Sweet Salvation (34 page)

“That means so much, Jared.” Her hands came up, cupping his beloved face, the pad of one thumb tracing over his full lips. “I admit I was hurt when you asked for her help.”

“I stepped on your toes. Marc pointed that out. Our last administrator welcomed consultants and outside auditors, even asked for them. Out of habit, or complacency, I didn’t even think to ask how you felt about that. In the future, if you feel like I’m encroaching on your authority and areas of expertise, I want you to speak up, get my attention, smack me upside the head, or something. We want a strong manager so Marc, Ben, and I can focus on patient care.” He turned his head and pressed his lips into her hand. “I don’t even pretend to understand all the business and accounting rules, and you know I don’t want to, so I promise to leave that in your very capable, very sexy hands.”

“Smack you upside the head?” she asked, grinning.

“You should try your oral skills first, of course.”

She snorted at that.

“Sorry, poor choice of words. Although you do have exemplary oral skills. Next time, gives me a heads up.” He grimaced as soon as those words were spoken. “Uh, that didn’t sound good either, did it? I think I’ll just shut up now.”

Seeing him flustered was rather refreshing, and adorable. That word in reference to her big bad dominant fiancé was so absurd that she snickered, which soon turned into a great big belly laugh.

He looked down at her with a raised brow and a sexy smile on his lips. “If you’re about done, how about we go home and crack open that bottle of champagne?”

“Good idea—”

A crash from the hallway startled her speechless. Their eyes met, internal alarm bells going off. Jared was still buried inside her. If someone walked in on them, Stacy could just imagine the gossip. It would be brutal. The door knob rattled and they both turned their heads, holding their breath. It rattled again a moment later, followed by grumbling and footsteps walking away.

Waiting silently, afraid to breathe, they watched the door. Seconds ticked by and when the footsteps didn’t return, they exhaled in unison.

“The cleaning crew,” Stacy whispered, “they start at nine o’clock.”

Jared pulled out and helped her to her feet. He considerately wiped the trickle of fluids from her thighs with her panties, although that left her with nothing to put on. She frowned at him and held out her hand. With a naughty grin, he shook his head and stuffed them in his jacket, the devil.

“A souvenir of your triumph, baby.”

“And the christening of the conference room.”

They laughed, shushing each other to be quiet, giggling like silly teenagers as they straightened and buttoned, smoothed and zipped. Stacy finger-combed her hair and re-pinned her bun as Jared crawled under the table to retrieve the shoe that had somehow ended up underneath. The whirr of a vacuum down the hall had them hurrying toward the door. Before unlocking it, Jared pulled her close. His head dipped as he claimed her mouth once again, before whisking her down the hall unseen, each wearing identical goofy grins.

Jessie was lying on the couch, a big fire roaring in the fireplace, but she was virtually surrounded by snow. The living room in Marc’s ridiculously expensive home was glass on three sides and extended out into the back yard like a solarium. Beyond the gently sloped, snow-covered yard was a gazebo that overlooked a breathtaking view of Cass Lake.

She loved this room. In fact, she loved the entire house, although it was much too big for just the two of them. Compared to the small house she grew up in, the single-wide trailer she’d called home as a teen, and the two-bedroom condo that she’d just recently moved from, the place was a mansion. There were impressive two-story windows at the front of the house that let in tons of natural light and made the limestone flooring in the entryway gleam. She thought limestone was the white powdery residue on her stainless steel fixtures. Who knew they made floors of the stuff? And the floors, they were heated, of all things. All of them were, including the beautiful butterscotch-colored hardwood in the main rooms and the ceramic tile in the bathrooms. She had no idea heating floors was even possible. There were also skylights, wrought-iron staircases (yes, more than one), two fireplaces, two Jacuzzis, a high-tech security system that had taken her forever to learn to use, granite countertops, high-end appliances, and a rainforest shower in the master suite that she and Marc had put to use often.

It was like living in a resort and, unlike Stacy’s nightmare, was beautifully decorated in neutrals and relaxing earth tones. There was a splash of color with a well-placed rug here and a colorful wall hanging there, but overall, it was tastefully done and she wouldn’t change a thing except that it was just too darn big.

She remembered asking if he planned to fill all six bedrooms with kids. His eyes had gleamed merrily as he’d teased, and said no, but wouldn’t they have fun trying. He’d then said he loved kids and would like to have four, but would settle for two. Picturing tall black-haired, brown-eyed sons and at least one blue-eyed girl—she had to contribute somehow—made her feel warm and glowing inside.

The garage door closing followed by a deep voice calling ‘Jessica Lynn’ got her immediate attention. He only called her Jessica or worse, Jessica Lynn when he was really ticked off, which was getting more often lately. Marc had a long fuse that burned slowly, but when ignited, his Italian temper flared into an inferno. Jessica Lynn meant she was likely in trouble.

“I’m in the living room, handsome.”

She was standing by the time he’d turned the corner and came to a stop, hands on hips, a look of extreme displeasure on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I had a nice talk with Gwen Hendricks today.”

Uh-oh, Gwen was the director of nursing at the hospital. She’d never had the talk with her about her schedule.

“I see from your expression that you know what’s coming. You never talked to her. She had no idea what I was talking about when I asked her when you were starting back on your old rotation. What the hell, Jessie?”

“She was out of town and then there was that mock survey, one thing led to another and it kind of slipped my mind.”

“It slipped your mind? I cannot believe you. Not three weeks ago, I spanked you for this exact thing. Has that slipped your mind too?”

“No, but I—”

“Let me finish.”

She found his interruption incredibly rude, but in his state, she didn’t dare risk angering him further by calling him on it.

“I told you to talk to your boss that day, but you didn’t. I asked you to contact HR and come up with a coverage plan for your floor, which you also failed to do. I specifically told you no extra shifts without talking to me first, which you blatantly disregarded. Why, Jessie?”

“I had every intention of doing those things, but one thing came up, then another. I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it first thing on Monday.”

“Too late.”

“What?” A feeling of dread passed over her and goose bumps broke out on her arms. She knew she wasn’t going to like what was coming next.

“I told you that day that it was either go back to the schedule we agreed on or you work for me. Since you didn’t do anything about the situation, I did. I told Gwen that you’d be coming to work for me on the first of the month.”

“You didn’t!”

He just stared at her, one black brow raised as if to say, “You know I did.”

“You can’t quit my job for me.”

“Apparently I can, because I just did. Right now, I’m going to shower and then I have to be back for a surgery in an hour. If not for that, I’d take care of your punishment now.”

“You’re being unreasonable, Marc.”

“Am I? Have you enjoyed your weekend off, sitting here alone while I’m on call? You know it’s been a weekend from hell. I was gone all day yesterday and called out again last night. My phone was ringing throughout dinner yesterday and I’ve barely seen you. If you worked on your schedule, we could at least work the same weekends and be off together. When I’m off the next two weekends, you’ll be at work. This isn’t what I had in mind for our lives together.”

“It won’t be like this forever.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this now. You don’t even have to work.”

“What, and be a trophy wife?” she snorted. She could hear the vicious gossip now, especially his mother. “I’ll pass.”

“I was thinking more like being a wife and mother.”

She sucked in a deep breath. That actually sounded wonderful. She’d gone into nursing to be a caregiver, to fulfill her nurturing need and nature. Somehow, she’d strayed from her path and gone into management. Now she was mired in schedules, regulations, and bureaucracy. However, that mindless crap paid the bills. If she were a wife and mother, she would be dependent upon her husband for everything. If they split up…

“That reminds me, what happened to the pre-nup your mother and grandfather were insisting on?”

He blinked. She’d surprised him by the sudden change in subject.

“That’s random. I’m not signing a pre-nup.”

“So you lose your inheritance because of me?” Wasn’t that just great, another misdeed to be laid at her feet by his mother. She should have trusted her instincts. They were too different for this to work. Tears started to burn her eyes.

“I don’t need an inheritance; my practice is sound and we’re not signing a pre-nup. What we need is to get back to the issue at hand, because I have to get back soon. We’re all settled about you starting at the clinic, yes?”

“No, nothing’s settled. I don’t want to work at the clinic. I went to school to be an administrator, not a scrub nurse. That’s all you have to offer at the clinic.”

“I thought you enjoyed that. You always seemed happy in the OR. Since the new job, you’ve been miserable. You could scrub for Ben or Jared, if you don’t want to work directly for me, although we made a great team.”

“You don’t understand. I’d still be working for you. What if I screwed up or did something they didn’t like? Do you think Ben or Jared are going to say something negative about their partner’s wife? There would be hard feelings and I don’t want that. Nepotism is a really bad precedent to set.”

“Stacy works for us.”

“That’s like apples and oranges. This is altogether different. As a nurse, I have to work under a physician. Stacy doesn’t and works in an entirely different building. Plus, she worked there for two years before they even met. Do you even have an opening? Or did you plan to lay someone off to make room for me?”

When he didn’t have an answer for that, she shook her head vehemently. “No, thanks. I don’t want to be the nurse whose doctor husband pulls strings to get her a job. People talk about me already. I don’t need more of that crap. I’ll work on my schedule. Besides, what if we don’t—” She caught herself abruptly. Oops! She’d almost told him her biggest fear. “Never mind, I don’t want to work at the clinic—at all.”

“What if we don’t what? Finish that.”

Again, she shook her head.

“What if we don’t work out? Is that what you were going to say? You don’t think we’re going to make it, do you? That’s a hell of a way to start a marriage.”

She looked away, her eyes finding the snow-covered yard. The sun was overcast by a blanket of dense gray clouds. The dreary weather exactly matched her mood.

This argument was getting them nowhere. He didn’t know what it was like to wonder about his future, or how to pay the rent, or buy the next meal. She’d been through all of that and no way in hell was she going back there. Not even for the man she loved. She had doubts, plenty of them. He was right. It was no way to start a marriage.

“Is it because of your parents? Jared told me about your father asking for a divorce. Is that what this is all about? I’m not your dad, Jessie.”

“I know that, Marc.”

“Do you?” The hurt in his voice was palpable. “I’ve got to go. I hate to, but if I don’t leave now I’ll be late for my procedure. We’ll talk more when I get back.”

“No, I’m going to see my mother.”

“When did you decide this?”

“Does it matter?”

She heard his footsteps a moment before he wrapped his hands around her shoulders. “Don’t do this to us, Jess. I love you, but we have to find some kind of compromise here.”

“You mean I have to give in and you get what you want. That’s not how compromise works, handsome.”

“The compromises I’ve made are for both of us. We’ve talked about this,
cara
. I have altered my schedule. We brought in a new partner, but you haven’t done anything but go from bad to worse. At least when you were in the OR I got to see you and spend time with you, even when you were working. You had a set schedule and shared an on-call rotation. We found time to have lunch together. When was the last time we did that?”

Another long silence hung awkwardly between them.

Finally, Jessie answered in a soft, well-controlled tone. “That’s going backward, which means I went to graduate school for nothing. I planned to work this job for a few years and gain some experience. After that, I should be able to get a job like Gwen’s. She’s well removed from all direct care nursing responsibilities and rarely has to come in on weekends or holidays. That’s what I was working toward; if I stop now, I’ll be back where I started.”

“Gwen is in her fifties, Jess. She worked the floor or in supervision for twenty years before this position opened up for her. We can’t wait that long, at least I can’t. Besides, I thought it was the patients that drew you toward nursing. When did that change?”

It hadn’t. She enjoyed the patient care, but it didn’t help her reach her goals. She didn’t tell him that though. What was the point? She turned to him, knowing tears wet her cheeks, but she wanted to see him when she asked him her next question. “So where does this leave us? Are you telling me I have to choose between you and my career?”

He didn’t say it, not with words, but he looked away. This evidently was a deal breaker, for both of them.

“You haven’t even tried to fix the current problem.”

“I said I’d take care of it Monday.”