Edge of Disaster (9 page)

CHAPTER TEN

Pearce pulled into my driveway and we walked into the house.

“Wear something warm and bring a sweater and a jacket,” he called to me.

“Come in and tell me what’ll be best.”

He searched my closet and pulled out a light sweater and then a heavier one to layer on top.  Then he looked through my coats and pulled my Barbour jacket off the rack and said, “Let’s go.”

We headed to his car when I remembered that I promised Lisbeth I’d check in on her. “Oh wait. I promised I’d check on Lisbeth today. Part of my job. Do you mind?”

“Not a bit.”

“Come on then. She’d love to see you,” I said with a grin.

We headed to her back door and we let ourselves in.

“Lisbeth. Are you here?”

I walked through and found her in her favorite sitting area, reading the paper. She was thrilled to see Pearce, especially since he flirted shamelessly with her.  We didn’t stay too long and I promised to check on her the next day.

We got in his car and Pearce made a couple of stops, one at the Harris Teeter grocery store and another at a local wine shop.  Then he headed to the City Marina and parked.

As we walked along the dock, everyone recognized Pearce.  I had a pretty good idea of where we were headed, but when I saw our final destination, I almost peed my pants.

“Um, you could’ve given me a little warning, Pearce.”

“Why?”

“Well, this is huge.”

“Don’t worry, I have someone captaining today. We can sit back and enjoy the ride.”

“Pearce, I’m not worried. I’m intimidated.”

He immediately stopped what he was doing and set all the stuff he was carrying on the dock. Turning to me he took me into his arms and said, “Don’t ever be intimidated by any of this. It’s all stuff Alexia. Materialistic shit.  You, on the other hand, are priceless. If anyone should be intimidated, it’s me.” Then he hugged me and held me in his arms for a moment.

Suddenly we heard a voice from above saying, “Dr. Middleton, do you need a hand?”

“Hey Jack! No thanks, I’ve got this. We’ll be up in a second.” Then Pearce looked at me and said, “Ready?”

I nodded and he helped me board the “TSCSC.”

“I have to ask. What’s TSCSC?”

“Promise not to laugh?”

“I promise.”

“When I got this thing, I couldn’t figure out what to name it. I suck at picking out creative names so I just used the initials for trauma surgeon, Charleston, SC.  I know, it’s pretty lame.”

I couldn’t help it.  I bit my lips trying to hold the laughter in but it didn’t work. I ended up spurting it out of my mouth.

“You too, huh? I’ve gotten more grief from everyone I know about that. I’ll make a deal with you. If you can come up with anything better, have at it. I’m tired of getting hell from everyone.”

We walked aboard and I gasped when I looked around. The boat wasn’t like anything I’d imagined.  You could live on this thing.  It was beautiful.  Soft colors, comfortable furnishings, modern kitchen appliances. There were two staterooms, but the master bedroom was huge.

Pearce put all the food away and Jack readied the boat for  departure.  I sat on the upper deck and watched. We headed out into the Charleston harbor and made our way past the jetties. It was a beautiful day, warm with clear blue skies and the breeze was gentle so the seas were calm.

We finally passed the C2 buoy, which was the final marking of the passage into Charleston. We’d been in open water and I stood out on the deck next to Pearce and he had his arm around my waist. It was a great feeling of freedom and the boat skimmed across the sea. The sea birds soared in the air above and in the distance, every now and then, you could see some kind of fish jump.

“Are you hungry?”

“Starved. We forgot about breakfast.”

“No, we didn’t.  I had you for breakfast.”

My face heated up in remembrance of our early morning love making session.

“Alexia, I love saying things that make you blush.”

I opened my mouth to respond but was met with his lips as he quickly kissed me. I turned in his arms and kissed him back. He moaned into my mouth and I entwined my fingers in his hair.

He pulled back and asked, “Are you trying to distract me because you’re doing a damn fine job of it?”

I just laughed and said, “You deserve it after that remark.”

“Come on, let’s eat. I can’t have you starving on me.”

We went below and he started pulling out all sorts of food. Cheeses, crusty breads, some she crab soup, fruit and benne seed wafers.

He heated up the soup in the microwave and served everything else.

“Wine, San Pellegrino, water?”

“Wine and San Pellegrino please.”

He poured our drinks and he put everything on a tray and we took it all back up top so we could enjoy the view and the lovely day.

As we ate, we talked. I asked about his family and he told me he had two brothers and a sister. He was second to the oldest and his sister was the youngest.  That’s who he was with the night I saw him in Camellia’s.  She was spoiled rotten and could be a pain in the ass, but he thought we’d get along great. He adored his family; it was easy to see.

I told him about mine. How they pretty much dumped me after Peter’s death. Blamed me for it all.  Didn’t want to know anything about what happened.  They just knew I was driving and we’d been fighting and that was enough for them. I told him even my sister dumped me. That was why I moved out of Virginia.

He wanted to know how I ended up in Charleston. I told him it was because of Terri.  We were college roommates at the University of Virginia. She was from here and always claimed she would move back to Charleston after she graduated.  She did. So when Peter died, she was the only one who stuck by me.  She ended up persuading me to move here. 

I looked at him and smiled.  “You know, it took me a while, but now I know it was the best decision I ever made.”

He tucked a piece of fly away hair behind my ear and kissed me there. Then he whispered, “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

We ate some more but he noticed I hadn’t touched my soup.

He dipped his spoon in his and held it out and said, “Open up.”

I did as he ordered and he slipped the spoon in my mouth and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

“Oh shit. Oh fuck, that is un-fucking-believable.”

He roared.  “Haven’t you ever had she crab soup?”

“No! I didn’t know what the hell it was but was too embarrassed to ask.”

He slipped another spoonful into my mouth.

“Oh my God.  Holy fuck.  This is orgasmic.”

He threw back his head and started laughing so hard, I thought he was going to bust the table. He pounded it with his fist. 

“Give me that damn bowl and spoon.”  I grabbed it from him and wolfed the rest of the soup down.

He stared at me with a stupid grin on his face.  “Honey, I love to see a woman who’s not afraid to eat.”

“Well then, you’ll be thrilled with me because as I’ve just demonstrated, I’m a pig with absolutely no table manners and I’m unashamedly proud of my appetite.”

“Kiss me.”

I did as he asked and suddenly I was on his lap, my hands tangled in his hair and his hands under my sweater. Then he was standing up and carrying me down below and we found ourselves in one of the staterooms, naked, in bed, making mad, crazy love.

I was on top, straddling him and he suddenly sat up and we were face to face. He scooted to the edge of the bed so he could drop his legs over the side.

“I need to be close to your face. I want to touch your mouth, your lips, your neck. God Alexia, you drive me crazy with need for you.”

“Oh Pearce, I can’t begin to tell you how I feel. I don’t think there are words for it.”

He moved within me and I moaned.

“The sounds you make when I’m inside of you just drive me insane.”

He groaned and talk about sounds.  If he wasn’t the sexiest man alive, there wasn’t one.

My arms were around his neck and I bent my head to his shoulder.

“No, I have to see your face. I need to see you Alexia. Don’t hide your face from me.”

I lifted my head and held his face in my hands. “I’m not hiding from you.  I would never hide from you. I love you Pearce.”

Shitfuckdamnhell! I said the L word.

I hadn’t meant to say that. It just slipped out.

My eyes grew wide and probably looked like they were going to pop right out of my head. I froze.

“Say it again,” he said hoarsely as his gaze penetrated mine.

“What?” I evaded him.

“Don’t you dare run from me now Alexia.  Say it again!” he commanded.

All the while he was still moving inside of me and I was ready to come. I couldn’t believe I had said that and he was demanding I say it again.

“Fuck it! I love you Pearce!”

“I love you too.  That’s why I want you to marry me.”

As soon as the words left his mouth I climaxed, and then he followed me.  We didn’t move or say anything for a while.  We just sat there, locked in each other’s arms, holding on tightly.

“I’m not ever going anywhere Alexia. I won’t ever leave.  I won’t ever stray. I’ll always be yours, faithful to the very end.”

Shit. He was too fucking good to be true.

I felt my face becoming slick with my tears, as they dripped down my cheeks. 

He took my face in his hands and said, “I mean it Alexia.  I’ll be yours forever. So you see, it doesn’t matter if you say yes or no...if we take it slow or fast. You have me whether you want me or not.” He wiped my tears with the pads of his thumbs.  “Don’t cry beautiful. It hurts my heart when you do.”

“Oh Pearce.  I’m so fucking scared. I’ve never gotten anything right in my life. I want to marry you but I’m so afraid I’ll fuck it up, just like I’ve fucked up everything else. The last thing I ever want to do is to mess things up with you.”

“Why do you think you’ll fuck it up?”

“I don’t know. I just have this knack for doing that.”

“No you don’t. You just think you do.  But tell you what.  Let’s take it a day at a time.  When you’re ready, you say the word. But like I said, I’m not going anywhere. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” I sniffed.

“You know something?”

“What?”

“You have the greatest nipples.” And he grinned that super sexy smile of his and I laughed and just shook my head.

He lifted me off of him and stood me up between his legs. Then he pulled me closer and kissed my stomach. He moved his mouth over to the two scars from the stab wounds and kissed those next.

He lifted his head and said, “I never told you this, but that night the call came in and I got to the O.R., when I saw it was you, I flipped out. I went into the locker room and punched in a wall and then followed it with a pretty hard kick. They had to replace a section of sheetrock. I was freaking out until all the scans came back and I knew you were going to be okay. Alexia, I really did hold your hand throughout the entire surgery. I told my partner if he fucked it up that I’d kill him.”

I couldn’t breathe for a moment. “I didn’t know.”

“I know you didn’t. You acted like you didn’t want to have anything to do with me so I wasn’t going to tell you I went psycho over you. I think I fell in love with you that first time I saw you in Camellia's. When you took my drink order.”

“Grey Goose extra dirty martini with extra olives.  My favorite.”

“I couldn’t stop looking at you. That’s why I acted like I was ignorant about the menu choices.  I loved the sound of your voice.  You made the food sound so delicious.”

I laughed. “It was my job.”

“No, sweetheart.  It was you.  Look, I’m not gonna lie.  I could stay naked with you forever.  But, since this is your first time on the TSCSC, let’s go back up so you can enjoy the day.”

The rest of the day was perfect. Jack made a huge loop and when the sun started to set he headed back to the marina.  It was super dark by the time we docked and Pearce looked at me and asked me if I wanted to spend the night on the boat.

I declined because I didn’t have anything with me.  I wanted to go home and gather some things because he’d already informed me I was staying with him again. He was on call the next day, Sunday, but he wanted me all for himself that night.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

We walked in Pearce’s door at eight o’clock and I plugged my iPhone in because it was dead. As soon as I did, it fired up with five missed called and ten texts...all from Terri wanting to know where the hell I was.

I immediately called her.  I tried to scoot away from Pearce but he intentionally stalked me and wouldn’t let me escape his arms.

“Where the hell are you? I was giving you till ten to call me before I called the police. Geez Lex, I’ve been calling you since last night.  What the hell!”

She was yelling so loud in the phone, Pearce could hear every word.

“You’d better tell her about me,” he said.

“Who’s that? Where are you?” she demanded to know.

“Calm down Terr, I’m at Pearce’s.”

“Who?”

“Pearce.”

“You mean Smoky Eyes?”

I flicked my head to him and he raised his brows. My face immediately started to burn.

Shit.  Fuck.

“Yeah, Terri, that’s right. Smoky Eyes.”

“What the fuck Lex! When did all this go down?”

“Long story.  Let me just say he called on Christmas morning and we got together that night.”

“Humph. That’s exactly how long I’ve been tryin’ to get in touch with you. Couldn’t you at least have called me?  Damn, I’ve seriously been worried sick about you.”

“I’m sorry Terri.  I really am. We just sort of got caught up here and then my phone went totally dead on me.”

“Ever hear of electrical outlets? Shit. Forget it. I’m just glad you’re okay. Look, it sounds like you’re still tied up, so call me when you’re alone and free. Okay?”

“K. I love you Terri.”

“I love you too Lex.”

I turned off the phone and looked up to see Pearce staring at me with a comical look on his face.

“Smoky Eyes, huh?”

Shit!

“Yeah, that was my nickname for you. I told you that I fell in love with your eyes, didn’t I?”

“You might have mentioned something like that.” He was smiling from ear to ear.

We ended up snacking on the rest of the food he’d bought for the boat and watching a romantic comedy that night. Then we went upstairs for another lovemaking marathon.

The next morning, I rolled over and reached out my arm to find a cold empty bed. I felt lost and alone.  It was really weird too.  For years I’d been alone and didn’t mind. Now, just two nights with Pearce had me backtracking on all of that.  I wanted him in here...and bad.

I sat up and then I spied the note on the bedside table.

Good Morning my beautiful Alexia,

It is my most fervent hope that you had a wonderful night filled with wildly sexy dreams of me.  I would like you to share them if you did, so that we can act them out tonight.  I am at work so please call me when you awaken.  If I’m in surgery, I obviously won’t be able to answer.  Please leave a message or text me and I’ll call you back as soon as I’m able to. I miss you already and can’t wait to hold you in my arms again.

There is coffee ready for you and anything is yours for the taking as far as breakfast is concerned (and anything else as well). I’ve left a key for you on the kitchen counter and the code for the alarm is 171272* Keep this somewhere so you can come and go freely.

I look forward to seeing you tonight.

I love you,

Pearce

I got up and searched his closet for one of his shirts to put on. Then I reread the note about forty three times before I finally set it down.  In the kitchen, I made myself a cup of coffee and wandered around his lovely home, looking at the pictures and other things he had sitting around.

I looked in every room, wanting to be close to him. Seeing a piece of him in every room, I ran my fingers along his desk and other things that reminded me of him. Tonight would take forever to get here. I just knew it.

I looked at the clock and saw it was almost ten.  I hit the stairs and stripped off my clothes.  Walking into his shower, I was hit with the memory of our shower from yesterday, and I leaned against the wall and sighed. Every time I thought of him my knees went weak. I had to get my mind on something else or I would turn into one of those simpering women I’d always hated.  The ones that pined over their men.

Finishing my showering, I got dressed, dried my hair and put on my makeup.  I decided to give Pearce a call and he answered immediately.

“Hello Gorgeous.”

“Hello Gorgeous back. I just got out of the shower.  It was a long one spent there thinking of the one we had together yesterday.”

“Stop. You can’t do this to me.  I’m getting ready to do a splenectomy and a kidney repair on an accident victim.  I need my head in the right spot.”

“Oh, sorry, honey.”

“Don’t be. Did you sleep well?”

“Of course.  I was well exercised.” I laughed.

I heard voices in the background and other noises. 

“Look sweetheart, I have to go.  They’re ready for me to scrub. I’ll call you as soon as I’m finished.  I love you Alexia.”

“Love you too Pearce. Do a good job in there.”

“Thanks hon.”

He ended the call. I went down the stairs, took the key and the code and set the alarm on my way out.  I locked up and walked home.  It was only about three blocks...or two and a half. 

When I got home, I called Terri and asked her if she wanted to meet me at Home Team for lunch. We decided to meet at twelve thirty at the one across the Ashley River.

I did a couple of loads of laundry and vacuumed when my cell phone rang. It was Pearce telling me he was done with the first surgery but that he was getting ready to do another.  He didn’t know what time he’d be done, but he’d call when he could.

I finished up my chores and headed across the Ashley to meet Terri.  She was shocked when she saw me pull into the parking lot.

“Pearce?”

“No. Lisbeth. My Christmas present.” I laughed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. This is awesome.”

“I know, right? I did my best to talk her out of it because I feel so guilty about it, but she would have nothing to do with it.  It’s mine free and clear.”

“It’s a beaut, Lex, it’s a beaut!” She used he
r
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacatio
n
voice and had me in tears, laughing.

We got a table and she pulled every last teeny detail out of me about my time with Pearce.  She had a knack for that.  I didn’t hold anything back. Part of me wanted her to tell me that I was insane and it would never work and the other part wanted her to pat me on the back and tell me what a great job I’d done.

In Terri’s usual way, she did neither.  She looked at me hard, like I knew she would and said, “I need to meet him. I’ll reserve judgement on all of this until I do.”

“Fair enough.”

We talked about a few other things and then it was time to go. We hugged and I promised I’d set up a time for them to meet. I really wanted her honest opinion.

I got home and pulled out my computer so I could start getting ready for work the next day.  Ugh, I hated to even think about it.  I had gotten spoiled having these few days off.

I went through all my emails and answered my clients. Then I pulled up appointment I had scheduled for the next day and made sure all my preparations were completed.

I turned on the TV and waited for Pearce to call.  When the clock hit eleven, I decided to head for the bed.  I texted him to let him know and hit the sack.

********

PEARCE

“Middleton, get your ass in here, stat!” my partner called out. I finished scrubbing and waited to be gloved, masked, shielded and gowned by one of the personnel.

“I’m here,” I said moving into the sterile field.

“What the hell took you so long? Your head’s in the clouds. Must be a woman.”

“Must be,” I answered. “Wanna tell me what we have here?”

“Yeah, what we have is a mess. Gunshot wound. Abdomen. Perforated bowel and then some. Need I say more?”

“Nope. Let’s go to work.”

We got the patient patched up and into recovery but it was one of those days. One right after the next. And the whole time all I thought of was Alexia. And that she loved me. She. Loved. Me.

I smiled. It was a damn good thing I had a mask on for most of the day because everyone around me would’ve wondered what kind of happy-assed pills I was popping. It wasn’t like me to be smiling through all the shit messy cases we were dealing with today. But I couldn’t help it. Alexia put a smile on my face that I couldn’t erase.

Whatever it was that broke through her barriers, I was thankful for. She explained about her past and honestly I didn’t give a flying fuck. I knew she was a good person. I could feel it and see it in her eyes. She had repented enough for the sins she had committed and for the ones she hadn’t. I only prayed should could move on and I planned to help her do just that.

“Dr. Middleton, they need you in five.”

The intercom in the surgeon’s lounge interrupted my thoughts so I tossed the rest of my lunch in the trash and headed back to work.

********

I must’ve been wiped because the next thing I knew my phone was ringing and it was two in the morning.

“Hullo,” I mumbled into the phone.

“Hey babe. Sorry to wake you, but unlock your door. I was swamped and just finished.  I want to crawl in next to you and pass out.”

“On the way.”

I went to the door and unlocked it and was in his arms before I knew it.  His face was chilly from the night air and I shivered as he kissed my neck.

“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you back in bed.”

He tugged me along and I got under the covers and he slid in behind me and pulled me against him.

“God, I missed the hell out of you today.  Do you think you can go to med school and become my partner so we can always be together?”

I chuckled.  “I don’t think so.  The sight of blood makes me pass out.”

“Hmm. Guess that won’t work then. I’ll have to come up with something else.”

He snuggled in closer and I heard his breathing even out and that’s the last thing I remembered.

********

My alarm woke us at six and Pearce groaned.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve set it on vibrate.”

“It’s okay honey.  I can go back to sleep. I don’t need to be in until nine.”

I got up and went into the bathroom, showered and got ready for work.  He was sound asleep when I came out.  I headed to my closet and got dressed. The coffee was already made when I hit the kitchen. I poured myself a cup and wrote him a sexy note about how I loved to find a hot guy named Pearce in my bed in the morning.

I left him my extra key and headed to work. My office was in Mount Pleasant so I headed over the Cooper River and was enjoying the view and singing my head off as the traffic thickened. I knew it was a bad sign because it was only seven fifteen when I suddenly came to a dead stop.

I flipped on the radio and sure enough, there were reports of an accident ahead. All lanes were blocked. Great.  I’d be sitting here for a while.

I looked around and happened to see some guy waving at me.  I looked closer and damn if it wasn’t Beavis again. Why couldn’t I get away from this dude? I gave him a slight wave and turned away.  Then I had another thought.  Now he knows what my car looks like and can even snag my tag number off the back.

Shitfuck!

I looked to see if I could change lanes but I was jammed in, just like everyone else.  I decided to try to use the time to get some work done.

A few minutes later, I heard this tapping on my window. I looked up and you know who was standing there with a big grin on his face.

“Hey girl. You’re looking downright professional today. No par-tay time for you, huh?”

“Um, I’m actually trying to get some work done here. This wreck is messing me up,” I said curtly. My heart started hammering in my throat. What the hell was he doing?

“How about we get together again sometime.  Brett and I really had a great time.”

Brett? That must be Butthead.

“Look, that was a huge mistake.  I was really messed up that night and I’m not into that anymore.”

He reached inside my car and clamped his hand on my arm. His voice hardened as he said, “My feelings are a little hurt here Lexi. We treated you to some good stuff and now you’re acting like you’re too good for us,” he snarled.

I tried to pull my arm away from him, but he held on like a vise. My voice shook as I replied, “That’s not it at all.  I just decided that I needed to slow down and walk the straight and narrow. I was going at it a bit too hard so I’ve backed off it all.”