First Class Justice (First Class Novels)

by Harmon, AJ

  “I forgot my bag!” Katy barked and turned and ran back down the hall to the elevator.

  Mark stood in the doorway completely baffled.

  “What the fuck?” he mumbled as he watched her lunge into the elevator and disappear. He stood there for a moment and then went back into his room and closed the door. He grabbed a t-shirt from the closet and pulled it over his head.

  He stood and looked out of the window at the water, the lights reflecting back at him. He waited and waited and thought perhaps she wasn’t coming back, when the pounding on the door started again.

  Mark shook his head, a slight grin on his face, and walked to open the door. He didn’t get a word out before Katy had stomped in and set a small black bag on the coffee table.

  “Come and sit down,” she ordered.

  Mark did as he was told.

  Katy opened her bag and pulled out a thermometer. “Stick this under your tongue and don’t move.”

  Again, Mark did what he was told, now slightly amused.

  The thermometer beeped and Katy took it out of his mouth and read it, her forehead wrinkling.

  “You don’t have a fever,” she said.

  “I could’ve told you that,” Mark replied.

  Katy put the stethoscope into her ears and leaned over Mark and placed the other end on his chest. She listened while moving it around his chest and then put it on his back and listened some more.

  “Deep breath,” she ordered.

  Mark took a deep breath and held it.

  “Okay, breathe out.”

  He did.

  “Lungs sound clear,” she said, removing the instrument from her ears and folding them up and putting them back in her bag. “So what are your symptoms?” she asked.

  “For what?”

  “How long have you been coughing?”

  “Um, I’m not?” Mark said, trying not to grin.

  Katy started to ask another question but stopped herself and looked at him suspiciously.

  “Why did you tell Matt you were sick?” she asked.

  “What? Why would I tell Matt I’m sick?”

  “Oh, shit!” she said. Katy zipped up her bag and turned to Mark. “Sorry!” She headed for the door.

  “Oh, no!” Mark said grabbing her arm as she stepped past him. “I get some kind of explanation, thank you.”

  Katy huffed and tried to pull her arm from his grip. It was pointless. She turned and frowned.

  “Just let me leave without humiliating myself even more. Please?”

  Mark chuckled. “You’re humiliated?”

  “Please, Mark. If you’re any kind of a gentleman at all you will just let me leave quietly,” she begged.

  “Nope!” he grinned and pulled her down to the sofa so she was sitting next to him. “Spill it.”

  “Matt called me as I was ending my shift and asked if I could check on you because you had this terrible cough and sounded awful.” Katy shrugged her shoulders, pretending it was no big deal.

  “So you drove all the way from Portland to Seattle on a Friday night to check on me?” Mark’s grin was as big as the full moon in the sky.

  “Yes,” she muttered.

  “Well,” Mark said. “That is incredibly sweet of you.”

  *****

  Matt had completely satisfied his wife. Twice, in fact. He was leaning back against the headboard stroking Janie’s hair as she lay on his chest. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand.

  “Waiting for something?” she asked.

  “Huh?”

  “You keep looking at the clock. Is there some place you’ve gotta be?”

  “Where would I be after midnight besides here? In our bed, with you?” he asked.

  “No idea. That’s why I’m asking.”

  Matt grinned. Let’s hope this works!

  15.

  Katy could not imagine being any more humiliated than she was right at this moment. Matt’s going to pay for this. She didn’t know how, but she would make him pay.

  She sat on the sofa, arms folded, Mark watching her every move. She had no idea what he was thinking, although he did seem incredibly amused at the whole situation.

  “I don’t find it funny at all,” she pouted.

  Mark chuckled and continued to stare at her.

  “I’m just gonna go,” she finally said.

  “Please don’t,” he said, the smile vanishing from his face.

  “Look, it’s late. I’m tired. You were obviously working,” she said as she looked at the open laptop and the file folders spread all over the table in front of the window.

  “Well you can’t leave now if you’re tired,” he said seriously. “It’s too dangerous to drive.”

  Katy sighed and closed her eyes. He was right, damn him.

  “Have you eaten?” he asked.

  Katy shook her head. “I would have, but…”

  “But?”

  “But I came here instead!”

  “You had plans?”

  “Yes!” she muttered.

  The smile was back.

  “What plans did you have?” he grinned.

  “Actually, if you must know, I had a date!” She tried to sound smug.

  “Another date?” His smile momentarily vanished.

  “Yes. With a handsome doctor.”

  “But you came here instead.” The grin was back.

  “Oh, shut up!”

  Mark chuckled.

  “I haven’t eaten yet either. Let’s get dinner.”

  “I’m not going out like this!” Katy was horrified. She was still wearing her scrubs from work. She hadn’t bothered changing after Matt’s call. She was at the Four Seasons hotel in scrubs. “Ugh!”

  “You look beautiful,” he said.

  “Like hell!” she scoffed.

  “Okay, we can order room service.” Mark stood and went and grabbed the menu off the table. “Lots of tasty choices,” he grinned.

  Katy took it from him and read down the list. She really was hungry. Mark sat down next to her.

  “What do you want, Katy?” he asked.

  “Umm, don’t know yet. Give me a sec, k?”

  Mark studied her. She had come all this way because she thought he had a cough. Maybe? he thought. Is there hope?

  “Anything look good?” he asked.

  Katy lifted her head to look at him. “I think I’ll just have a burger.”

  Mark smiled. “Okay. Two burgers.”

  He picked up the phone and dialed Room Service and placed their order; two burger, fries, two chocolate shakes and two beers.

  “What would you like to do ‘til the food gets here?”

  Katy shrugged.

  “Play doctor?” he teased.

  Katy pulled the pillow from behind her and threw it at his head.

  “Okay, I’m sorry,” he chuckled.

  Katy tried to hide her smile but wasn’t doing a very good job.

  “Thank you for coming to take care of me,” he said softly. “It means a lot.”

  “But you’re not sick!”

  “No, but it doesn’t mean I don’t need taking care of,” he replied.

  Katy ignored his comment and stood and walked to the window. “There’s probably an amazing view but with all the lights on I can’t see anything except my own reflection,” she frowned. Her hair was in a ponytail and she wore her pale pink scrubs with Dansco clogs on her feet.

  Mark jumped from the couch and turned off a couple of lights leaving a lamp or two on. He stood beside her and looked at the water.

  “You like water,” he said.

  “I do,” she smiled.

  “I remember.”

  “When I was little, our big trip for the summer was a day at the beach. I waited all year for that one day. My mom made a picnic and we sat on the sand and built castles and we played in the waves and we would watch the sunset. And then we would drive home, but I never remembered getting home because I always fell asleep.” Katy smiled as she relived those m
emories.

  “That sounds nice.”

  “Yeah, it was,” she said wistfully. “I remember my friends would talk about their trips to Disneyland or camping on Mt. Hood and I just had this one day of summer vacation, but it was okay cuz my mom worked ALL the time and so it was just as much about spending the day with her as much as anything else. I had her undivided attention and it was nice.”

  “So that’s what started your love of the beach. Your mom.”

  “Oh, let’s not go all ‘Dr. LaVaughn’ on me now,” she chuckled.

  “Who?”

  “My therapist. You know, finding how all my problems stem from my childhood,” she laughed.

  “Your problems don’t stem from your childhood. They stem from an asshole that is rotting away in prison.”

  Katy sobered at his words.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “Hey, you know, that’s just what we have in common.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” she shook her head.

  “That is not what we have in common, Katy. I don’t even understand the statement.”

  A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Mark let in Room Service and signed the receipt, giving the waiter a tip.

  “Come eat,” he said. “You get all weird when you’re hungry.”

  Katy took the silver cover off the plates and snickered, shaking her head.

  “The more you pay for a meal the less food you actually get.”

  Mark had to agree with her. “It’s about quality not quantity.”

  They sat down at the table and ate in silence, Katy apparently very hungry, as she devoured her burger in record time.

  “I’m gonna pay for this,” she burped.

  Mark chuckled, his eyebrows raised.

  “Eating at eleven o’clock at night is for the young. And I’m not young anymore.”

  “I’ll find you some antacid,” he grinned.

  Katy yawned and Mark threw his napkin on the table.

  “Time to go to bed,” he said as he stood and pulled out Katy’s chair for her.

  Her forehead wrinkled and she started to say something but Mark cut her off.

  “I’ll sleep on the couch. You can have the bed.”

  “I don’t have any clothes,” she sighed. “I might have another pair of scrubs in my car. I don’t know.”

  Mark walked to the closet and pulled out a t-shirt and tossed it to her.

  “It’s clean,” he grinned.

  “Thank you,” she smiled.

  Katy walked past him to the bathroom and kissed him on the cheek.

  “I’m glad you’re not sick,” she smiled.

  Mark pulled a pillow and blanket out of the closet and threw them on the couch. It didn’t really matter where he slept because the fact was, with Katy there, he wasn’t going to sleep anyway.

  He closed his laptop and put all the papers and folders back in his briefcase. No point in trying to work on that either. With Katy there, he wasn’t going to be able to concentrate either.

  He sat on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. She had dropped everything, stood up a date, and driven the two hundred or so miles because she thought he had a cough. He couldn’t help but smile.

  If I can just have a sign that maybe she’s interested, he thought. Anything!

  Katy opened the bathroom door and came and sat on the chair opposite him. She was dressed in his UConn t-shirt and the sight did things to his groin.

  “I feel guilty,” she said. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “No, it’s fine,” he insisted.

  “Well you paid for the room. You should at least have the bed.”

  “Katy, take the bed. I can sleep here as well as anywhere else.”

  “Okay. Goodnight then.”

  She stood and padded over to the bed and slid underneath the blanket. Mark sighed and clicked off the couple of lamps that were on and went and stood at the window. It was a full moon and it’s reflection on the water was a magnificent sight. He stood there for a moment and then turned and headed back to the couch. He tucked the pillow under his head and threw the blanket over his legs. It was going to be a long night.

  *****

  Katy didn’t know how long she lay there before she finally drifted off to sleep. It was difficult to do anything while wearing his shirt. It smelled like him, and the knowledge that he had worn it aroused her. She told herself that she was being ridiculous but it didn’t help. Memories of their day together on the beach and their time together in his hotel room afterwards had her tossing and turning. And the fact that he was only ten feet away didn’t help either.

  She woke up in the early hours of the morning in a cold sweat, heart beating rapidly and gasping for air. She’d had the dream again. She was tied to the bed and Mark was there in the doorway. He looked at her for such a long time and then his expression changed and she could see the disgust in his eyes. ‘I could never want you,’ he spat at her. ‘Never!’

  Katy jerked up, trying to steady her breathing. As her heart rate returned to normal she flicked off the blanket and stood in the darkness. She could hear Mark breathing. They were deep breaths and she was pretty sure he was asleep. She tiptoed to the window and stood watching the ripples in the water. The effect was calming and she felt her body begin to relax, releasing the pain of her dream.

  Just a few months ago, she was afraid of sleeping for fear of Danny invading her dreams. Now she was afraid of Mark invading them; the man that she loved and she couldn’t even dream about him.

  She didn’t know how long she’d been there when something touched her arm.

  “ARGH” she screamed. She jumped and landed on the corner of the chair, the flesh of her thigh slamming into the wood.

  “Aw, dammit!” she yelped, as she grabbed her leg.

  Mark was horrified. “Oh shit! I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Well you did! In my dream and now too!”

  “What?” Mark asked, totally confused.

  “Nothing,” she muttered.

  Mark took her arm and led her to the sofa, his blanket underneath her as she sat rubbing her leg.

  “Damn that hurts.”

  “I am so sorry,” he said, pain in his voice. “I didn’t…I saw you so…I’m sorry.”

  “You’re too damn stealth!”

  Mark chuckled and then sobered.

  “What do you mean I scared you in your dream?”

  “I told you it’s nothing!”

  “Tell me about the dream!” His voice was raised and Katy could tell he wasn’t going to let it go.

  “I had a dream and I was there…at his house. And I was tied up and you came for me.” Katy’s eyes filled with tears. The dream was all too real.

  “And?”

  “And you saw me and you realized what had happened and you were disgusted. Disgusted by me. I made you sick. And you turned away and left me there.” A small sob escaped and she desperately tried to stop it, but Mark had pulled her to him and was holding her tight.

  “Shit, Katy. That couldn’t be further from the truth. You would…you could never disgust me. I can’t even imagine why you would think that.” He held her against his chest and stroked her hair. “Never,” he whispered.

  He leaned back, pulling her with him. He tugged at the blanket and wrapped it around her and cradled her as her tears slowly stopped.

  “Never,” he whispered again as he kissed the top of her head.

  *****

  Mark woke up with an incredible ache in his neck. He opened his eyes to light coming in through the window and Katy sleeping on his chest. He tried to straighten his neck without disturbing her.

  What the fuck was her dream about? he wondered as he listened to her breathe softly. He kissed her hair and closed his eyes again, leaning his head back on the sofa. It made no sense to him at all. Why would she think that? How could she think that?

  He was done screwing around. If she rejected him so be i
t. But he was going to tell her how he felt. He wouldn’t wait any longer. Sign or no sign, this was it.

  16.

  Katy’s eyes blinked open to see she had fallen asleep on Mark. She was still curled up on the sofa, her head on his chest, his arm on her hip. She lifted her head and sneaked a peak to see if he was awake.

  “Good morning,” he smiled.

  “Hey,” she said as she stretched her legs and sat up. She looked down at saw a wet spot on Mark’s t-shirt and groaned.

  Mark followed her gaze down and laughed when he saw it.

  “I like that you drool over me,” he winked.

  “This weekend couldn’t get much more humiliating,” she sighed.

  “Let’s try, shall we?”

  Katy’s eyes shot up and she gave him the death stare.

  “Just kidding,” he laughed. “How’s your leg?”

  Katy looked down at her thigh to see a big purple bruise. She rubbed it and winced just a little.

  “No shorts for a while.”

  “Just as well it’s winter,” Mark frowned. “I really am sorry.”

  “Eh, I’ll live.”

  Mark stood up and stretched. “Why don’t you take the bathroom first,” he offered.

  “Always the gentleman,” she grinned and stood and walked through the bedroom.

  *****

  Matt couldn’t wait another second. Janie was in the shower, and while he really wanted to join her, he needed to call Mark. He answered on the second ring.

  “What the fuck are you trying to do?”

  Matt couldn’t tell if his brother was angry or not.

  “Well, I wanted to give you an opportunity. Whether you took it or not was up to you.”

  Mark sighed. “So this trip to Seattle was all part of your master plan?”

  Matt chuckled. “Only if it works. Has it?”

  “Don’t know.”

  “Is she there?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well then, there’s still hope,” Matt smiled. “Don’t be an idiot, Mark.”

  “You’ll pay for this, you know?”

  “I know.” Matt smiled and threw his phone back on the desk. “Now, let’s go get wet,” he grinned as he opened the bathroom door.

  *****

  Katy stood in the bathroom, drying off after her shower. Her purse, her phone, everything was still in her car. All she had brought into the hotel was her medical bag.