Chapter 4

“Katherine Henry, I never thought—”

AJ was silenced by a kiss. The pressure of Katherine’s fingers into his biceps confused him more. He took a step back as she pushed him into his apartment. “What?”

“Sweetheart,” Katherine chirped. “This is my brother Christian. Christopher and Duke couldn’t come. I see your sisters aren’t here. Just as well. You can put my bags down here Christian. AJ will take them into our room for me.”

AJ looked up and for the first time noticed the gigantic blond, blue-eyed man behind Katherine. He studied both of them, and the resemblance was staggering. He also recognized him from the bonfire he’d met Katherine at.

“You are Katherine’s boyfriend,” AJ took the hand stretched out to him, his mind staggering over the boyfriend part. “I am Christian Henry, the last born. Christopher has class and Duke has work. I’m afraid you will just have to settle for me.”

“That’s…that’s fine.” AJ followed him as Christian walked into the large apartment and set Katherine’s bags next to his couch. “Suitcases. Why—”

“We can move them later on,” Katherine blabbered on. She walked over to her brother and took his arm. Quickly and not subtly, she hurried him out of the door. Christian could barely get out a goodbye when the door shut in his face.

“What’s going on?” AJ finally asked after a few minutes of strained silence.

“Not now, please. I need to be at work in two hours. I didn’t get any sleep before my father tossed me out. Bedroom?”

“First door on the right,” he mumbled.

“I just need two hours of uninterrupted sleep. We can talk about me moving in after our shift.”

“But—” AJ’s protests were met by a slight click as the door shut behind Katherine. He fell onto the couch, his head resting in his palms, shocked into silence.

AJ sneaked out of the house the next morning. What exactly was he supposed to say to his fake girlfriend, his new roommate he couldn’t have sex with, but wanted to? AJ sighed and rubbed his temple. He could feel a migraine coming on and its name was Katherine Henry. His phone buzzed and it was his little sister. Maybe she could offer some comic relief.

“Hey, piggy,” AJ answered his phone as his eyes searched around the room for Katherine’s sandy blonde hair. “Sure, whatever you want sweetheart,” he answered absent mindedly. When he saw Katherine’s loose ponytail, he ended the conversation with his sister, not really knowing what he had committed to.

He pushed his way through the crowd of residents to where Katherine was. Leaning forward, he whispered. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Just a second,” she said distracted. “Do you see the size of that tumor?”

AJ looked up and through his foggy exhausted eyes he saw the patient. He was in his hospital bed, unconscious, probably sedated. The residents were all gawking at him like he was some world wonder. The tumor was occupying the left side of his chest. That explained why Katherine was there, but the other hundreds were only there to stare. Thank God he was unconscious.

“It’s about our living situation,” he whispered.

“I’ll pay half the rent. I won’t get into your space. We’ll both chip in for the groceries, but under no circumstances am I doing your laundry. I can’t even do my own,” she muttered under her breath.

“What about the other thing.” AJ hoped she understood what he meant. There was no way he was rehashing their sex talk in the midst of a dozen nurses he had taken to bed.

“Other thing?” Katherine turned to face him. It took a few seconds, but he could see the realization in her eyes. “You mean the other thing. We can do that if you want. I’m glad you finally agreed.”

“That’s not—” AJ was silenced by the sea of eyes glaring at him. He stepped closer to Katherine and leaned down, so that his lips were close to her ear. “That’s not what I meant—”

“Doctor Ross, Doctor Henry, I’m glad you both agreed to scrub in on this.” AJ heard Lyle’s scornful voice.

“I never agreed to scrub in on this surgery,” AJ pointed out.

“I do, I agree.” Katherine chirped.

“Are you saying Cardiology is not good enough for you?” Lyle snapped. “Do you think the heart is not as important as the brain? Or Cardiology is not as cool as trauma?”

“I didn’t say that.” AJ could feel the rage build up inside him. Lyle was putting him on the spot, trying to make him look bad. Lyle was challenging him in his own field, and AJ had no other choice but to accept. AJ didn’t have that many hours in cardio, and it seemed like Lyle knew that. But he wasn’t going to fail—he was a Ross after all. “Fine, I’ll scrub in.”

“Great!”

AJ wished he could knock Lyle’s triumph smug clean off his face. But in order to get to the snake, he would have to push past other doctors and nurses, and leap over the patient’s bed. On a normal day, he would probably do it, but he was exhausted. “I’m headed home.”

“Let me grab my stuff.”

“You live together?” The redhead gasped.

AJ stared at her, the whole time trying to remember her name. But when it didn’t come to mind, he shrugged and walked away.

* * * *

“I’m exhausted!” Katherine groaned as she dropped onto the sofa. She studied the hard set of AJ’s face and knew what was brewing in his mind. She couldn’t blame him. She had barged into his home; lied to her brothers that he was her boyfriend, and now because of her, he probably can’t get laid. But I offered, she thought.

“You can use the spare room. I’m just going to study the notes your boyfriend gave us then go to sleep.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” she groaned.

“Lyle and I never used to interact. But when I start talking to you, all of a sudden, he’s got something against me. He’s out to get me, and it’s because of you,” he was snarling.

It was somehow true. She should never have belittled Lyle and sung AJ’s praises. Now he was stuck in a surgery he didn’t want. On the positive side, they were a few hours from performing a life-saving surgery.

The tumor had taken over the left side of his chest, feeding off the same artery that supplied the heart’s blood. It was also in the patient’s chest cavity, pressing against his ribs and lungs. And if that wasn’t enough, the skin tissue which had been affected was massive. They would not only try to cut out the unhealthy tissue, but they would also be doing a skin transplant. This mix of surgeries made careers.

“Don’t pay attention to him. Just ignore him.”

“What? Are we in kindergarten?” AJ snickered.

Katherine dragged her weary body to the bedroom. With a loud oomph she dropped into bed. She didn’t bother snuggling into the covers. She pulled the duvet around her body and slowly started to fall asleep.

“What the hell?”

Katherine leaped out of the bed; her body charged from sleep by the shrill shout of an unknown female. She stood with the bed between her and the sexy Latina in a mere rumor of a towel. “I know karate,” she lied.

“And I know whoop-ass,” the Latina half snorted a laugh. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here.” Katherine straightened from her defensive crouch and dropped the fists already balled before her. There was only one explanation for this. I am SO going to kick AJ’s ass. “I’m sorry but I think you are in the wrong room. The service department is down the hall. It’s the only room at the end, you won’t miss it. But if you like, I could draw you a map,” she said with excessive politeness.

“What are you doing here?”

Katherine began to get worried. What if she was the intruder? The other girl was about the same size as herself. She could take her or hold her own until help arrived. Katherine didn’t like the clench in her jaw, or how she kept questioning her with her teeth in a tight lock, the words barely getting out of the tiny gaps they left.

But Katherine wasn’t leaving. AJ had given her this room, and besides, she had nowhere to go. If she had to defend it against a seething woman, she would.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Katherine breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of AJ’s voice. She exhaled and all the tension left her body. But when she turned around to look at her defender, the tension rushed back into her body, a different kind of tension. AJ looked like he had just left the bathroom. His body glistened from the water. His cotton trousers hung loosely around his waist, revealing the powerful muscles of his thighs under the cloth. The six-pack on his torso went well with his strong pectorals. He was like a large bar of chocolate begging to be devoured. Katherine groaned inwardly, taking in his appearance. She then huffed in annoyance, knowing that with the Latina here, there was no way he would want Katherine.

Katherine looked back at the girl who was now wearing a T-shirt. Her hair was like a thick, black long mane. Her olive skin was a huge contrast to her full red lips. She had long curvy legs, and a rack and an ass to keep any man occupied for days. Standing next to her Katherine felt like chopped liver. Her heart jumped to her throat. What if AJ is comparing the two of us? She chanced a glance back at AJ and noticed he wasn’t looking at her. It was like Katherine wasn’t in the room and all he could see was the bombshell in the towel. But the look in his eyes wasn’t desire, but white-hot burning fury.

* * * *

AJ was in the shower when he heard a loud shrill that sounded all too familiar. Too familiar because he had been hearing it for more than twenty years of his life. “Lisette!”

He slid on the bathroom tiled floors as he tried to scramble out of the room. AJ grabbed his cotton pants and put them on, struggling to get each foot in each pant leg, but missing each time. Finally, he pulled them up to his waist and dashed to the room down the hall. He had half expected Lisette to have Katherine out on her ear by now. Lisette wasn’t the biggest fan of his philandering. And it wouldn’t be the first time that she had kicked out his date. He just hoped Catalella wasn’t with her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” He heard Lisette ask again. He could almost hear her teeth gnash together with the clench of her jaw. Katherine was in big trouble.

“What the hell is going on here?” He stepped in front of Katherine, facing Lisette, intercepting the daggers being aimed at the unsuspecting woman. “Why are you here?”

“I called you and I told you I’m coming to crash here. What is that?” The venom in Lisette’s tone could out-do that of a cobra.

“Put some pants on, Lisette.”

“Put some pants on Lisette!” She mimicked him, down to the angry tone of his voice. He watched as she left for the bathroom to retrieve her jeans. The whole time he couldn’t turn to face Katherine. He could guess what she was thinking. But he didn’t think he cared to set it straight. Lisette called back “Don’t take that tone with me Adrian Jackson Ross. I bet you won’t be telling that to put her pants on. Will you AJ?”

“Where is your car, Lisette?” AJ’s tone softened. It didn’t do them any good if they were both angry.

“What do you care?” She used a sad little voice. “You didn’t even ask why I came here in the first place.”

“All right.” AJ could feel the guilt consume him. He muttered a curse when he saw tears well in her eyes. “Okay, come to my room and we’ll talk.”

“I’m not going into that STD infested zone.”

AJ could feel his patience wear thin when Lisette stuck out her stubborn jaw. He hated that. “Let me grab a T-shirt, and we can talk in the living room.”

“I hope you are not doing it for my benefit. Your friend is drooling all over herself. She hasn’t stopped looking at you since you walked into the room. And if you don’t lace your pants there will be more of you to see.”

AJ instinctively grabbed his trousers as his eyes darted toward Katherine. The crimson blush in her cheeks told him that Lisette was right. He turned around and began to head for his room when he realized Lisette wasn’t following. “Lisette!” he warned in a low, but forceful tone that left no room for argument.

“Pick your jaw up from the floor. He’s just human.”

“Lisette!”

“Don’t you ‘Lisette!’ me!” She grumbled as she stomped out of the room.

AJ swallowed hard and settled a steady gaze on Katherine. “I’m sorry.”

“No more shouting, Lisette. Tell me, what’s wrong?” AJ asked in annoyance once his apology was swallowed by the bang of Katherine’s door shutting behind her.

“Reno and I had a fight.”

“Of course,” he muttered under his breath. “What about?”

“I was in a fight.” He watched as Lisette began to toy with the bottom of her T-shirt. He knew she was at fault—she only did that when she felt guilty. But he wasn’t about to tell her that. It was getting late, and he needed his rest. “It was bitch-toria. She is always trying to rile me up. This time she kissed Reno on the cheek. He’s not even playing anymore. He was on the sidelines the whole time. Bitch-toria gave him a congratulatory kiss.” Lisette rolled her eyes and AJ had to catch the laugh that almost tore through him. All Lisette needed were her pigtails and she would be back in third grade.

“So, what’s the problem?”

“I sort of hit her. But she wasn’t even bleeding. Reno got all mad saying I’m too violent. He said I needed to calm down, or else.”

AJ was terrified about venturing down that road. No one in their right mind challenged Lisette with a dare. It didn’t matter what it was, she would end up with the upper hand. “Or else what?”

“Or else he was going to break up with me. So, guess what, I beat him to it.”

“Yikes!” AJ rubbed the imaginary sweat off his brow.

Lisette sat on the sofa, her elbows on her knees and her fists supporting her chin. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.” AJ rose from his chair and sat next to her. He soothingly rubbed circles around her back. The good thing about Lisette was she wasn’t the crying type. If it was Catalella he would be cradling an emotional wreck in his arms. “You need to talk to him. Hasn’t he called you?”

“He did. But I was kind of mean.”

“Do you want me to call him?”

“Would you? Please, AJ?” Her face brightened up and he was afforded a smile.

“I can do better. I will drop you off at your place.”

“I love you, AJ. I’m sorry for being mean before. But you know I don’t like it when you—”

“She’s, my colleague. Her father kicked her out of the house. This is the first night she is spending here. I’m not sleeping with her, piggy.”

“I’m glad.” She planted a noisy, wet kiss on his cheek that had him cringing. “If Reno doesn’t take me back, you’ll beat him up, right?”

“Are you kidding me? He’s got ten pounds of muscles on me.” AJ met his sister’s gaze, and he knew he had to buck up. He wouldn’t actually fight Reno, but it would make Lisette feel better. “Sure, I will, if he doesn’t kill me first.”

* * * *

Katherine dropped on her bed and stared at the ceiling. That must have been the girlfriend. At least she knows what he’s about. She felt herself shrinking within her body, at the thought of AJ being with someone other than her. She didn’t know why she felt this attachment to him. It might be because he was her first. It must be normal to harbor feelings for the man who turned you into a woman, a man who took you to heaven and back for your first time. Who could blame her for wanting to go on another ride? Knowing what she did about AJ’s sexual prowess, how could she blame him for having girls knocking down his door? Sometimes she half expected to find a line running all the way to Jersey—of women with ticket numbers waiting for days, through any type of weather, to get their turn.

“Wasn’t that the reason you moved in here in the first place?” she asked herself. Sure, she had left the comfort of her father’s hospitality and wealth. There were so many other places she could go, but she’d decided to impose herself on AJ. She had even told her brothers he was her boyfriend. “Be honest with yourself Kat, you want to mark your territory and you found the most obvious way to do it.” But that didn’t mean AJ would stop bringing girls around. How the hell was she supposed to handle the moans of pleasure that would surely float from AJ’s room and into her lonely bed at night? “I’ll just scare them away or fix myself into AJ’s bed. That way there won’t be any room for anyone else. I hope.”

Katherine stood up when she could hear shouting from the other room. She wanted to press her ear against the door, wanting to hear if they were fighting about her. If she was lucky enough AJ would kick her out. Apparently, she wasn’t. Katherine fell back on her bed, a dull ache eating up her heart. It hurt her that AJ left with that Lisette. She tried convincing herself she didn’t care. But that didn’t help her own insecurities which were bubbling up inside her. Any blind man could see Lisette was way hotter than she was.

She didn’t see AJ until the next morning. Somehow, she had managed to convince her weary mind, to give in to her weary body. She went into the kitchen and found AJ there, flipping through research on the surgery they were supposed to conduct. There was no sign of guilt in his expression as he looked up at her. But why should he feel guilty? She poured herself a cup of coffee.

“How was your evening?” Her voice was hot and steady with a pinch of resentment in it.

“A lot better than yours, I’m sorry about my—”

“I don’t care who she was. Since I am paying for the room, I don’t expect to share it with anyone, especially if it’s one of your whores.”

“Katherine!”

“I don’t have time to argue with you. We have a surgery to get to.” She tried her best to sound nonchalant, but her aggressive body posture sold her out. “All right then, let’s talk about it. Let’s talk about the fact you seem to find it so difficult to keep your fly zipped up. Let’s talk about how hard it is to work around you at the hospital without catching a few death gazes thrown my way. Or how I have to suffer through all that hate at work and come back to it at home. Let’s talk about that. When are you going to stop being such a whore and settle down with one woman? When, AJ?”

AJ slowly lifted his tall frame from the bar stool he was sitting on. It was as if he was slowly unraveling. He scratched his chin as he slowly sauntered toward her. Katherine took a step back not out of fear he would hurt her, but the closed expression on his face didn’t give her a lead as to how he was feeling inside. As for her, she knew how she felt. She was slowly dying with the love that was burning within her.

“First of all,” the rumble of his voice mirrored that of a volcano about to erupt. “What I do with my fly is none of your business. Secondly, if it’s so hard for you to work with me then don’t. I can find someone else to second assist me today if you find my magnetism to the female species so unbearable. Thirdly, this is my home that you invaded unannounced, so I can have whoever I want over, for whatever activities. Got that?”

Katherine nodded as she stumbled back and landed in the couch in a heap of a mess. She hadn’t realized that she had been slowly retreating until her foot came into contact with the leather. AJ walked toward the front door, and she got up to stop him. But he turned around before she could say anything.

“By the way—whores get paid,” the corners of his lips pulled into a wolfish grin. “I offer my services for free. Get your own ride to work today.”

Bang! And Katherine fell back into the couch. AJ had left her feeling like an ass. Her motor mouth had gotten her into trouble. As hard as it was for her to admit, AJ was right, and she was wrong. This was his home, and she was just a pest.