Live In Position (31 page)

It was probably about two and a half hours later when I heard Dr. Bishop's voice downstairs.

"It will be alright. You aren't going back." I sat up quickly and flung my door open. Stopping just outside my door, I saw Dr. Bishop at the top of the stairs with Victoria in his arms, her hands around his neck.

"Victoria?" I breathed out and headed for her.

"Sophia." She croaked out. I reached for her and took her in my arms.

"Are you…Is she okay?" I looked at Dr. Bishop. He nodded, but extreme anger was written across his face.

"Let's get you to bed." I carried Victoria to her room and lay her down. I climbed in next to her. "Are you sure you're okay?" I whispered to her.

"Yes." She whispered back and turned around to look me in my face. "Daddy came to get me." She smiled widely.

"Do you know why?"

She shrugged.

"Grace left me alone again." She sighed. I fought the frown that wanted to spread on my face.

"Get some rest." I rubbed her head. "We will have pancakes in the morning, okay?" She smiled, nodded, and then yawned.

It was about an hour later Victoria was completely passed out and my mind was still reeling at what caused Dr. Bishop to get Victoria. Finally I couldn't take it any longer and I got out of her bed, tucked her in, and headed toward Dr. Bishop's office.

I stood outside of his door for almost five minutes before I got the nerve to knock. No answer. I waited a few more minutes, but still nothing. One my way back toward my room it dawned on me that he may be in his room, it was late.

Standing in front of his door for five minutes, I almost lost the nerve to knock, but I did it.

He answered the door in a pair of pajama pants and a white t-shirt. A look I had never seen on him before. It was intriguing.

"Ms. Ashwood?" He furrowed his brow and ran his hand through his hair.

"What happened?" I asked quietly.

He sighed and motioned for me to enter. I hesitated and he noticed. Dr. Bishop grabbed my arm and pulled me into his room. I stumbled for a minute, but his grip kept me balanced.

"After last weekend, I decided to have Grace followed when Victoria was with her." He walked toward a small bar to the right of his room, to the right of his bed. I heard the clink of glass as he poured a drink. "She left her again." He shrugged. "So I retrieved Victoria." He turned back to me.

"But she didn't do anything harmful, right?" I needed to be reassured by him.

He shrugged.

"Not directly." He cleared his throat.

"Who hurt her?" I gasped and felt myself get nauseous at the thought. "Was it that babysitter?" My fists clenched at my sides.

He shook his head.

"No. Victoria is fine, but the intent of her visit is for Victoria and Grace to spend time together, not for Grace to leave her with a babysitter."

I looked at him with confusion.

"So how was she hurt?"

"Not her." He set his glass down and walked until he was a foot in front of me. "It was you who was hurt. Seeing the way you looked on that couch, knowing Victoria was probably miserable. It killed me." I opened my mouth, but he spoke before I could say anything. "I hated sending Victoria to begin with, but my legal counsel said I needed to stick with the agreement. So, instead, I had a private investigator follow Grace and now he is getting statements for me so I can present them to the judge." He walked back to the bar, picked his glass back up and drained it before setting it back down.

His back was still to me, so he didn't see me approach. I wrapped my arms around his waist and he stiffened for a brief second before placing his arms over mine.

"Thank you." I whispered into his back.

Dr. Bishop turned around. I let go, but he quickly pulled me back to him. My head was buried in his chest and I felt his lips on the top of my head.

"There is nothing to thank me for."

We stayed like this until my legs started to ache and I pulled away. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward his bed. I resisted and started to argue.

"Nothing is going to happen." He whispered and then pulled me into his bed next to him. I sat looking down at him. "I promise." He stated firmly, drawing me down to him. We lay next to each other in silence until eventually I fell asleep in the arms of Dr. Bishop.

When the brightness of the next day roused me from sleep, it took me a couple of minutes to recall last night and where I was sleeping. I looked around me and saw Dr. Bishop still fast asleep to my left, his back to me.

I slid out of his bed and out of his room. After taking a deep breath, I turned around.

"Shit!" I screamed and caused Juliet to jump.

She smirked at me.

"I'm sorry." I whispered and held my chest.

"Don't worry about it." Her smirk was still there.

Then it registered what she must be thinking. I started shaking my head.

"No, no, no. It's not what you think."

She put her hands up toward me, palms forward.

"Who am I to judge?" She winked.

Crap, she just winked at me.

"No, Juliet, it really isn't like that at all. I swear to you that it's—" Dr. Bishop's door opened behind me.

"There you are." He yawned. "What happened?" He stopped when he saw Juliet. "Good morning Juliet."

"Good morning Collin." Her smirk still in place, she continued toward the stairs.

I slapped my forehead in mortification as she walked away from us, and shot Dr. Bishop a look.

"What?" He scrunched his face at me.

"You couldn't just stay in your room for ten more minutes?" I shook my head and walked down the hall.

"What are you talking about?" His cold tone was there, but it didn't seem to have the same effect as before.

I turned around.

"Juliet," I exclaimed and motioned in the direction she left.

He shrugged and grinned. "I don't care what my family thinks Sophia."

I stood there with my mouth hanging open. He turned and went back into his room. I growled out loud and trudged to my own room to get showered and dressed.

"Sophia!" Victoria's voice bellowed from my bedroom.

I wrapped my towel around me tightly, turned the bathroom door knob, and leaned out the door.

"In the bathroom!"

She skipped into my room still in the pajamas Dr. Bishop carried her home in.

"Good morning!" She hoped onto my bed with a large smile.

I left the door cracked open while I dried off.

"Good morning," I shouted back. Once dried off, I slipped into my baggy jeans and tank top. Pulling open the door I noticed Victoria was sitting Indian style in the middle of my bed. "Did you sleep well?"

She nodded.

"Daddy came to get me last night." Her smiled was intoxicating.

"I know." I twisted my hair into a braid and leaned against the bathroom doorframe.

"He said I don't have to go back." Her face beamed.

I chuckled.

"Let's go get you some breakfast." Pushing off of the doorframe I motioned for her to follow me.

"Pancakes?" she asked as she hurried to my side.

"That's what I promised." I tickled her sides as she rushed passed me toward the stairs.

We got to the kitchen where she helped me mix up the batter and pour it into even circles on the preheated griddle. As we were making our first flips we heard Juliet and Connor enter from the back patio. I wanted to cringe from embarrassment.

"Good morning my lovely," Connor kissed the top of Victoria's head to greet her. "Are you making breakfast?"

"Yep," she popped her 'p' at the end and nodded excitedly.

"Well then I should make some fresh squeezed orange juice and start some bacon to go with it." Juliet offered as she pulled large oranges out of the refrigerator.

Victoria and I continued to flip pancakes and stack them on a plate. Connor made more coffee and then helped Juliet with the orange juice.

"What's going on in here?" I looked over my shoulder and saw Larissa, Ryan, Max, and MJ walk into the kitchen. I kept looking for Amber, but she never entered. Silently, I wondered where she was.

"We're all making breakfast," Victoria announced.

"Got enough for us too," Max smiled broadly.

"Max," Larissa scolded.

"I'm sure we have plenty." Juliet spoke softly and turned back to the bacon, adding some more.

Victoria and I mixed up more pancake mix. Max appeared next to us scrambling some eggs. I caught myself gawking at him as he cooked. He smirked and then shrugged at me.

"The least I can do is help."

I smiled and carried on with Victoria.

"Any word from Ilene?" Larissa practically sneered when she enunciated her name.

Connor cleared his throat.

"Nothing but the return of the signed divorce papers" he shrugged. "Other than that night when she arrived, I haven't heard anything from her."

That was the last anyone spoke about Ilene.

"What's this?" The sound of his voice could still cause me to stiffen. Only now it was from nervousness. Once again I was in a room with Dr. Bishop and Juliet. I took a deep breath and focused on with the pancakes.

"This would be breakfast." Max said very slowly to Dr. Bishop. Larissa and Juliet giggled.

"I mean, I realize you have everything taken care of for you, but do you really need a person to tell you what breakfast is?" Max couldn't fight his chuckle by the end of his fake rant. I was laughing silently.

"I don't know how you deal with him." Dr. Bishop said aloud.

"What can I say? I love the goof." Larissa replied. I smiled at her statement.

Then I felt his presence like always. The intense sensation of being watched, it seemed to have intensified. Now knowing what he felt like.

"Is there something amusing Ms. Ashwood?" He whispered in the back of my head as he brushed passed me toward the fresh coffee.

I heard Juliet snicker. Goddamn him!

Once breakfast was cooked, Larissa and Connor set everything out on the large dining room table. Everyone took a seat. Dr. Bishop at the head of the table, Max on his right and Victoria on his left, Ryan sat between Max and Larissa, while MJ was in his carrier on the seat next to Larissa. Then I was sitting beside Victoria, with Juliet on my other side, with an empty chair between us. Connor was at the other end of the table opposite of Dr. Bishop.

The conversation was easy going and there was plenty of quiet eating along with the light conversation. Of all people at the table, I didn't expect Connor to be the one to bring everything to a halt.

He cleared his throat.

"Could I have your attention, all of you?" We looked toward him when he stood from his seat.

"Connor," Juliet hissed, "now is not the time."

He waved off her objections.

"I would like to let you all in on some wonderful news."

I glanced to Juliet who had her head in her hands.

"Connor…" she warned so quietly I think only I could hear her. I looked back to Connor, already having a good idea about what he was about to say.

"Juliet has agreed to marry me."

I heard the clatter of a fork dropping on to someone's plate and a glass knock over with a whispered 'shit' following it. Then there was a loud smash from behind us. Everyone turned toward the noise and there was a collective gasp in the room. Juliet groaned from next to me.

"Oh God, Connor."

It was dead silent. Like a vacuum had formed and sucked all of the sound from the room, until that vacuum exploded.

"I cannot believe this!"

Chapter Seventeen

"What are you thinking?" Larissa exclaimed, throwing her napkin onto the table. The screech of her chair echoed off the walls. She pushed away from the table and headed to Allison.

"Are you serious?!" Allison took two large strides toward her father.

Juliet stood quickly.

"Allison, please, we –"

"Save it!" She pushed by Juliet so she could stand before Connor.

"You just finalized your divorce and you are already planning to marry
her
?" Allison shoved her thumb over her shoulder toward Juliet.

"Princess I want to be with Juliet. She is who I have…"

"Enough," Allison put her hands up to her father. "I think I have entered the damn Twilight Zone." She spun, turning her wild eyes on us all. "Or are you all trying to ensure that I completely lose my damn mind?"

"Allison, calm down." Dr. Bishop stated coolly.

"Like I'm going to listen to you," she cackled, "Like father, like son, huh mister golden boy?" Her eyes narrowed on him.

"Everyone needs to relax. The kids are in the room." Max stood up and picked Ryan up from his seat. Larissa appeared on their side of the table again, picking MJ up into her arms.

Allison and Collin were trapped in a battle of wills, neither wanting to succumb to the other by looking away first.

"I think you should worry about your own issues and stay out of mine." Dr. Bishop's chilled voice warned. Did he just refer to me as an issue?

Allison snorted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You think I haven't noticed things or that Juliet's the only one to see her," she motioned to me, "sneaking out of your room early this morning?"

Max and Larissa both jerked their heads between Dr. Bishop and me. Juliet groaned from behind me and I dropped my head into my hands.

"Again, my business is my own." Dr. Bishop stated calmly.

I pushed away from the table quickly and grabbed Victoria. We left the room and I could hear Connor and Allison pick up where they left off.

"Sophia?" Victoria spoke quietly as I collapsed onto her bed.

"Hmm?"

"Is grandma no longer my grandma?" I sat up quickly and looked at her. Her face was twisted with confusion. "Is Juliet going to be my grandma now?"

I sighed. Those damned fools!

"Come sit here with me." I patted the mattress next to me, cleared my throat, and tried to clear my head. "Do you know what a divorce is?" I eyed her carefully.

She nodded.

"Yes, Marcy's parents are divorced. They live in separate houses. She has two bedrooms." She looked up at me, her face full of pride for understanding.

"Okay, well, your grandma and grandpa are the same now. They separated and now live in separate houses."

Victoria pursed her lips.

"Grandpa is going to marry Juliet?"

I nodded with a small shrug.

"It seems they are planning to do that, yes."

"Oh." Her hands fidgeted in her lap and she kept her eyes on them.

"You okay?" I rubbed circles against her back.

She nodded.

"Do you think they will let me be in the wedding?" When she looked up at me I couldn't help but snort in laughter. "What?" She asked with a small giggle. She had no idea how funny that question was.

A quick knock stopped my laughter.

"Victoria?" At the sound of his voice, I swallowed hard and sat up straight.

"Daddy?" Dr. Bishop was entering her room when Victoria hopped from the bed and hurried toward her door.

"Are you okay?" It was nice to hear sincere concern in his voice.

She nodded.

"I didn't want you to find out about grandpa and grandma that way." He knelt down to her.

"It's okay daddy, Sophia talked to me about it."

His eyes flickered to me.

"She did, did she?"

"Yeah," she nodded. He returned his eyes to her. "Daddy, can I be in grandpa and Juliet's wedding?"

I saw the same amusement I had felt flash across his face.

"I don't see why not, but we will have to talk to Juliet about it."

"Okay," she turned and bounded back toward me.

"Ms. Ashwood?" I looked away from Victoria to him, surprised he called for me. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course," I smiled nervously. Before I exited I turned to Victoria, "I will be right back."

I left her room and felt him pull her door shut behind us. It startled me causing me to jump a little. His long fingers wrapped around my arm and tugged me to his office, sealing us in with the close of his office door. My eyes widened at his urgency.

"What's the matter?"

The words barely left my mouth before he pressed me against his desk with his body and brought his lips to mine.

For a brief moment I melted into him and savored the taste of his tongue. Then, once again, rational thinking pushed passed the lusty fog. I pushed him back and turned my head.

"Dr. Bishop," I panted. "Stop."

His lips caressed the skin along my neck.

"Dr. Bishop," I pushed harder against his shoulders.

He pulled back and looked at me with those damn intense emerald pools.

"I apologize." His breathless words made my knees feel wobbly. After he took a few steps back, I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"I need to get back to Victoria." I stepped around him and grabbed the door knob.

He was quickly at my back. I closed my eyes and bit my lip at the closeness. His hands lightly caressed my hips and my body tingled.

"Stop," I choked out. "This isn't –"

"Don't," His voice was stern. Leaning fully into my back, I could hear him inhale against the back of my head. "There is no more line, Sophia. I want you."

"I'm an employee." I blurted.

He chuckled.

"I thought I fired you?" His arms wound around my waist.

"I seem to still be receiving a check." I retorted, leaning back into the comfort of his chest. I'm getting carried away again.

"Hmm…" his lips grazed the back of my neck.

"Sophia?" Victoria's voice rang out loudly.

Dr. Bishop hesitated for a moment, possessively tightening his hold before releasing me.

"We
will
finish this conversation," he whispered against my ear before stepping back from me.

I didn't dare look back as I spoke.

"I didn't realize there was any conversing that had transpired here". I exited the room, closing the door behind me.

This is so dangerous and stupid.

"There you are!"

I opened my eyes and pulled myself off of the door. Victoria was careening toward me with a large smile. We went back to her room to get dressed and decide what we wanted to do for the day.

I didn't want to do much away from the house simply because I didn't know what was going to happen in regards to Grace. I mean, Dr. Bishop had gone and taken her. I was sure repercussions were on the way. Oh man, was I correct.

Well into the afternoon of doing manicures and pedicures, we heard a commotion downstairs.

"Stay here," I instructed Victoria.

Careful not to bump my freshly painted toenails, I walked on my heels toward the door. I turned the knob and was immediately assaulted with shouting.

"Where are you going?" Larissa sounded distraught. "Max!" She screamed.

"I need to get away from here, from all of this." Allison's voice was sharp and decisive. "It's all too much. The boys and I are getting for a while." Then I heard the door slam shut.

"Collin! Max!" Larissa screamed and then I heard her stomping up the stairs. She was grumbling the entire way. "Goddamn men are never around when they are needed."

I quickly closed Victoria's door, realizing I had been eavesdropping like a little kid. Mentally scolding myself, I went back to Victoria.

"What's wrong?" She looked at me worried.

"Nothing honey," I smiled at her and sat back down. "Aunt Allison just decided to take a vacation for a while, that's all."

"Oh," she shrugged. "Why is everyone mad about that?"

I shrugged in response.

"I just don't get adults sometimes." She shook her head and went back to adding Silver Star stickers to my toenails. I bit the side of my mouth so not to laugh.

After our day filled with at home spa treatments, manicures, and pedicures, we were both surprisingly tired. Victoria fell asleep quickly during the bedtime story.

I slid from her bed and headed to my room to get ready for bed as well. I was in the middle of washing off the bright blue eye shadow Victoria put on me when my cell phone rang from the living room area. Quickly towel drying my face, I collected my phone. Miranda.

"Hey you!" I answered excitedly.

"Hey!" I could hear the smile in her voice. "How are things going?" Suddenly I detected a hint of panic.

"
It's fine, what's the matter?"

"Okay, um, did you get your invitation to the wedding?" She sounded more nervous now.

"I didn't check my mail yesterday. Hold on." I quickly moved to the pile of mail Mrs. Baker had placed on the small table in the living area. "Yep, it's right here" I figured she was afraid she had forgotten to send it.

"Great," she still sounded worried.

"Rand, what's going on?"

"Uh, Sophia, you know how much I love you, right?"

"What do you want?"

"Okay, listen, my cousin in North Carolina can't make it to the wedding and she was supposed to be one of my bridesmaids. She is a size five, just like someone else I know, so I was wondering if you could help a freaking-out bride? What do you say?"

"I say that was a lot of words in one breath." I laughed.

"Sophia, come on. Please?"

I sighed.

"What color are the dresses?"

"SOPHIA!"

I laughed.

"Okay, okay, I'm in." I giggled.

"Oh my god, thank you, thank you, so much!" I could hear the tension melt away.

"You know I would do anything for you. How are the rest of things going?"

Miranda quickly went into all the stress and craziness involved with wedding planning. We talked about Victoria and briefly about Dr. Bishop. I didn't dare tell her about my little secret, because she would kill me and, hell, I didn't exactly know how to answer the questions she would surely have. She picked up on my mood, but I played it off as being tired.

After my call with Miranda and the promise to meet her on Wednesday at the dress shop, I headed to the calendar to write down the time and place to meet her. It was then I realized that Victoria would be heading back to school in only a few more weeks. I needed to take her school shopping. I decided we could start the shopping on Tuesday and finish it up on Wednesday after my dress fitting with Miranda.

The next morning I was woken by a knock on my half shut bedroom door.

"Victoria?" I groaned and pulled my face out of my pillow.

"Afraid not."

I never pulled myself out of grogginess so quickly. Looking to my door, Dr. Bishop stood appraising me.

"Um..." I didn't know what to say to him. "What time is it?" I glanced to my clock as he answered.

"Six," he took steps into my room. With the sound of my door closing, I felt my body tense. "I have a meeting with the lawyers in two hours in regards to Grace's visitations."

"Oh," I sat up quickly and kicked the blankets off of me. "Do you need me to get Victoria ready?"

He shook his head and walked closer to me.

I started to gasp, but bit my lip at his proximity. His eyes stayed on me the entire time he moved.

"Dr. Bishop…" My tone wasn't warning, but hesitant and cautious, "This," I motioned between the two of us, "isn't a good idea."