“What’s wrong?” Capri asked as soon as Pepper approached the truck.
“Nothing, I just didn’t know where you were,” Pepper explained absently, her gray stare already focused on Tiberius.
Capri shook her head at her friend’s interest. “Pepper, this is my landlord and next-door neighbor Tiberius Evans. Tiberius, this is Priscilla Gregory, my best friend.”
After the introductions, Tiberius and Pepper shook hands. Pepper’s face held the same expression of a loyal fan meeting favorite celebrity.
“Nice to meet you, Priscilla,” Tiberius greeted Pepper.
“Um…thank you, thank you, but please call me Pepper and let me just say you have a fantastic home. All of them.”
“Thanks Pepper, just make sure your girl doesn’t burn this one down.” Tiberius teased, making them laugh.
“Ha! You’re talkin’ to the wrong person,” Capri bellowed.
Tiberius shook his head and sighed at the two beautiful women who stood beside him. “Well, y’all just watch each other. Pepper, it was good meeting you. Capri, I’ll see you later.”
Capri smiled and nodded in Tiberius’s direction, her eyes following him across the lawn. After a moment, she turned her attention back to the large box in her trunk. Feeling Pepper’s knowing gaze on her, she slammed her hand against the box. “What, Pep?”
“Did I say he was fine? Girl, he is beyond that.”
Capri rolled her eyes and concentrated on pulling the box from the trunk. “You really need to get over this hang-up you have about looks. Help me with this, why don’t you?”
Pepper pretended to be surprised. “Why does it have to be a hang-up? I just happen to like attractive men.”
“You just happen to be obsessed with attractive men.”
“Whatever.” Pepper sighed, raising her hand. “I was only tryin’ to say the man was gorgeous, sexy and very nice and that’s something even you can’t deny,” she stated, shooting Capri an angry glare
before taking the opposite end of the large box of photo equipment.
Several hours later, with the help of the movers and Pepper, Capri had settled into her new home. The spacious interior of the place had allowed Capri to arrange her furniture in a manner that appeared chic, impressive, cozy and warm, all at once.
The living room had enough space for Capri to situate her seven-piece suite in a more appealing arrangement. She had the long, gray sofa with mauve swirls placed in front of the large bay window, and she’d sat the glass coffee table in front of it. On either side of the matching armchairs in the far corner of the room, tall glass end tables had been placed. There was one bare wall where Capri decided to put the cushiony love seat. At each end of it sat tall leafy ficus plants. On the wall, above the love seat was a beautiful black-and-white painting of two lovers.
The other rooms were decorated in much the same fashion. Though Capri preferred dark colors, she still managed to give the entire house a distinctively feminine feel. Her walls were graced by her own works, though she’d saved the majority of her “racier” photographs for her bedroom.
“Capri, girl, this is so nice,” Pepper said, walking down the three carpeted steps leading from the kitchen/dining room.
Capri wrapped her arms around her small frame and sighed. “I know. I’m almost speechless.”
“I wouldn’t mind living out here myself.”
Capri’s eyes widened and she took Pepper’s arms. “Well, I mind, so get out.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is?” Pepper cried, pretending to be hurt even though she was laughing.
“You’re damn straight.” Capri muttered, pulling her friend along behind her. “Course you’d probably go straight next door and ask Tiberius if he wanted a roommate.”
Pepper sent a devious glare in the general direction of Tiberius’s house. “Now there’s an idea…” she said in a frisky tone.
The two friends burst into peals of laughter and pretended to wrestle each other off the porch. A huge brick from the curving round step was loose and when Capri raced across it her foot got caught in the crack, causing her to fall.
“Cap!” Pepper yelled, kneeling beside her friend.
“What?” Capri sourly replied, easing her foot out from between the bricks.
“Damn,” she hissed, frowning at the ugly scratches on her ankle.
“Girl, are you gonna be okay?”
Capri winced as she gently pulled her black cross trainer from her swelling foot. “I think so.”
Pepper shook her head and helped Capri to her feet. “Let’s go to the emergency room.”
“Pep, I’m fine,” Capri insisted, though she was barely able to stand.
“No way, something could be broken.”
“I don’t think so. It’ll just swell up, that’s all.”
“I still think someone should look at it, so come on.”
“Pepper—”
“No arguments. We’ll take my car and I’ll get you to the closest hospital.”
With the excruciating pain throbbing in her foot, Capri was in no mood to argue. Putting most of her weight on Pepper, she hobbled to the car.
“M
mm…” Tiberius groaned, settling his large form in one of the armchairs. He’d retreated to a deserted waiting room to take a break after leaving the delivery room. Having just helped to bring a beautiful baby girl into the world, he’d decided to take a moment to himself.
Tiberius didn’t think he’d ever get used to his chosen profession. The rush he felt when he saw a new life push its way into the world—it was a sensation like no other, even though the births weren’t always easy. Tonight, for instance, the baby’s mother had opted for natural childbirth and her child hadn’t come so smoothly. Of course, everything worked out in the end but little Charlotte Monique Fisher had succeeded in draining everyone of energy—including her doctor.
In spite of the varied and frequent joys he found in the field of obstetrics, Tiberius knew from the beginning, it had been a choice made for the sake of making a choice. Over the last twelve years, however, obstetrics had become both his purpose and his true passion. He honestly couldn’t imagine himself wanting to do another thing with his professional life.
A lazy smile crossed Tiberius’s mouth as he thought about his job and how much he loved it. Something phenomenal happened almost every day and he wouldn’t trade it for anything. As he’d told Capri earlier, he took his work very seriously.
The satisfied grin on Tiberius’s face didn’t go unnoticed by Calvin Kennedy, who was passing by.
“Hey, man, what’s goin’ on?” Calvin asked, slapping his hand across Tiberius’s shoulder.
“Nothing, just relaxing for a minute,” Tiberius told his older colleague. “Just got out of the delivery room.”
Calvin raised one hand and nodded. “Say no more. I assume it was a successful birth?”
“Very,” Tiberius confirmed, his grin becoming wider.
“Heard you got stuck organizing Thomas’s retirement festivities?”
Tiberius heard the amusement in Calvin’s question. “I was honored to have been asked.”
“Bull.” Calvin laughed.
“No argument there,” Tiberius joined in the laughter, but then shrugged. “I couldn’t say no, especially when the man was so instrumental in giving a new doctor like me a shot.”
“Well, you earned it, and Thomas knows talent when he sees it.”
“Talent, huh?” Tiberius turned the word over in his head. “Talk to me about my talent once I’ve put this event together,” he chuckled as Calvin slapped his shoulder.
“Well, hey, I was gonna grab a cup of coffee in the cafeteria. Care to join me?” Calvin invited.
“Ahh, what the hell,” Tiberius accepted, pushing himself from his chair.
Calvin held the waiting room door open and headed for the elevators. “I just need to look in on the emergency room for a minute.”
Tiberius leaned his head back against the paneled walls and pushed his hands into the deep pockets of his long white coat. “No problem.”
The emergency room of Kelly Memorial was a madhouse as usual. When Pepper arrived with an injured Capri in tow, she figured it would be at least a half hour before anyone could see them.
“Can we sit down, please?” Capri whined, her pretty face darkened by a frown.
“Capri, we need to stay in line so we can get a doctor to look at your foot before it gets worse.”
Capri cast a skeptical glare down at her swollen foot and sighed. “I don’t think it’ll get worse.”
“This won’t take long, man.”
Tiberius smiled and waved Calvin off. “Take your time, I’ll wait,” he assured his friend and panned his light-brown stare around the E.R. He did a double take and frowned slightly when he saw a woman across the room who reminded him of Capri Timmons. Tiberius watched her for a second or two before he realized that it
was
Capri. When he noticed her leaning against her girlfriend Pepper, he wasted no more time heading over to her.
“Listen, I can’t take this anymore. I gotta sit down,” Capri cried, slapping a thick curl out of her face.
Pepper rolled her eyes and stomped her foot simultaneously. “Cap, will you—”
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Pepper and Capri looked up at the sound of the deep male voice bellowing overhead. “Tiberius,” they said in unison.
“What are you doing here?” Tiberius asked Capri, his voice growing softer.
“She tripped and fell on a loose step,” Pepper explained. “It’s swelling badly and she can’t even wear her shoe.”
Tiberius’s stare fell from Capri’s face to her shoeless right foot. “Dammit,” he whispered, easily lifting Capri in his arms.
“Did this happen at the house?”
“Uh…well, yes,” Capri nodded, more stunned than she wanted to admit as she eased her arms around his neck.
Tiberius was able to find a couple of vacant seats in the waiting
area. He sat Capri down, and knelt before her. Cupping her foot in his palms, he studied her injury.
Capri’s dark eyes widened and she glanced up at Pepper. “It looks worse than it really is…jeez!” she hissed, when he pressed his thumbs against her heel.
Tiberius slid his eyes to her face and grimaced. “Does it?”
“I just needed to sit down,” Capri assured him as she tried to keep from wincing at the pain.
Tiberius kept his head bowed. “You need more than that,” he advised. “But I don’t think it’s broken.”
“Tiberius, it’s all right. I’m gonna be okay,” Capri continued to tell him, though she found his concern quite pleasing.
“Hmm.” His tone was absent and he lifted her against him once more. He managed to find a free table and left her there while he went to find someone who could help her. In minutes, an intern was seeing to her injuries.
“Well, it’s swollen,” the young med student, Carlos Dunston announced a while later, “but not broken. Try to keep the pressure off for a couple of days, all right?”
Capri nodded and inspected the neat wrapping job Carlos had done on her foot. “Thanks,” she sighed.
Carlos nodded and spoke for a few moments with Tiberius before he left the examining space.
“I’ve gotta get that step fixed,” Tiberius proclaimed when he returned.
“I should’ve been watching where I was going instead of carrying on with Pep.”
“Hey!” Pepper cried.
A quick smile flashed across Tiberius’s face. “Still, I’ve put it off way too long. I obviously can’t keep ignoring it. It split shortly after the remodeling was done.”
“I’m sorry,” Capri said, feeling as if it was her fault.
Tiberius frowned and stepped in front of Capri. Placing his hands
on either side of her on the table, he leaned in close. “I wish you’d stop blaming yourself for this. You don’t need to apologize to me.”
Capri was silent for a moment. Her wide eyes lowered from the intensity of his stare and she shrugged. “Thank you so much for your help.”
Tiberius cupped her chin and made her look at him. “You don’t need to thank me, either.”
Capri’s lashes almost fluttered closed and she willed herself not to swoon before him. “You won’t let me apologize, you won’t let me thank you. What can I do?” she asked.
“Go home and stay off that foot,” Tiberius ordered, reluctantly pulling his hand away from her face. “I’ll be over later to check on you.”
“Oh, there’s no need for you to do that,” Capri argued.
“It’s the least I can do,” he firmly replied, ignoring her protest. “Pepper, you’ll get her home?”
“Of course.”
Tiberius nodded, then slid his gaze back to Capri. “I’ll see you later.”
Capri’s dark eyes followed Tiberius as he walked away. She watched him until he was out of sight.
A small smile had brightened Pepper’s face as she witnessed the interesting scene between her best friend and the handsome doctor. “Like I said, it’s gonna be hard turning down a man like that for long,” she whispered in Capri’s ear and gave her a devilish wink.
“He saw to my foot, Pep.”
“Today a foot, tomorrow…”
Capri didn’t want to laugh, but there was no stopping it.
Later that evening, Capri was going over some proof sheets when her doorbell rang. Grimacing, she looked down at the oversized blue T-shirt she was wearing. The long sleeves fell well past her wrists
and the hemline stopped just below the swell of her buttocks. Shrugging, she threw down the magnifying glass she carried and wobbled over to the door. Though the most painful throbbing had ceased, she still heeded the intern’s warning that she keep the pressure off her leg. When she pulled the door open, Tiberius was there leaning against the doorjamb. Pressing her full lips together, Capri looked way up into the striking brown depths of his eyes.
“Look at you,” Tiberius sighed, pulling her arm into a gentle hold and guiding her back to the love seat.
Capri smiled and shook her head at him. “It’s a lot better than it was earlier.”
Tiberius made her sit all the way back on the sofa. “I’m sure it is, but you still need to stay off of it.”
“Well if I had done that, you wouldn’t be in here now,” she pointed out, smiling up at him.
The deep dimples at each corner of Tiberius’s mouth appeared. “This is true, but at least you don’t have to show me out.”
Capri tossed her head back, the thick curls bouncing around her face. “You’re so thoughtful.”
Tiberius’s deep-set eyes narrowed and he was once again struck by how lovely Capri was. Shaking his head, he pushed his hands deeply into his jeans pockets and looked around the living room. “Looks good in here. I didn’t think you’d have it all together so fast.”
Capri’s eyes scanned the room along with his. “Well, the movers were a big help and so was Pep.”
“I like it.”
Capri leaned back on the sofa with her arms across her chest. “You really do? I mean, you don’t think it’s too dark or anything?”
Tiberius frowned a bit as he considered the question. “Uh-uh, I think it’s relaxing.”
“Me, too,” Capri agreed, nodding.
“Especially this,” Tiberius said, pointing behind Capri to the black-and-white painting of the lovers. “Did you do this?”
Capri propped her elbow on the arm of the love seat and looked up at the sensual picture. “A friend of mine painted it.”
Tiberius’s eyes shone with interest as he studied the piece. “Did he use live models?”
“You know, I never asked. If he did, I bet those two had a ball,” Capri nodded, her dark eyes twinkling with mischief.
“Hmph, in more ways than one,” Tiberius noted.
Capri burst into laughter and Tiberius joined her. Their eyes repeatedly fell to the painting and, after a while, the easy laughter died down.
Tiberius cleared his throat and took a seat on the edge of the love seat. “Let me look at this,” he offered softly, lifting her foot and pulling away the fuzzy slipper she wore.
Capri pressed her shaking hands against the hem of her short T-shirt, not wanting to reveal any more than she already had. Of course, that didn’t stop Tiberius’s gaze from sliding over every exposed inch of her legs and thighs. His strong fingers slowly glided over the scratches on her ankle before moving on.
Capri uttered a soft gasp and Tiberius stopped the progress of his caress. Grimacing slightly, he pulled the slipper back over her foot and absently toyed with the fuzz. “Capri?”
“Mmm-hmm?”
Tiberius cut himself off when a sound resembling a deep growl reached his ears. It seemed to be coming from around the corner and it caught his otherwise undivided attention. Glancing over at Capri, he slowly nodded, “Is that
little
Lewey?”
Close to laugher, Capri nodded as well. “Yes, he probably senses someone unfamiliar in the house. Would you like to meet him?”
The look of uncertainty on Tiberius’s handsome face quickly changed to one of total nervousness. “You don’t have to go to any trouble,” he said, his deep voice more than a little shaky.
Lewey, however, had already decided to investigate and was rounding the corner. Tiberius’s narrowed gaze widened slightly when he saw the dog. Unconsciously, he inched back on the love seat.
Lewey strode into the living room like a king surveying his castle. He stopped next to the love seat and sniffed Capri’s hand, before moving on to the chair’s other occupant.
Man and dog studied each other intensely. Though Capri was amused by Tiberius’s obvious discomfort with the monstrous-looking St. Bernard-rottweiler mix, she didn’t want to prolong the agony.
“Lewey,” Capri called softly, snapping her fingers, “come here, sweetie.”
The large, beautiful black dog moved closer to his tiny mistress. When he was satisfied that she was safe, his attention returned to the unfamiliar visitor.
A dog lover himself, Tiberius couldn’t help but study Lewey’s shiny black coat and huge features. Turning his head slowly so he wouldn’t excite Lewey, Tiberius glanced at Capri. “I can’t get over how gorgeous he is. Or how big.”
“Thanks, his mother was a rottweiler and his father was a St. Bernard,” Capri explained.