He told me how they all disliked her. We sat in his room while he explained how she and Justin despised each other so he knew if Justin insulted her enough, she’d leave. Sure enough, by the time we went back downstairs, she was gone.
We were all standing around talking when a voice from the doorway said, “Thank God that annoying screech owl decided to take her leave. What in the world possessed that nettlesome creature to decide to torture us on this lovely day?”
Everyone howled with laughter.
Pearce leaned into me and quietly said, “Leave it to Gran.”
“And Pearce, I am so thankful to our good Lord above that He has finally bestowed better judgement upon you where women are concerned.”
I laughed really hard and Pearce actually had the good graces to blush.
“I would have to agree with you Gran,” he said as he walked over to escort her into the room. He brought her directly to me and said, “Gran, I would love to introduce you to someone very special.”
“I already know who she is honey.” Turning to me she said, “Alexia, I am so pleased to make your acquaintance. I have heard so much about you from Lisbeth. She talks incessantly about you. Now do me a favor honey. Please let us make our own gossip so I have something to brag to Lisbeth about!”
Pearce was quick on his feet with this one, but I wasn’t quite ready for him to say this out loud. “Well Gran, you can tell Lisbeth you heard this here first. You can tell her that Alexia and I are in love.”
I almost fell through the floor. I had just taken a sip of my Bellini and instantly started to sputter.
“Good lord, Pearce, are you trying to declare your love and intentions or are you trying to kill the poor child?” Avery asked.
Pearce had already grabbed my glass out of my hand and patted my back asking me if I was okay. I was still sputtering, trying to recover from a combination of choking and embarrassment.
“Pearce, where are your manners? Will you escort the girl away from here so she can collect herself? I declare!”
Avery glared at Pearce as he almost dragged me out of the room and into a smaller sitting room across the hall. He closed the door behind him, sat down and pulled me onto his lap.
“Shit, shit, shit! I’m sorry Alexia. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
I finally recovered from the choking spell and looked at him. He was really concerned about the whole incident, which when I put it all into perspective was just damn funny.
I grabbed his shirt and laid the biggest kiss on him the man had ever seen. His arms went around me and he leaned me over and began kissing me back. My hands were in his hair, on his back, hell all over him. He was so damn sexy and the way he just blurted out to his family that he loved me...well, how could I not just go all crazy for him.
I finally pulled back from him and said, “Thank you Pearce. For loving me and for not being afraid to say it out loud.” I looked down at my hands, which were clenching his shirt and then I cleared my throat. “I’ve never felt loved the way I do with you so thank you for that but what I really want you to know is that I love you more than I can say. I don’t know how or why this all happened, and I still can hardly believe it has, but I’m really glad you came into my life.”
“Babe, you just made me the happiest man alive.”
“I think we need to go back to the party.”
“Yeah, because if we don’t, I can’t promise I’ll behave here.” He kissed the top of my head and we headed back to the rest of the family.
We were kidded mercilessly by everyone, including Avery, but we just laughed. Dinner was excellent. Betty cooked the traditional New Year’s Day meal of roast pork, hoppin’ john, collards, cornbread, and everything else you can possibly imagine. Right when dessert was being served, a cell phone started ringing and a text alarm went off. I looked at Pearce because I didn’t think he was on call.
“It’s not mine sweetheart. But you’re surrounded by a bunch of docs. Whose is it?”
“It’s mine,” said Justin. “I gotta go. Looks like a femur.”
Pearce looked at me and said, “He’s an orthopedic surgeon.”
“Oh.”
Then he added, “Andrew’s in his third year of his ENT residency.”
“Oh,” I said again, nodding and smiling. Nothing like being in the midst of a bunch of brainiacs.
Pearce’s hand reached for mine under the table and I latched on to his. I found it gave me strength when I felt insecure about myself. He laced his fingers with mine and settled our hands on my lap.
Justin said his good-byes and quickly left. After dinner was finished, we hung out a little longer with the family and then headed home. I was getting sleepy from the combination of alcohol and too much food. I dragged my rear end up the stairs and we both got ready for bed. I dreaded having to get up in the morning, but I was also excited about the prospect of the potential business ahead of me.
We crawled into bed and Pearce turned on the TV. He found a sappy movie for us to watch, even though I figured it was the last thing he wanted to do. He pulled out his iPad and started reading.
“Is this too awful for you?”
“No, it’s not that at all. I just have to catch up on some journal reading.” He showed me his iPad and it was opened to some article in The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. There was a picture of a man with a giant pole jammed through his midsection.
“Oh shit. Is this the kind of stuff you do?” I wanted to hurl just looking at the picture.
“Yep,” he said, very nonchalantly, still reading.
I shut the TV off and turned to look at him. “Are you serious. I mean do you really see that kind of stuff?”
“Uh huh. Usually accident victims. This was unusual...this pole flew off the back of a truck and came through this guy’s windshield. He was in the passenger seat of a van and the seat was pulled back as far as possible. If he’d been in a car, he’d be dead. That pole would’ve hit him in the head.”
“Shit Pearce. What do you do when something like this comes in?”
“The team puts the patient back together babe. It’s our job.”
I picked up his hands and started to look at them...I mean really look at them. I ran my fingers up and down each of his fingers and turned them this way and that. He sat there, and just watched me with a puzzled look on his face. When I was done looking, I brought his hands to my lips and kissed them. He was still looking at me with an odd expression.
I finally spoke, “You heal people Pearce. Your hands are a gift from God. Not everyone can do something like this. You’re special, and I’m not just saying this because I love the hell out of you. You are truly gifted.”
“I don’t think of it...”
“I do and so do those people you save. I feel so awed by what you do. I had no idea. I thought you just sewed people up or something. Really. And to think you can save someone like this.”
“Alexia, I can’t save everyone. All the stars have to be aligned for someone like this to survive.”
“Maybe so. But if this person didn’t have a trauma surgeon like yourself, he never would’ve survived. End of story.”
I didn’t want to let go of his hands. I just sat there holding them, wanting to feel the life in them forever.
He leaned over and kissed me, but I still wouldn’t release his hands. I felt his chest jiggling and heard the deep rumble of his laughter. “You ever gonna let ‘em go sweetheart, ‘cause if you don’t, it’s gonna be awfully hard to work?”
I died laughing then.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The next week of work had me busting it. I worked on that proposal for the Greenville Hospital System and I finally presented it to my boss on Friday. He was totally impressed. He loved the way I was able to integrate the reasons for switching to MedSoft, not just for the physician’s offices, but for the main hospital and all the other affiliated hospitals as well. He told me he wanted me to accompany him to Greenville the week after
next to help pitch to deal to the hospital administration.
I was super psyched when I got home from work. I was still staying at Pearce’s because there was an issue with getting the security gate installed at my carriage house. Pearce begged me to move in with him and though it was tempting, I said no.
I walked in with my arms full and he was already home. He helped me unload, as I had made a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home.
As soon as everything was put away, I told him the news about my proposal.
“Well, this calls for a celebration! Where would you like to go?”
“You pick.” I was never comfortable choosing a restaurant.
“Do you have anything going on this weekend?” he asked.
“We’re supposed to start that concealed weapons class.”
“I’ll get that changed. Go pack a weekend bag. You won’t need much. Bring one dress and the rest casual.”
He walked out of the room with a big grin on his face that left me wondering what he was up to.
Thirty minutes later we were in his car, headed up the interstate, but he wouldn’t give a clue as to where. When we took the airport exit, I began to get suspicious.
“Are we flying somewhere?”
He just looked at me and gave me one of his sexy smiles.
Then he threw me off because he didn’t pull into the main airport entrance, but kept driving. When he finally turned off Airport Road, I had no idea where he was. I knew we were at the airport, but we were on the backside of it. Then we went through a big gate and he showed his ID. They asked for mine and I took out my driver’s license. After a couple of minutes, we were allowed to proceed. He drove around until we came to one of those huge hangars. There was a small jet sitting out in front of it. A man ran out to meet us and Pearce got out of the car and came around to help me out.
“Dr. Middleton, it’s good to see you sir.”
“Hi Jerry. Thanks for coming on such short notice. This is Alexia.”
“Hello Ma’am.”
I shook his hand and Pearce guided me toward the jet.
“Are you serious? Is this your plane?”
“No, it’s the Middleton Enterprise G5.”
“What’s a G5?”
“A Gulfstream 5. It’s a jet Alexia.”
“I know that Pearce.”
“It’s just the type of jet sweetheart.”
“Oh.” I just realized that I said that a lot when I was with him. I needed to find a new word for ‘Oh.’
“I didn’t know you had one of these.”
He stopped and turned to me. “Honey, it’s not mine. It’s the company’s. I was just lucky it wasn’t in use this weekend. Now, shall I carry you on board, because I’m certainly not opposed to that?”
“No, I can walk.”
I mounted the stairs and the pilot greeted us as we entered.
“Dr. Middleton, welcome aboard.”
“Thanks Mitch. This is Alexia.”
We exchanged greetings and the flight attendant asked if we wanted drinks. Pearce ordered champagne from him and he popped the cork on a bottle of Cristal. We toasted as the plane took off.
The jet was pure luxury. There were reclining seats clustered around tables and a cabin in the back with a bed and bath. It was unreal.
“Do you fly in this often?”
“Yes, if the family goes on a trip together, we usually take this. For conferences I don’t use it. I’ll confess, you get spoiled because it’s much faster. No lines and baggage issues. We all ski so it’s much easier to use this than a commercial airline.
“No doubt. I can see why. Now will you pinch me?”
He just laughed.
“Um, so Pearce, where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
About an hour later I could tell by the way my ears started to pop that we were descending. It didn’t take long after that for the plane to come to a stop.
After the flight attendant opened the door, we were greeted at the stairs by someone informing us our rental car was here. I looked outside, but it was dark, so I still didn’t know where we were.
Pearce got me settled in the Mercedes rental and then we were off. When we got on the interstate, I knew we were in Asheville, North Carolina.
“Aha! Asheville,” I called out.
He laughed, and then asked, “But do you know where we’re staying?”
“No clue.”
So we drove and I had no idea until we pulled into the valet area in front of the huge stone structure of The Grove Park Inn.
I grinned. I’d always wanted to come to this place but I didn’t think I’d ever stay here. It was way out of my league. My hopes were always to come and walk through the place and catch the views. Now, here I was, staying as a guest.
Pearce checked us in and we were ushered up to our amazing suite. He ordered room service and we both undressed and put on the robes hanging in the closet. He uncorked a bottle of wine that was in the refrigerator and poured us each a glass.
“To my lovely Alexia and her success next week in Greenville. May she get the deal!”
We clinked glasses and sipped our wine. Our food arrived and it was extremely good. When we finished, Pearce said in a hoarse voice, “Alexia, take off that robe. I’ve been thinking about your naked body all day and I don’t think I can’t stand it another minute.”
I slipped off the robe and let it puddle around my feet. I stood there for a minute. His eyes had that look of raw emotion in them.
“Don’t move.”
He came to me then. He kissed me and my body heated up with fire. He swept his tongue across my lips and kissed the corner of my mouth. Bending his head, he started sucking on my earlobe. He ran his tongue around the shell of my ear and when he came back to my lobe, he began a light waltz down my neck. I was moaning by this time, my hands on his shoulders, squeezing tightly.
He took his tongue and started to swirl it along the pulse point in my neck, sucking and swirling until I thought I’d scream. Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, he dropped to the hollow at the base of my throat and repeated his sweet escapade. By this time I was moaning unabashedly, my fingers laced in his hair.
When he sunk his teeth onto my nipple I screamed. He put his fingers in my mouth and I started sucking on them, partly because I wanted to, but partly because I needed them to keep me from screaming.
He moved down to my rib cage and I knew I would be squirming soon because this was one of my favorite things he did to me. He scraped his teeth along the ridges and bit down...not too hard but not too soft either.
“Pearce, I have to have you inside of me. NOW!”
“Not yet. I have other plans sweetheart,” he teased.
I groaned and pulled his hair, hard.
He stopped what he was doing and picked me up and threw me down on the bed. He dropped to his knees on the floor and pulled me to the edge. Spreading my legs, he sucked the tender skin on the inside of my thighs. When he slipped his finger inside of me, I came with a vengeance, calling out his name.
When he felt my orgasm subside, he bent his head and picked up with his tongue where his fingers had been before. I thought I would go mad from the sensations. We had made passionate love before, but it was never like this...he was never like this. He’d unleashed a part of himself that he’d kept reined in...had held in check.
“Oh yes Pearce.” And he kept going.
Now I had to have him...all of him.
“I need you. Please don’t make me wait any longer.”
He was inside of me before I could even get the last word out. Fast and hard, at first, but then he pulled me up so we were face to face.
“Wrap your legs around me baby.”
I did and my arms too. I think every part of my body was connected to his. I brushed his hair back and kissed his lips softly. In his mouth I told him I loved him more than life itself. He came as I spoke the words.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next morning, he informed me we had a day at the spa scheduled. My mouth hung open until he took his hand and put it under my chin and gently closed it.
The Grove Park Inn housed a subterranean spa that was known for its rock walls, tunnels and waterfall pools. Oh yeah, it was also known for its wonderful spa treatments too.
Pearce had set up a whole day of services for us. We started with the mineral pools, then moved to the waterfall massage pools and then the outdoor hot tubs. Next we had a couple’s signature spa treatment. Afterward, they brought us lunch in a private room. I was so relaxed I dozed for a bit.
Pearce woke me up in time for my manicure pedicure, which was done in our private room. We drank champagne while I was being polished up.
When I was finished, it was time for our facials. By the time we were done with everything, it was late afternoon. There was only one thing I wanted to do now, and apparently Pearce was thinking the same thing because we rushed back to our rooms and stripped off our clothing in record time.
Afterward, we lay in each other’s arms with our room aglow in the late afternoon sun and fell asleep, completely relaxed from the day’s activities.
When I woke up, I was lying with my head on Pearce’s abs, and my arms were wrapped around his torso. I couldn’t think of a better place to be. I lifted my head to see his smoky grays staring me down. They were smoldering with passion, so I didn’t even bother to speak. I turned my head back to his abs and set my mouth to do what I loved the most. I started nibbling his firm muscles and relishing in the intake of his breath.
His hands twisted up in my hair and he let me do my thing. I moved across his hip bone, leaving a trail of kisses and tiny bites as I scraped my teeth along that sexy vee of his.
He gasped, hard, when I took him into my mouth and then he groaned and said my name over and over. He turned me on so much I could hardly stand it. I looked at him and saw he was watching me under heavy lidded eyes and what a sight he was. Dark, sexy and hot.
“On top. Now.” That’s all he said. I felt his hands moving me into place and then he was inside of me.
Edge of Disaster Page 12