9781631052347OnCallKenyan by M. O. Kenyan Page A

fingers traced his thick lips, his closed
eyes and his strong, defined jaw. There was a lot of him for a girl to love.
    Love.
    That
word had come to her mind twice already. Katherine didn’t believe in fairytale
endings, but she didn’t ignore them completely. Living with a man as hard as
her father, she had learned how to draw boundaries on what was realistic and
what was a fantasy. Harry Henry was a hard man, but her mother seemed more in
love with him each day. To each his own.
    But,
AJ? Katherine was convinced he was a sweet man, capable of loving someone even
through the hard times. But now, her biggest challenge was proving to him that
she was enough for him. He had his blonde and that would have to be enough for
him. No more red-heads or brunettes, especially one named Lisette.
    “I know
you are awake.” AJ said his voice heavy with sleep.
    “I am,
but I guess you’re still sleepy.”
    “Uh-huh.”
AJ cleared his throat and planted a kiss on her forehead. “We have the weekend
off.”
    “That’s
great. AJ, how did I get out of my scrubs and into your T-shirt?” Katherine
knew she was bare from the waist down, when AJ’s hand released her waist and
smoothed over her naked thigh.
    “I
might have had something to do with that,” he replied with an unrepentant grin.
    “What else
did you do?”
    Just
then he shifted irritably on the bed, and the smile dropped, his face had a
look of annoyance. Katherine didn’t know what she said that set him off. “I
won’t mind, if you did something, creepy and totally inappropriate.” She was
teasing him, to make light of the mood..
    AJ
didn’t laugh, instead he asked. “How much of yesterday do you remember, I mean,
after the bypass.”
    “I went
to the on-call room and passed out. The next thing, I wake up in your arms.
Why? Is something wrong?”
    “No,
nothing.” He forced a smile. “While you were sleeping, I was doing rounds. Do
you think I could get a few more hours of sleep? I promise you, once I am
totally rejuvenated, I will show you how grateful I am.”
    Katherine
shivered in anticipation as he nibbled on her ear. She could be totally selfish
and ask for her prize now, but, expectation was what made the sex even better.
“I’ll do laundry while you sleep.”
    “Uh—sure.”
    Katherine
left AJ’s room chastising herself. She shouldn’t have offered to do laundry.
That said ‘relationship’ and she knew AJ wasn’t ready for that. The moment of
panic in AJ’s eyes, no matter how short it was, told her she had crossed a
line. Hopefully, asking to wash his underwear didn’t put him off.
    In a
matter of minutes, Katherine had turned into Susie House Maker. She dusted,
mopped, and cleaned. She had a gnawing need to make this space hers, too. Once
she was done with the tiny apartment she started arranging her clothes in the
closet. She hid the suitcases under the bed—out of sight, out of mind. Not
having them within view told her she was here to stay. And maybe, just maybe,
she would be moving her stuff to the master bedroom.
    By the
time she was done, the second hour had clocked by. How much longer did AJ need
to sleep? She settled on making herself a vanilla scented bubble bath. Besides
being in need of a shower, she knew AJ wouldn’t be able to resist the sweet
scent her skin would be radiating. She sank into the hot water, the bubbles
covering her up to her neck. She lay her head back on the head rest, and played
some music from the built in overhead stereo. Her room back at home didn’t have
these luxuries.
    Katherine
just had to press replay on the song Twilight by Cover Drive . She felt as if it
was written with her and AJ in mind. How the words of a song could hit each and
every truth she felt in her heart amazed her. She sank deeper in the tub, the
bubbles popping around her nose, and fantasized about singing it to AJ. She
could imagine him smiling at her, kissing her, holding her and maybe, if
fantasies could turn into reality, him