How Much I Feel - Marie Force Page 0,76
make me shiver as much from the words as his tender touch.
Jason withdraws from me, disposes of the condom in a tissue and grabs the throw blanket from the end of my bed to cover us, keeping his body curved tightly around mine. “How you doing over there?”
“Very, very good. You?”
“Same. Very, very, very good.”
I reach for his hand, which is flat against my abdomen, and hold on tight to him, overwhelmed by everything that’s already happened while wondering where we’ll go from here.
CHAPTER 19
CARMEN
The news from the nurses on Saturday is good—Mateo is responding well to the antibiotics and doing much better.
Jason is visibly relieved after he gets that update.
We spend much of the day working on the PowerPoint presentation for the Miami-Dade board of directors, which includes testimonials from former patients as well as Jason’s colleagues in New York. His assistant came through with plenty of both, so we’ve got a lot to work with in addition to what we’ve done together here.
The NBC 6 story is included, along with the photos I took of him with patients at the clinic, playing dominoes in the park, eating at the bar at Giordino’s and sitting on Miami Beach.
“It’s really great, Carmen,” he says when we review it from the beginning.
“We had lots of good stuff to work with.” I glance at him, leaning over my shoulder to view the laptop screen. “I hope this helps you see that the scandal is only a tiny part of your story.”
“It does. I just hope the board sees that, too.”
“They will. How could they not?” I get up and stretch, my muscles protesting from spending hours at the computer, not to mention the hours in bed with him. “How do you feel about cigars?”
“Medical school ruined my enjoyment of many things, including cigars. We learned all about how unhealthy most of the best things really are.”
“That’s a drag.”
He smiles at my pun. “A huge drag. I’ll never look at cigars, booze, fried food or red meat the same way again. Why do you ask about cigars?”
“I want to take you to the Little Havana Cigar Factory. I thought you might find it fun to check out how they’re made.”
“That does sound fun. Can we have dinner at the restaurant after?”
“We’re going there for brunch tomorrow.”
“Is there a limit on the number of times we’re allowed to go there? I want to see your family again. I like them.”
“They like you, too. In fact, I’ve been getting texts from them asking when you’re coming back.”
He puts his arms around me and kisses me. “Are you ashamed of me, Rizo?”
“Of course not. Don’t be silly.”
“Then what’re you thinking?”
“I’m getting attached to you.” The words are out before I can take even a second to decide whether I should say them.
“I’m getting attached to you, too.”
“Are we setting ourselves up for disaster here?”
“Maybe, but disaster has never felt so good.” He kisses me again, and like always, the second his lips connect with mine, I lose myself in the magic we create together.
By the time we finally come up for air, I’ve forgotten what we were talking about. Oh. Right. Attachment . . .
Jason’s phone rings, and he reluctantly releases me to check it. “It’s Terri, the nurse administrator from New York.”
She’s the one who sent us the testimonials from former patients and colleagues.
He takes the call. “Hey, Terri.” As he listens to what she has to say, he walks toward the window in my living room. “When did this happen?”
My stomach tightens with nerves as I wonder what new disaster might have occurred. As I watch him, I realize it’s far too late to be worried about anything as simple as attachment. I’m falling in love with him. If I haven’t already completely fallen. His fate is now tied to mine, and whatever news he’s getting from Terri, I only hope it doesn’t make anything worse for him.
After a tense ten-minute conversation in which he does more listening than talking, he thanks Terri for calling and asks her to keep him posted. Long after he stashes the phone in the pocket of his basketball shorts, he continues to stare out the window.
“What’s going on?” I ask when I can’t wait another second to know.
“Apparently, Howard resigned as chairman of the board in New York to, and I quote, ‘spend more time with his family.’ After hearing from my lawyer earlier in the week, apparently Ginger wrote a letter to the remaining board members, telling