Bad Karma (34 page)

Sky released the child to his mother and held the door of the exam room open for them to leave. She stripped off her latex gloves, tossing them in the trash can. “I feel like I’ve been wrestling an alligator.”

“
More like The Tasmanian Terror.” Rick followed suit and they both scrubbed their hands in the sink. “Want some coffee before the next onslaught?”

“
Sure.” She reached for the door as a timid knock sounded. She opened it to a tall, slim man with a pony tail and two small silver hoops in his left earlobe.

“
Trash?” He pointed to the waste receptacles in the corner of the room.

“
Sky, this is Hank. He’s the new custodian on days.”

Hank lifted his brown eyes from the spot on the floor where he’d been staring. “You want me to mop, Doctor Rick?”

“
Sure, Hank,” Rick said. “We’re going to take a quick break.”

Hank nodded and stepped aside for them to exit before dragging a rolling bucket of disinfectant-smelling mop water into the exam room.

“
He’s new?” Sky asked.

“
Started on your days off. Much better than the last guy. He actually makes rounds and cleans the entire room, instead of just emptying the trash.”

Sky nodded, the tendons in back of her neck feeling tight. “They run a security check on all new hires, don’t they?”

“
Every single one. They checked you out too, ran your license and made sure you were a citizen. You can’t work in this hospital with a criminal record.”

Shy massaged the back of her neck. “That’s a relief.”

They crossed the waiting room where the television was tuned to the news channel. The grinning weather man pointed to an area south of the Florida coast, warning of a new tropical storm gathering in the Gulf.

Sky stopped, staring at the swirling mass on the screen. A little tingling started at the base of her spine. “What does that mean?”

“
Too far away to bother us,” Rick said. “It may not amount to anything. Florida is going to get wet though and probably Cuba.”

Sky gave him a little smile. “I’m new to all this coastal living. Let me know when I should get worried.”

“
Hurricane season just started, but so far, the storms have been in the Atlantic this year. Maybe we’ll be lucky this time.”

~*~

Cassie had thanked Javier’s mother for the breakfast and received a kiss on the cheek and a warm embrace in return.

A fleeting thought did cross her mind about aliens possibly having abducted the real Selena Rios and leaving a pleasant clone in her place.

They drove away, with Javier behind the wheel. He was wearing a knit shirt with an open collar. Broad stripes emphasized his wide chest and the muscles under it.

She glanced at his bandaged arm as he reached for the gear shift. “Are you sure you can drive?”

Javier shot her a big grin and reached across to squeeze her thigh. “I think you like driving this truck.”

Cassie had to admit it was fun to roar around town, sitting high above other vehicles in a blazing red truck...in Javi’s truck.

“
It’s all right,” she admitted.

He pulled up in front of his new address, and made her use her key to open his apartment. “See how easy that was? You can use it anytime.” He swung the door wide open and she stepped inside the empty space.

They hung his clothes in the bedroom closet. “See, there’s lots of room left for your clothes.”

“
Javi, I only have three things on hangers.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll fix that. Pretty girls need pretty things.”

“
I’m fine,” she said. “I have a church dress and a date dress, some shorts and jeans and a few tops.”

Javier stretched out on the freshly shampooed carpet under the ceiling fan and reached for her.

Cassie grinned down at him. “How come you always seem to be inviting me to lay down with you?”

“
Don’t ask me that, because I just might tell you.” The look he gave her caused a squeezing sensation in her gut. “Don’t worry, Cassie. You’re not going to lose your cherry today. Come on down here.”

She groaned and sank to her knees beside him, but he pulled her down on top of him, wrapping his arms around her.

“
It feels good to be able to hold you with both arms.”

“
Don’t strain your stitches,” she growled, narrowing her eyes in warning. She pulled away to glare down at him.

“
Then make it easy on me. Submit to my will.”

She snorted. “Yeah, right. I’m not known for being submissive.”

His dark eyes flitted from her eyes to her mouth. “Then you can be aggressive. I’m going to lay here and let you kiss me. Come and show me how your lips can set me on fire.”

Cassie bit her lower lip, gazing down at Javi. The longing in his eyes stirred something inside her, like setting a match to dry kindling. Slowly, she leaned down to touch her lips to his. She brushed her slightly parted mouth over his, again and again until a growl of protest roiled up from his chest.

“
Baby, you’re torturing me.”

“
Hush! You asked to be tortured.” She touched the tip of her tongue to his lower lip, delighting as his mouth spread into a wide grin. “Close your eyes.”

He laughed and pressed his thick fringe of black lashes together.

Cassie straddled his waist and held his face with both hands, caressing his high cheekbones, the dark shadow of beard showing under his skin. She lowered her lips to his, entering his mouth cautiously. His tongue stroked hers and she felt his broad chest heave as his breathing quickened. The warmth of his hard belly between her legs fanned the flames of her desire.

She arched her back, rubbing her breasts against him. She felt strangely empowered, with Javi lying motionless beneath her. Almost motionless.

Cassie lifted his shirt, running her fingertips over the sun-tanned rack of six-pack abs. Trailing her short nails upward, she touched one of his nipples, grinning in satisfaction as it drew taut.

She lowered her head and touched his nipple with the tip of her tongue, drawing a circle and then taking it in her mouth.

“
Oh, baby, baby,” he whispered. “You’re killing me.”

She grazed her lips over his chest, taking a little nip of skin between her teeth. “I could stop.”

“
No,” he groaned. “Please kill me.” His hands caressed her thighs before sliding to cup her rear.

She giggled as Javi opened his eyes and rolled up to a sitting position, pulling his shirt off over his head. He pressed her against his erection, and skewering her with his eyes. Holding her close, he delivered a deep kiss, embracing her with both arms.

Cassie felt a rush of moisture as he pressed her crotch against what felt like a tree trunk growing in his jeans.

He spoke close to her ear. “You remember what I said about you not losing your cherry today? I had my fingers crossed.”

“
Javi!”

He slipped her knit top off and flipped her bra catch open, letting it slide down her arms and onto the carpet. Javier’s palm caressed her breast, his thumb gently tracing little circles around her nipple.

The little circles spiralled through her midsection, constricting her airway, clutching her gut.

He rolled her onto her back and spread her hair out in a circle around her head. He trailed kisses down from her neck to her breast, taking her nipples into his mouth and suckling them each in turn.

Cassie couldn’t catch her breath. Her pulses throbbed in her ears. Was she really going to be deflowered on the floor of Javi’s empty bedroom?

Javier trailed his tongue down to her ribs and then he pulled away, crouching over her.

“
What are you doing?” she asked.

“
I’m trying to do the right thing,” he said, breathing heavily. He flashed a rueful grin. “But at least I got my DNA all over you. I’m marking my property.”

She grinned up at him. “You’re saying that I’m your property?”

“
You’re damned right you are!”

Cassie laughed. “And what does that mean? You’ve given me a key to your apartment and invited me to use it.”

“
Baby, you’re looking at your future husband. You better get used to the idea, because I’m in your life to stay.”

“
Javier Rios! Is that your idea of a proposal?”

“
No, baby girl, I’m just giving you fair warning. I will marry you in the very near future.”

She narrowed her gaze, feigned a pout. “Not romantic.”

His dark eyes twinkled. “You want romance?”

“
If you’re going to be my husband, I expect a proposal that I can tell our children about and not that you ordered me to marry you while we were both half-naked on the floor.”

His look softened. He rubbed the side of her face with his thumb. “When I officially propose to you, I promise that it will be memorable and very romantic.”

Cassie grinned and drew his head down to kiss him again.

He took a deep breath and scrambled off her, sitting with his knees drawn up.

“
What’s wrong?” She put her hand on his shoulder.

“
Baby, right now my jeans are fitting way too tight. Sit real still for a few minutes while I think about train wrecks and other sad things.”

Silently, Cassie slipped back into her bra and top, willing her pulse rate to return to normal.

In a short time, he blew out a deep breath. “Okay, then. Come and help me pick out some furniture for our future first place."

~*~

“
Rick! Can you help me, please?” Sky pulled back the cubicle curtain, looking for the doctor.

“
Um, he stepped outside.”

Sky whirled around.

Hank stood on an aluminium ladder replacing a fluorescent tube in the light fixture.

“
He left?” Sky fought to keep the panic off her face.

“
He’s in the ambulance bay with the orderly. They’re working on someone the EMS just brought in. Is there a problem?” Hank climbed down from the ladder and stood, looking on her.

“
I, I need the doctor. My patient is in atrial fibrillation. He’s having arrhythmia. I need Rick.”

Hank set the ladder flat against the wall and ran outside only to return a few seconds later. “He can’t come now. Can I help you?”

Sky looked at him doubtfully. “Maybe you can help me get him onto his back.” She turned back to the cubicle and stepped through the curtain.

The patient was an obese man with a ruddy complexion. He slumped over in an armchair, gasping for breath.

Hank stepped in front of her and lifted the man onto his shoulder and unrolled him onto the examining table. His brown eyes held hers. “What else do you need?”