by Lexy Timms
“Nothing.” The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
She glanced down. Nothing. She shrugged. “How was Simon?”
Elijah lifted the sheet and let the towel fall to the floor before hopping onto the bed. He moved so fast Charity didn’t get a chance to peek. “Simon’s very pumped.”
“So is Julie.”
“It’ll be a fun trip.”
“Does my father have to go?”
“Charity!”
“I’m kidding. He can hang with your mom. It’ll be the wicked witch of the east and the wicked warlock of the west.”
Elijah stared at her face, grinning and holding back his laughter. “My mother is not a witch. Wait till I tell her you said that.”
Charity reached for the light beside her bed. She snuggled down under the covers. “Do it and you’ll have the worst honeymoon known to mankind.”
“Fair enough.” He scooted over to her, chuckling. “I’m glad you’re back here.”
She sat up and flipped the light back on. “What is so stinkin’ funny?”
He pulled her down so she lay on top of him. “Kiss me.” He didn’t wait for her to respond, he pressed his lips hard against her and took her breath away. Too soon he pulled back and looked at her, watching her eyes.
Charity stared into his before letting her gaze trail down to his lips… covered in bright red lipstick. “Ahh crap,” she muttered and leaned over him to grab some Kleenex from the nightstand. She wiped his face and then her own. “Is it off?” The pink and red on the Kleenex seemed to shout yes.
“Nearly.”
What a night this turned out to be!
“Come here, gorgeous.” Elijah rolled her beside him and began to caress her with his hands while gently kissing her. They stayed that way a long time. He eventually coaxed her into rolling over and snuggled against the curve of her body.
She sighed contently. “I believe that’s the best make-out session I’ve ever had.” She relaxed into the pillow and mattress, blissfully happy to be home.
“Cool. ‘Cause that’s all the action you are going to get for the next couple of weeks.”
She shifted slightly and raised her head to look at him. “Seriously?”
He kissed her bare shoulder. “Sure, why not? I’m game if you are?”
“We going to flip a coin and see who has to say our wedding vows first then too?” she joked.
Elijah rolled over and opened the drawer of the nightstand and pulled out a quarter. “You call it.” He flipped the coin in the air.
She didn’t have time to think. “Heads. Heads!” she shouted, laughing.
He caught it as she said it the second time and held it out to her. “Tails. Guess I win.” He tossed the coin back in the drawer. “I’ll go with second. You know, lady’s first.”
She turned the light out again. Elijah settled against the curve of her body again. “You do realize,” she said to him, “that you’re going to have to start wearing boxers or something to bed if you want to keep this abstinence vow.”
“Deal.” He pressed his face against her back and she could feel his hot breath against her. He put his head on his pillow. “If I have to wear boxes, then you can’t be dressing up all dirty, looking all bad-ass.”
“I’m bad,” she whispered, trying not to laugh.
“So bad,” he agreed. His finger traced a light imaginary line up along her hip and ribs.
“Terrible,” she giggled.
His hand reached under her as he pulled her closer to him. “What am I going to do about it?”
“Punish me?”
He chuckled. “I highly doubt it.”
She pressed her hips against his and smiled when he groaned and shifted slightly to hide his growing erection. “You’re probably right.”
Chapter 8
Julie couldn’t hide her excitement as they walked along the busy sidewalk of downtown New York City. “We couldn’t have planned a better day to shop! The weather’s perfect!”
Charity tried to see the blue sky against the towering buildings. “I’m sure the guys are loving it for golfing.”
Julie checked her phone. “I downloaded the walking GPS app and it’s showing the Off the Rack shop just a few blocks up. Do you know what kind of dress you want?”
“Something without a lot of lace. Either strapless or just thin spaghetti style straps. Maybe empire waist? I might need a shawl or jacket since New Zealand is going to be winter. It’s warmer than here in winter, but just in case it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Julie nodded. “I’ve been checking out dresses online like crazy between surgeries.” She made a face when Charity raised her eyebrows at her. “What? I’m excited!”
Charity slung her arm through Julie’s. “I know you are. That’s why I want you there and here shopping with me today. I always imagined this big extravagant wedding when I was a kid. Like yours and Simons. Now that I’m older, I can’t imagine a big hoopla.”
“Simon and I have been married six years. If I had the choice, I’d go your way now. I think it’s very romantic.”
“I’m learning Elijah is quite the romantic.”
“He’s a good guy. I’m so glad you guys met.”
“Me, too.”
“Here’s the shop!” Julie pointed across the road to an elegant looking older building. There were large windows with mannequins displaying wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses and even a mannequin scene with a bride and groom kissing. A sales person stood inside that window undressing the bride. “Poor bride. Looks like someone wants to try her dress on.”
Charity hit the crosswalk button and the two of them waited for the little screen across the road to stop showing a hand and switch to the green man letting them know it was safe to walk. “I’m not jaywalking. Last time I was here I actually saw someone get a ticket for doing that!”
As they walked inside, a small bell chimed. The sales girl in the window smiled at them. “Every bride deserves the perfect wedding dress. If you need help with anything, please let one of us know.” She nodded to the left. “Just let one of the girls know when you need a fitting room.”
“Thanks.” Julie pulled Charity toward a large rack filled with silky white dresses. She began flipping through them. “You’re a six, right?”
Charity nodded.
Another sales girl walked by. “We have a seamstress at the store if you need it done in a rush.” She reached over a checkout counter and grabbed a marker shaped like a strawberry. “What’s your name, sweetie? I’ll get a room started for you.”
Sweetie? The girl looked ten years younger than Charity.
“Her name is Charity,” Julie said. “She’s getting married in two weeks.”
“Two weeks? My, you are cutting it close.” The girl glanced down at Charity’s stomach but didn’t say anything.
Julie broke into giggles.
“She’s not the first person to think that.” Charity started looking at the dresses.
The sales girl/consultant came back and handed her a cute, but rather large, bride-to-be sticker. “My name is Kylie.”
“I’m Charity.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Charity. Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding. Do you have any idea of what kind of dress you are looking for?”
“I’m not sure. I was thinking empire waist. Strapless or maybe thinner straps.”
“She’s getting married down in New Zealand,” Julie added. She pulled out a dress and held it up to Charity. “What do you think of this one?” It was empire waist, with rhinestones or something sparkly around the top.
“Maybe?” Charity had no idea.
Kylie took the dress and hung it over her arm. “Why don’t you try on a few things and see what kind of style you like?” She moved to another rack and pulled out a dress with thin straps. “What kind of clothes do you like to wear? Current? Retro? Are you looking for something traditional?”
Charity shook her head. “Not tradi
tional. Just something simple and pretty.” Her idea of traditional was puff sleeves, loads of lace and a big, wide hip section. Not her style at all.
“What’s your everyday style? What do you tend to wear?”
“Probably something with a fifty, sixties era kind of flair, but not hippy. More classy.”
“New Zealand you said right? So probably outside?”
Charity nodded. “I’m thinking on the beach. The house where we are staying is huge.”
“Filthy huge,” Julie added.
The consultant nodded in understanding. “Maybe something like a retro, party dress silhouette.”
“No disco ball,” Julie said.
“Classy,” Charity added. “No veil or train for me, thanks.”
The girl snapped her fingers. “I know something that just came in that you might like.” She disappeared and came back two minutes later with four gowns over her arms. “It comes in a full length or tea cup length.” She held a creamy coffee color up in one hand and a white full length one in the other.
Charity gasped. The dress was beautiful. Beyond beautiful.
Julie squealed beside her.
The consultant turned around so they could see the backs of the dresses. “I’m not sure if you want tea length so it’s easy to walk on the beach. I was thinking that because your legs are so long, you might like the full length version.”
“Full length,” Julie said. “But try them both on.”
“The dress is made of tulle,” Kylie explained. “It’s sexy, flirty, very retro but totally classy. It features Venice applications and elegant beading on the bodice. There’s a silk dupioni sash which cinches around the waist.” The girl winked at Charity. “You have great breasts. This dress will definitely show them off without over doing it.”
They headed over to the dressing rooms. Julie waited outside talking to the sales girl while Charity stood inside the overlarge change room, trying to decide which one to try on first. She decided on the full length creamy white one. Slipping it on, she pulled the straps of her bra off her shoulders and tried to do the back zipper up. It was one of the invisible zippers and she could only get it up about half way.
She poked her head out the door. “Can you do the zipper for me?”
Kylie came in and zipped it up all the way. She whistled. “Wow.”
Charity stepped out of the change room and looked in the three full-length mirrors.
Julie grinned beside her and lifted Charity’s hair into a make-shift bun. “You’re gorgeous.”
The open back and lack of straps gave Charity’s elegant shoulders just the right amount of attention.
“Do you like it?” The sales girl stood grinning. “Do you want to try on the tea cup size?”
Charity shook her head. She was afraid to speak. The dress took her breath away. She looked like a bride in one of those magazines. She couldn’t believe it was her.
Julie hugged her. “They say when you find the perfect dress you’ll know.”
“I know,” Charity whispered. “I know.” She smiled shyly at Julie.
Julie stepped back. “Spin around. Look at the gorgeous back part of it again.”
Charity did as she asked. She grabbed the price tag and checked the price. Just over a thousand dollars? She hadn’t made a budget but it seemed a great price to her.
“We can have it boxed so you can travel with it. A lot of people are getting married somewhere hot these days so we offer that service now.”
Charity couldn’t believe how easy this had been. They had been in the shop for what, forty minutes only? It was crazy! It had taken longer to get downtown.
“Can she buy this dress? The one she has on right now?” Julie came around to touch the front of the dress. “You don’t have to order it in or anything?”
The girl laughed. “No. That’s why the store’s called Off the Rack. You pick it, you can buy it.”
Charity grinned. “Sounds good to me.”
“You’ll need a necklace of some kind.”
“I have my mother’s pearl necklace from when she got married.” Her father had given her a box of most of her mother’s things and she remembered the necklace was in there. “It’s a single strand. I think it would look perfect. She got married in the sixties and my grandmother had it made. The string holding the pearls is baby blue.”
“Then something old, blue and borrowed is taken care of!”
“I know!” Charity laughed, excited at how easy today was turning out to be. “Let me get out of this so Kylie can get it boxed and sorted.”
Kylie stepped forward and undid the zipper. “I’ll get the bill sorted and if you girls want to go for lunch or something, I’ll have it boxed and ready for you. Are you taking it home today or do you have an address to have it shipped to?”
Charity went and changed into her regular clothes. Feeling a bit like a princess turned frog, she put on fresh lipstick and played with her hair so she felt a bit dressier. At the counter she asked to have the dress boxed and shipped to Elijah’s house. It would be packed up so he couldn’t see it. If they weren’t having sex, he wasn’t allowed to see her dress till the day either.
After paying and thanking Kylie for the hundredth time, Julie finally pulled her out of the shop. “Come on, girl! The boys have probably just finished nine holes. Let’s grab a bite to eat.”
“Then we need to head to Tiffany’s. I picked out a ring online for Elijah and ordered it. I just need to pick it up.”
“Sure thing, then we head to a naughty shop. You need some lingerie for your honeymoon.”
Charity’s face burned. The image of her wearing her red bra and Elijah’s medical coat flashed through her head. There was no way she was going to tell Julie about that one. “How about we hit Macy’s or something? I’m not into any of that dress up stuff.”
Julie laughed and slipped her arm through Charity’s. “You need to find something classy for under that dress. I can’t believe how gorgeous it is on you! Remember my dress? It was beautiful but it took me six months of shopping to finally find it. You did it in like six minutes!”
“I must have horseshoes up my arse or something.” Charity grinned.
“Kinda goes perfect with your gun-shot wedding, engagement and… well… gun shooting.”
Charity stopped walking and stared wide-eyed at her best friend.
“I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
Charity burst out laughing. “What’s that saying: when you know, you know?”
Chapter 9
The days leading up to the wedding flew. Charity flew back to Atlanta Sunday evening and spent the week working, taking work home with her and setting meetings throughout the days. With the new massive charitable donation, it seemed to have kick-started things at the hospital. The refurbished floor added another CAT scan machine to reduce wait times and after a meeting with the board, Forever Hope voted on putting the monies toward the children’s floor.
Charity took care of her end of what needed to be done and finished in perfect timing, the night before they were booked to fly to New Zealand. Malcolm came by the office just as she was getting ready to leave.
“All ready?” he asked.
Charity clicked her briefcase closed. “I think so. Everything here is in order. I’ll be gone for two weeks but just call me if anything comes up.”
Malcolm shook his head. “I’m not calling you on your wedding slash honeymoon. We’ll be fine here.”
“Well, if anything does come up you know how to get a hold of me.”
He handed her an envelope.
She took it, about to open it. “What’s this?”
He stopped her by covering her hand in his. “Go have a great time. Congratulations.” He grinned. “That’s not business, it’s a wedding gift.”
“You didn’t hav—”
“I wanted to.” He let go of her hand and glanced around the room. “You’ve done a fantastic job here, Charity. Thank you.”
“The hospital’s done the work. I’m just the lucky girl who gets to promote it.” It felt like she was living two lives, one here in Atlanta and another fairy tale one in New York.
He chuckled. “You just had a single family donate an astronomical amount of money.”
Charity shook her head. “I didn’t do anything but set up the account for estates and companies to be able to donate the money to the hospital. This particular family chose you guys because of the staff that’s been here over the years. That was this hospital. Not me. You need to be proud of Forever Hope.”
“I am, but you can’t stop me from telling you what a fine job you’ve done. That too is well deserved.”
She didn’t know how to respond. The conversation oddly felt like a goodbye speech. “Are you letting me go?” She couldn’t believe she’d asked the question out loud.
If Malcolm was shocked he didn’t let it show. “Do you want to be released from the contract?”
She felt her eyebrows rise but had no idea how to respond.
Malcolm sat down and patted the seat beside him. “Charity, we are not terminating the contract. The board here is beyond pleased with what you have done. You’ve raised more money since you’ve been here than what the board’s been working on for years. We spoke after our meeting with you this week and discussed everything you’ve been through and your upcoming nuptials. We wanted to give you the option to be released from the contract if you wanted to, with no obligation or penalty.”
Here was her chance to pack all her stuff up and leave for New York. She could move into Elijah’s house and go back to med school, get into her residency at her father’s hospital, she had the perfect outlet to not have to travel and be apart from Elijah. “I don’t want to be released.”
The words were out of her mouth and she knew they were the truth, shocking as they were. This was something she should ask Elijah what he thought so they could discuss it together. Except he was probably in surgery at this moment.
“I had a feeling you were going to say that.” Malcolm smiled. “I’m glad. However, there is something I would like to discuss.” He hesitated.