9781631052347OnCallKenyan (5 page)

His sweet, innocent, beautiful
Katherine.

Chapter
Three

The
next week, on Saturday at lunch, AJ sat at the dining room table, his eyes
glued to his plate. But all he could see was Katherine’s face, the first night
they were together, and the last time he had her in his arms.

Her
eyes were what had drawn him to her. The way she tossed back her long blonde
hair, threw her head back and smiled. The first moment he saw her was caught in
a picture in his mind. He could almost kick himself for not recognizing her. He
stabbed his steak with his fork in frustration; his brow creased his jaw
clenched.
But it has been two years
,
he told himself, nodding in agreement at the excuse he had allowed himself
. I’m an intern at the hospital, I’ve worked
long hours, bedded tons of women. How was I supposed to remember one girl?

But
Katherine Henry wasn’t just a girl. He had been put off by her when she shot
the blond guy beside her a smile. He had waited, stalked her even, until the
man left. And then he’d pounced shamelessly, like a hyena scavenging for a
lion’s remains. He had always promised himself never to take seconds. But AJ
told himself the dude hadn’t been able to seal the deal. It was a college party
with loads of girls. But most of them were paired up or in large groups. AJ
never hunted in a pride of lionesses.

Katherine
Henry should not have been the one to be forgotten, her strange grayish blue
eyes, her killer smile and the important fact that he was her first.

SHIT!

AJ
pushed his chair back, kicked it to the floor and sent his fork sailing into
the air and through his mother’s favorite crystal.
Can this day get any worse?
He groaned as his mother whimpered at
the sound of her expensive treasure shatter into millions of pieces. He shrank
back at his father’s disapproving glare, and brushed off his sisters’ cheeky
yet curious gazes. There was only one other person at that table who understood
him, and he was glad Lisette had managed to keep him around this long. That
night, fate had sealed their destinies. Lisette had met and fell in love with
Reno and he had met and deflowered Katherine. Then he had forgotten her.

“Reno,
I find myself in need of your counsel,” he grumbled, choosing to speak
formally.

“Why
not me?” Adrian senior piped in. “I am your father, and older, wiser and
royally pissed off at what you did to your mother’s crystal.”

AJ
walked around the table to where his mother was sitting. “
Lo siento, Mama.”

“It’s
all right.” She patted his cheek as he kissed hers. “I just want my little boy
to be all right.”

AJ
smiled; glad that she still saw him as the six year old boy she was charged
with taking care of all those years ago. “As for you, Dad, you married your
high school-college sweetheart, then had me, then you married my mama
.
You have as much experience as
Catalella has with men. By the way, where is that no good bas—” AJ caught
himself before his spite and rage for his baby sister’s husband ran away with
him.

“He’s…”
He could see Catalella shrink within herself as she tried to lie for a man who
had been absent from the marriage since the second they’d said ‘I do.’

“It’s
fine,
peanut
, you don’t have to
explain.”

“I
still say she should have let us throw him in the ocean,” Reno grumbled out.

“He
misses another lunch and I might just join you boys,” Adrian Senior pitched in.
“But I think we should take the jet to the Seychelles on the way.”

“Only
you would make a trip out of a murder, Dad.” AJ rocked back on his heels, using
his head he gestured toward the gazebo, away from his mother’s garden lunch.

“Oh,
right, you need my wise words. But why me?” Reno grinned.

“Because,
apart from me, you are the greatest player who ever lived.”

“Former
player!” Lisette called after them. “If he ever tries something on me, I will
cut off his balls, cook them, and then feed them to him.”

“
Mija,
you don’t have to be so crude at
the table,” Rosalinda chastised.

“She’s
just saying the truth, sweetheart.” Adrian Senior emphasized with a bang of his
steak knife on the table.

“Yikes!”
Reno cringed, his hands instinctively covering his crown jewels.

They
walked in silence until they reached the stone benches covered with green vines
and brilliantly colored flowers. AJ gestured for Reno to take a seat.

“This
must be serious.” Reno chuckled as he sat down. “Tell me, little brother,
what’s up?”

“First,
I would like to start off as saying that you
are
in fact like a brother to me. I would hate to dump your body
alongside Michael Mathew’s.”

“Point
taken. Besides, Lisette is the love of my life. And if it wasn’t for your rule
to wait until she is twenty-six—which is twenty-three months, three days and a
couple of hours away—I would have married her and put a baby in her belly by
now. But we aren’t here to talk about my fantastic relationship with your
sister.”

“I know
you were my sister’s first—”

“I
don’t think—”

“I
don’t want particulars.” AJ groaned. “Actually, I do want a few. How did you
deal with the emotional responsibilities?”

Reno
studied him for a second, then said, “I thought the cardinal rule was never to
be a first.”

“I
know. I know that,” he bellowed it out. “But I didn’t know she was a virgin. I
kind of found out when I was already in there. Then I just couldn’t stop loving
her. She was perfect in every sense of the word. Her body, the way she said my
name, how she responded to me. She gave me chills.” AJ’s body trembled. “I had
to go on a binge to get her out of my system. But now, since I’ve realized
Katherine at work is my Katherine, I haven’t been able to get her out of my
mind.”

“Note
that I am a good listener. Make sure you tell your sister that. Talk me up
before I ask her to marry me on her twenty-sixth birthday,” Reno rushed on at
AJ’s frustrated growl. “I heard what you said, but I don’t think you did.”

“How’s
that?”

“You
said you loved her. You never use the L-word, AJ. And now she’s in your system?
And what do you mean you just realized that she was
your Katherine
?”

“We
made love—I mean we had sex, two years ago. She’s been working with me at the
hospital for over a year now. Don’t laugh, but I’d kind of forgotten her.”

“What?”

“I only
just remembered yesterday when she was lying in my arms!”

“You
forgot her!”

“Reno,
don’t make a big deal out of it.”

“It is
a big deal. If I forgot an item off your sister’s grocery list she would ‘feed
me my balls’ as she fondly puts it.” Reno leaned back and let out a deep
breath. “Does she remember?”

“I
think she does. She’s been giving me attitude since we started talking. I
didn’t even know we were in the same hospital until three days ago.”

“You
have cut her deeply, AJ. You need to make amends. Talk it out with her. Being
someone’s first is a lot of responsibility. That’s why I held off with Lisette
until I was absolutely sure.” Reno got on his feet and slapped his large palm
on an equally large shoulder. “I’m not the one you should be talking to. You
need to be talking to
your Katherine.
Make sure you use your heart on this one, your head is no good in this
scenario.”

“You
are the brother I always wanted. I’m glad Lisette has you.”

AJ went
to the hospital apprehensive and scared—two emotions he had never felt in his
life alongside insecurity and fear. He knew he had to find Katherine, he had to
apologize for forgetting her. But what was the proper decorum for that? “
Oh I know now, I rocked your world in the
back of my truck. You were great, too. Sorry, but I forgot I stole your
virginity.”
He hadn’t stolen it. AJ had never had to convince a woman to
his bed. But he felt like an ass for not making Katherine special. He felt like
he should offer her a re-do. It was a ridiculous thought but one thing he knew
he had to do was apologize.

AJ saw
her blonde hair swinging behind her head and rushed to her side. They walked
into the morning meeting and in the throng of staff he missed his chance. AJ
followed her until he secured a spot behind her.

“We
need to talk.” AJ leaned down to whisper into Katherine’s ear.

“No we
don’t.” Katherine took a step away.

A spark
of annoyance at himself lit up inside AJ as he firmly held onto Katherine’s
elbow. It was his fault she wasn’t talking to him. He had ignored her for the
better part of the week—ducking into doctor’s and patient’s rooms whenever he
saw her come round a corner, leaving the on-call room whenever she entered. She
was hurt, but he hoped she noticed his bare arms today. There were no women hanging
off them.

He
would have to tell her there, in the midst of twenty other interns.

“I
remember you.”

“What?”
She hissed over her shoulder.

“I was
your first. I remember you.”

* * *
*

I was your first, I remember
you.
Katherine
never thought she would be haunted by a statement. She had always longed for
the day that AJ would finally realize or remember who she was, but now that he
did, she wished he hadn’t. She knew why he had been dodging her for the past
week.

Now she
was the one doing the dodging, although she had given him notice. Immediately
after the meeting she had run out and he had rushed out after her. He dragged
her into the on-call room and they stood in awkward silence for a while. Then
out of nowhere he kissed her.

Katherine
had asked for some time. She needed to get her head in the game and her heart
out of it. She needed to destroy the memories of that sweet night by tarnishing
them with AJ’s reputation. He was a womanizer; she didn’t allow herself to
forget that. But could she forget that kiss, deep passionate and toe curling?
She didn’t think so. AJ had respected her wishes so far, but she could see he
was slowly growing restless.

She
needed to beat him at his own game. Become the master, use her head instead of
her heart. And who could teach her that better than AJ himself? Shaking off the
last bit of nerves she marched up to him, her fingers in a deathly grip on her
pen.

“I
think we should talk.”

“Finally!”
He drew a deep breath. “I know it was wrong of me. I was a jerk and I just
wanted to tell you, that night—”

“…shouldn’t
be any different from all the others you’ve had, and the ones I’ve had after
you.” She stared him down, hoping he couldn’t see her brazen lie.

Who
else could have made her feel the way AJ did that night? Katherine didn’t think
anyone could, so she hadn’t been with anyone else. She didn’t want the
disappointment. What was worse, she didn’t think she could ever be with anyone
else.

“We
were two consenting adults. We had fun and there is no reason we shouldn’t have
more fun.”

“What?”

Her
statement came as much a surprise to her as to him, if not more. Stiffening her
spine, and continuing her journey down the road to self destruction, Katherine
let her hormones speak for her once more. “There is no reason why we couldn’t continue
having fun. But, exclusively. I don’t want whatever diseases these nurses
have.” To make a point at how nonchalant she was about her proposal, she winked
at a passing intern who gave her a surprised look, before his lips curled into
a disgusting smile.

“Are
you up for the challenge? It would be kind of a monogamous relationship. But
don’t think of me as your girlfriend. Think of me as your—”

“…mattress?
Bed? You just want me on top of you, then to roll off when I am done?”

Katherine
saw his jaw tighten, a dark shadow loom over his face and his expression close.
She had over stepped.

“It’s
exactly what I do with my bed. I lie on top of it, and once I am rested and
satisfied I roll off.” He hissed through clenched teeth. “You want me to treat
you like my bed.”

“You
didn’t just lie on top of these other women, and then roll off.” She could feel
her embarrassment burn in her cheeks. “I want the whole show.”

“Then
pay for a ticket.” AJ bit back before he stalked off.

Katherine
ran after him determined to get in the last word. “What’s so different about
me? You sleep with everything with a vagina, but not me. Is it not good enough
for you anymore? What’s so different about me?”

“A lot
of things. But the sad thing is, now you’ll never know.”

“AJ!”

They
both looked up at the older man, a smile on his face and a spring on his step.
Katherine always wondered why the head of neurology was always happy. Maybe he
found a way to tune his mind and had left the whole medical community out of
his discovery.