Chapter 3
Natasha
Holy crap, Margaret, why did she have to come now of all times? We are both wet, overheated and out of breath, it is blatantly obvious what we have been doing. I wanted Joshua to myself for a few tender moments. She bloody ruins everything.
He breaks into a full-blown smile as his eyes drop to my lips.
His two hands clasp my face to pull my head back to give him greater access to my neck.
“Shall I invite her in to watch round two?” he whispers as he slowly pumps his hips into mine, his open mouth skimming the length of my neck down to my shoulder blade.
I widen my eyes and slap him on the chest.
“Stop it, you idiot. She’s going to go ape.” He bends and kisses me slowly as if we have all the time in the world.
“Let her, I’m done with what people think. I only care what you think.” He smirks.
I smile shyly at him and pull back to look at his face. “Well, I love you, Mr. Stanton, that’s what I think.”
His face mirrors mine. “That’s all I need to be happy. My mother can go to hell on her broomstick for all I care.” I bite my bottom lip to stifle my smile at the thought of her on a broom stick. That analogy is so very fitting.
“Joshua, stop it,” I scowl. “This isn’t a joke.”
Knock, knock, knock.… “Joshua,” she calls.
“In a minute, Mum, I’m showering with Natasha.” My mouth drops open in shock and I hold my hands over my eyes.
“Sshh, shut up,” I whisper as I shake my hands in a nervous gesture. “Stop it. She’s going to go crazy.”
He smiles a full beaming smile and raises his eyebrows at me. “I told you I don’t care anymore; she can like it or lump it.” I jump out of the shower and start drying myself double time.
“She’s going to lump it.… you know that.
” He turns off the shower and starts to dry himself.
He stands still while I hurriedly dress.
I quickly brush my hair and exit the bathroom.
This is just so uncomfortable, what must I look like?
He’s in the hospital, for Pete’s sake. I walk out into the room to find Cameron sitting on the bed smirking at me.
“Really…hospital sex?” He raises an eyebrow in question. I screw my face up in embarrassment and turn to see Joshua saunter out of the bathroom in a towel, proud as punch. My stomach drops. God, this looks bad.
Cameron shakes his head at Joshua. “You look,” he smirks as he raises an eyebrow, “better.”
Joshua smiles at him as his eyes flick to me, “Yes, I’m feeling much better, thank you.” Please, earth, swallow me up, I’m like a hospital sex stalker taking advantage of the sick. “Where’s Mother?” Joshua asks.
Cameron smiles. “Your little ‘I’m showering with Natasha comment’ scared her off.”
I put my head into my hands. “Oh God, Josh, you’re making it worse. She hates me enough.” I pull a worried face at Cam.
Joshua saunters over and embraces me from behind. “Presh, let me take care of my mother.” He kisses my cheek over my shoulder. “I told you I’m done with her making me feel guilty for loving you. Hasn’t this last two months shown you to not worry about anyone but me?”
Cameron interjects. “And me.… and Adrian,” he winks.
I smile warmly at him. In all honesty, they’re the only three people worth worrying about on his side anyway.
“I will handle my mother and if she can’t handle us being together then,” he shrugs his shoulders, “I don’t know what role she will have in my life.”
I shake my head and pull away from him. “Joshua, you are not fighting with your mother over me. I will not let you cut her out of your life. She deserves more respect. You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for her. I will try to make this right and stop
… all this nonsense. But I need you to stop antagonizing her.
You’re just making it harder for me.” He smiles and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before he walks over to his drawer of belongings, he pulls out some clothes and starts to dress.
“Can we talk about this later, please?” I ask as my eyes flick to Cameron and I notice he is in a white coat.
“Oh my God Cam, you’re in your doctor’s get up.
Is this the hospital you work at?” He nods and smiles as he looks down at his coat.
“Yeah, I start at ten,” he replies.
I hunch my shoulders up like a little kid. “Ohh, this is so exciting.” I bound over to give him a cuddle and he laughs out loud.
“Shit, I’m getting a photo.” I run to my bag and get my phone and turn to see a proud as punch Cameron. Probably nobody took a photo of him on his first day. I start to click away. “I’ll send this one to the girls, so try to look hot,” I smile.
“That won’t be hard, I am hot,” he replies.
Joshua rolls his eyes. “Yeah, smoking.” I smirk at Joshua who is now sitting on the bed watching the photo shoot.
“Tash, I have an idea. Why don’t you go and find a nurse’s outfit and then let me take some photos of you looking hot,” Joshua whispers.
I fake scowl at him and shake my head.
“Cam, where’s Murph?” Joshua’s eyes flick to Cameron.
Cameron frowns, “I don’t think he is coming until later. The press have gotten a hold of your overdose and the office is swamped with reporters.”
Margaret enters the room. “Joshua,” she runs to him and breaks into tears and I know the fun conversations are over.
This is about to get heavy. “You could have died. What were you thinking, you stupid boy?” She nervously smiles at me and I fake a smile in return.
They embrace as she cries. “I thought I was going to lose you. Don’t ever put me through that again.
You have no idea how terrifying the flight was, not knowing if you were going to be alive when I got off at the other end. ”
“Sorry, it was an accident. I didn’t mean it,” he replies.
She pulls back from the embrace. “Why were you taking cocaine, Joshua?”
Joshua hangs his head. “I don’t know.”
“Dear God, Cameron, do you take cocaine?” she stammers as her eyes flick to him.
“No, Joshua has never done it before either. It was a one-off thing. It just got out of hand,” Cameron sighs.
Mmm, even I can see he is lying. What the hell?
Cameron too. This partying lifestyle is coming to a stop right now for the both of them.
Cameron is now a doctor, for heaven’s sake, and Joshua is a frigging millionaire.
This is just ridiculous. My mind flicks back to that asshole Carson.
I hate him even more now if that’s possible.
I give a weak smile. “I will give you some privacy and get some coffee. I will be back later.”
Joshua looks at me and frowns. “Ben can get you that. You are not leaving the room every time my mother enters it. I thought we were in this together.” His eyes challenge me.
Shit, I swallow uncomfortably. “We are but.… Josh, spend some alone time with your mother. I want to go and see Max and ring the girls anyway.” He holds out his hand for me and my eyes flick nervously to Margaret who is watching me attentively.
“Natasha, dear, we need to talk,” Margaret says quietly. I bite my bottom lip and look at the ground. I so don’t want to talk to this bitch, I despise her.… every damn thing about her, and now I know she is a lying adulterer, I hate her even more if that’s possible.
Joshua picks up my hand and kisses the back of it as his eyes plead with me to make peace with his mother.
I give a resigned smile. “Yes, okay, I will make some calls and be back in about fifteen minutes.” Joshua smiles warmly and kisses my hand again. “Take Max with you, baby. I don’t want you walking around here on your own.” I roll my eyes, Cam smiles and pulls me into a headlock.
“Come on, Marx, I will show you the hot nurses on level four.” I pull a disgusted face. “Jeez, I can’t wait.”
An hour later I am in the lounge area talking to Max. “So, have you called Holly?”
He smiles. “Yes, but she worked last night and now it’s the middle of the night there, so I have just left her a message for when she wakes up.
” I nod. Max has met an Australian woman and is really quite smitten with her.
She is thirty-four and widowed with two kids.
She lives in the building next to mine. They would speak when they ran into each other in the front yard and it went from there.
I have met her, and she seems nice and very attractive.
She’s a radiologist at the hospital and does shift work.
I hope it works out for him. His first wife left him because he worked too much.
He came home one day, and the house was wiped out with a note saying she had met someone else.
Poor guy, he says she was obviously the wrong woman anyway if that’s how she respected marriage.
I can’t imagine how horrific that would be.
We have actually become quite good… I don’t know what you would call it…
friends maybe. He’s cranky but honest with a dry sense of humor and I hate to admit it but I kind of like having him around.
If the truth be known I would have told Max to return to America weeks ago if it wasn’t for this little romance, he has going on.
I figure Joshua has the money to pay him so why not stretch it out and see where it goes.
It is weighing heavily on my mind now though, because I will obviously be moving back here.
“How are things going?” Max asks as we walk up the corridor to the room together.
I hunch my shoulders like a little kid. “Pretty good, I feel like we haven’t been apart.”
“And that’s good?” He smiles.
I smile and widen my eyes. “Yes, that’s very good.” He nods his crooked smile.