Chapter 18 Carter #2
She looked at her watch, her twenty-first birthday present from her parents. “About twenty minutes, why?”
“Come with me. I’ll make you a proper brew.” I stood up and headed off, forgetting that I’d meant to grab a sandwich.
Rose followed me slowly, ten or so footsteps behind me as I made my way to my office, recently handed over to me by a doctor who hadn’t been the cleanest. I’d managed to disinfect it myself, going through several pairs of gloves when emptying out his cupboards.
“This is yours?”
“Kind of. Drop the blinds.” I flicked the kettle on which I’d filled earlier and not had time afterwards to make use of it.
“Carter.” It was a warning, but she dropped the blinds.
I closed the door. “Come here.” I gestured to her to come closer, sitting on the edge of the empty desk.
She took a few steps closer.
“I can’t wait to find out what it’s like to kiss you and not have to stop.” She was closer enough for me to thread my fingers through her hair and twist round the tendrils. “Is that something you want?”
“I think – yes.” She unfolded her arms and something in her eyes changed. “But I’m scared I’ll lose myself.”
I nodded, understanding what she meant. “I wouldn’t let you lose yourself in me. I like to know where to find you.”
She surprised me, closing the rest of the space between us and putting her arms around me, her mouth on mine.
I wrapped my arms around her, aware that we were at work and the door was unlocked, but this was an out of the way part of the hospital and it was unlikely we’d be disturbed unless my pager went off.
I explored her mouth, toying with her lips, keeping it slow, my hands on her ass and pulling her closer between my legs, one of my hands slipping under her doctor’s coat and under her top, teasing both of us.
I heard her breath catch in her throat, her hands at the buckle of my belt, paused there.
I ended the kiss because there was a line I wasn’t going to cross at work and I wanted to give us plenty of notice before we got there.
The kettle had boiled, the low rumbling from it filling the room. “Do you find me attractive then?”
I knew the answer. Her face was flushed, the nipple under my hand hard.
“Yes. Even though I’ve helped you do your washing when you were seventeen.” She clutched at my shirt and laughed. “And tried to teach you about Shakespeare’s sonnets when you were doing A Levels.”
“Which were all about sex and I had a pretty girl in my bedroom talking about these old poets shagging women they weren’t meant to and all I could think about was doing those things to you.”
Her eyes widened. “I didn’t think you saw me like that.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t the case. Did that kiss make you wet?”
Her eyes went even wider.
“Rose, did that kiss make you wet?” I smiled, amused at having to repeat the words.
She looked even more flushed, but not uncomfortable. “Yes. I’ll need to use the bathroom before my next appointment.”
“To do what?”
Her lips curved up in a smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Rosie.” My tone was low, needy.
She shook her head. “Two can play at this game.”
I gave a nod. “You still think we’ll be incompatible?”
“Not at all.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you later. You can sort me a drink then.”
I was at the Working Men’s Club before Rose, getting there with two of the other surgeons I’d known for a few years, all of us training at a similar time.
Dave and Stew were both in long term relationships, Dave on the exit of his while Stew had his first baby on the way.
It wasn’t exactly a glamorous night out, although we’d been told the club had been decked out like a Las Vegas casino, which meant a quick pint in the nearby pub had been a pre-requisite to help us brace ourselves.
I’d said no to the whisky chaser, not wanting to be in a state where I missed any of Rose’s tells.
“So you’re finally making a play for her? ‘Bout time.” Stew said. I’d given them a brief outline of what was happening, including the wedding to Laurie. They’d both agreed to come to the ceremony as I needed a couple of people there. Fallon was also attending, and that would be enough people.
“Yep. If she doesn’t start to panic.” I knew Rose and panic would be one phase of everything, until she put her therapist’s hat on and worked with herself.
Stew nodded. “I’m only surprised it’s taken this long. I mean, she’s hardly unattractive. I always thought you’d have gotten together before you went to New York.”
“Really?” I frowned. “Why?”
“The way you looked at each other and how you used to head off into dark corners to talk. I didn’t think you were actually talking and I was hoping for your sake it was more than that because she cock-blocked you plenty of times.” He shrugged, as if everyone had known this.
“We were talking.” But maybe not tonight.
I was restless, thinking about Rose, wishing I didn’t need to go through with the wedding to Laurie. I wanted to do something that would tell her I thought of her as mine.
If she wanted it.
She came through the doors with Fallon, dressed in tight dark blue jeans that made her legs look like they went on forever, a floaty white top that clung to the swell of her breasts, her hair wild around her shoulders.
She was laughing and looking around the room, her eyes landing on me and her body language changed immediately, her self-awareness increasing.
Fallon elbowed her, looking at me too, and said something that made Rose laugh. I caught Rose’s eyes, the crowd of people in the room growing as more finished their shifts.
“Come over here,” I mouthed, wondering how she’d respond.
She shook her head, following Fallon to the bar, so I left Stew and Dave and headed to her.
Fallon was already talking to a new surgeon from the cardiology ward, and I wondered if she’d made the appointment she’d promised.
“She’s dumped me already.” Rose looked at me and shook her head. “She wasn’t going to come because some bloke she’s been seeing was in town, but for some reason she changed her mind.”
“It’s Fallon. Unpredictable.” I put my hand on her back as I leaned down to kiss her cheek. “What drink do you want?”
She smiled, trying not to laugh. “Guess.”
“Rum and coke.” It’d been her choice of drink when she was eighteen.
“Go for it. Thank you.”
I ordered two from the bartender who didn’t look old enough to be serving alcohol, and passed one to her. “How did the rest of your shift go?”
“Well. Nothing difficult today. How was yours?”
“I had the medical students doing a round with me, so tortuous. I was never as slow as they were at that stage.”
“That’s arrogance. You probably were, you were just blinded by the idea of your own brilliance.” She tapped my chest.
“You look amazing.” I forgot the insult. “Those jeans would be a nightmare to peel off though.”
“Head out of the gutter.” She tapped my chest again. “Did you get Anne-Marie a present?”
“I contributed to the collection. It’s probably as much as her retirement pot.” Those who weren’t attending donated generously and made sure to sign the card so Anne-Marie didn’t facilitate some horrific revenge in the weeks to come.
“You smell good.”
“I taste better.”
That made her laugh, at me rather than with me though. “That’s ridiculously corny.”
“True though.” I kept my hand on her lower back, not caring if anyone noticed it or not. No one apart from her, Fallon, Stew and Dave knew about the wedding with Laurie, and no one else would ever find out.
We mingled, I caught up with a couple of people I hadn’t seen since before I’d gone to America, but all the while aware of where Rose was and what she was doing.
Ten o’clock arrived, and I’d had enough of the Las Vegas theme night, with Sandra and Jane from obs and gynae having had enough cheap prosecco to think they were showgirls, dancing on the tables and doing what they could to elicit tips off any of the men with some form of dancing that had never been categorised before, but was being widely filmed.
Rose had slipped off to the bathrooms, so I decided to find her there and see if she wanted to head somewhere for a quiet drink. Fallon and the cardiologist had been talking for most of the evening, and I doubted they were going to finish any time soon.
Rose saw me before I saw her, a hand resting on my back and then I caught the scent of her perfume, the same one she’d been wearing since she was nineteen.
“I feel like I’ve acquired a stalker this evening.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because every time I’ve seen you, you’ve been watching me.”
I shrugged, not really having an answer for that, because I had. “Want to go somewhere quieter?”
“Yes, I think I’m done. How about yours? I haven’t been there for years.” She tipped her head on one side to survey me. “You’re surprised I said that? I mean, I could do with something to eat, and we could go to mine, but Harriet’s finishing her packing so - ”
“Mine’s fine. There’s no one there. I thought you’d have preferred to go to a bar or a restaurant.” Somewhere public.
“I think I’m done with tons of people for today.” She stilled, reading my face to see if I understood what she was saying.
“Really?”
“Let’s order a pizza at yours. Like the old days.” She patted my arm in a manner that was anything but sexy.
I raised my brows, wondering if she’d read my confusion.
“What are you thinking the night will involve?”
“Me making you flustered again.” It was dark enough and people had drunk enough for me to risk pulling her closer, keeping my hands on her hips, and then stole a kiss while we were still in the shadows, wondering what this feeling was because it was new.
“We’ll see. You’ll be more flustered than me. Tube or cab?”