“I’ll run it by Callie, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Just text me and let me know what’s going on.”
“Will do.”
Noah hung up and grabbed a towel off the bar to wipe his head and chest. He’d pounded the bag for nearly thirty minutes and before that he’d run five miles on his treadmill. Normally he’d run outside, but he didn’t want to leave Callie in case she needed something.
No matter what Max said, Noah knew Callie was his responsibility. She’d been in that accident because of him and she was going to get the proper care because of him, too. It was the least he could do.
Fantasizing about her, thinking about her in a sexual way was not going to help matters. He needed to keep in mind what happened last time he lost himself to a woman who had stars in her eyes.
No, this time he would remain professional. He was one of the best plastic surgeons in L.A., damn it, and he needed to remember that and keep his hormones in check.
He’d just come to his feet when he felt Callie step into the room. He couldn’t explain it, but suddenly there was this…presence that had him turning.
She stood leaning against the doorjamb with her good shoulder. “I was wondering if I could use your computer. I forgot to bring my laptop.”
He took in the sight of her still sporting his shirt, the one she’d slept in, and those damn sexy legs peeking out beneath little shorts, and like a hormonal, stuttering teenager, he merely nodded.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
Yeah, something was wrong. He was getting confused between being a man and being a doctor, not to mention the fact he was torn between being dutiful and giving in to his most basic of desires.
“Just trying to finish my workout,” he told her, coming off a little more agitated than he meant to. “I’ll be done in a minute.”
She straightened. “I won’t bother you again.”
Turning, she eased back down the hall and disappeared around the corner. Great, now he’d upset her and made her feel worse. As if she needed to feel worse. The woman had lost her dream job, her independence and the simple life she was used to, and he’d growled at her simply because he had a hard-on that he couldn’t keep under control.
Well, whose fault was that?
Noah shoved his hands back into his boxing gloves. He wasn’t done with that heavy bag. As long as his past demons were chasing him and his present situation was joining in, he needed to punch out some of his anger and frustrations.
Eight
Callie booted up the computer that sat in a small nook off the kitchen. She’d just wanted to look for some online work she could do until she felt comfortable facing the world again. There was no way she could go back to the office looking like a constant work in progress, and there was certainly no way she could go to a casting call, unless they were doing a horror film.
But she wasn’t going to focus on what she couldn’t do. In order to get back on her feet, she needed to focus on what she could do. Noah wanted to see that old Callie back, so she was going to try.
There were no guarantees, but she had to do something positive. That was the only way she could get out of this house. So far she’d been here for nearly twenty-four hours and she’d had enough of the roller coaster of humiliation and desire to last her a lifetime. Between the bath, the hair and just now seeing him in all his shirtless, sweaty glory, she knew she needed to get some distance.
No, it wasn’t smart to try to leave, but if she could find something to do from home using a computer, surely she could stay by herself. She wasn’t an invalid; she just had problems getting dressed and bathing. If she worked from home, she wouldn’t have to worry about all that.
But even if Noah insisted she stay, she still felt she needed to pay her way somehow. Not to mention the fact she couldn’t just take a break from her income. Not only did she have bills to pay for herself, she needed to send some money back home so her parents’ phone could be turned back on.
She did have a tiny bit left in savings and she probably should keep it since her future was so unclear, but she couldn’t stand the thought of being out of touch.
After a few clicks, she’d taken money from her account and put it into her parents’, which she had access to. Then she sent an awkward, left-handed text to her brother so he could get the message to their mom and dad.
Callie did several searches, hoping with her teaching degree she could find something. Maybe online tutoring. That would be ideal.
She’d come to L.A. in the hopes of not using her teaching degree because she’d been so afraid she’d get stuck in a rut. At least as a receptionist, she’d known she wouldn’t feel guilty leaving that job when she caught her big break. Working with kids, she would’ve gotten attached and been worried about leaving midyear.
Thankfully, she’d worked part-time in a dentist’s office back home, so she’d had a little experience to get her this job with Noah.
“What are you doing?”
Callie jumped and turned in her chair. Now Mr. Sweaty Rippling Muscles stood just behind her and she hadn’t heard him come in. Lord, it was hard to focus when that chiseled, delectable body was staring back at her.
“Looking for an online job,” she told him, forcing her eyes to stay locked onto his.
“What the hell for?” he asked, taking his small white hand towel and mopping his forehead. “Is this your way of turning in your resignation?”
Callie came to her feet and winced. The soreness was so much worse today. But she didn’t think another intimate bath encounter was such a good idea.
“I didn’t figure you’d want a mummy for your receptionist,” she told him, easing back down onto the chair because it was much more comfortable than standing in pain. “Besides, I’m not sure I’ll be comfortable around too many people once this bandage comes off.”
“How much pain medication have you had?” he asked.
“Enough that I shouldn’t feel like this,” she told him. “But I guess it would be worse if I hadn’t taken those two pills.”
“Two?”
“One wasn’t cutting it and I just took another before I came to find you. It should kick in soon, I hope.”
“I had them in my bedroom.”
“I know. They were sitting on your dresser so I grabbed one.”
And forced herself not to stare at his bed and wonder…
Okay, so she’d stared and fantasized, but only for a few minutes.
The muscle in Noah’s jaw ticked. “You can’t take any more medication without asking me first. You only needed one.”
“You’re not the one in pain,” she retorted. “I am and I needed another. You’re not my mother.”
“No, I’m your doctor and I will flush those pills next time you pull a stunt like that.”
Callie had never seen him angry. Frustrated, agitated and annoyed, yes, but never this angry and never directed toward her. He was practically shaking with waves of fury.
“Okay, okay. Calm down,” she told him, holding her hand up. “I’m hoping when it kicks in I’ll feel like resting. I didn’t sleep too well last night.”
“Why didn’t you come get me?”
Callie laughed and leaned back against the seat. “What for? Just because I was up didn’t mean you had to be. Nothing you could’ve done.”
“You wouldn’t have been lonely.”
Yeah, she would’ve. Because no matter what he would’ve done or said, she would’ve known he was only sitting with her out of guilt and pity. She’d take loneliness any day over that.
“I was fine. Tired, but fine.”
He stared at her for several long moments before he glanced beyond her to the screen. “You’re not seriously going to leave the office, are you?”
Callie nodded. “I think I should. It’s not fair to you for me to take time off until I heal, and I can’t afford the break in income.”
“I can help you financially until you’re back to work, Call
ie. I don’t want to lose you.”
He didn’t want to lose her. That warmed her in so many ways, but he wasn’t talking on a personal level. More than likely he didn’t want to train anyone to fill her shoes and Marie couldn’t do both offices.
“Marie, I’m sure, would fill in until you found someone,” she told him, only to be rewarded with a scowl.
“I need to call her anyway to let her know how you’re feeling because she left me a voice mail.”
Callie shook her head. “Talk to her all you want, but I won’t be coming back, Noah.”
“I need you, Callie.”
She jerked up out of her seat, standing literally toe-to-toe with him. The elbow of her arm in the sling bumped against his hard abs.
“You need?” she mocked. “Let me tell you what I need. I need to go back in time, I need to not have this new life I’m adjusting to and I need to get my independence back. Your needs are irrelevant at the moment.”
Noah stared at her, his eyes holding on to hers, and Callie wondered if she’d totally overstepped her bounds shouting at not only her boss that way, but also the man who was putting aside his life to help her recover.
She closed her eyes and sighed. “God, I’m sorry. That was really cruel of me to say and very selfish.”
Noah’s strong hand cupped her cheek. “It’s okay. You’re entitled to be upset, to hate me, this situation, your life. I’m tough, Callie. I can take it.”
She lifted her lids, though her eyes burned with unshed tears. “But you shouldn’t have to take it. I just get so frustrated when I look at long-term goals because I can’t even put my own clothes on, for pity’s sake.”
His thumb stroked across her cheek as he glanced down to her lips and back up to her eyes. “I don’t mind, Callie. I know it’s upsetting to lose your independence, but there’s nothing about helping you that bothers me. What does bother me is how hard you are on yourself.”
“I just want to be whole again,” she told him. “But that may never be.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her in closer. “It will be if I have anything to say about it.”
His lips came down on hers in a powerful yet tender way. Callie froze for a second, but then slid her hand up his bare, sweaty arms. That hard body pressed against hers, combined with his musky scent from his workout, made her moan as his lips continued to claim hers.
She squeezed his thick biceps, making sure to keep her body angled so she could still get the maximum benefit of rubbing against his even while protecting her arm.
His lips were just as gentle yet demanding as the other night. He nipped at her and pulled her bottom lip between his before he eased back.
Noah rested his forehead to hers and sighed. “I won’t apologize for that, Callie. I just can’t control myself sometimes around you. I know you’re here to heal, not to get mauled, but you do something to me.”
“Yeah, you do something to me, too,” she admitted.
That something was tying her up in knots and leaving her confused. This man could have nearly any woman he wanted and he was standing in his kitchen—wearing only gym shoes and running shorts with those glorious sweaty pecs on display—and he was kissing a broken woman. That made no sense.
“I can’t help but feel you’re recovering from something, too.” She searched his face. “I may be far off the mark, but sometimes you get this look in your eyes like you’re hurt. I’ve seen it when we discussed the house and when you think I’m not looking.”
His eyes closed for the briefest of moments before he opened them and sighed. “I’m going to hop in the shower. Think about what I said and don’t start looking for another job just yet.”
Callie nodded, unable to form a coherent thought after that kiss and his intense stare as he totally dodged her analysis. Which just proved she was more than likely accurate in her assessment.
Someone or something had a hold on him. He had a past that haunted him and she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that he was waging an inner war with himself. One second he was kissing her like he needed her air in his lungs and the next second his eyes held pain and doubt.
This was so much more than casual. Casual was what had almost transpired before the accident. What was happening now was something even he couldn’t explain. Were these higher levels of emotion stemming from their living arrangements? Were they growing closer without even trying, simply because of the accident?
“Oh, I almost forgot. Max called and wanted to know about coming over tomorrow and grilling out. I told him I’d run it by you.”
Callie tilted her head. “You don’t have to run anything by me, Noah. This is your house.”
“I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
Nearly every conversation with this man left her heart melting more and more. The way he’d put every single one of her needs first made her wonder what it would be like if he cared for her beyond friendship, beyond the path that was leading them to intimacy.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “It’ll be nice to have something to look forward to.”
“I’ll let him know.” He kissed her forehead. “Now I’m going to take that shower.”
After Noah walked away, she sank back into the chair and replayed his previous words. More than once he’d admitted that she affected him. More than once they’d shared heated stares and all-too-brief kisses. But what did all of that mean? Where did he want to go from here?
Callie didn’t know, but she did know that she needed to be on her guard where her heart was concerned. She couldn’t focus on healing if she was worried about what those kisses meant and what his true feelings were.
She wanted so badly for him to open up and let her in even though his past wasn’t her business. And he probably wasn’t opening up about this past because they both knew she wasn’t going to be part of his future.
* * *
Noah hung up the phone and slid his cell back into his pocket. This evening was going rather smoothly. He and Callie had shared a nice meal on the patio and they’d chatted about mundane things, and he was sure to steer the topic far away from anything sexual because it was all he could do to sit there and watch her as a doctor should watch a patient.
But that kiss in the kitchen earlier had been anything but professional. For the life of him, though, he hadn’t been able to stop and he didn’t care about the consequences. With her parading around in his oversize shirts… His gut clenched just thinking of it. Now when he went to wash them, they would have Callie’s scent all through them.
His emotions were a jumbled, chaotic mess. He’d told himself in the beginning to just be a friend or a doctor, to distance himself from her emotionally. But the more Callie was around him, the more he found he wanted to be around her. So, okay. Sexual chemistry was definitely one thing he could handle. But they hadn’t had sex.
Where the hell did that leave his emotional state? Because right now he truly had no clue how to feel or act with her.
He’d been taken so off guard when Callie had mentioned something hurting him, something that still had a hold on him. She’d been spot-on and that fact made him very uncomfortable. Was he that transparent? After a year of living without Malinda he’d thought he’d taken control of his emotions.
Yes, Callie had initially reminded him of Malinda, and even so, he’d believed they could have a short, no-strings affair. But he knew better now. He didn’t want his past and present to collide. He was doing all he could to keep from claiming Callie in his bed. Getting wrapped up in another vulnerable woman was not a good idea, especially when that woman could get under his skin as Callie seemed able to do, but his hormones weren’t getting that message. He could handle sex, if that was all there was to this relationship, but he had a feeling Callie was thinking of much more…especially now that they’d played house for a few days.
He rubbed the back of his neck and headed back inside. Callie had already gone in, but when his real-estate agent had called
, he’d stepped out onto the shaded patio. There was a buyer interested in looking at the house tomorrow afternoon and Noah had agreed to a time. Now he had to get Callie out of the house and maybe persuade her to have a picnic or something in the park. She wouldn’t be a fan of going out in public so soon, but there was no other choice.
Noah found her sitting in the living room fumbling left-handed with the remote.
“Let me get that,” he told her as he stepped down into the sunken living area. “What do you want to watch?”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I was looking for a good movie, but you have like two thousand channels and I wasn’t even sure where to look.”
Noah laughed and flopped down beside her. “Name a movie you’d like to see and I’ll put it on for you.”
She pursed her lips and wrinkled her nose as if in thought. “Hmm…how about Blackhawk Down?”
Surprised, Noah grinned. “Really? Why that one? I would’ve pegged you for a romantic-comedy type.”
She shook her head. “Growing up I was a daddy’s girl and whatever he watched, I watched. He was a war-movie or Western guy, so that’s my thing. Besides, after really researching films and sinking my teeth into the fact that’s what I wanted to do, I appreciate all the special effects more.”
He placed his hand on her leg. “I’m sorry, Callie.”
“It’s okay,” she told him, her eyes on his hand on her bare thigh. “We’re moving forward. Let’s just concentrate on right now. Okay?”
He squeezed her leg and went to search for the movie before his hand got a mind of its own and started wandering.
“Sure, come in and hit three buttons and make it look simple,” she joked once the movie appeared on the screen. “I was in here for fifteen minutes and got nowhere.”
“It’s my TV.” He grinned and caught the wide smile on her delicate face. “I pretty much know how to work it.”
As the movie’s opening music started, he propped his feet up onto the squat table in front of him. “So, you liked Westerns and war movies as a kid. Tell me what else you liked.”
Callie eased back against the arm of the sofa, sitting somewhat sideways. Noah reached over and slid a hand beneath her thighs to bring her legs up and over his lap. He didn’t know why he did that, but he wanted that additional innocent contact with her. Granted, this wasn’t so innocent considering where his thoughts were heading.
Hollywood House Call Page 8