. Which is why I handcuffed you and we’re going to a restaurant where you can’t seduce me.”

“You’re going to keep me handcuffed in a restaurant?” she asked. “Are you crazy?”

“I’ll uncuff you once we get there.”

“What if I try to put my hand down your pants under the table?”

He shifted as his cock responded without input from his brain. “You won’t.”

“Try me.”

“We’ll sit on opposite sides of the table.” He took her hand and headed for the door of the restroom, then out the front of the clinic.

He drove her car to the Italian place he remembered from trips long before he’d built The Camelot. As he opened the car door for her, he unlocked the cuffs but slid them into his pocket for safekeeping. He might need them again to get her to behave. And it definitely wouldn’t do for
her
to get ahold of them.

“You can make me come to dinner and you can keep my hands from taking my clothes off, but you can’t make me talk,” she said once they were seated and had ordered wine.

He leaned his forearms on the table. Yes, he could. If her feelings were as strong as he thought—and hoped—they were, he could.

“I love your body,” he said. “I love that I know that you have an erogenous zone on your left ankle and that I can make you come apart with my hands and mouth before I even take my pants off. I love the sound you make when I first kiss you, I love the feel of your hair in my hands when you take me in your mouth.”

He watched with satisfaction as her lips parted and her pupils dilated.

“That all matters to me, Kat. Connecting with you physically is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. And I love that it’s true for you too.”

He knew it was. He could tell even without her words, but she’d also confirmed it in breathless pants as he pumped deep.

“But there has to be more here.”

She took a deep breath and looked down at her fork. She slowly turned it tines down, then tines up, again and again. “What if there’s not?” she finally asked.

“What if there’s not what?” He couldn’t say why exactly, but a cold trickle of unease started down his spine.

She lifted her eyes and met his gaze. “What if there’s not more? What if that’s all I can give you?”

Chapter Eleven

Wine.

That was the answer right now.

Along with more wine.

“What are you talking about?” Luke asked with a frown.

She drank down half her glass.

“That’s ridiculous, Kat. There’s so much more between us.”

She finished the glass and reached for the bottle.

It was a good thing he’d brought the handcuffs because this whole situation was exactly what she’d been trying to avoid for the past month. She didn’t want to talk. Because once she started, it would all come out.

Instead, she’d been focused on proving to Luke that what she
could
give him—limited as it may be—was
really
good. Really worth it.

She loved living with him. What little of it she had experienced. She was never there, it seemed. She shared his bed, his toothbrush holder and his closet, dresser and fridge. But she hadn’t sat on the couch, watched his TV or even used the oven.

So, she also hated living with him. It was like being able to see and smell chocolate chip cookies baking but not being able to eat them. Very tempting and very unsatisfying.

She was being constantly teased with
almost
having what she wanted.

“I’ve been trying to distract you,” she finally said.

“I knew it!” he exclaimed. “The sex was to keep me from prying.”

He looked so triumphant, for a moment she just smiled at him. Then she realized his look of happiness was about to change. As was hers.

But she was tired. So tired. Physically and mentally, yes, but also emotionally. Keeping Luke at arm’s length was zapping her because she didn’t want him at arm’s length. She wanted to be as close as two people could get. She wanted to tell him everything and then have him hug her and hold her and tell her it was fine—that she was still the woman he wanted, no matter what else.

Tom was progressing very slowly in Denver. Marty Davidson was doing a great job in Justice. She still had her license, thank God, but Brickham was either really punishing her or he truly believed she knew nothing. She was working long, horrible hours and he was constantly over her shoulder.

Something had to give.

Now Luke was here, demanding she do what she really did want to do—talk to him.

Okay, fine.

“I was trying to distract you from realizing that all I have to offer you is the blow jobs, the vibrator and the dirty talk.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“On your top ten list,” she said. “I don’t fit very many criteria anymore.”

“Kat, you… Yes, you do,” he insisted.

Of course.

Luke Hamilton always had a plan and he was the most stubborn man she’d ever met when it came to making his plan fit.

“No, I don’t,” she said with a sigh. “I technically live in Justice but I’m barely there, I’m certainly not able to socialize or be on committees, or spend time at The Camelot, or see our friends and family. I don’t have a job there anymore and…” She broke off as she realized what she’d said.

He frowned. “What do you mean you don’t have a job there anymore?”

She took a deep breath. She wanted to tell him this. Kind of. At least she wanted to stop wondering about his reaction.

And she was about two seconds from finding out what that would be.

“I lost the clinic, Luke.”

“For now. For a while.”

She shook her head. “No. Marty wants it. He’s doing a great job and Brickham wants him to stay. He’s buying a house.”

“So what if Marty wants it. You’re from there. Doesn’t that matter? What about—”

“No,” she broke in before she lost her nerve. “No, it doesn’t matter. What matters most is having someone who will do a great job and everyone will trust.”

“And that’s not you?” He looked angry. Really angry.

She sighed. “The great job part is me.” She believed that. She was a good doctor. She cared about her patients and she would do whatever she could for them. But Marty was a good doctor too. With more experience. “The trusting part is an issue.”

“That’s bullshit,” he said. Loudly.

She glanced around. “Luke, calm down.” People were staring.

He clearly didn’t care. “Did you misdiagnose Tom on purpose?” he demanded, his voice still louder than necessary. “Did you want to hurt him or his family?”

She frowned. “Of course not.”

“And do you think you need Brickham’s help? Do you need mentoring? Do you need to be here in this clinic every day?”

“No.” Not that she knew everything, but she could—would—learn. She’d make sure of it. She didn’t need Brickham, or anyone else, watching her. She wanted to collaborate. She wanted someone she could talk to as a colleague—not someone who was testing and judging her. “Definitely not.”

“Then stop feeling guilty.”

She focused fully on Luke, realizing she’d let her thoughts run and her blood pressure rise thinking about Brickham and her situation. “What?”

“Stop feeling guilty. You’re letting him do this to you because you’ve let him convince you he’s right. But he’s not, Kat. You’re amazing. You don’t deserve this.”

Wow. Luke was defending her. To her. It sounded good. And looked good. His gaze was intense, his jaw tight and he looked dangerous, like he was ready to do battle. For her.

It definitely made her want to put her hand down his pants, restaurant or not. She breathed out through pursed lips, then said, “Thanks. And you’re right,” she admitted. “I’ve let him do this. I have felt guilty.”

Luke looked pleased. “So, go in there and tell him that you want the clinic back.”

She blinked at him. “Um, no, that’s not going to work.”

“Make him listen. Tell him that you—”

“Luke, that discussion’s closed.” She might be in the right—Brickham might even acknowledge that—the thing was…

“I don’t really want to work for Brickham. Even if it’s in Justice.”

Luke frowned. “Okay. Why?”

“He didn’t support me at all. He assumed I did something wrong before he had the facts. He never asked how I was. He didn’t keep me in the loop with Tom. And nothing about this past month has been encouraging. I’ve felt belittled and disrespected since day one.”

Luke sat back in his chair processing the information. “Who else can you work for?”

That was part of the problem right there. “There’s no one else. AMP has all the small towns covered. They contract to the hospital. I could work directly for the hospital but—”

“That’s not Justice,” Luke pointed out.

“Exactly. Doesn’t solve every problem,” she said with a nod. “Besides, Brickham is on the Board. They might not hire me anyway.”

“Then you can open your own clinic in Justice. You don’t have to be a part of a bigger practice, right?”

“Not technically,” she said. She’d thought of this, but there were so many reasons it was a bad idea. “But I don’t know the first thing about running a clinic. And I don’t have enough money to build and—”

“I do,” he interrupted.

“You do what?”

“Have the money to build and know a lot about running a business.” He looked determined. And still angry.

“Running a business and running a health-care business are two different things,” she said, trying to slow her heartrate. He wasn’t listening. “We have to have insurance contracts and meet Medicare guidelines and file claims…” She sighed. It was seriously overwhelming to even think about. “I want to treat patients,” she finally said. “I want to be a doctor. Not a claims specialist or business owner or practice manager.”

“You can hire people,” he said stubbornly.

She frowned. This was typical. He had to find a way for this to fit what he’d envisioned. “I don’t want to hire people. I don’t know what they need to know in order to be hired. And I’d be competing against Marty and AMP for patients, Luke. AMP is established in this area and now in Justice. By the time I’d get a practice up and running they’d be even more established.”