Rock Her (Crimson Romance) (19 page)

“Thanks.” She took the enormous vase from him and set it on the step. Glancing out at the street, across from the delivery van she saw a bright red Mercedes convertible. There was no street parking here since the driveways were big enough to park several cars. She frowned, peering at the windows and watched it roar away, tires squealing.

Was that Dr. Billingsly in the driver’s seat? She stared after the car. It couldn’t be.

“Miss? I need a signature.” The man was holding out a clipboard and pen toward her, expectantly.

“Of course,” she said, absently. “Thanks again.”

Her unease dissipated as she spent a moment studying the arrangement. Three dozen pastel roses, fully opened and incredibly fragrant. Impressive. She hadn’t known roses came in that many colors.

Carrying them inside, she set them on the coffee table. She pulled the small sealed envelope off of its plastic stalk and opened it. Dared she hope?

Damn it. Not Alec then. Billingsly really was nuts if he thought flowers could make up for what he did. And
was
that him in the red Mercedes?

• • •

An hour later, Ava grabbed the bucket of golf balls. Picking out clubs, Kate and Ava chose positions next to each other but far enough away from the other golfers at the driving range that they couldn’t be overheard.

“It was this or the batting cages.” Ava smiled. “I figured you needed to knock the hell out of something.”

Kate gave her a smile. “You know me too well.” Her smile was belied by the vicious swing that sliced the ball down the range.

Ava took her shot with considerably less fury. “Tell me about it.”

“I already told you. He’s an ass. Who left me at a party where I knew no one, two hours from home. How could I be so wrong about somebody?” She swung again, a hook this time.

“So what did the letter say? Specifically.”

Kate shook her head. “He apologized for what happened at the party, for hurting me, losing control, leaving me. All of it. He said everything but, ‘have a nice life.’” She took a dimpled ball out of the bucket and crouched to place it on the Astroturf. Glancing up, she found Ava watching closely.

“What happened at the party?”

Kate shook her head. She wasn’t ready to talk about that. To admit what happened. Even to Ava.

Ava leaned on her club. “Well, at least you finally put yourself out there.”

Kate attempted a smile. “I think you mean, at least I finally put out.”

“Yeah, that too. See what you’ve been missing?”

“It was so much more than the sex, but geez, Ava, the sex was unreal.”

Ava grinned. “Sex is with a good lover is pretty awesome. And I’m sure someone with his experience — ”

“Yeah, but Ava, it was beyond intense. You know what I mean?”

Ava raised her eyebrows “Kate.” She blew out a breath. “The first time you have sex with someone — ”

“Yes, mother? Are you about to tell me you never forget your first time? C’mon.” She raised her eyes skyward. “Can you not be so condescending? You and Alec — ”

Ava’s brow wrinkled. “Alec is condescending about sex?”

“Not anymore.” Kate said, gleefully, knocking her ball of the tee with a powerful, inaccurate swing. “He told me it was the best he ever had.”

Ava coughed to cover a laugh.

Kate smiled over at her. “Yuk it up. I know what you’re thinking. I would’ve thought the same thing. ‘Oh, he probably says that to whoever he’s with.’ I get it. And of course it’s laughable if I say it, right?”

“Well, kinda, Kate. Since you have nothing to compare it to.”

“He told me it was more than great sex. He said it was a cosmic joke that the best sex he ever had was with a virgin,” she said, ducking her head.

Ava froze mid-swing, put her club down and walked three feet.

“He said
what
?” Her voice raised to a shout, only a few inches from Kate’s face.

Kate glanced around. “For Pete’s sake, Ava.” Kate backed up a step.

Ava stared at her in disbelief. “Kate, I’m ready to take back my friendship card. What the hell? He tells you that and you didn’t call me? Like, immediately?”

Kate bit her cheek to keep from laughing. “I told you how great it was,” she said, half-defensive, half-amused.

“Yes, well, he’s very experienced. It’s
supposed
to be good for
you
. I’d be more surprised if it wasn’t. Dude has a major reputation with the ladies and he’s been married twice; he must at least a very good understanding of the highlights of our anatomy … ” she trailed off at the look on Kate’s face.

“Anyway,” Ava hurried on, “did he say anything besides that?”

“Just that I probably thought sex would be that good with anyone. Which I don’t. I mean, you all act like I had no experience with anything. Ava, it’s like the world gets blown apart and then pieced back together, and I don’t usually stay conscious for the second part. I had no idea.”

Ava’s mouth was hanging open.

Kate giggled nervously.

Ava put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Oh, that poor man.”

“
What?
Him? He’s a jerk, remember?”

“Oh, I remember. Thank you for sharing. Now everything is clear.” Ava strode back over to her bucket of balls and started teeing up and firing them off in rapid succession.

It was Kate’s turn to stare. “Well, it’s not clear to me.”

Ava replied airily, “You’re no dim bulb, Kate. You figure it out.” She wacked another white ball.

“You think he has feelings for me?” There it was. Out loud.

“Of course. Now, what happened at that party that you don’t want to tell me?”

Kate swung hard at the ball. All power, no finesse. “The party … ” She trailed off staring into space as she experienced a brief explicit flashback.

Against the door in a locked room of a stranger’s house. Crazy. She shook her head to clear it.

Ava waved a hand. “Hello? Earth to Kate? I don’t think I’ve ever seen that particular expression on your face.”

A wave of heat sweep through her.

Yanking her hair out of her face, she lined up her next shot. “He might have been a little freaked out about … things. But I thought … well.”

“What
things
?”

Kate glanced around, moved two steps closer to Ava and whispered, “We had sex. At the party. Against a door … and … stop
looking
at me like that.”

Ava burst out laughing. “I’m shocked.”

“So was I. I’m still shocked. It was crazy and aggressive and wild. And then he left.” Her throat closed. Tears overflowed and, groaning, she dashed them away. “Two days later, he sent me a box of my things and that stupid letter.”

Ava made a soft sound and reached out to embrace her.

“Methinks we might get banned from the driving range,” Kate said thickly.

“Who cares?” Ava pulled back to look at her best friend and touch her cheek.

“It
hurts
. A lot. The heartache is … shocking.”

“I know.”

“I just don’t understand. How could he leave me? I really wish I could hate him, but I don’t. I just don’t.”

Ava’s voice was gentle. “It sucks to get your heart broken.”

Kate walked out of the patient room, exhausted. She would be off for four days in — she checked the clock over the elevator bank — one hour. Approaching the nurse’s station, her supervisor, Pam, looked up from her charting.

“Kate, I got a call. You need to report to human resources immediately. I’ve heard there have been some issues — ”

“If by issues, you mean Billingsly assaulting me in the supply closet a few nights ago, then yes.”

Pam stared at Kate, open-mouthed.
“What?”

“We were low on linens last week, so I went to get some out of supply. Billingsly cornered me, held me by the hair and kissed me. I told him to stop and screamed for help. The med tech and one of the aides heard me scream and rushed into the closet.” She was almost able to relay the series of events without letting fury creep into her voice. Almost.

Pam rose from her chair. “Did you make a report?”

Kate raised her brows at the older woman. “Of course I did. I was told my reputation had preceded me and I should stop dating rock stars. They’re not going to oust him. He’s their golden boy.”

Pam collapsed into the chair, shaking her head. “Oh no, Kate, no.” She slapped the desk with her palm.

“I’ll say. I was actually scared of him.” Kate shivered. Hadn’t he said the car he was driving the night of their date was a loaner? “Do you know what he drives? I keep seeing this red Mercedes around my place.”

Pam stared at her, nodding. “I’ve seen him in the physicians’ lot. Red Mercedes convertible. Vanity plate.” She snorted. “Heart fixer or fixing hearts or something silly like that.”

The hair on the back of her neck stood up. “F-I-X-N-H-R-T”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

Kate and Pam stared at each other.

What had he said in the supply closet? That he hadn’t seen her with either man in Cielito?

“Kate,” Pam said. “If he’s following you, that’s not good. Like,
really
not good. Forget human resources, you need to go to the police. He could be dangerous.”

“I’ll handle it.”

Pam’s brows came together. “The hospital will keep him, Kate. I’ve been here a long time. They’ll never side with a nurse over someone who brings in so much revenue for this place. It makes me furious. Furious and scared for you, Kate. I’ve heard things about him … mostly that he’s the love ’em and leave ’em type, and a real prick in the operating room. Not this.”

Kate grimaced. “It’ll be interesting to see what they dredge up. I don’t think they’ll let me go today. They need to document a few problems with my performance to make it look legit. I’m pretty sure they’ll wait until later in the week, maybe even after the holiday.”

Pam’s lips twisted.

Kate gave her a one-armed hug.

An hour later, the head of human resources and the nursing administrator brought her in to document work performance issues. Kate watched silently as a nurse manager she had never met carefully jotted down her statements. Had she even had contact with the patient who made the allegation? The human resources manager told her the incriminating letter had only coming to their attention this past week. Of the second issue, they didn’t say much, just that a physician was not satisfied with the care she provided for his patients. Apparently, he didn’t care for her ‘poor attitude’.

Billingsly?

“We’re investigating Ms. Gibson,” the nurse manager said. “That doesn’t mean — ”

Mrs. Simpson, looking over her glasses, interrupted. “Be sure to sign the last document in the pile, Ms. Gibson. It doesn’t mean you agree with the information, just that you’ve been counseled.” She waved her pen. “Then you’re free to go.”

Minutes later, Kate sat in her car in the parking lot. Furious, but dry-eyed, she turned the car on and started home.

Running was the very last thing she wanted to do after the encounter with those women this morning, but the stress was starting to eat at her. Sighing, she pulled out her running gear. A run would burn off some of her anger and anxiety, maybe even make her tired enough to sleep.

Should she quit? Quitting felt like failure. Billingsly and the hospital were bullying her. Giving in to bullies went against the grain. Then again, most job applications had an “ever been fired or asked to leave” checkbox. She refused to spend the rest of her career being less eligible for employment.

She covered her face with her hands. She couldn’t risk being fired. There was too much at stake. She was barely making ends meet now. Without a steady income, she wouldn’t be able to pay Emma’s bills, let alone her own.

Then there was Alec. He’d made it clear they were over. Pulling on her running shorts, she bent to tie her shoelaces. Her cell rang. Emma’s ringtone.

“Emma.”

The voice on the other end was dull with pain and choked with tears and barely above a whisper, but she heard her name.

“Honey, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Panic and fear filled Kate.

“Kate. H … how could you?” Emma asked.

“What, honey?” She knew Emma well enough to know this degree of emotional response could be caused by anything from a break-up to a lousy grade.

“He … he didn’t even know about me.” The crying turned into sobbing.

A chill of foreboding swept through Kate.

“Who?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Dad!” she screamed. “He didn’t even know about me until he saw me on television and you knew. You knew!”

“Emma. It’s not … ” It’s not what? She wasn’t prepared to have this conversation. What lies should she tell next?

“It’s not what? And Mom.” Kate could barely make out Emma’s words through the sobs.

Kate’s gut clenched.

“Mom left him off of my birth certificate?”

Kate closed her eyes and rubbed a hand over her face. “It’s complicated, Em.”

“You’re a liar!” she shrieked. “I can’t believe you kept me from my own Dad. What is wrong with you? What was wrong with our mother?”

“Emma. Calm down. It’s not what it seems.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s all you have to say? Screw you!”

“Emma! We were trying to protect you.”
What a disaster
.

“Protect me?” she screeched. “By keeping me a secret from my own father for eighteen years?”

The dam burst, Kate’s control fled. “
Yes!
He’s an asshole. Worse than that, he’s dangerous, a criminal.”

“I don’t believe you. I don’t believe anything you have to say. You’re mean and … and … hateful. How could you, Kate? How could you and Mom do this to me?” The sobs had subsided. Her tone was coldly furious. This was an Emma she was unfamiliar with.

Kate took a deep breath. Her heart ached. “I’m sorry, Emma, I love you. I was … we were, trying to protect you from a — ”

Emma interrupted coldly. “That’s bullshit. You don’t keep someone secret from their own father for eighteen years. That’s … that’s … . I don’t even know you, Kate. You’re a control freak. You had to be the one in charge of the insurance money. The money, the money. I swear it’s all you care about. You didn’t want Dad to take care of me.”