Stripped (8 page)

“You can sleep here. I have to go back to work, but
I can lock the room and come get you when I’m off,” he said.

“No, I have to go. How long did I sleep?”

“About 30 minutes.”

Abby sighed with exasperation.

“I can’t believe I spent the whole time sleeping,”
she said, pulling her t-shirt back over her head.

“It was nice. Only minimal snoring,” Chris said,
grinning as he wrapped his stethoscope back around his neck. “Hey, I keep
meaning to tell you I’m going to Vegas tomorrow. It’s just Saturday and Sunday.
I meet some friends from college there once a year for a weekend.”

“Have a good time,” Abby said, sliding her coat on.

“I’ll just play poker the whole time.”

He made his way over to her and she pulled her coat
closed, suddenly feeling exposed under his gaze.

Time stilled as he stared at her in the dim light of
the room. He reached around the back of her neck and Abby’s eyes slipped closed
as his lips met hers. His kiss was soft and warm, and her entire body responded
to it. All her fatigue melted away, and she pressed her palm against his chest
to steady herself.

She was dazed as his lips left hers, still feeling
the electricity that had passed between them.

“Abby,” he said softly, resting his forehead on
hers, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I shouldn’t have done that. You just looked so beautiful
standing there, and I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay.”

“I really do have to go, I have patients.”

“Go. I need to get home to bed anyway.”

“I’ll call you later,” he said as they left the
room. Abby felt the eyes of two nurses on her as they walked past the large
desk area of the emergency room. Chris stopped at the desk to read something,
and Abby made her way to the double doors, turning for one more look at him.

He was glancing at her out of the corner of his eye
with a slight smile, and Abby couldn’t help smiling back. She hadn’t kissed
anyone in a long time, and Chris had stirred something in her that she didn’t
remember ever feeling. It was intoxicatingly good, but it also scared her.  

One of her sky-high heels slid to the side, and Abby
knew she was about to land flat on her face. She unconsciously flailed her arms
out to break the fall, but found only empty air. As her body tumbled over, she
only hoped she wouldn’t be injured.

She was stopped in mid-air by a strong arm bracing
her body. She steadied herself against it, exhaling with relief.

“Whoa,” a male voice said. “You okay?”

“Yes, thanks,” she said, regaining her footing. The
man smiled as he pulled his arm away, and Abby saw that he was nice looking.
Not heart-stoppingly sexy like Chris, but attractive. His short dark hair was
tipped with gray and he had smile lines in the corners of his blue eyes.

“Hi, I’m Jake,” he said.

“I’m Nikki. Thanks for the save.”

“Did I just pick you up?” he asked, grinning.
“Sorry, bad joke.”

Abby laughed, seeing that he was feeling shy in her
presence.

“So you work here?” he asked.

“No, I wear nothing but a bra and panties everywhere
I go,” she quipped.

“Nice. Remind me to find out what grocery store you
shop at.”

“Sorry, but I’m due on stage in less than a minute.
I have to go. Thanks again.”

“Hey, do you think … I’m sorry if this is awkward,
but do you think maybe we could get a drink sometime?”

“Oh, um…” She was caught off-guard. Though she
wanted to say no, he had been nice, and she hated to reject him. But given that
Chris Reneau was the only man she thought about in her waking and non-waking
hours anymore, she didn’t want to lead Jake on.

“It’s okay, sorry,” he said.

“No, don’t be. Leave me your number with the
bartender, okay?”

“I will,” he said, brightening. “Thanks.”

“Thank you. I’d be needing an ice pack right now if
it wasn’t for you.”

She flashed him a smile as she headed backstage. She
knew she probably wouldn’t call him, but she felt guilty about even making him
think she might. If Chris took another woman’s number, how would that make her
feel? Though they weren’t in a relationship, she knew she would be hurt. But
she also knew that was irrational.

As her music started and Abby worked her body
against the pole, she remembered that he was in Vegas. For all she knew, he
could be getting a lot more than just phone numbers from other women.

Abby smiled when she saw Chris’ name displayed on
her phone.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey, how are you?”

“I’m good. It’s Saturday --  my sleep in day. How’s
Vegas?”

“The usual. Just lots of drinking and poker.”

“I thought of you last night when I left the club. I
really could have gone for a foot massage.”

“I would’ve liked that, too.”

“You know, I think you’ve done something great for
me,” she said suddenly.

“What’s that?”

“I think you’ve opened me up. There was this guy at
the club last night, and he asked for my number. I’ve never given my number to
anyone at the club. But he seemed nice, and I thought of you, and how I sort of
met you at the club, and you’re completely normal. So I didn’t give him mine,
but I did take his.”

There was silence at the other end of the line.

“Chris? Are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just don’t think that was a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“What kind of a guy picks up dancers at a strip
club?”

“I just thought I’d talk to him.”

“I’ve got to go, I’ll catch you later.”

“Okay.”

Abby stared at the phone in confusion as she hung
up. Was it possible Chris was jealous? That made no sense, because he didn’t
want to date her. But then, they had both been full of mixed signals from the
beginning. She shook her head and rolled over to sleep for a few more minutes
before getting up.

Chris sighed deeply as he rapped on the dark wood
office door. He’d never imagined himself making such a visit.

“Hey, Reneau,” Charlotte said with a quizzical look
as she opened the door. “What’s up?”

She was just over five feet tall, with pale blond
hair and a young face. But Dr. Charlotte Stern, a psychiatrist, was one of the
oldest, wisest souls Chris knew. His best friend had fallen in love with her at
first sight.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked, shifting
uncomfortably.

“Of course. Come in.” She cleared a pile of papers
and books from a recliner and sat down across from him.

“Are you about out of here for the day? It’s almost
six. I don’t want to take up the only time you and Reed have to see each other
before his shift.”

“I’ll be here a while yet, let’s talk. What’s on
your mind, Chris?”

“I met someone.”

Charlotte gave him a slight, encouraging smile.

“Even though we can’t be together, she’s on my mind
constantly,” he continued.

“Why can’t you be together?”

“Because I don’t want to be in a relationship. And
even if I did, Abby’s…she’s a stripper. Please don’t judge, though, Charlotte,
she’s not what you might think.”

“Tell me more. Why does her being a stripper mean
you can’t be together?”

Chris looked at her incredulously, as if it was
obvious.

“I can’t stand the thought of other men getting hard
looking at her and jerking off thinking about her. When I picture her doing a
lap dance on some guy, it makes my stomach clench. If we were together, I
wouldn’t be willing to share her.”

“Let’s back up. Tell me more about her.”

There was a light knock on the door before it swung
open and Reed stuck his head in.

“Hey, babe, let’s get dinner,” he said. “Oh, hey,
Chris, what are you doing here?”

“We’re talking,” Charlotte said.

“Everything okay?” Reed asked.

“You guys get dinner together,” Chris said, rising.
“You hardly see each other.”

“No, sit.” Charlotte’s small voice was commanding.

“It’s fine, I’ve got paperwork anyway,” Reed said.
“Come say bye to me before you leave, Char.”

Chris sighed as Reed closed the door. He wasn’t sure
he wanted to go down this path; to say out loud what he was feeling for Abby.
But Charlotte looked at him expectantly, so he continued.

“Abby’s…like a breath of fresh air. She’s beautiful,
but I’ve known plenty of women I could say that about. I’m very attracted to
her, but it’s not just because of her looks, and I’ve never experienced that.
She’s this confounding mix of fragile and strong. I don’t think she’s ever been
treated well, and I want to show her what it can be like. But I’m afraid to,
because I don’t want to hurt her. I’m averse to commitment, so how far could it
ever go?”

Charlotte just looked at him, waiting for him to
continue. He shifted in the chair and took a deep breath.

“I gave her a massage the other day, and I didn’t
mean to, but I kissed her afterwards. I wish I wouldn’t have, because now I
want more. And then…when I called her from Vegas last weekend, she told me some
asshole asked her out, and it really pissed me off.”

“What about just giving things some time? Seeing
what develops?” Charlotte suggested.

“I don’t know. My voice of reason tells me I need to
stop this now, before anything happens. Abby’s not someone I’m willing to
hurt.”

“Why do you assume it will end with hurt?”

“It always does, Charlotte. Otherwise, why would it
be ending?”

As she lifted her head from the pillow, Abby was
confused by the cloudy grogginess that surrounded her. Had something woken her
up? Ringing. She inhaled sharply, about to jump from her bed and run to her
mother’s room, when she realized it was her phone ringing from a bedside table.
She glanced at the clock – it was almost 2:30 a.m.

“Chris?” she said after seeing his name on the
display.

“Abby. I’m so sorry for waking you up.”

“No, it’s – is everything okay?”

“Yes. It’s great. I just delivered a baby.”

She could feel the joy in his voice.

“A baby? Oh, Chris. That’s amazing. Tell me about
it.”

“I’ve never had to deliver one alone, but the baby
was crowning as the woman’s husband walked her into the ER, and I had to do it
because no one from OB made it down in time. It was amazing.”

“That’s great, Chris. I’m so proud of you.”

“I didn’t do much. It was just neat to be part of
it. They took a picture of me holding the baby in the lobby.”

“You delivered it in the lobby?”

“Yeah, I did. Anyway, I was excited, and I wanted to
tell you. Sorry I woke you up.”

“I’m so glad you did.”   

“How was your day?”

“Good. I finished a big project at work and took the
girls to gymnastics after work.”

Abby heard a commotion from someone yelling in the
background on Chris’ end of the phone.

“I’ve gotta go,” he said. “That’s my drunk patient
you can probably hear.”

“Have a good night.”

“Lunch soon?”

“Sure.”

Abby kicked off her heels as soon as she walked in
the door from work Friday evening. Her Mom was reclined on the sofa, watching
television.

“Did you bring dinner?” Kathy asked, not looking
away from the screen.

“No, I’m ordering pizza,” Abby said, sighing as she
saw the stack of dirty dishes piled in the sink.

“I need some money to get a few things from the
store,” Kathy said.

“I can go to the store tomorrow, just tell me what
you need.”

“I want to go myself.”

“How much money?” Abby asked.

“$100 should be enough.”

“$100? For what?” Abby balked.

“I don’t have to answer to you, Abby,” Kathy
snapped. “Just give me the damn money.”

Abby shook her head and reached into her purse. She
was too tired from only getting a couple hours sleep the night before to argue
with her mother.

“It smells like smoke in here,” Abby said as she
handed over the bills. Kathy said nothing, still staring at the television.
“Mom, you can’t smoke in the house. It’s really bad for Sara’s asthma.”

“I’m a grown woman, I don’t need a lecture from you.
Isn’t it time for you to go sell your body anyway?”