Hollywood House Call

Eleven



Over a week had passed since the showing of his home and Noah still couldn’t call his real-estate agent back with an answer. Yes, the amount the newlyweds had offered was very close to the asking price and higher than any other offers, but he just couldn’t bring himself to make that call and get the ball rolling.

Added to that, he’d talked with colleagues about Blake’s case and met with the little boy and he was certain he was the best one for the job. But the thought of being the one that little guy pinned his hope on was almost more than Noah thought he could bear. He was still dealing with Callie and all that hero worship she had in her eyes when he discussed her healing process. Both Callie and Blake were looking for something within Noah that he just didn’t know if he could give.

For right now, though, he needed to take a step back from being a doctor. He needed to get back to being Callie’s friend and letting his workload ease from his mind for just a bit. And he knew just the thing to get them back on friendly footing. He’d had something delivered earlier today and he couldn’t wait to show Callie.

She’d laid back down for a nap just after lunch when she’d taken a pain pill. She hadn’t had one in a while, but he knew she’d been in pain. She’d been trying to work on her arm exercises even when he’d told her to take it slow.

That pain medication always made her so tired and Noah encouraged her to sleep because resting would help her body heal faster, as well.

She’d taken her sling off today and had promised to go easy on her arm, but he would be keeping a close eye on her. He’d done the microdermabrasion last week and he was hoping to do more next week. If he could work on her wound as often as medically possible, perhaps her healing time would lessen and her scar would not be so visible.

It was so hard to shut down his doctor mind-set. Right now, though, he had something else in mind. Something fun.

He wanted to show Callie her surprise, but she was still asleep. He walked into the kitchen and saw the painkiller bottle on the counter. A sick feeling overcame him. For so long he’d lived with bottles floating around…usually empty ones that had just been prescribed only days before.

But this sick feeling didn’t stem from his past; it came from the fact that Noah knew he hadn’t left the bottle out when he’d given her a pill earlier that morning. He glanced at the clock on the stove and knew it was just now time for another pill, so why was this bottle out?

He twisted the cap off and counted the pills. It was two short compared to what should’ve been in there.

She’d taken that extra one the other day, which meant she’d taken another one today At this point, she shouldn’t be taking two pills in the same day. Her pain had to have significantly lightened, so she should be able to get by with just an over-the-counter medication.

He’d thought he could leave them out and not treat her like a child. Apparently, he was wrong.

Not taking any more chances, Noah put the lid back in place and gripped the bottle as he set off for her bedroom. By the time he reached the second floor, he was angry, upset and feeling a little betrayed. If she was lying to him, he wasn’t going to help her anymore. He couldn’t live like that again. Not to mention the fact he couldn’t be her doctor if she wouldn’t follow orders.

He eased the door open and saw her lying on her side, her hands tucked beneath her uninjured cheek. The covers had been kicked off and she’d opened her window to let the afternoon breeze blow in. Crimson strands danced around her shoulders and her breathing was slow, soft.

Moving into the room, he placed the bottle on the nightstand and eased down onto the edge of her bed. The movement caused her to stir and soon her lids fluttered open until she focused on him. She looked like she had the other night, just before he’d made love to her with his mouth. So much for putting distance between them.

“Did you take a pill without telling me?” he asked, not even trying to hide his irritation.

She blinked, eased up onto her side and looked him in the eye. “I took one just before I lay down. I think I overdid it with taking my sling off. I only did a few more exercises than usual with my arm, but it started hurting more than it had been.”

He picked up the bottle, marched into her adjoining bathroom and flushed the pills. When he came back out she was on her feet and angry.

“Why did you do that?” she cried.

“Because I’m afraid you’ll get hooked. These are highly addictive. And I told you if you did that again I’d flush them.”

Callie laughed. “I won’t get addicted, Noah. I took a pill only a little before it was due. I’d had the other one in my system for over six hours. It’s not like I was going to OD.”

Even the term made him ill. The image of how he’d found Malinda was embedded in his head for the rest of his life. He found himself instantly seeing Callie that way and the thought made him want to vomit.

“If you’re going to stay in my house and allow me to be your doctor, you will do exactly what I say, when I say it, or I won’t help you anymore. I thought we’d already settled this.”

Callie stepped back, blinking. “Wow. Um…okay. Calm down. I promise not to do anything else without asking.”

He stared at her for several seconds. He needed to get a grip.

What he really needed to do was remember this wasn’t Malinda and he truly didn’t believe Callie had a drug problem. He needed to lighten up before he drove her away. Then what good would he be to her?

God, his past had consumed him and overtaken his emotions, fueling his anger. Callie still had nearly a whole bottle of pills, and if this were Malinda, that bottle would’ve been gone within a few days. Callie had been here a few weeks.

He took a deep breath, trying to erase the previous images of fighting with Malinda.

Remembering the surprise, he told her, “I had something delivered and I was hoping you’d be awake when it came, but you slept through it all.”

She tilted her head and grinned. And just like that she’d forgiven him for bursting in and yelling at her. Yeah, she was quite different from Malinda.

“What is it?” she asked, smile beaming. “Did you get a dog? I’ve always wanted a dog like the one I left back in Kansas.”

He laughed. “Um, no dog. This is something else you left back in Kansas.”

Her brows drew together and she shook her head. “My old beat-up Jeep with the broken horn and busted grill?”

Taking her hand, he pulled her toward the door. “Just follow me and stop guessing. You’re taking the fun out of the moment.”

She shuffled her bare feet along behind him as he led her down the stairs and through the wide hallway toward the back of the house where he had a game room.

When he entered the room, he flicked the light on and stepped aside so she could see.

“Oh, my God,” she squealed. “Noah, you didn’t!”

Seeing her reaction was so worth paying extra to have the pool table delivered and set up so quickly. “I’m a fan myself and had thought of adding one to the game room, so when you mentioned it, I knew I needed to get one. Max and I used to play in college.”

She stood staring and he almost felt a fool at her silence, so he kept rambling.

“Of course, we played while killing a case of beer and talking about women.”

Her eyes darted to his and she smiled. “It’s nice you two are still so close.”

“He’s like family,” he told her.

She moved farther into the room and ran her hand along the green felt of the pool table. “It’s going to be hard to do this with one bad arm.”

Stepping closer to her, he grinned and rested a hip on the table beside where her delicate hand roamed. “That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it? To assist you with things you can’t do?”

Her body visibly shivered and he was glad he had that effect on her, because she sure as hell had some amazing sort of power over him.

“Are we going to play now?” she asked, her voice husky.

Noah knew an opportunity when he saw one. Even though he knew in his mind he needed to be her doctor and friend above all else, his libido wasn’t receiving that memo. Damn, he wanted her. She was still all rumpled from sleep with her dark crimson hair tumbling around her shoulders, her face free of makeup and the oversize shirt of his hanging nearly off one slender shoulder. He knew beneath that well-worn cotton she wore no bra, because since that first day with her bath, she hadn’t asked him to put one on her. She wore these tiny little denim shorts with the frayed edging flirting with her bare thighs.

He assumed she’d managed the zipper and button them without his assistance.

“Yeah,” he told her, keeping his gaze on her lips. “We’re going to play now.”

Callie started to ease forward, but Noah stepped back and cleared his throat. “I’ll get a stick.”

God, could there be more metaphors between sex and a game of pool? He’d never been turned on playing before. Then again, he’d been playing with Max or other guys from college and they were too busy trash-talking and comparing their previous dates.

Callie maneuvered the balls into the triangle while he chalked up the tip of the stick. “I’ll stand behind you,” he told her.

She stayed against the table and smiled. “I’ll have to push with my left arm, if you can reach around and hold it with your right.”

“Gladly.”

He was torturing himself. Actually, he’d been torturing himself since he’d completely overstepped his patient/doctor bounds on his sofa the other evening, but that was uncontrollable and he’d gotten swept into the moment.

He slid the stick between her waist and her left arm. She grabbed the back of it and shifted her body. Noah wrapped his right arm around her and was careful not to touch her shoulder.

His face was mere inches from her mass of subtle curls. Inhaling, he pulled in a tropical, fruity scent that always seemed to surround Callie, filling his home with her signature intoxicating scent. He eased a bit closer until his mouth was at her ear, her hair tickling his lips.

“Lean into it,” he whispered as he eased her body down his own.

Her body bent at the waist and Noah went with her. Together they leaned over the table and he eyed the cue ball.

“Relax,” he whispered. “You’re breathing hard. Take your time. Focus on what you want to happen.”

Damn. If he didn’t keep his mouth shut he was going to start pitching a tent in his jeans, and wood behind a zipper was never comfortable or concealable.

“I’ve done this before, you know.” She tilted her head to look at him over her shoulder, but when she did, her mouth brushed against his jaw and he had to steel himself not to turn and take advantage of her lips.

“But it’s been a while,” he reminded her. “I’m just here to help you remember how everything works.”

“Oh, I think I remember,” she said with a sultry smile.

Noah swallowed. She was good at this, the flirting and sassy talk she’d done before her accident. She was slowly coming around to her old self.

“Hold the stick firmly,” he told her, holding his left hand over hers on the stick. “Don’t rush it. Practice stroking it and not letting it go too early.”

For pity’s sake, shut up, Noah. Why was he using a game of pool as a pathetic form of foreplay? If he wanted her so badly, why was he making himself miserable by holding back? He’d already admitted to her that he wanted her in his bed. There was no going back on that. Sex was simple. It was all that other emotional garbage he couldn’t and wouldn’t deal with or allow himself to get wrapped up in.

“I got it,” she told him and pushed the stick forward until it hit the cue ball into the other balls, sending the various colors rolling around the table.

Two stripes sunk instantly.

“Good job,” he told her as he stood up. And yup, there was that pressure against his zipper. Well done, Noah. Well done. Way to avoid getting an erection.

“If you thought that was good, you’re going to be really impressed,” she told him as she rounded the table. “In fact, I think I can take you without your help and using only one arm.”

Impressed and intrigued, he crossed his arms and smiled. “Then let’s see it, hotshot.”

She proceeded to show him just how amazing she was at this game and he was damn glad his friends weren’t here to see it. Max would give him hell for losing so easily.

By the time the game was coming to a close and she was ready to sink the eight ball, Noah had had more than enough of seeing her bent over the table wearing those little shorts and his shirt. In the two weeks she’d been at his house, he never got tired of seeing her wearing his shirt. He loved the way it hung on her, occasionally giving him a glimpse of a swell of her breast or the curve of her slender shoulder.

Before she could sink that last ball and totally embarrass him, he snagged an arm around her waist and pulled the stick from her hands. “I think you’ve shown off enough.”

Her gasp of surprise quickly turned into a wide grin. “Sore loser, Noah? I’m not surprised. You’re very competitive, but I hate to break it to you. I own this game.”

He laid the stick across the end of the table and used both hands to span her narrow waist. “Yeah, well, there’s something else I’d rather own right now.”

That smile of hers faltered as she bit her lower lip a second before licking them. Her hand came up to his shoulder, slid around his neck and toyed with the ends of his hair on the nape of his neck.

“I’d swear you planned this, but you had no idea I was getting this table.”

Her brows drew together. “Planned what?”

“Those shorts,” he told her. “Bending over the edge of the table to take your shots and throwing your rear in my face at every opportunity.”

“I certainly had no clue you’d be getting this,” she defended. “Besides, it was you who practically dragged me out of bed.”

Noah inched closer, pulling her lower body taut against his. “I should’ve kept you there.”

His mouth slammed down onto hers and she responded in an instant. Her body arched against his and he palmed her lower back while his other hand slid up to thread his fingers through her hair.

Her tongue invaded his mouth and Noah nearly sank to his knees. This woman knew how to take as much as he was willing to give. With one arm banded around her waist, he hoisted her up onto the edge of the pool table and stood between her legs. He pulled her forward a tad to stay as close to him as possible. He wasn’t about to let her get away, not when he’d been denying himself for so long.

Keeping his mouth locked on hers, he reached between them and slowly unbuttoned each of the buttons, one agonizing hole at a time.

She pulled her mouth from his. “Pull the darn thing.”

Noah laughed. “It’s my shirt.”

“Buy a new one.”

“As you wish.”

He gave a yank and the last of the buttons scattered across the hardwood floor. Easing the shirt off her shoulders, Noah kept his gaze on her chest. He was a guy—where else was he supposed to look?

“You’re magnificent,” he whispered. “Don’t look away, Callie.”

She shook her head. “I’m not. I just… It’s hard to have you look at me like this. I mean, you create beauty for a living and I’m just…me. Flawed, but even before nothing special.”

He took her face in his hands and kissed her softly before pulling back. “Listen to me. I’m sure as hell not comparing you to anyone. I want you, Callie. You. Because I’m attracted to you. It’s that simple.”

She reached with her left hand and palmed his cheek. “Then don’t let me complicate things with talking, because I’m about to explode.”

As if he needed any more of an invitation. He peeled his shirt off and flung it to the side and quickly pulled off his jeans and boxers—but not before grabbing a condom from his pocket and tossing it onto the table.

Callie’s eyes widened and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“I’m optimistic,” he defended with a grin.

“I’m glad, but I’m more shocked at you,” she told him, her face turning a cute shade of pink. “It’s just…wow. If I were you I’d totally walk around naked and stare at myself.”

Noah kissed her. “Shut up, Callie. Let me show you what else we can be doing.”

He unfastened her shorts, and with her help of rocking from side to side, he eased them along with her panties down her toned legs before dropping them to the floor.

Noah stepped back to look at her, and even though he knew she was uncomfortable, he wanted her to get comfortable with the fact he enjoyed looking at her.

* * *

Callie wished he’d do something. The way he kept looking at her was making her nervous. He might say he wasn’t comparing her to patients, and that was probably true, but he had to at least be comparing her to his past girlfriends, who were no doubt model-perfect.

“Noah?”

“I just wanted to see you. All of you.”

He stepped forward again and wrapped his hands around her waist, helping her to ease forward on the table. One hand slid between them to her heat and Callie spread her legs wider. When he parted her, stroked her, she felt unable to stay upright anymore, and she leaned back on her good hand to expose herself more to him.

“That’s it,” he whispered. “Relax.”

He lifted her feet one at a time to rest on the edge of the pool table as he continued to stroke her. When she was splayed before him, he slid one finger inside and started to move slowly in and out. Her hips lifted, needing more, silently begging for more.

“Slow down,” he told her. “We’ve got time.”

She looked up at him and saw that he was smiling. He was enjoying her torture. But she wasn’t going to beg. He’d like that too much.

She lay back all the way on the table and closed her eyes. Let him take his time with her. She wasn’t about to complain.

The sound of the condom wrapper filled the room and she waited with eager anticipation.

With his hands on either side of her inner thighs, he eased her open even more, and she braced herself as he slid into her.

She reached her left arm up and he grabbed it, pulling her back up so her torso met his, causing him to sink fully into her. Her hard nipples rubbed against his coarse hair, his hard chest, and she groaned as he started moving within her.

His hand remained on the small of her back, guiding her body against his, keeping it where they both wanted it.

His other hand clutched the nape of her neck as his mouth captured hers again. His tongue swept through her mouth, mimicking the actions of their bodies. Callie had never felt so much of a man from her head to her toes and all delicious points in between the way she felt Noah.

His breathing quickened as did his rhythm. Callie clutched his shoulder as she kept her body flush against his. His lips left her mouth, but he rested his forehead against hers. Eyes shut, jaw muscle ticking, Noah groaned.

Knowing she could bring him to the point where he looked as if he’d burst was all the initiative she needed to let go. Her body clenched around his as her ankles locked behind his back, her knees digging into his sides.

Noah’s head tilted back as his body slammed into hers one last time and then froze as he released. She held him until they stopped trembling, until her body had chilled and he eased back.

With a wry grin, he brushed the hair away from her face. “This was the best addition to my house I think I’ve ever added.”