More Than a Convenient Bride

by Michelle Celmer

  “I’ll make it quick,” he said.

  He grabbed his robe from the foot of the bed and tugged it on as he walked to the door. Julie sat and held the blanket up to cover herself.

  It was his mother’s nurse. She glanced over, saw Julie in the bed and quickly averted her eyes. Julie was surprised Luc had opened the door wide enough to let her see inside.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, Mr. Wakefield, but I thought you should know that your mother is running a low-grade fever.”

  A look of concern transformed his face. “How high?”

  “Only 99.8. She said that she feels fine, and not to bother you, but I thought you should know.”

  For the average healthy person a temperature that low wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Julie knew that any sign of systemic infection had to be addressed immediately. Elizabeth had barely gotten over the last illness and her body was still weak. Another infection this soon, even something as simple as the common cold could spiral out of control and become deadly.

  “Did you check for sores or wounds?” he asked the nurse.

  “She wouldn’t let me.”

  Luc sighed and shook his head. “I’ll be down there in a minute. And tell her that I told you to check her.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, and he closed the door, mumbling to himself about his mother being stubborn.

  Ever look in a mirror? Julie wanted to say.

  “You realize she saw me,” she told him.

  “I know she did.” He stepped into his closet for clothes, seemingly unconcerned.

  “What if she tells your mother?” Julie called after him.

  “So what if she does?” he called back.

  “Didn’t you tell her that this isn’t a real marriage? That we’re still just friends.”

  “I seem to recall you telling me last night that to make the marriage official we had to have sex.” He stepped out wearing jeans and pulling a T-shirt over his head. “Didn’t you?”

  “You know damn well I made that up to get you into bed. You were being very...uncooperative.”

  His brows rose. “Is that what I was doing?”

  “Don’t change the subject. You don’t think it will confuse your mother?”

  “Her body may be failing her but as you know, her mind is sound.”

  That was putting it mildly. “I know. I just... I respect her and I don’t want her to think I’m slutty.”

  “For having sex with your husband?”

  She shot him a look. “You know what I mean. It might upset her.”

  “What is she going to do? Ground me? Besides, we’re two consenting adults. Married or not, it’s still not hers or anyone else’s business what we do in bed.”

  “You know you’re impossible.”

  “I have to go check on her,” he said, but he was smiling.

  “I’m going to take a shower.”

  “When I get back we’re going to finish what we just started,” he said, grinning suggestively as he walked out. If she hadn’t already been aroused, that would have definitely done the trick.

  She had been a little worried that this morning might be awkward, or involve misplaced guilt and needless justifications. There was nothing more depressing than to wake up with a man and hear why the fantastic sex you had the night before was a mistake. That had happened to her once, and was the precise reason she didn’t sleep with men on the first date.

  The only thing that seemed to have changed with Luc was that now they both knew what the other looked like naked. Totally naked. Up close and very personal.

  And if he was okay with his mother realizing what was going on between them, who was Julie to question it?

  Elizabeth, it turned out, had a small scratch on the back of her thigh that had become infected. Because she had no feeling below the waist, she’d had no idea it was there. Which is why daily physical exams, especially after she’d been moved in and out of her chair frequently, were so critical. With such poor circulation, the smallest scratch could become a festering wound overnight.

  Knowing she was bound to get worse before she got better, Luc stayed with her, and they never did get to finish what they’d started. But as she told Beth last night, she didn’t expect him to drop everything when she snapped her fingers. Besides, he had just done her an enormous favor; the last thing she had the right to do was demand his attention. In fact, without the threat of deportation looming in the future, this was the most content and happiest she’d felt in months. Any uncertainty she’d had about her future was gone.

  She was confident that it would be smooth sailing from here on out.

  * * *

  Luc spent his first day as a husband not in bed having phenomenal sex with his new wife—sex he never planned on having—but instead carefully monitoring his mother’s condition. He felt guilty that he’d had to cancel his and Julie’s plans, but not only had she not complained, or acted the least bit perturbed, she spent most of the day with him at his mother’s bedside. Her temperature continued to rise, slowly but steadily all day, even after the nurse cleaned and dressed her wound and administered ibuprofen and intravenous antibiotics. He was considering hospitalization when finally, around eight that evening, her fever broke. He checked on her several times during the night, and by Monday morning her temperature was holding steady in the normal range and her wound seemed to be healing well.

  “I think I need to hire a new nurse,” he told Julie that morning. She sat on the edge of his bed, looking adorably mussed, watching him get ready for work. She had offered, for his own peace of mind, to stay home from work and keep an eye on his mother and the nurse. Which was a bit like needing a babysitter to watch the babysitter. “This could have been prevented if she had only done her job. I’ve stressed to her, more than once, that the physical exams are critical. And my mother knows better. If the nurse can’t handle her—”

  “Your mother really likes this nurse.”

  “That isn’t my concern.” Her safety and physical well-being were the only things that mattered.

  “It should be your concern,” she said in a tone so sharp it nearly took him back a step. “How would you feel having some stranger inspect every inch of your body twice a day, day in and day out? And don’t you think there would be times when you just wanted to say to hell with it and take a break? Maybe her nurse was being more compassionate than negligent. She made a mistake.”

  He tugged on his shirt and buttoned it, saying, “A mistake that could have cost my mother her life.”

  “And I’m sure she’s learned her lesson.”

  She damn well better have.

  Julie was quiet for a minute, then said, “I’ve mentioned my nanny Ginise, haven’t I?”

  “That was the nice one, right?”

  “Did I ever tell you why my dad fired her?”

  He shook his head, looking thoughtful. “I don’t think so.”

  “I’m sure I told you how strict my father was.”

  He nodded. From all the stories Julie had told him, to say her father was strict was putting it mildly. She and her sister were practically prisoners in their own home.

  “Nanny Ginise was hard-nosed when he was around, but when he was gone, she really loosened the leash. She let me and my sister go to friends’ houses and use the phone. She let us go without tights on hot days. She let us drink soda and eat candy. Nanny Ginise gave us the freedom to be kids. Which is eventually what got her fired.”

  “What happened?”

  “One of my friends from school was having a pool party. I begged my father to let me go. All of my friends were going to be there, including boys—though I didn’t tell him that—but he still said it was out of the question. I cried and pleaded but he wouldn’t budge. But the day of the party he was away on business and wasn’
t due back until the following night. Nanny Ginise let me go. She even bought me a two-piece bathing suit to wear, since all the other girls would be wearing them and I wanted to fit in. I mean, what thirteen-year-old girl doesn’t?”

  He flipped his collar up and looped his tie around his neck. “Naturally.”

  “Well, my father came home early, and Nanny Ginise had no choice but to tell him where I was. He charged over to my friend’s house, which was just up the road. The fact that I defied him was bad enough, but when he saw what I was wearing, and that there were boys there, he went ballistic. I had never seen him so furious. He pulled me out of the pool by my hair.”

  Luc’s eyes went wide. “In front of everyone?”

  She nodded. “He wrapped me up in a towel and dragged me home. I was mortified, and as if that wasn’t punishment enough, I wasn’t allowed to leave my room for a month. I was a prisoner. He even made me eat my meals in there.”

  That wasn’t strict, that was abuse. He knew her childhood was bad, but he hadn’t realized just how bad. “How could he treat his own children that way?”

  “Our mother’s death really hit him hard. I’m still not sure if he was trying to shelter us, or if he just resented us.”

  “Why would he resent you?”

  “For being alive, when she wasn’t. It took years for me to accept that it wasn’t my fault. That it was his problem, not mine.”

  The idea that she grew up so miserable made his chest ache. “And Nanny Ginise, what happened to her?”

  “Fired on the spot. Two days later we had a new nanny. Ms. Fowler, a retired headmistress of a private girls school in Wales.”

  “What was she like?”

  “Horrible. She’d followed our father’s rules to the letter. And came up with quite a few of her own. She believed that teenage girls all had lusty and indecent thoughts and therefore should not be left alone to their own devices. She forbade us from closing our bedroom doors, and walked right in without knocking whenever she felt like it. If she caught us doing something she considered inappropriate she gave us the switch.”

  “The switch?”

  “Yeah, it was this stick she carried around with her all the time.”

  Luc blinked. “Are you saying that she used to hit you with it?”

  “All the time. Damned thing hurt like a bitch and left nasty welts.”

  Jesus. Luc actually felt sick to his stomach. “Did your father know?”

  “Of course. He was all for corporal punishment.”

  And it just kept getting worse. “Did he hit you?”

  “Me and my sister. But she got the worst of it. I learned to drop my head, keep my mouth shut and be as invisible as possible. Jennifer was outspoken and defiant. I remember a time, not long before I left for college, when she snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to meet a boy. Our father caught her. There was hardly a spot on her that wasn’t black and blue. He grounded her to her room for weeks.”

  Luc sat down on the bed beside her, at a loss for words. “I don’t even know what to say. I knew your childhood wasn’t ideal, but I had no idea it was that bad.”

  “I didn’t tell you to make you feel sorry for me. I just want you to try to see things from your mother’s point of view. She’s a prisoner in a body that constantly betrays her. I think the nurse was just trying to cut her a little slack, like Nanny Ginise did for me and my sister. There was no malicious intent. And I know she feels horrible about it.”

  Wow, talk about a convincing argument, and she spoke of it so matter-of-factly, as if it had happened to someone else. And yes, sometimes he forgot what his mother must go through. How difficult and unpleasant her life could be. Years ago, before her surgery, she was active and independent. Now she relied on others for most of her needs. That couldn’t be easy for her. “You’re right,” he told Julie. “She meant no harm. If my mother is happy with her, then I’m happy.”

  “Thank you. You’re a good man. And an even better son.”

  “I don’t know about that,” he said.

  She smiled. “I do.”

  He couldn’t help himself. He had to kiss her. He leaned in and she met him halfway. He was enjoying this arrangement, and found himself thinking about her, far more than he should have.

  The kiss didn’t last long. Julie patted his shoulders and said, “You need to get to the hospital. You’ll be late for rounds.”

  She was right. Typically he looked forward to work, but today staying home in bed with Julie sounded much more fun. “Maybe tonight, if all goes well—”

  “Yes,” she said with a saucy smile, knowing exactly what he was going to say before he said it. It looked as if he wasn’t the only one with sex on the brain. And if he didn’t finish getting dressed and get his ass out of there, he might not make it to the hospital at all. It had been a long time since he’d been so hot for a woman he wanted to play hooky from work.

  He stood, knotting his tie, then pulled on his suit jacket. She sat on the bed watching him. “Are you sure you’re okay with staying home today?”

  “I have my laptop,” she said. “I can work here. I have some numbers to crunch. And phone calls to make. And your mom mentioned something about a few rounds of poker.”

  “For God’s sake don’t let her talk you into playing for money.”

  Julie laughed. “She’s a cardsharp, I know.”

  “And she’s ruthless.”

  He grabbed his wallet and keys from the basket on the chest of drawers, hesitating another second. Damn, he really didn’t want to go. If it weren’t for the new patient he was seeing this morning, he just might stick around for a while, have one of his residents do rounds for him.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” he said. He considered kissing her goodbye, but once he got started he wouldn’t want to stop. “Call me if there’s a problem.”

  “I will.”

  He was almost to the door when Julie said, “Hey, Luc.”

  He turned to find her kneeling on his bed. Then she dropped the covers to flash him.

  Her breasts were full and firm. Not large by modern standards, but they fit her just right and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on them again.

  With that saucy smile, she said, “Have a nice day, dear.”

  Oh, he definitely would. And an even better night.

  Seven

  Luc made it to work with five minutes to spare, stopping in the cafeteria for a cup of coffee on his way up to his office.

  “Cutting it close today,” his secretary, Ruth, said, looking at the clock. She was used to him being on time, or most days, a little early.

  “Busy weekend,” he told her.

  “I’ll bet. It was a lovely wedding. You two looked so happy, and so in love.”

  It sounded as if they’d done a pretty good job fooling everyone. But the happy part? That was real. His best friend was here to stay. What more could he ask for?

  “Tommy James was admitted last night,” she said.

  “No problems?”

  “Not that I’ve heard.”

  “How is the rest of my day looking?” He was hoping to get home at a decent hour tonight. Maybe even a little early. One of his favorite upscale restaurants had reopened in the past week and he thought maybe he would take Julie for a nice dinner.

  Oh hell, who was he kidding. To heck with dinner. He wanted to get her back in bed and finish what they’d started.

  He shrugged out of his suit jacket. Ruth took it from him and handed him his lab coat. “You have a procedure at 9:15, and a staff meeting at 11:30. In the afternoon you have several consultations. And a meeting at 5:00.”

  He pulled it on and she clipped his ID onto the pocket. It had been their morning routine for as long as he’d been chief of surgery. A position that was as m
uch about politics as it was medicine. Ruth, who had been in hospital administration for three decades, had been his saving grace.

  “So how does it feel?” she asked him, straightening his collar.

  Puzzled, he asked, “How does what feel?”

  “Being married.”

  Better than he thought it would. In fact, it was pretty damned fantastic so far. Friendship and sex without the complications. Who wouldn’t want that? And it was really good sex.

  No, it was fantastic sex. And he couldn’t wait to get home so they could do it again.

  “It’s good,” he said, and left it at that. “If Julie calls, page me immediately. My mother had an infection over the weekend. Julie is staying with her today.”

  Ruth clucked and shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I noticed at the wedding that she looked tired. Poor Elizabeth, she’s been through so much.”

  And every infection seemed to suck more of her strength, more of her spirit. As a physician, he knew her time was running out. Her body could handle only so much before it gave out for good. But as her son, he wanted her to live forever.

  “She pushes herself too hard,” Luc said.

  “She’s a proud woman.”

  More stubborn than proud if you asked him.

  Luc left his office and checked on the five surgical patients in his care, each in different stages of recovery. Knowing the parents would have a million questions for him, as he would if his son were going in for major surgery, he saved Tommy James in the pediatrics ward for last.

  The boy had come in as a referral from a colleague in Houston that Luc had known since med school.

  “This is right up your alley,” he’d told Luc when he called last week. The five-year-old had congenital lumbar spinal stenosis that had begun to cause him considerable pain, and in the past few weeks he had begun to lose feeling in his legs. It was a rare condition for a child but using techniques he’d perfected himself, with Julie’s help of course, Luc could correct the problem by fusing the spine. The parents would be hard-pressed to find a physician more qualified than him to do the surgery.