Robert, page 3
The kiss was more than she had expected. So much more. His tongue moved along her lips until she allowed him entrance. While his tongue dueled with hers, she felt him press his cock into her soft flesh and moaned. It was as if the nudge of his cock set all kinds of things in motion for them both. Pulling away from her, Robert held her while they both were breathing hard. It was all she could do not to grab him up and take him right there on the living room floor.
“If you touch me right now, I’m going to be in trouble with my family. There won’t be any way I can tear myself from you long enough to allow you to undress, much less make it to my family’s home. Christ, I was so wrong about you. You’re more than any man could have ever dreamed for when he fell in love with a woman.” She asked him if he loved her. “I think I have since the first time I woke up in the hospital, and you held my hand. My brothers would have, but I would never have lived it down. You being there was perfect. Like you are. The most magnificently perfect being that has ever been born to this earth.”
“You two ready?”
Grandda’s timing was either a godsend or a terrible timing. However, she was glad he’d called them both back to earth. When taking her hand into his, Robert kissed her again, and they were out the door. Grandda talked nonstop on the way over, and she wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone a single thing he’d said. This must be love, she told herself. Nothing else could feel this good. Nothing.
Chapter 1
Robert was bored out of his mind. If his family didn’t leave him alone, he would have to hide from them when they came over. Not that he didn’t love them being concerned for him. But he just needed quiet to deal with the things that had been put on his plate the last few days. Mostly it had to do with the beautiful doctor that was seeing to his care.
Elizabeth was the only person that would back off when he asked. His family? They’d push harder thinking; he supposed he was too stupid to do for himself. He told Peter that when he asked him what he was thinking about.
“It’s doubtful that they believe that you’re stupid. Stubborn? Yes, that’s a given, but then it’s like that with our family. But not stupid. They care about you.” He grinned at his brother Peter who he was convalescing with today. “However, I don’t know if I’d say that to anyone coming over to change my bandages. You’ve already pissed off enough people today.”
“Who? I’ve done my best to avoid everyone. I can’t think of anyone other than you that I could have pissed off today.” His brother started listing the names of all the staff in his house. Robert just stared at him. “I didn’t piss off your cook. He asked me what I wanted in the way of an omelet, and I told him I didn’t like omelets. I like eggs but not messy with all that other crap in them. Who the hell puts mushrooms and cheese in an egg? No one, that’s who.”
Peter asked him about fried rice. Baiting him, he knew it and would enjoy it as much as he could. But fried rice? Nope. It had mushrooms and other things in it. He pointed out that it was fried rice, not eggs poured over all kinds of fried stuff that no one in their right mind would have in an egg. Peter, who’d been shot twice a week ago, once in the back and once in the leg, was doing his exercises and wouldn’t engage with him when he wanted to have a good argument. He called him a wussy.
“Perhaps, but I’m getting better, and all you’re doing is nursing a headache. I’m sure that it hurts like hell. It looks like it would. However, now you have two black eyes, a bruise along your cheeks that looks like you took on a cast iron tub and lost. Oh wait, that is what you did.” He said that he’d been working and had gotten startled. Peter barely concealed a smile. “You keep telling people that and see what they believe.”
Robert didn’t care. People would believe what they wanted, but he knew the truth. He had been hurt because he’d been concentrating hard on what he’d been doing. The tile in the bathroom of Peter’s home was lovely, and he’d been working hard on getting all the nasty sticky carpet stuff off of them so that they’d shine when they were cleaned up. When Elizabeth, the construction company’s owner granddaughter, had come to talk to him, he’d jumped and slammed his head against the tub.
Thinking of Elizabeth, he couldn’t help but wonder what she thought of him. She didn’t have any trouble telling him off when he was getting sappy, which she called him flirting with her. She had no difficulty telling anyone off when the mood suited her. He enjoyed that about her.
“Peter, what do you and Heather do at the house alone? I don’t mean sex. Just…I don’t know. Do you talk about your day? Watch television? Just curious. I’ve never been around a couple—well, I’ve not seen a couple alone at home. I’m just wondering what you guys do when we are not bugging you. I’m bored and need something to think about other than my head hurting.” He said that they didn’t watch all that much television. But they did talk about their day. “I guess since the two of you are in different fields of work, that would make sense. Talk to me, Peter. I’m going nuts here.”
“Do you love her?” He didn’t even bother asking about whom he was talking to but said he didn’t think he was. “The two of you are a good couple together. She’s brash and outspoken. You’re the opposite of that. Also, this is strange for me to say to my brother, but you shine when she’s in the room with you. Like the sun is shining right on you.”
“I feel that way as well. Like a bright light is in the room when she is near me. Not that I think I’m in love with her. I think it’s a little soon for that. But she’s all that and more when we’re together.” Heather joined them in the living room and asked what they were talking about. After Peter told her, she looked at him. Before she could speak or yell at him, he said first. “We’re just discussing falling in love and what a couple does alone at home. Peter asked me if I was in love with Elizabeth. Honestly, I haven’t any idea if I am or not. I like her a great deal. But since I’ve met her, I’ve been laid up and in pain. She treats me like I’m a baby. Not in a good way either.”
“She wouldn’t do that if she thought you were a piece of shit, Robert.” That stung a little, but he understood what she was saying. “Also, you might not want to hear this, but she’s looking for homes in this area. She and her grandda are going to be hanging out together. I’m not sure what that means, but there you have it. Have you seen the house that she grew up in? It’s a charming home but not all that large. I think it only has three bedrooms. Aren’t you taking the house that we’re giving up? I hope so. I can honestly see the two of you living there with many kids. It’s being worked on, too, as you know.”
“I’m taking it. I love that old home. Also, I’ve not said anything to anyone else, but Bingo wants me to take his construction company off his hands. He has it in his head that Elizabeth and I are a couple and that I’ll be a part of his family soon.” Neither of them said a word. “I should be happy that you’re not pushing me into anything, but why are you looking at me like that?”
“You might have gotten hurt on your first day at working construction, Robert, but Bingo told us that in the few hours you were there, you did an amazing job at work. He said that your attention to detail is dead on. Also, he said that you were observant about how the others around you were working.” He said that he was only enjoying the job for a bit. “Perhaps, but I think that he’s right. You were having a good time at it. And the way you told me about the tile and tub when you called me had me see what you were talking about without being there. You’re organized too. Getting a crew working and doing the job correctly.”
“Those are things that I’ve done all my life. It has nothing to do with running a construction company that has been around for several generations.” Heather asked him how extended his family had been in business. “That’s not the same thing. Construction is nothing like running the Archer money.”
“Why not? I mean, don’t you want to make money? Don’t you already do things that will make it easier to have ready cash when needed? It’s all the same, Robert. The only difference is that you’d be in charge rather than having an entire family go through to work.” She laughed at him. “You know, I can see you working at construction. You’d be a hands-on sort of boss. I think you’ll be well-liked too. I know that I love you.”
“I love you too, Heather.” And he did, too. She and Peter were perfect together.
Elizabeth showed up a little after five. They would go over the houses he’d had on his list, but first, he would have her take him to his home. It wasn’t for her to pick out carpet or anything. Not yet, but he did want her to see the old house so that he could get a feel for how she might like it.
Robert thought he was going down a dangerous path right now. One part of his head figured they could be good friends, but another part worked toward something more. Even his heart, something he’d never relied on before, told him he needed to ensure that Elizabeth was around for the duration. Whatever the hell that might mean to the two of them.
After Elizabeth checked on his wound, he was cleared to go out. After taking a couple of over-the-counter meds, he did feel better. After showing her around the house he would be living in, they sat and had a glass of iced tea before leaving again. He had to admit that Elizabeth was easy to talk to and to have a conversation with. While most people thought conversation and talking were the same, it was as different as night and day.
Talking to someone was just that. The weather was talked about and what they’d done today. Nothing earth-shattering. But having a conversation meant that it was more in debt. More personal. Also, opinions were offered up and talked over as well. He liked that about Elizabeth.
When they got to the first house, he noticed that he was comparing it to his home. So was Elizabeth. The counters in the kitchen weren’t as expansive as the ones in his home. The bathroom was smaller than the one on the first floor. They also talked about the yard and what they’d do with it if the house were theirs. Nothing came to mind but to plow it all under and start anew.
“I think we’re doing this all wrong,” Robert asked her what she meant. Elizabeth smirked. “You and I know that our families are pushing us to be a couple. I love your house, and short of me telling you to get out of it so I can have it, I’m going to move in with you. Purely for selfish reasons.”
“Okay.” Robert smiled and shook his head. “I’m not at all sure how to respond to that.” She laughed. “What will your grandda say when he figures out you’re making me a wanton man?”
“He’ll be asking us when there will be children so that when he does retire, he’ll have someone to go fishing with. Do you fish?” Robert told her that he’d not been in some time, but he did enjoy doing it. “I’ve never been. I didn’t have the opportunity to go, but I never thought of it as something I’d enjoy. However, grandda is talking about going camping and having a long trip to different fishing places. I think I could get a kick out of—you never answered me about me moving in.” She charged on when Robert looked at a loss for words. “I hope you’re aware I’m only moving into the house, not your bed. I don’t think we’re at that point in whatever this is between us to jump into bed together. I like you, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure that it’s to the point where we make promises to each other. I love your home, like you, and it suits us both. What do you think?”
Robert chuckled. “You never asked but told me that you were moving in, so I never thought it required an answer. However, I don’t have a problem with you moving in. I think I’d like that idea as much as you do. I think it would be great if your great-grandda lived there as well. I like him a great deal, and I know that he would love to be around me when I mess up his company, and he needs to beat the crap out of me.” He realized that he did want to have both. She was at his house and the company that her great-grandda had offered him. Living with Elizabeth would never be boring or not without fun.
~*~
Elizabeth loved the fast pace of the emergency room. She didn’t want people hurting, but she did enjoy the way she never had the same day twice. When Darrel joined her in the ER, she asked him what was happening.
“I was told there was a house fire on Route Forty, and they asked me to come in and lend a hand if they needed it. Have you had much experience with fire victims?” She told him that Chicago had many fires in the winter months. “I think I might have known that. I don’t know much about this fire, but they’re working to keep it contained. A residential fire caught a couple of houses on either side. Regarding people being inside when it started, I know a family was in the home, but I haven’t heard if they got out. But a firefighter was hurt badly.”
Almost as soon as he told her what else he knew about the fire, the first ambulance pulled up. She’d heard the public announcement where she was, but she’d been too busy to focus on what was being said. The little boy she’d been helping with needed fourteen stitches in his arm and leg. He’d been playing around with his dad’s two-person saw, and it fell on him, causing so many cuts that she worried about his blood loss.
The two of them worked side by side at times. Elizabeth was also working with most of the ER staff as more and more people were brought in. As she had the most experience with fire victims, she was delegated to be the person who decided if their injuries were a priority or not. It was tough to make that kind of decision, but with everyone coming in, it had to be done that way.
Elizabeth was exhausted when no more people came in from the fire. Going to the nurse’s station to nap, she found Robert there talking with Darrel. He’d brought them in some dinner.
“I just realized that I’m starving.” She was surprised to see so much food coming out of the bags he’d brought. Not only was there Chinese food, which she loved, but there were subs and several boxed pizzas that he had brought for the rest of the staff. “That’s nice of you. Do you make it a habit of doing things like this? It’s lovely of you.”
“Usually, one of us will help when we can, even if it’s only making calls to families in an emergency. I don’t know if you noticed or not, being so busy, but my mom is operating the desk out front, and my grandda is holding babies for people that just need a break.” She said she’d not noticed much of anything but the person in front of her. “I can understand that. It’s been hectic.”
She filled her plate with food. The staff came in to get something to eat too. The pizzas and the bottled water cases were going fast, so Darrel called in a second order to be brought in. Elizabeth finally had her fill and figured she’d return to work as soon as she sat there for just a few more minutes. She leaned back and closed her eyes for just a moment.
Waking up, she found herself on one of the few pull-out beds in the nurse’s station. She hadn’t realized she’d been that exhausted. She stood up and folded the light blanket she’d been covered with. Looking around, she could see that the room had been cleaned up of their mess; all the boxes and bags were also missing. One of the nurses came in when she came out of the bathroom.
“You look much better. My goodness, that man of yours is a godsend. He’s out there now helping with the cleanup. They asked me to come in and check on you. My goodness, Doctor Monroe, I have to tell you I’d work for you any day of the week. You’re the best doc we’ve had in the ER department in a long while.” She asked her what they’d been putting up with before she’d come in. “Well, I don’t like to talk about the other doctors, but since you’ve done such a good thing for the nurses here, I’ll tell you. Doc Wendell, he’s on a floater shift now; he berates the nurses in front of the patients and calls them names when his orders are questioned. Just the other day, he wanted one of the staff here to give a dose of morphine to a small one. Enough to knock a bear out, I’m telling you. We have to take it from him because we don’t have enough doctors to work in this department. I’m sure he will have a word or two to say to you when you work together. Like he’s in charge. Which he’s not, by the way. And that his way has worked for the last two years; I kid you not, he thinks that’s a long time for a doctor, and he won’t put up with anyone overstepping him. Jackass.”
“I thank you for the heads up. I’ve been an ER doctor for eight years, so I’ve seen my share of men like him.” She thought about the gossip that the woman had told her. However, it wasn’t the first time she’d heard about Jacob Wendell, so she didn’t say anything about it. “Is there anything that I can do to help out? I feel horrible that I took a nap while the rest of you have been working all this time.”
“Don’t you worry about it. You did us all a favor by being here when we needed you. Besides, we’ve only been here for a shift. This will be your third shift in a row, and you needed it.” Embarrassed by the compliment, she made her way out into the central part of the department. People were still filling up all the chairs, but they didn’t look like they’d been fire victims. Finding Robert talking on his cell phone, he kissed her on the mouth as soon as she was close enough to touch.
“Yes, I’m aware of that, Mr. James. However, as I’ve told you several times, there isn’t any way I can do it for you. The staff here has been on duty since the fire began, and I’m not going to leave here to tell you that I’m not going to take your case. As I have told you several times already.” Elizabeth sat in the chair that he indicated while he continued to speak to Mr. James. “Yes, sir. I understand this is important, but I will not retake your case. You’ll have to find someone else to do it.” Robert put it on speaker phone so that she could hear as well.
“I don’t give a good god damn about your thinking that you’ve seen the destruction that went on with this fire and can’t defend them because you’re a pussy. I want my grandchildren to have the best there is, and short of going there and making you do it, you’d be better off just doing it for me as I have told you to do. Now, I’m not going to be telling you this again, young man; you get your ass over to the police station and do whatever it takes to get them out of there. They’re just kids.”
