Miami Hot: #1 (Miami Heat Series) (10 page)

“And now you are awake,” he said as he finished his story.

“Thank you. I know you didn’t have to stay. You probably have better things to do…”

“Baby, there was no way I was leaving your care to someone else. And before you continue your little speech, I am not going anyway. Well at least until Sam gets here,” he said as he lifted her chin with his fingers. “And even then, I’ll just step aside for the beating you deserve, then I’ll be back to claim you.”

“Ouch!” Moira said after she felt her lungs hurt when she laughed.

“Dr
. Ryan said your lungs would hurt like a bitch, so try not to laugh,” he chuckled her.

“Well, then stop making me laugh.”
Moira placed her hands on her chest and felt her way down to her belly. It was tender. Who knew a simple cold, that turned into pneumonia would make you feel like you went through a tumble dryer. Didn’t she read a review sometime back about watching clothes in a dryer being relaxing? Yeah, that person was clearly delusional.

“Call Sam and Serenity. I promised them you would call the minute you woke up.”
Conrad stood with her in his arms then sat her back on the sofa. “I’ll bring your phone.”

He came back with her phone and she saw she had several missed calls and messages. She started with Stu because that would be the easy one. He told her to take as much time as she needed, her team would handle everything until she was well enough to get back.

Next she tackled Serenity. They talked for a few minutes and until she promised to call again later, did Serenity hang up. She saw Conrad coming out of the laundry room. She realized he was probably throwing the soiled linen from last night in the washer. She figured him to be someone who didn’t do his own laundry.

The long dreaded call to Sam was answered on the first ring. It didn’t go well. Yes she was chewed about keeping
an illness to herself and nearly killing herself in the process. The fact that Conrad had already gone through the same spiel didn’t stop Sam. If Moira didn’t know better she would have thought they had exchanged notes on what to say to her. Or maybe they were telepathic?

“
Moira? Are you listening to me?’ she heard his voice booming through the phone.

“Yes, I’m listening. But you reali
ze you are screaming at a patient right now?” she asked.

Silence greeted her, then, “Give the phone to
Conrad.”

She almost threw the phone and
Conrad who had come back and was standing a few feet away, smirking at her.

“Well played baby,” he said as he took the phone from her and gave her a quick peck on the lips. He stepped away and spoke into the phone, “King here.” Then he laughed.

Seemed a best buddy relationship had blossomed while she was fighting for her life. Moira tuned him out and decided to get comfortable. If she wasn’t tired of her bed she would have gone to lie down there. And if she thought she would get away with making that trip on her own. So instead she stretched out on the sofa and placed a cushion under her head as a pillow. But whatever position she took, she couldn’t get comfortable.

“Would you prefer the bed?” she heard
Conrad ask, but she shook her head. After two more twists trying to find the golden comfortable surface, she felt his arms lifting her up. She squeaked and held on. But he was only sitting down, then he held her in his lap and pulled her head to his chest. “Sleep,” he growled.

Moira
sighed knowing that was a demand – instruction and there was no point in arguing. As if you could demand someone to sleep. As if you could instruct someone to sleep. Believe it or not, Conrad,  managed that. Another sigh, then she settled down and was soon fast asleep.

Chapter
Fifteen

Conrad
watched her as she slept and wondered again what he was doing here? He had never felt this emotional attachment to anyone before, and could not say he would have ever thought to play nursemaid to any woman before. But with Moira, it had just happened. He hadn’t even question himself. Lucas had offered to find a caregiver and Conrad had declined making Lucas pause and wonder if his friend had gone insane. Well, he was till wondering too if he had gone insane. Truth be told, for a while he had. Until her fever had finally broken in the early hours of the morning. He had felt helpless, a feeling that was not in Conrad’s vocabulary.

This thing with
Moira was moving fast. He had only wanted a few nights with her, no emotions, no attachments. When she had rejected him, he should have simply moved on. But no, like a fool he had simply persevered, called her several times a day and she had ignored his calls. His texts had suffered the same ailment.

He had been with lots of women, many of them beautiful, but none as stunning as
Moira, and even without makeup. And come to think of it, she never used much makeup at work. The only time he had seen her with noticeable makeup was the other night at the club. Conrad ran his hand on her cheek, her skin was so soft and smooth. A mouth that could be put to better use, than telling tales about none-existant boyfriends. His mouth twitched when he realized she would probably state that vibrators were termed battery operated boyfriends. But why need Freddie when she could get the real thing?

They had a lot of catching up to do. And he would make his move as soon as she was feeling better. He moved carefully,
stood then placed her sideways on the sofa. He took the throw from the end of the sofa and covered her. His load was done, he needed to move it to the dryer. Lucas would have fun at him playing domestic. And as if he had conjured up the devil, he arrived thirty minutes later. In between his howls of laughter, he helped him fold the sheets from the dryer. But whatever reason, Conrad didn’t feel embarrassed like he might have a few weeks back. He just hoped that this didn’t mean he was becoming domestic. He didn’t need a permanent girlfriend or wife for that matter.

They ate the takeout food Lucas had brought and spent the n
ext hour sitting in the kitchen, talking and drinking beer. The groans of pain brought both men running to the sofa where Moira was trying to extricate herself from the throw she had entangled herself in.

“Baby, let me help.”
Conrad placed a hand on her shoulder and she relaxed. He carefully removed the throw from her body making sure not to jar her.

She placed her feet on the floor, “I need to use the bathroom,” she said
wearily.

A second later
Conrad had picked her up and was striding towards her bedroom.

“Hi Lucas,” she said as they round a corner. She saw his wave before they were out of sight.

He had her sweats and panties down before she realized what had happened. Because she knew he wouldn’t leave the bathroom, she told him to turn around. He sighed but did so. Moira didn’t believe there was anyone who was going through so many embarrassing episodes as she was going through this weekend. If she had to sleep 24/7 just so she could be functional again, she would gladly do it. So she vowed she wouldn’t make a fuss about resting because she was beginning to appreciate self sufficiency so much more than she ever had.

Wi
shing for things to be easy, drive through fast foods, drive through pharmacies, drive through dry cleaners were one thing, but little personal helpers who carried you everywhere, was just another thing. Like they say, be careful what you wish for. Unfortunately Moira had made that wish when she was dog tired one day. Little did she know it would come true. Maybe she should have been more specific and mentioned not Conrad King as a helper. But then at that time she hadn’t met him. But still bottom line, be careful what you wish for.

Since this was now a routine,
Moira washed her hands then didn’t say a word as she was picked up again. He sat her on a chair behind the island table. Lucas came and joined her while Conrad heated some food.

“You gave us quite a scare yesterday.
Are you feeling better now?” Lucas asked her.

“Sorry about that. And yes, thanks for asking. And I’m sorry if I messed up any plans the two of you might have had for the weekend,” she ended.

“Eat up. Compliments from Lucas’ chef.”

“Really? From the hotel?” she asked looking at Lucas. When he nodded she thanked him. “This tastes really, really good.”
When Moira finished her soup, Conrad took the empty bowl and swapped it with a plate filled with vegetables and a piece of fillet mignon. “I don’t know whether it’s because I am just hungry, or your chef is that good. I could be encouraged to supply you with bread pudding every day for one meal a week like this.” She looked at him and saw that he was grinning at her.

“How about you just come work for me?”

“What?” She looked from Lucas to Conrad and back to Lucas again. Then she laughed. “Ouch! That hurt.” Her lungs were complaining again. She squirmed on her seat and took a sip of water. “You are serious?” Nobody said a thing. “Please tell me you are not serious?” He still didn’t answer her. “Ummm Conrad, please tell me he is joking?” Moira looked around, “Is this punked?” she whispered. “Okay, now you are both freaking me out. Someone say something.”

And then finally
Conrad spoke, but only to say, “Finish your food.”

“Only if you tell me what’s going on,” she countered. It was low, trying to use eating for her health
, for information. So she dropped her fork into the plate.

Conrad
gave Lucas a look, then answered, “No he is not joking. Now finish your food.”

She picked up her fork and started eating slowly, trying to figure out what
had just happened. Why Lucas was offering her a job. Was it because Conrad had asked him to? Twisted, but she didn’t have much to go on. “Why?” she asked.

“I liked the desserts I tasted the other day. And all William talks about are your desserts. Then I asked around, and I located the chefs you trained under and they all had good reviews,” Lucas finally said.

Moira finished her food and Conrad took the plate to the sink.

“Now I brought you some desserts of mine and I need your honest opinion,” he said as he opened the fridge and brought out an assembly of various desserts.

“Okay,” she said as she took the fork he offered her. They all tasted great except one that Moira suggested could be done a little differently.

“Well, how about my offer?” he asked.

“Sorry, I can’t accept your offer.” Moira held up her hand, “And because I know you won’t stop, I’ll say for now. Give me time. I like what I am doing right now.”

“Okay, for now,” he said to her.

“And just so you go away with something, I’ll make you a deal.”

Lucas grinned and said to her, “I knew I
could get you to see my way.”

“As soon as I am feeling better. I’ll make that other dessert an
d bring it to your office. How is that?” she said and grinned at his scowl.

Conrad
laughed out loud, throwing his head back and Lucas scowled even more. He stood and went to get a beer then sat back down and shook his head. “Okay,” he finally said.

Conrad
thought the chair in the kitchen was too hard on her, so he moved them to the sitting room. Moira let them do most of the talking and was content to just listen to them talk. She finally met Dr. Ryan when he came up to check up on her later. He woke her from her nap and had her lie down on her bed to which Conrad carried her again. Pleased with her progress, he left but left strict instructions for her to finish her dosage even after she was completely well, and to not go to work on Monday and Tuesday. Moira had hoped she would have been able to make it on Monday. She felt guilty about being away when she had only started a few weeks ago.

She took another nap when Dr
. Ryan left and when she woke up in was dark outside. She heard voices coming from the sitting room and wondered if Lucas was still here or Sam had made it back. She got up slowly from the bed and gingerly stepped onto the floor. She took two then three steps and smiled in victory. Baby steps Moira. With that in mind she continued soundlessly and was quite pleased with her results. She made it to the bathroom and was at the bathroom door when her cellphone rang surprising her and she cried out as she lost her footing but quickly grabbed the door frame. Two sets of feet rushed over and stopped when they were a couple of feet away from where she was standing.

“I’m sorry, the phone just startled me but I was almost there.” A few seconds later it stopped ringing then
Conrad held her hand and helped her walk the rest of the way. She was surprised because she thought he would have picked her up. The next surprise was when he turned around and gave her privacy without her asking. She looked at him as she was washing her hands. He kept staring at her and she couldn’t figure out why. “What?” she asked.

“You are very stubborn, you know that?” He moved closer and lifted her chin.
Moira wasn’t sure if he even needed a response. So she kept quiet. His other hand went around her waist and then he was kissing her, thoroughly, like a man starved. He held her loosely to him, like he remembered her ribs hurt. His kiss, however, was demanding and forceful. His lips, on the other hand, were soft, very gentle.

When he felt her knees give out, he caught her behind the knees and lifted her into his arms.
Moira found herself back in the kitchen. It seemed she was just in time for dinner. Lucas was stirring some sauce on the stove and setting places on the island table for them to eat.

They worked together to finish cooking, their interactions telling
Moira that they had done this several times before. “Umm. Can I ask a personal question?” They turned to her and raised their eyebrows. “Never mind,” she said when she thought about it.

“No, go ahead,” Lucas said to her.

Moira shook her head. “No that’s fine. It’s not apropriate,” she said and chuckled.

“Now I’m curious,” Lucas said and took a sip of his beer. “I promise we won’t be offended.”

She looked at Conrad who just nodded his head. “Are you partners?” At their puzzled expression, she clarified, “gay?”

“Oh no, no, no,” Lucas said as he shook his head vigorously. “I like women too much. Correction, love women.”

Moira looked at Conrad who just twitched his mouth. “Whatever gave you that idea?” he asked.

“You guys move like a well oiled machine so I thought maybe you were partners,” she reasoned.

“Let me show you how un-gay I am,” he said as he came around the island and took her lips again with his. He held her head with his hands and coaxed her to open and when he found a small entryway, he moved in and pushed his tounge further until she opened fully for him. As he let her go, he caught her bottom lip and nipped her with his teeth. “That good enough for you?” he asked.

She looked at Lucas who was grinning standing next to the stove. “Bi-sexual maybe?”

“Baby, the only person I want to have sex with in this room is you. I have never had sex with Lucas, will never, nor another man for that matter.” He looked at her as she colored up and blushed. “Now does that spell it out for you?”

“Ditto,” Lucas said and when
Conrad looked at him, he grinned. “Well except for having sex with you. No offense, but I don’t poach on my best friend’s girlfriend.”

“Whoa! He is not my boyfriend,” she said.

“Moira,” he said as he came around to stand next to her. “When a man takes care of you instead of hiring a nurse to do the job, he is your boyfriend.”

“I…”

“Ahhh! Don’t argue. It’s just a fact. Simple as that. Now let’s eat,” he said as he walked back to the stove and started serving food onto the plates.

Conrad
kissed her forehead and then went to help Lucas. Moira just sat dumbfounded and looked at them as one of them removed the baked potatos from the oven and placed them on the plates. She saw chicken and vegetables being added, before her plate was placed in front of her. Conrad placed her pills in her palm and she took them. Dinner was a silent affair. It was one thing to have Serenity push her towards Conrad, but another when his friend Lucas did the same thing. Food for thought. Her appetite had surely returned. She ate with gusto and was pleasantly surprised when she finished her food. Moira declined dessert but accepted some orange juice. Would have prefered wine but since she was taking pills, she couldn’t mix that with alcohol.

Soon after that Lucas left. On his way out, he kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear, “It’s time to pack up Mr. Rabbit.”

Will the embarrassments never end?

Conrad
locked the door when Lucas left, then came back to her side. He was about to lift her up when he phone started ringing. He went to bring the phone to her and the scowl on his face told her he knew the caller, and it was someone he didn’t like. Moira took the phone and sure enough it was Jeff Myers.

She clicked accept as he lifted her up. “Hallo,” she breathed into the phone.