Seeing Red (31 page)

“Jill . . .” she heard him say as she hung up. She
stood by a window in a corner of the waiting room, her heart
beating erratically as she tried to catch her breath while hoping
that she had made the right decision.

Truthfully, Jill had missed his affection. It was
nice to feel cared for by someone other than Oliver, someone other
than family. She realized that she didn’t actually love Paul. She
missed the feeling of being cherished and the affection that came
with it, but not Paul himself. Replace Paul with any other hot,
assertive male, and she would have had the same reaction. With that
sudden realization, Jillian felt okay with her decision. She took a
deep breath, feeling proud that she had stayed strong and had
listened to her gut.

With a new tenacious attitude, she turned and
crashed right into a wall. A wall named Alexander. “Holy sh . . .”
She placed her hand on her chest. “Don’t do that! You’re always
sneaking up on me. You’re like a ninja. One day I’m going to
actually have a heart attack.”

He looked serious. “Who was that?”

She didn’t answer. “Jillian, you’re going to answer
me right now, damn it. Who was that?” She still didn’t answer.
“That was Professor Fucking Black, wasn’t it?”

“That was Paul. He’s not our professor anymore.”

“You started seeing him again? I thought he dumped
you?”

That stung and she flinched. “It’s none of your
business, Alexander.”

“You are my goddamn business. Tell me right
now.”

“One second I’m not good enough to sit with you in
the waiting room of the hospital and the next I am
your
business?”

“I thought you were better than that.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Did you sleep with him for the A or for the seminar
or both?”

“You son of a bitch!” She lifted her hand to slap
him, but he grabbed it midair.

“Tell me right now.”

“He’s not our teacher!” Tears were freely flowing
down her face. Between Oliver’s accident, Paul’s sudden return, and
Alexander’s overbearing attitude, her cup had runneth over. “He
wasn’t our teacher when we started dating, and I’m a grown-ass
woman who can sleep with whomever I please. You’ve screwed every
girl on campus.”

“Not every girl,” he said, looking straight into her
eyes.

“Well, because I have a brain and wouldn’t let you
near me with a ten-foot pole! You couldn’t get here on time because
you were screwing God knows whom an hour away, so don’t come here
and judge me for dating a respectable, attractive, smart man, and
sexy may I add. It’s not as if he’s some random lowlife I met on
the street.”

“Are you calling me a lowlife?”

“No!” She was yelling now. “I am calling your
girlfriends lowlifes!”

“Jillian, he’s taking advantage of you. Don’t you
see?”

“How is he taking advantage of me? I’m a consenting
adult.”
Talk about jumping to conclusions. I am not even dating
him, you moron!
She should have clarified this to him, but she
didn’t feel she needed to justify her behavior to Alexander.

“He knew he could fu . . . seduce you. He’s in a
position of power. He took advantage of you, Jillian.” He grimaced
as he spoke.

“Why didn’t you tell me all this before, when I
was—”

“When you were heartbroken? Well, I wasn’t going to
pour salt on the wounds, and anyway, you didn’t want to talk to me,
remember. You wanted to talk to Oliver.”

“So this is what you
wanted
to say that day?
Wow, I’m glad Oliver was there for me and not you. I wouldn’t have
ever recovered.” She shoved him away.

“God, Jillian. If it isn’t Paul, it’s Oliver. I’m
sick of it. I’ve been staying away from you like you asked. I’ve
been thinking about things.”

“With Ms. Yellow VW?” She scowled.

“Are you jealous?”

“Yes.” She said without hesitation, a little
calmer.

“Hmmm. Interesting. That brings me back to what I’ve
been thinking.” He hunched over so that his penetrating deep blue
eyes were even with her large green eyes. He cupped her face with
his big hands. “Listen and listen carefully. I have put a lot of
thought into this. A lot. And I have a proposition for you. I don’t
like it, but it’s for the best. I want you to—”

“Mr. Jacobs.” A cough interrupted his probing stare
into her eyes: scorching sapphire eyes penetrating a sea of
emeralds. The cough broke the spell. The doctor from earlier stood
by them.

Jill could tell that the doctor was smitten by
Alexander’s good looks. How could she not be? Even in his frantic
state, he looked the epitome of masculinity: authoritative,
controlled, and sexy as hell. She stammered slightly, trying to get
the words out: very un-doctor-like.
Bitch.

“Yes, doctor. How is he?”

“He’s doing well. Surprisingly well, considering all
he’s been through.”

“Is he up?”

“Yes. He’s asking for you.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Jill asked.

“Yes. He’ll need to be tended to for a few weeks
until his injuries heal, but he should be just fine. One person at
a time can see him. If all continues on this path, he should be
home tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

He turned and whispered into Jill’s ear before
following after the doctor, “This conversation isn’t over.” Jill
plopped down into a chair in the waiting room. Could this night or
day get any worse? How did they end up in an all-out fight? They
always ended up in a fight. She needed to really control her
newfound feelings and lock up all the emotions.

There was no way being with Alexander would ever end
well. Even if he loved her too, they’d end up killing each other.
He was a mistake waiting to happen. It couldn’t work, and she had
been through too much in her life to end up in a relationship full
of constant heartache. She sank lower into the chair. And there was
Oliver—poor sweet Oliver—who had loved her and told her so.

Twenty minutes later, Alexander came out. “He’s
asking for you,” he said coldly but with a grin. She got up and
walked past him without saying a word.

“Hey there.” she said to Oliver.

“Baby, it’s nice of you to join the party.” He said,
trying to lighten the mood.

“You look like shit.”

“Do you and Alexander plan your greetings? That’s
the same thing he said.”

“Oh, Oly, I was so scared! How do you feel?”

“Not so great but happy to be alive. Asshole was
drunk and swerved into my lane.”

She wanted to grab him and hug him, but he looked so
fragile she was afraid to touch him.

“Oliver . . .” That was her unraveling. “I’m sorry.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Everyone’s had to comfort me
when I should be comforting you and Alexander. I just can’t stop
crying.”

“Come here.” He patted the little space left on the
hospital bed.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Ha! What could you possibly do that the car didn’t
do to me.”

“Don’t joke, Oly,” she cried. “You could have
died.”

“Come here,” he patted the bed again with his left
arm, the one that wasn’t broken. “Sit.” She went around and sat on
the edge of the bed. “Why so far?” She scooted closer, and he held
out his arm and pulled her close. She rested on his chest, and he
tightened his good arm around her. “I’m fine, you see, but I will
need help for the next few weeks. The nurse said that beautiful
redheads had to give me sponge baths.” She snorted a laugh.

“There you go: my favorite laugh.”

“So you’re really okay?”

“Yes, except for my arm and the splitting headache,
I’m fine.”

“Thank God.”

“We need to talk about your dad, Jill. I’m still
worried. How are you handling it?”

“I’ve been so busy with so many other things I
haven’t put much thought into it. I haven’t had any more glimpses
of him since that spell that night.”

“Well, have you uncovered anything else? Why do you
think you haven’t
seen
him again?”

“No clue. I don’t want to talk about it now. Can we
talk about it when you get home? I promise I will sit and talk
about it all week if that’s what you want.”

“Okay, but I’m worried. He’s dangerous.”

“I know.”

“Jill. There’s something else. I need to ask you
something,” he said, looking seriously at her.

“Yeah?” she was still on his chest in a hug.

“Alexander said something about Paul calling you and
you’re seeing him again.”

She immediately pulled up and slightly away from
him, “Are you serious? He was in here for like a minute, and that’s
what you two talked about?”

“Okay. I know it’s none of my business, but this
time he’s right. You shouldn’t be dating that guy. Why didn’t he
call you before? He already hurt you once.”

“With all this shit,” she said, swatting her arm
around to his head and chest,” your damn brother came in here to
talk about me and Black? The nerve of—”

“Listen, Jill. We love you and we worry. Alexander
doesn’t know how to handle his emotions. I want you to know that if
it’s true I agree with him. I don’t want to see him around you. You
hear me? I mean it.”

“You guys are insane. I’m not your property. I can
date whomever I want. You are stifling me. Seriously, this is
absurd. You don’t even know what you’re talking about. You only
know whatever it is that your stupid brother decided to tell you,
and he jumped to conclusions because Paul called me. This is not
the time, nor the place, to have this conversation.”

“Fine, I’ll drop it for now. But, Jillian, I better
not see him around.”

“I’m going home to shower and take a nap.” She was
livid. “I’ll be back later. If you weren’t injured, I’d beat the
shit out of you. You guys need to rein in this overprotective
big-brother thing and mind your own business.” She gave him a kiss
on the cheek and stormed out.

She was fuming. How dare Alexander go and tell his
brother? After a damn car accident for goodness’ sake! She burst
out of the double doors, ready to punch him. Thank God it was still
early and the waiting area was empty; she came at him, guns
blazing.

“I can’t believe you told him! Don’t you think he’s
gone through enough? What the hell were you thinking?” She pushed
him. Hard. He didn’t budge. He was a damn wall of muscles compared
to her petite frame.

“I thought that he should know. You listen to him.
He’d knock some sense into you. You’re in love with each other.
Everyone knows it. You’re the only one that doesn’t, so I thought
he had a right to know.”

“I’m not in love with your brother! I’m not in love
with Paul! I am . . . Ughhh. Never mind! I cannot handle this
anymore. I’m leaving.” She shoved him to the side and walked out,
headed to the exit when she realized she couldn’t leave. “Goddamn
it! I don’t have a car.” She stormed back in.

“Take me home, Alexander.”

“No.”

“What do you mean no?”

“I mean no, I will not take you home. Promise me
you’ll stop seeing Paul.”

“I’ll take a taxi.”

“Jillian! You’d drive a sane man crazy. Come on.
Let’s go.” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him down the
long winding halls of the hospital towards the main lobby where the
exits were located.

“I hope you’re not on your stupid motorcycle. I hate
that thing. It’s a death—”

***

Alexander

That was it.

Alexander had had enough. He physically heard the
tight string holding his temper together snap. He tightened his
grip around her wrist and started wiggling doorknobs down the
corridors of the hospital—frantically.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. He didn’t
respond. He just continued pulling until he turned a knob and a
door to a hospital room opened. It was dark and empty. He pulled
her inside and closed the door behind him. The room was pitch black
and smelled like latex, Clorox, and disinfectant. His hand was
still holding her wrist like a vise, and he yanked her towards
him.

It was a violent collision.

“I’ve had enough of your bullshit, Jillian!”

“Let go of me right now, Alexander Jacobs!”

“No!” Pressed against her, he walked forward,
forcing her closer to his body, and pressed her back against the
door. He put her hands over her head as if she had iron manacles
wrapped around her wrists.

Unbending.

She felt like a rabbit facing a cobra and he was
coiled and ready to strike. She was caged between his body and the
door.

“I’ll scream if you don’t let go of me this
instant.”

He hunched down so that he was eye level to her.
There wasn’t even the slightest trace of amusement. He was pure
anger. “Calm the fuck down, Jillian.”

“Fuck you!” she hissed. Maybe she was the snake and
he was the cobra.

That was it.

He lost total control and knew that this would be
the defining moment where he either lost his friendship, his
family, his Jillian, or made the best decision of his life. All
this realization came crashing together in a split second, and he
slammed her back against the door where she was now completely
helpless. He was in no way gentle. He was rough and angry. She was
effectively pinned against the door as his body crushed against
hers. He bent down and silenced her with a kiss, and she answered
him in kind, tasting him thoroughly.

This kiss was unlike any other kiss either had ever
experienced. This was not the same kiss she had with Paul or even
like the one she had shared with Alexander over Thanksgiving. This
was raw with violent emotion. Twenty years of pent-up passion
exploding. She fought back at first, refusing to open her lips to
his tongue that ferociously tried to make its way into her mouth.
She tried to fight him, and she mumbled something into his mouth,
but Alexander didn’t stop.

His hardness was pressed against her stomach. She
felt the electricity up her spine and goose bumps all over her
body. Both their hearts were beating erratically into one another’s
chest.