Once More (Mercy Heart #1) (10 page)

“Imagine how I feel, having to replace the best bodyguard I ever had.  I can’t have you mooning over the beefcake when we are together.”  She looked up at him, searching his face out of concern, but all she saw there was humor as he smiled and winked at her.  “I’m kidding.  I hope it is reassuring to you that your friend knows where you are.”

“I’m never going to be able to look him in the face again.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.  Stuart is nothing if not professional.”

Clem uncovered the plates in front of them, revealing large platters full of chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes and gravy, with a breadbasket full of large, buttery rolls.  Katelyn’s eyes widened, and her heart softened just a little, as she realized what a special meaning this meal had for them, a reenactment of their first date.  Clem dished up their food, and they dug in. 

Taking a bite, Katelyn moaned her satisfaction, causing Clem to pause with his fork halfway to his mouth, but she was enjoying their meal far too much to notice his lustful reaction.  Holy hell, if she kept making those noises, he couldn’t be held responsible for his actions. 

After a few more mouthfuls, she looked at Clem who was also eating, but keeping a very close eye on her at the same time.

“What?” she asked, almost defensively.

Smiling sheepishly, he replied, “Mr. CEO Hard Drive?”  Her eyes widened, suddenly remembering the use of their nickname for Clem, she slapped her hand over her mouth.  “Let me guess.  Liam?”

Removing her hand, her eyes wide, she giggled, “I knew you had met at least once.”

“We have chatted a few times.  He’s quite…interesting.”

Smiling at the thought of her friend, she replied, “That he is.”

A comfortable silence settled between them, only the sounds of the silverware on the plates breaking through the peace of the evening.  Looking around while Clem finished, Katelyn took in their surroundings.  “I didn’t expect you to have an apartment here.  I assumed you’d be living out of a hotel.”

Wiping his mouth, he replied, “With housekeepers and room service, that’s just too many people in and out. I deal with way too much sensitive information to be that accessible.  Plus, I like the space.  This feels like home.”

The implications of his statements were not lost on her.  He made it sound as though he were in town indefinitely.  Hope bubbled on the surface.

Covering their dishes, he stood and held out his hand.  “Come, I’ll show you around.”

They left the dining area and went back into the living room, then into a hallway on the other side, Clem pointing as they went.  “Two guest bedrooms, each with a private bath.  This is my office.”  A gorgeous mahogany desk sat in front of a matching credenza under a large picture window.  Folders full of paperwork as well as multiple computer screens sat on his desk that appeared to monitor various systems from this one remote location.  “And here at the end of the hallway is the master suite, also with a master bath.”  A large bed commanded the greatest amount of space in the room, a predominant color scheme of dark browns and deep reds decorating the warm and inviting space.  Crossing the space, she peeked into the bathroom and found a huge walk-in shower surrounded in glass with multiple heads, as well as a bathtub big enough for a group.  Turning back towards Clem, she was surprised to find him so close, reaching out to her.  He led her to an oversized loveseat with an ottoman on the other side of the room, looking out the window at another gorgeous view of the city lights. 

“This is really a very nice place you have, Clem.”

“Thank you.  I find it meets my needs.  It’s quiet, secure, and more than enough room.” 

She sat rigidly for a moment, unsure of how to handle being this close to Clem in the chair meant just for two.  As the warmth of his body enveloped her, she relaxed, heeding Sawyer’s advice to enjoy the moment. 

Clem clenched his free hand at his side.  Since he and Katelyn had gone their separate ways, his sex drive had been non-existent as far as anyone else was concerned.  When he first left town, he had hoped that Katelyn would call him up, ready to join him.  After a few months went by and he hadn’t heard from her, he decided that building his business was much more important than a roll in the sack.  Women often flirted with him, but he had refused every one of them.  To say this close contact with Katelyn’s beautiful body was getting him aroused was one hell of an understatement, but hopefully his situation was masked in the shadows. 

“Would you like a drink?”

“Sure, a glass of wine would be wonderful.” 

He stood and went over to a small chest, pulling a bottle out of a chiller, as well as two glasses.  Handing her a glass, he took his spot once again next to her, both of them sipping their drinks in silence for a few moments. 

“What happened to working in oncology?” he quietly asked.

Leaning forward to set her glass down on a tray on the ottoman, she stayed in that position as she answered.  “I barely lasted six months.  It was just too hard.  I thought my past experiences would give me insight into how it felt on the patient and family side, but it was like my own personal living hell every day, the worst Groundhog’s Day you could imagine.  I’d wake up the next day and do it all again. A single mother came in with advanced breast cancer.  She lived just a few weeks.  I sat with her daughter, tried to help her cope, but it was like watching my own life play over again in front of my eyes.  When an opening in the ER came up, I took it and never looked back.  There’s just something about the stress in the ER that is totally different from anywhere else.  Patients come in fast and leave just as quickly.  There is no time to learn their stories and take on their lasting emotional pain.  It wasn’t easy but it just didn’t feel as personal as seeing the same patients and their families day in and day out.  I was promoted quickly, from charge nurse to department director, and when the position opened up in executive admin, I went for it.”

Pulling her back towards him, he settled her once again beside him, reaching inside her denim jacket to lightly caress her bare shoulder.  Feeling braver, he used his other hand to tip her chin towards him, leaning in for a chaste kiss.   Katelyn’s body wanted to get wrapped up in the moment, but her mind worked too fast.  Putting her hands up on Clem’s chest, she sat back, putting space between them once more. 

“I think it’s my turn to ask a question.”

Blowing out, Clem ran his fingers through his hair in mild frustration.  With a tight smile, he replied.  “That sounds fair.  Ask me anything.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me that you were wealthy?”

“I didn’t want to gain friends because of my trustfund.  Once you told me about your life and I saw how hard you worked for everything you had, it was almost embarrassing to say anything.  I never thought it would make a difference to you.” 

“You’re right.  It doesn’t matter to me.  The only thing I have ever wanted from you is honesty.”

He looked silently out the window for a few moments, mulling over her words.  Turning towards her, Clem gently lifted one of Katelyn’s hands towards his mouth, kissing her fingertips.  “I want you to trust me.  I know it’s important to you, and it’s important to me that you find me trustworthy.  Whatever you want to know, just ask.”

Katelyn nodded without answering. Inside, she wrestled with her emotions.  A part of her was afraid to risk it, afraid that she wouldn’t survive losing him again.  But a bigger part of her just wanted to recapture the feelings that he had brought out in her.  Seven years felt like a lifetime without passion or desire.  Just being close to Clem brought those feelings rushing back to the surface.  Still, fear was keeping her from just hopping into his bed.  It was obvious he wanted her, but he hadn’t made any attempt to define his expectations.  Was this a chance to relive the past, one last roll in the sack for old time’s sake?  Did he want a long-term relationship, or was he just looking for someone to spend time with while he’s in town?  As much as she was dying to know, she couldn’t get up the nerve to ask him. But as much as she was afraid to risk it, her yearning for Clem was too over-powering to battle any longer.

Clem watched as a myriad of emotions played across Katelyn’s face.  He’d give anything to know what she was thinking.  He wanted more than anything for her to open herself up to him.  Stretching his arm out across the back of the seat, he fingered a stray curl as Katelyn stared down at her lap. 

Taking a deep breath, Katelyn looked up into Clem’s eyes, full of hunger and desire for her.  She leaned towards him, and he reached up with his other hand to cup her cheek as their lips met.  Instantaneously, passion took over as both of his hands went into her hair, holding on for dear life.  His tongue probed her lips briefly before she opened up to allow him in.  The moment was electrifying as the emotion shook them to the very core.  What felt earth shattering to them both was abruptly interrupted by the vibrations of Clem’s phone. 

Chapter 14

Breathing heavily, Clem rested his forehead against Katelyn’s for a brief moment, cursing the interruption.  Yanking his phone from his pocket, he sat back and answered.  “This better be really good, Nate.”

Nate, Clem’s number one data miner, wasn’t big on conversation, content to work alone out of his basement in New Jersey.  He preferred to do his communication through email.  Seeing his name pop up made Clem think that whatever he was calling about was too important to ignore. 

“Yo, boss.  I have gone over and over again the numbers for the Mercy Heart project.  Check your email.  I sent you a couple of examples.  And there are way more where that came from.” 

Placing the phone against his chest for a moment, Clem turned to Katelyn.  “I’m sorry, Katelyn.  I have to take this in my office.”

“No problem.  I understand.  Maybe I should just go.  It is getting late.”

“No!  Please don’t go anywhere.  Wait right here.”

Clem placed the phone back to his ear and raced to his office.  “Mr. B., you got a lady friend with you?  Dude, my bad.  Katelyn, eh?  She sounds hot!”

Clem gritted his teeth, irritated with the interruption and even more so with the invasion of his privacy.  “I can trust that you will keep this to yourself, yes?  I don’t want to read about this on your blog.  I would rather your collection of readers not be privy to my private life.”

“Hey, no worries, boss man.  I don’t go for all of that gossip-tabloid-paparazzi bull shit.  You in front of your email yet?”

Sitting down at his computer, Clem entered his password and waited a brief moment as his email came up.  He opened the attachment from Nate.  Switching to speakerphone, he asked, “Okay, what am I looking at?”  Katelyn entered the office and went to his side of the desk, leaning against it and looking over Clem’s shoulder.

   “At first glance, when I look at total charges, total payments, total refunds and total adjustments, everything comes out balanced.  But man, I do a lot of data reconciliation, and I have never seen such a low rate of credit balances.  There aren’t any accounts that have had a credit balance for greater than sixty days.  Dude, where else have you seen numbers like that?”

“Never.  I’ve never seen numbers like that.  Thanks, Nate.  I’ll get back to you.”  Clem’s left hand covered his mouth in deep concentration while his right hand worked the mouse, scrolling through the numbers.  Turning to Katelyn, he asked, “When was the last time Mercy Heart had an audit?”

“I’m not sure.  Marc would know.  I can call him and ask.”

“No!  Do not speak to anyone about this until I get a better handle on what’s going on.” 

Wrinkling her forehead in confusion, Katelyn said, “If anyone is going to know the answer to this, it’s going to be Marc.”

Slapping his hand on the desk, he looked at Katelyn and said, “Katelyn, I’m serious.  You cannot say anything about this.  Not until I can pinpoint the issue.”

Katelyn raised her eyebrows when he raised his voice, and flinched when he hit the desk.  Obviously this problem was much bigger than she thought.  She wasn’t thrilled that he was so quick to react like this, but if something wasn’t right, she didn’t want to be in the way of getting to the bottom of it.

Realizing how harsh he sounded, he reached out to hold her hand.  “I’m sorry.  I just don’t want to get everyone up in arms until we know exactly what’s going on.  This probably has a very logical explanation.”

“I see.  What is going on?  My work mainly deals with the clinical side.  I rarely get involved with anything financially related with the patient accounts.”

Thankful that his outburst hadn’t caused a setback with her, he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder.  The last thing he wanted was to involve her in whatever this issue may be, and, truth be told, the only thing on his mind at this moment was picking up where they left off in his bedroom.  He kissed her throat, earning him a breathy sigh from her, but she was onto him. 

“Clem,” she began with the intention of stopping him, but then she tilted her head to allow him better access, relishing the feel of his lips on her skin.  His touch ignited a fire deep within her, a passion that had been hidden for so long.  Seated in his lap, she could feel how effected he was as well.  When he started to remove her jacket and his lips moved lower, she was jolted back to reality.  “Clem, stop.  I want an answer to my question.”

“Sweetheart, the less you know the better.” 

Jumping from his lap, Katelyn turned to him.  “I need to know, Clem.  These people aren’t just my coworkers.  They are my family.  I need to know what you are accusing them of.”

Running his fingers through his hair in obvious frustration, Clem shut his eyes and leaned back in his chair.  Reining in his irritation, he continued.  “Without speaking to the staff that deals with this sort of thing on a regular basis, I am not accusing anyone of anything.  Credit balances result when an account balance goes under zero.  Most often it is an error in adjustment, but it can be that a patient or insurance company paid too much.  It is just very unusual for a medical center the size of Mercy Heart to have such a low percentage of balances below zero.  Mercy Heart may have some policy about adjusting the balance back to zero until it can be claimed, which isn’t necessarily the most ethical way to handle it.”  Seeing Katelyn’s wide eyes moved Clem to damage control.  “Or…it could be that Marc and his staff are just very good at their jobs,” he finished, though speaking positively about Marc left a bad taste in his mouth. 

“I know Marc wouldn’t intentionally do anything wrong.  I trust him completely.  He is a good man.  I believe with every fiber of my being that if something fishy is going on, Marc is not a part of it.”  Her arms folded across her chest in a display of stubborn unwavering support for Marc.  Clem didn’t attempt to hide his displeasure with her statement. Katelyn could tell he was gritting his teeth, resentment emanating from his every flexed muscle. 

Clem didn’t want to think of the all of the ways Marc had earned such a favorable opinion from Katelyn.  He took a deep breath, pasted on a smile and went to her, kissing her on the forehead.  He wasn’t going to let this get between them tonight.  “My team and I will get to the bottom of this.  Don’t worry about it.  Now come on, let’s get back to enjoying ourselves.”  He tugged her with him out the door and towards his bedroom.  Visions danced in his head of stripping Katelyn of all her clothing and burying himself deep inside of her till dawn. 

The closer they got to his bedroom, the more her anxiety ratcheted up.  Her body was aching to share that intimacy with Clem again, but exposing herself to him made her feel vulnerable, and slightly embarrassed that she hadn’t even attempted to be with anyone in the time they had been apart.  “Clem, wait.”  Her voice shook, betraying the confident woman she was trying to portray.  “It’s very late.  I have early meetings tomorrow, and I should be getting home.”

Turning towards her, he studied her face.  Softly, he spoke.  “Are you sure that’s what you want to do tonight?”  He lightly caressed her cheek and looked deep into her eyes. 

Unable to maintain eye contact, she focused in on his chin.  Barely above a whisper she replied, “Yes, I’m sure.  I should go.”

Clem released a deep breath.  He wanted to persuade her to stay, but he could sense something bigger going on inside her head than just rejecting his advances.  Was it fear?  Certainly she wasn’t afraid of him after all of this time.  As much as he wanted to be intimate with her, he wouldn’t push her.  He had waited seven long years for this chance again, and he could wait a little longer.  He slipped his hands away from her body and started back towards the living room.  “Okay.  You’re right.  It is late.”

Relieved that he was not challenging her abrupt change of heart, she slipped her hands around his muscular bicep and leaned her head onto his shoulder as they made their way back to the front door.  His hand enveloped hers, reassuring her that he was not upset.

By the front door, Clem pressed a button on a panel and opened the front door.  Stuart stood in the small lobby, facing the elevator.  “Stuart will take you home.  I had a wonderful time with you tonight.  I hope we can do this again soon?”  His last sentence came out as a question.  His forehead wrinkled, the uncertainty in his eyes left her rushing to quiet his doubts.

Stepping closer, she whispered so that only he could hear.  “I’d like that a lot.” She planted a soft kiss on his cheek and went to take the elevator down.  As the doors closed, she spared a glance at Clem, who was still planted in the same spot, staring at her with hunger in his eyes.  Being with him again was going to happen.  It was inevitable.  But she needed to have a better handle on the situation before she just jumped into bed with him.  Staying in control was going to be what saved her sanity in the end. 

Clem was elated beyond description.  It took every bit of discipline he had in him to let her leave, which seemed to be very significant to her tonight.  Shaking his head, he closed the door and went back to his office to review the files from Nate.  Concerned this situation could drive a wedge between him and Katelyn if any of her friends were involved, he was determined to get to the bottom of it swiftly so they could put it behind them and finish the project.