by Erica Breyer
“Dammit, you look so freaking good in a suit,” she muttered, then turned and stormed up the path to the front door.
∞∞∞
“What’s up?” Jarrod asked later that night when Kelly scowled down as her phone pinged with another message. It was Carrick, and she was ignoring it. Her head was still in a whirl, her heart in turmoil. He’d lied about who he was. How could he have kept it from her all along? She’d bared her soul to him…every part of herself. There wasn’t an inch of her he hadn’t explored. Just thinking about it made her skin tingle, and she cursed her treacherous body.
“Trouble with Carrick?” Jarrod took a guess, reading her expression. She gave a curt nod. “Did he do something terrible?” he pressed. “What? Another woman? Do you want me to—?”
“No, nothing like that,” Kelly finally relented. “Carrick is…JC.”
“Huh?” Jarrod looked confused.
“JC…John Cross. Carrick is my boss.”
Realization dawned, and then Jarrod gave a snort of laughter. “You’re kidding me!”
“I’m serious.”
“Oh, my God, that’s priceless!” He shook his head. “And you were dissing him so badly over pizza that night.” Kelly cringed. It was true. And Carrick hadn’t said a word. Served him right. “So now you’re not talking to him?” Jarrod pushed on. She shrugged. “For how long?”
“I dunno. Maybe forever.”
“You find out your boyfriend is a billionaire business mogul, and so you shut him down?” Jarrod’s expression was stupefied.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she muttered.
“Looked that way to me,” he disagreed. “And you pretty much spent the weekend with him. I know you well enough to know you’re serious about him.”
“He lied to me.”
“Yeah…but as lies go, it could be worse.” Kelly wasn’t used to Jarrod giving her advice. He’d been her baby brother for too long. “You don’t think that maybe…he has issues about it?” She glanced at him, confused.
“Issues? How could he have issues about being rich?” She wasn’t buying it.
“Don’t you think, maybe, you would have behaved differently toward him if you’d known? I’m pretty sure I would have.” Jarrod shrugged.
“I was obnoxious to him. I didn’t want to have anything to do with him,” she said.
“Because you thought he was a working stiff,” he went on. “You made that clear from the start. You didn’t want to get involved with a man without money.”
“That’s not it,” Kelly objected. “I just didn’t want—”
“Another Dad?” Jarrod finished. “He’s not like Dad…or me.” He pulled a face.
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” she answered automatically. She loved him in spite of it all.
“I’ve been an ass, Kelly, don’t try to sugarcoat it. I’ve let you and Mom handle all the hard stuff while I pretended I was doing something important. Let’s face it, my chances of becoming an overnight gaming success are pretty slim. When Mom gets back,” he emphasized the ‘when’, “things are going to change. I’m going to be pulling my weight around here. And more. I’m going to be more like Carrick and less like Dad.”
He was right. Carrick was nothing like her father. Even when he wasn’t surrounded by the trappings of success, it was clear he had a strength of purpose that made him special. “He’s special,” she whispered the word out loud.
“He must be,” said her brother, “he got you.” Kelly groaned and stepped towards him, burying her head in his shoulder. He closed his arms around her.
“Oh, Jarrod, what am I going to do? I can’t think about this now. Mom…” Her voice was muffled against his chest.
“You don’t have to think about it now. I doubt he’s going anywhere in a hurry. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll wait.”
Kelly sighed. He was right again. “How did you get so smart?” She smiled faintly.
“From watching you.” He ruffled her hair affectionately. “Come, let’s pack some things for Mom. She’ll need stuff after the surgery tomorrow. Perfume? Make-up? She’s going to want to look pretty when she gets better.”
When she gets better. Kelly swallowed hard. “Absolutely,” she said firmly. She picked up her phone, read the last message from Carrick.
‘I’m so sorry.’
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before texting back.
‘It’s ok. Talk later.’
She followed Jarrod to their mother’s room with Chloé at her heels.
Chapter 17
“Miss Hanson, Mr. Hanson?” It was the heavily accented voice of Dr. Schroeder. Kelly and Jarrod looked up sharply at the man in the surgical scrubs. He was nothing like she’d imagined. While Dr. Harrison was tall and distinguished, Dr. Schroeder was dark-haired, compact. Intense. “We are done,” he said simply. “Things went well.” Kelly and her brother both exhaled at the same time. She felt herself sag with relief. “We were able to remove the tumor successfully, and your mother is in Recovery.”
“Oh, thank God,” she breathed. Jarrod reached for her hand.
“Now what?” he asked the doctor.
“Now, we wait,” the man replied. He wasn’t one to waste time on unnecessary words. “Once she is recovered from the anesthetic, we will be able to gauge if there has been any damage to the brain. As you know, I have had great success with procedures of this nature, but there is always a chance…” He left the words hanging. Jarrod swallowed.
“Thank you, doctor,” Kelly said. He smiled, then turned and left. Soon after, Dr. Harrison joined them in the waiting room to share the same feedback.
“Dr. Schroeder has done an excellent job. I observed the entire procedure; he is a genius with his hands,” he reassured them. “She’s shown signs of recovery but is resting. You can go in to see her now.”
That had been hours ago, and it felt like they’d been waiting in that room forever. An eternity seemed to have ticked by. The beep of the heart-rate monitor felt like it was wired into her brain. Kelly’s eyes moved over the peaceful face of her sleeping mother, her head swathed in bandages. The surgery had been minimally invasive, and the doctors had said that she’d been able to keep most of her hair. What they’d removed for the surgery would grow back before she knew it. Kelly was relieved – it was her mother’s crowning glory. Although she knew that there wasn’t a hint of vanity in the woman.
She glanced up again as she noticed a change in Bonnie’s breathing. Her eyelids were fluttering slightly. Kelly and Jarrod quickly moved to her bedside. Kelly took her mother’s cool hand in both of her own.
“Mom,” she whispered. Bonnie’s lids fluttered again. For a moment, it seemed as if they weren’t going to open, and then Kelly was staring into their warm, blue depths. There was a flicker there, and her heart soared.
“Oh, my God, Mom?” Jarrod had taken her other hand and was leaning over her from the other side. Bonnie’s eyes moved from Kelly’s face to Jarrod’s and then back again. Her lips moved, parted. She exhaled a hoarse breath, and Kelly stooped closer to hear her. No sound came out. Bonnie’s lips opened and then closed again as if she was trying to say something. Still nothing.
“She’s trying to speak,” Kelly whispered to Jarrod – the comment seemed so redundant, but she needed to say something. He nodded back at her. Kelly squeezed her mother’s hand gently, hoping to feel an answering pressure, but there was no response. Her fingers lay limply in Kelly’s hand. Lifeless.
Kelly bit back a sob. “Mom, how are you feeling?” Her voice broke. The woman in the bed stared at her for a few moments, and then her eyes flitted shut, and she sank away from consciousness again.
“She was trying to speak,” said Jarrod. “Can’t she speak?” His voice had an edge of panic.
“No! We can’t jump to conclusions,” said Kelly. “The doctors said it would take time. Let’s not assume the worst.” Bonnie had slipped back into a deep sleep. It would probably be hours before she
woke again. “Let’s get a coffee and give her some peace,” she said to her brother, although everything inside her wanted to stay right where she was.
What if he was right? What if things went wrong? What if she didn’t wake again?
‘Stop it!’ she told herself abruptly, straightening, and stepping away from the bed. “Come, Jazz, we need a breath of fresh air. She’s regained consciousness once, and that’s a good sign.” He followed her without argument. Kelly swung the door open, stopping short as she looked straight into Carrick’s face.
“How is she doing?” he asked without preamble.
“The doctors were happy with the surgery. She woke up a few minutes ago. She—” Kelly’s voice broke. Somehow Carrick was standing right in front of her now, and it was all she could do to stop herself from collapsing against his chest. She knew if she did that, she’d never pull herself together again.
“She was trying to speak,” Jarrod spoke from beside her. “She can’t…she couldn’t seem to speak.” His voice was husky, and he cleared his throat, seemed to pull himself together. Kelly was amazed at how he’d seemed to grow up overnight. “Good to see you, Carrick. Glad you came round. Mom would like that.” Carrick reached out and squeezed his shoulder. The move was brief but spoke volumes.
“Can I get anyone a coffee? Something to eat?” he asked, looking over at Kelly, who was still struggling to regain her composure. She gave a small nod. She couldn’t think of food right now, but it would be something to do to pass the time.
“There’s a coffee shop downstairs. I’ll come with you,” she said, falling into step beside him as he made a move towards the elevators. Jarrod pointed toward a couch in the waiting area, and she knew he was going to take a few minutes to rest up. “I’ll get you some lunch, Jazz,” she called to him, and he gave her a thumbs-up.
“I got a call from the office this morning to see how Mom was doing,” she said, as they waited for the elevator. It was the second time they’d stood like this in two days, yet it felt like a lifetime had passed since they’d had that conversation. So much had changed since then. “Patricia told me…what you did.”
Carrick looked over at her but said nothing.
“Thank you…you saved her life. I don’t know how I’ll ever pay you back,” Kelly said simply.
“There’s nothing to pay back. You needed help, and I did what I could. Bonnie needed it, and that’s all that matters,” he answered her.
“But…but it was a small fortune. The doctors…the specialists…the care…” She felt like she was rambling.
“It’s only money, Kelly,” he said. “If it can’t be used to save a life, then what good is it at all?”
She stared at him for a moment, then opened her mouth to respond. A shout stopped her short.
“Kelly! Kelly, come quick!” It was Jarrod, he was jogging toward them. She wasn’t used to seeing him move with such speed. “It’s Mom,” he said, his voice laced with urgency. She spun on her heel and raced towards the hospital room they’d left just minutes before. A nurse was holding the door open, and Kelly shot through to the bedside, Jarrod at her side. In the back of her mind, she had a sense of Carrick lingering in the doorway. The nurse had halted him with a stern stare. Family members only. She couldn’t think about it at that moment. The woman on the bed was staring up at her, the previous fogginess no longer evident in her gaze. Kelly reached for her hand, felt the answering squeeze on her fingers. Her heart clenched, and she fought back a sob.
“Mom,” she breathed. Bonnie’s lips curved into a smile. Jarrod was openly crying as he stroked her shoulder. “Oh, gosh! How are you feeling, Mom? Jarrod and I haven’t left your side since the surgery. It’s felt like days…weeks…months! We’ve been so worried—” She stopped abruptly as her mother’s mouth opened to speak.
“Who—” Her voice was a faint whisper, and Kelly leaned forward to hear her. “Who’s looking after Chloé?” Bonnie asked, the words as crisp and clear as if they were chatting over coffee.
“Oh, Mom!” Kelly choked out, laughter mingling with small sobs as she reached forward and wrapped her arms around her mother. “You’re going to be all right! Everything’s going to be all right!”
∞∞∞
Carrick had run three laps around the track by 6am the next morning. He considered how he should spend his day. His mind was too foggy to be safe on site. He could head for the office, but he didn’t think he’d be able to focus on paperwork now. He bounded into the foyer of his apartment block, ignoring the elevator that held too many memories, taking the stairs two at a time. His thighs were going to hate him, but he didn’t care. He needed a distraction.
Yesterday, he’d watched the scene in the hospital room with a mixture of relief, joy…and envy. He’d been afraid to intrude into the intimacy of their moment. He didn’t belong. Paying for the treatment hadn’t bought him a place in their small circle.
The last time he’d been in a similar situation had been when Nan passed. The atmosphere had been so different. His family had hovered around his grandmother’s death bed like vultures. He’d been so much younger then, just out of college, struggling to find his way. Nan had meant everything to him. The only ‘family’ that felt real. And then she’d been gone. When the Will was read out, and his relatives learned that she’d left him a tidy sum, they’d been livid, his father most of all, for some reason. He didn’t care. None of them mattered to him.
He ran his thumb over the biometric keypad that led to the lobby of his penthouse and stepped into the air-conditioned coolness within. Although the day had barely begun, he’d worked up enough of a sweat to appreciate the cold air on his skin. He strode towards the granite kitchen island that dominated his open-plan kitchen, ignoring the image of Kelly draped naked over the surface that flashed through his mind. He opened the door of the refrigerator, hauling out a bottle of water and drinking thirstily. He swiped the back of his arm across his forehead, wiping away the sweat that was about to run into his eyes. A vibration from the pocket of his shorts had him putting down the bottle as he reached for his phone.
‘Can I come round?’
Kelly. His heart skipped a beat. Even the harsh pace he’d set around the track hadn’t had the same effect.
‘Sure. When?’ he texted back.
‘Now?’ she replied.
He sent a thumbs-up emoji and watched as her answering thumbs-up pinged back.
‘On my way.’
He stared for a second, then was galvanized into motion. Thirty minutes! She’d be here in thirty minutes…and he needed to get cleaned up.
He was out of the shower in ten minutes, hair washed, teeth scrubbed…again. He headed for his closet, toweling his hair dry and reaching for fresh clothes. He wanted to grin as he realized he was wondering what to wear. Trying not to let himself get his hopes up.
‘Like a kid,’ he thought. She made him feel like a kid. Ready to take on the world. Excited about seeing her. Getting to know her. Part of him knew her already. But he wanted more. Everything.
He hastily straightened his tousled bedclothes and glanced around his apartment. Not pristine, but it would have to do. She wasn’t coming here to check out the interior design. The buzz of his intercom had him bounding to press the button to give access below. He was standing in front of the elevator doors when she stepped out of the lift.
Her hair was mussed. Faint shadows under her eyes. Her clothes looked as if she may have slept in them.
He’d never seen anyone more beautiful.
He moved forward, and she ran towards him, almost crashing against his chest as they met. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up against his body, inhaling her heady scent. When his lips met hers, the whole world narrowed down to one swirling point. To that kiss.
They were both breathless when they broke apart. She gazed up at him, her hands reaching to take his face in her palms, and he rested his forehead against hers.
Carrick wasn’t one for tears, but if ther
e was ever a time, this would be it. He didn’t care that his eyes were moist when his met hers.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“Hey,” she whispered back, then pulled away slightly. She stared at him earnestly, and he waited for her to speak. “I’ve been thinking…”
He nodded, and she continued. “So we probably have more to talk about,” she smiled. “We’ve had an…interesting start to this relationship.”
‘Relationship,’ he thought, and nodded again.
“But I don’t believe that any relationship has an ordinary start, right? Not one that’s worth talking about, worth fighting for,” she smiled. “Besides, it’ll be a great story to tell our grandkids.”
“We’ll tell our grandkids,” he repeated. It wasn’t a question. They were going to have grandkids. Kids first, of course, blue-eyed angels like their mother. A dog…they needed a dog. And Pizza Nights for family. His family. His woman. The woman he was going to spend the rest of his life with. He knew it without a shadow of a doubt.
“Kelly, I—”
“Shhhh…” She cut him off with her mouth. When their lips met again, there was no turning back. She pushed him backward towards the bedroom and shut the door behind them.
--- THE END ---
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And take a look over the page at what’s coming up in Falling for Tyson, the next in my Working Class Billionaire Series.
Preview - Book 2
Falling for Tyson
Working Class Billionaires Book 2
“Oh, my God, Stacy, would you look at the size of her butt?” a voice whispered from behind Cassie as she bent and scrambled for the coins she’d just dropped. She felt her ears burn as she lowered onto her knees in front of the checkout counter, trying desperately not to spill her smoothie. Her hand jerked as she reached forward, and she ended up dropping her muffin as well.