Once More (Mercy Heart #1) (2 page)

“Well, it’s always good to know we’re dealing with a local fella,” Max said, more than a hint of good ol’ boy swagger in his voice as he slapped Clem on the back and barked out a laugh.  Everyone else laughed along, seemingly oblivious to the awkwardness between Clem, Marc, and Katelyn.

“I’m Marc Crawford, the director of the business office here at Mercy Heart,” Marc said as he stepped in front of Katelyn and held out his hand to Clem, who finally broke eye contact with Katelyn and returned Marc’s handshake.  Clem noticeably swallowed, the only outward indication that Marc was perhaps squeezing harder than necessary in an attempt to prove his masculine superiority and mark his territory.

“Marc, it’s a pleasure to meet you.  I look forward to working with you.  With all of you,” he finished quietly, looking over Marc’s shoulder, his eyes fixed on Katelyn once more.  As she and Marc returned to their seats, Clem couldn’t help but notice the way Marc walked with his hand possessively on her lower back, barely above the band of her tight pencil skirt that hugged her curves and showed just the right amount of her gorgeous legs.  Her curly auburn hair was pinned up, with soft tendrils just reaching her green sleeveless blouse that enhanced the emerald color of her eyes.  It boasted a ruffled collar that modestly showcased her beautiful breasts, though Clem didn’t need an unobstructed view of them to remember just how perfect they felt in his hands, and how powerfully she had reacted when he touched them.  She was even more stunning than he remembered.  Marc pulled out her chair and then sat beside her with his arm draped over the back of her chair as he leaned over to whisper in her ear, something that brought a smile to her face.  Clem suspected they were a couple, which affected him more than he had expected it to.  He knew coming here was a risk, but when he heard she was still with Mercy Heart and was the director of nursing, he had to see her again.  Just one of the perks of owning the company that recently signed an $8 million dollar contract with the hospital.   He was surprised to hear she had been promoted to director of nursing from the emergency department, considering how she had looked forward to working with oncology patients the last time he had seen her.  He knew she still used her maiden name, so he had assumed she was single.  Seeing her today without a wedding ring on was a small victory in his book.  But seeing her with this Marc fellow made him curious about the seriousness of their relationship.  Even though seven years had passed, not a day went by that he didn’t think about how they had ended things.  Through the years, he had kept up with her, and when he heard Mercy Heart was in the market for a complete overhaul of their current health information technology systems, he himself underbid the competition by close to $3 million to insure he’d get the contract.  Even after all this time, his heart still belonged only to her, whether she knew it or not, and he’d do just about anything to convince her to give him another chance.

Giving his spiel was like second nature.  Clem was in his element, his confidence in his company perhaps coming off as cocky to some, including a few members of the Mercy Heart IT department, especially Gary Smart, a programmer who didn’t attempt to hide his displeasure with having the homegrown accounting system that he personally designed and maintained replaced.  Gary sat with his arms folded, trying and failing to come across as intimidating.  Clem anticipated few issues with making the change, and his team had already begun preliminary analysis, so far having found only minor discrepancies in the data that could most likely be explained away. 

What is he doing here?
Katelyn was still reeling from seeing Clem again.  The last time she saw him was through her tears in the rearview mirror as she pulled away from his fraternity house.  He had gotten on his knees to beg her forgiveness, but she left him anyway, so hurt by his actions and bowled over by his announcement that he was leaving town.  She had no idea what he had been up to the past seven years, and never in a million years would she have guessed that he was the CEO of a software company, much less a company she’d have to work closely with.  She watched him as he was speaking, his smooth voice having an effect on her that she hadn’t felt in a very long time.  Leading the presentation, he exuded a cool confidence that he had always naturally possessed but had since honed to almost an art form in the time they had been apart.  He kept his hair much shorter now, without a hint of the curl he had when he had kept it long.  His tan was still the same as she had remembered, though his cheeks carried more stubble, like he’d forgotten to pack his razor for the trip into town.  In a black suit that was anything but simple, he oozed confidence and wealth.  Occasionally, Marc would whisper in her ear, but all she could muster was a smile and nod, as her mind was working in overdrive, trying to process this situation.  In order to keep her job, she’d have to get her emotions under control and work with him.  She had no choice.  Avoiding him was going to be impossible.  The implementation was slated to take eighteen months, at least.  Her mind wandered to the past, to when she was almost certain he was the love of her life.  How quickly that changed.  She still thought of him often, wondered how their lives would have been if that night had gone another way, if she’d only taken the risk and made a different choice. 

Chapter 2

7 years earlier

The Arkansas Tree Trail runs straight through campus, and is a favorite escape for many students from the stress between classes.  Katelyn put her things down and sat under a wild black cherry tree.  This particular day was quite warm, so she shed her cardigan and enjoyed feeling the breeze on her arms.  She looked down and noticed just how pale her skin was.  Her mother had always had tan skin, no matter what time of year it was.  Shaking her head to rid herself of the solemn feelings that thoughts of her mother still conjured, she leaned back against the rough, black bark of the tree trunk, gazing up through the long clusters of white flowers that were beginning to form.  In previous years, she always looked forward to summer, when the small fruits that the tree cultivated would ripen. The fruit that fell to the ground had a distinct, inviting scent, similar to that of cherry soda pop.   But this summer, she would not be around campus anymore to enjoy it. 

At the age of 21, Katelyn was closing in on the first objective on her most important to-do list.  In her final semester at the University of Arkansas, the completion of her college degree was within her grasp.  A nursing student, she worked tirelessly at all of her requirements, from critical care clinicals to advanced pharmacology, often scoring high and maintaining a near perfect grade point average.  She was president of the Sigma Tau Theta honor society for nursing students, and most of her friends and classmates were certain she wouldn’t walk away from the annual awards ceremony empty-handed.  Any accolades she might receive would be well deserved. Her hard-work and perseverance did not go unnoticed by her professors or her peers. 

After graduation, she was set to begin her career as a nurse in the oncology unit at Mercy Heart Medical Center.  She volunteered at the hospital on weekends in their Faith in Action program, visiting terminally ill patients, with many of whom she built close friendships, though, sadly, most were brief at best.

As she rested for a moment under the tree, another student was riding his bicycle nearby on the sidewalk.  He appeared to be distracted, texting on his cell phone with one hand while steering with the other.  His groan in agony yanked her out of her peaceful rest.  A branch on the path had brought him down.  When she saw him in trouble, she ran to him to make sure he was not badly injured.  By the time she reached him, he was on all fours, running his hands through the grass, as if he were searching for something. 

“Are you injured?  You really shouldn’t be moving around.  You could have fractured something,” she said, kneeling beside him and evaluating his condition while recalling with an almost photographic memory everything she had learned about triaging a patient in her nurse’s training over the past four years.

“I’m fine, really.  Do you see my cell phone?” the young man said, almost to himself, without much regard for her presence.

She looked around, found the phone behind him, and said, “Here it is.  Now will you let me take a look at you?”

As he took the phone from her hand, his gaze met hers for the first time, and she noticed a small laceration on his right temple just barely visible under his unruly dark hair.

“You are bleeding.  We need to get you over to health services to get checked out.  Can you tell me your name?  Are you feeling queasy?  Did you hit your head very hard?  How is your breathing?  If you could rate your pain on a scale of one to ten, with one being no pain, and ten being unbearable pain, how would you rate it?”  She was very close to him now, holding his wrist to check his heartbeat while following the second hand on her watch.  She then stared deep into his blue eyes, searching for any possible abnormalities in his pupils.

“Whoa, are you pre-med or something?  The name is Clem,” he said, and then he shook his head.  “Really, I am fine.  It was a stupid mistake.  I landed by the stick and it scratched my face.  I did not hit my head.  My pain is a three, at most.  It is mainly my pride that is injured, for doing something so stupid that was witnessed by someone else,” and then, as though he had used the line before, he added with a brash grin, “but you can come to my rescue anytime, gorgeous.”

His compliment took her by surprise, and her serious face dissolved into an embarrassed smile as a blush turned her cheeks a rosy pink.  “Well, at least let me walk with you to health services.  You need to get that cut treated.” 

“Before I go anywhere with you, tell me your name.”  Her gaze met his, but she did not speak.  Her hesitation was unnerving to him.  Surely he wasn’t threatening to her.  He was a computer science nerd, riding around on a bike, and he certainly didn’t think he appeared menacing.  “What?” he said with a laugh, “Are you the only one who can fire off questions?”

Now that the commotion was over, and she was relieved that he was not terribly injured, her eyes locking onto his caused her to lose her concentration for a moment.  Her previous mental note of his blue eyes felt inaccurate, as they were actually an almost perfect combination of blue and green, nearly turquoise. Finally aware that he had asked her name, she replied with a shy smile, “I’m Katelyn.”

She gathered her things, and he picked his bike up, which didn’t appear to be damaged.  As they walked towards the clinic, she found herself taking in a visual of him that was not entirely related to making sure he was unscathed.  Watching his face as he spoke, she noted that he was speaking appropriately without any confusion.  She couldn’t help but notice how handsome his features were, and as her eyes moved down his body to check the rest of his movements, she found her gaze lingering a little too long at his tan biceps, his trim waist, his strong legs and exceptional rear end, which she attributed to his use of a bike as his main form of transportation.  She felt herself blushing for even thinking such things.  She wasn’t the kind of woman who had time for any kind of relationship. She had goals to meet and, while finding love was on the list, it was nowhere near the top.

His phone, or more appropriately, the phone application that was his senior project, had been the cause of his distraction and he was embarrassed that he had wrecked.  He admired the view of her in jeans that more than complimented her curves, and he appreciated the way her breasts filled out her thin, tight t-shirt.  He had to force himself to quit staring at her more than once as they walked.  She had a natural beauty that he found absolutely breathtaking.  Her hair hung in wavy curls around her head and down her back.  Her creamy skin, devoid of almost any makeup that he could tell save for some mascara and lip gloss, was covered in light brown freckles and left him with a strong urge to touch her and feel her softness, though she had ended up on the other side of his bike as they walked, leaving any contact, even a seemingly accidental brush up against each other, out of the question.  He knew he didn’t need to go to the clinic, but he wasn’t ready for this contact with her to end.

“Here is the nurse,” she replied, staring up at him with soft green eyes under long, curled eyelashes.  “You don’t seem to be badly injured.  It probably won’t even take any stitches to fix your laceration.  Just some butterfly bandages.” 

“Thanks for saving me.  I really appreciate it.  Do you live here on campus?” he asked, awkwardly.

Taken aback by his abrupt question, she hesitated and then replied, “No, I have an apartment close to Mercy Heart.  With nursing rounds, I’m there more often than I am on campus.  It’s a great loc—“.

“With your boyfriend?” he interrupted. 
Way to be subtle, asshole.

This seemed like an odd line of questioning, but she would be the first to admit that her interactions with males were limited, this being the longest conversation she’d ever had outside of classwork.  The idea that she had a boyfriend was laughable to her. “Um, no.  Don’t have one of those.  A boyfriend, I mean.”  A nervous giggle bubbled out before she was able to stop it, restraining herself to keep from slapping her hand over her mouth.  “No boyfriend here.”  She closed her eyes, wishing the ground would just swallow her up already.

Damn, she’s adorable.  “Would you like to go to dinner with me?”

Is he serious?  Her eyes flew open. The questioning look on his face seemed genuine, not to mention charming.  “Uh…I’m not sure….I have to study, you know, since finals are coming up,“ she responded reluctantly, though she was taken aback with how strongly she regretted turning down his invitation. 

He was surprised by her decline.  Trying to catch his reflection in the window, he checked his appearance.  Clothes?  Wrinkled but no visible stains.  Complexion?  Pale, but no zits.  Hair?  Eh, he could use a trim.  He needed to get out of the computer lab more often.  He wasn’t the most popular guy on campus, but he certainly didn’t have a problem getting a date.  In his fraternity, there were plenty of opportunities to mingle with the women on campus.  There were enough of them who came to college more interested in pursuing a husband than a degree, and more than a few who were only interested in spending the night in any bed as long as it was in the frat house, but he rarely felt the urge to partake in this activity.  At first it was fun to have the attention, and he took full advantage of having a willing woman whenever he felt the urge, but after awhile, the thrill of the chase was gone.  He wanted to make a girl feel special, wanted to be able to build something real.  All the more reason to stay away from the frat groupies, who were about as fake as they come.  They’d be circling him like chum in the water if they knew he picked a college 1200 miles from home to escape the monotony that came with being a trust fund baby.
 
He was grateful for everything he had been provided, but he wanted to be successful on his own merit, not because of what his parents could influence, and when it was time to meet someone and start a family, he wanted the relationship to be based on love, not money.  “With the way you came to my rescue earlier, I’m sure that you are more than ready for finals.  Besides, everyone has to eat.  Let me take you out, at least to say thank you.”

Why was she so ready to agree to this?  She had gone four years of school without one hint of a disruption to her plans.  It was just dinner, she told herself.  What kind of disruption could it cause?  She was dedicated.  And she was confident in her preparation for finals.

“Okay.  Dinner sounds great,” she replied with a smile.

“Yes,” he said, with a grin that left Katelyn with a warm, tingly feeling that spread throughout her entire body.  “Dinner does sound great.  Pick you up at seven?”