We land sooner than I thought we would and Mika swiftly ushers us to the waiting vehicle. I know that Mika has a lot to deal with at the moment so I ask him to take me home. He protests but when I promise I will see him later that night he agrees. When we pull up in front of my house I start to regret that decision. I don’t want to leave him right now. Mika leans in and kisses my forehead, then moves to the tip of my nose before he plants a deliciously sweet kiss on my lips.
“See you soon?” he whispers.
I nod.
“See you soon,” I say as I turn to climb out of the vehicle. Before my hand reaches the door, Sean has already opened it for me.
“I’ll walk you to your door,” Mika insists.
I smile.
“Thank you. That is unexpected gentleman-like behavior from you,” I tease.
Mika clutches his chest.
“Oh, Ms. Ray, how you wound me,” he says dramatically.
I giggle and Mika laces our hands together as he walks me to my front door. We take slow steps and I know that we are both deliberately prolonging this goodbye. We reach my door way too fast. I turn to face him and throw my arms around his neck. He slides one hand on my back and one a little lower on my butt. He lowers his head and kisses me. Gentle pecks at first, but it quickly—as it always does—turns passionate. I have a helluva time pulling myself away from him.
“Maybe I should come in for a bit,” he mutters.
“Down boy,” I tease. “You go meet with Eric and I will have dinner waiting for you when you get done, okay?”
Mika gives me another sweet peck.
“That sounds perfect, Sweet Pea.”
And then I watch him walk away. Oh lord how I love to watch that fine backside. I watch him get in the car before I enter my house. I drop my keys in the bowl that is sitting on the gorgeous antique table that Jill and I found at a yard sale last year. We completely stripped it and refinished it and, if I do say so myself, the end result is beautiful. It was our first DIY project and is our little pride and joy. I walk into the kitchen to pour myself some juice and then walk into the living room to check for messages. Jill and I have a system. Whoever listens to the voicemail has to write down the messages left for the other person and it looks like I had quite a bit of them. I flip through them.
“What the…”
Most of these are from media outlets, requesting a quote or an interview. What the hell? And then I come across a message from Mrs. Sims that says she needs to see me in her office as soon as possible.
“Ugh, that can’t be good,” I mutter to myself.
But still, I decide to just get it over with. I grab my keys, lock up, and get into my new-looking vehicle and make my way to Hillcrest.
* * *
After I park my car and walk up the street toward Hillcrest I see an unusual number of people gathered at the entrance. The closer I get, the more uneasy I begin to feel, especially when I notice the cameras. What do I do? I fish in my pocket for my cell phone. I need to call Mika.
“There she is! Raeva Ray!” someone shouts.
I freeze. What the hell? Hordes of people come running toward me. Cameras are flashing and things are being yelled.
“Raeva, how do you feel about your boyfriend being accused of attempted murder?” someone calls out.
“Any comment on the state of your relationship with Mika after this bombshell?” another one shouts.
I stand here as if I’m a deer caught in headlights. They have surrounded me and I don’t know what to do. I frantically look around, trying to find a way out. I hold my head down and try to cover my face with my hand. Tears are pooling behind my eyelids. My heart is beating rapidly and my breathing out of control, I know that I will likely be hyperventilating very soon.
“Get the hell away from her!” an angry voice bellows.
Before I can look up and see where the voice came from I am scooped up and my face is pressed into a hard chest. My eyes are squeezed shut tightly. I start to push against his chest in an attempt to get away from this person. I feel the fight starting to boil inside of me but then I smell the now familiar earthy scent of his cologne. It’s Mika.
“Shhhh. I got you, baby,” he soothes as he walks us up the steps to the massive entrance to Hillcrest.
We step into the hallway and Mika gently lets me down. He takes my face into his hands and studies me intently.
“Are you okay, Sweet Pea?” he asks me.
I nod.
“Thanks for saving me back there.”
I try not to let the tears that are pooling escape.
“I just…I didn’t know what to do. They were everywhere and they were shouting things. I was—hell, I am—terrified.”
Mika pulls me into his arms, holding me firmly against him. He kisses the top of my head.
“I’m so sorry, baby. We will get you some protection. They won’t get this close again, I promise.”
I melt into him and everything is starting to feel right in the world. It doesn’t last thirty seconds.
“The show outside wasn’t enough? You have to continue this debacle in my hallway?”
Her shrill voice makes me cringe. Yeah, I really dislike this woman. I take a step away from Mika.
“But from the look of this,” she wrinkles her unfortunate nose, “a whole bunch of things are a lot clearer to me,” she continues as she bestows that icy stare at Mika.
“You best remember who it is that you are speaking to, Margaret,” Mika says in a tone more chilling than hers.
To my utter surprise Mrs. Sims is clearly intimidated by Mika because her lips snap shut. Then her face twists into what I think is supposed to be a smile.
“Of course. My apologies, Mr. Kingsley.” She turns her gaze to me. “I would like to see you in my office please, Ms. Ray.”
Well, at least she said please.
“Yes, Mrs. Sims,” I say sweetly.
I turn to Mika. “I’ll be back soon.”
“I’ll be here,” he says as he takes my hand and brings it to his lips.
I turn to follow Mrs. Sims to her office but she has already gone ahead. I trail behind her and frankly, after what just happened, I am feeling a little smug. The woman has been nothing but hostile and rude to me since the very first moment we met and Mika telling her off feels…gratifying. I reach her office and knock on the door.
“You may enter.”
I roll my eyes and step into her office.
“You wanted to see me, Mrs. Sims?” I say sweetly
She raises her eyebrow.
“Sit.”
Seriously, the gall of this woman, talking to me as if I am a dog. I remind myself that this woman is my superior at work and force myself to smile as I take a seat in the chair across from her. I look around her office, which is bare and devoid of any color. Kinda like her, I think to myself.
“Your relationship with Mr. Kingsley is highly inappropriate.”
I stifle a laugh. At least she got right to the point.
“With all due respect, Mrs. Sims, but what I do or who I choose to date in my personal time is really none of your business.”
She purses her lips disapprovingly.
“Be that as it may, Ms. Ray, but what you do here while under my employment is most definitely my business. And considering your romantic relationship with Mr. Kingsley, the working relationship with your patient, Ms. Kingsley, is no longer an option. Letting you continue to care for her seems very indecorous to me.”
I take a deep breath and count to ten.
“Mrs. Sims, you cannot fire me because of who my boyfriend is. I doubt that it is legal for you to fire me for that. And—”
“Nobody said anything about being fired, Ms. Ray,” she says, cutting me off. “I am simply reassigning you to another patient. You must see yourself that caring for Ms. Kingsley is not appropriate at this point. With all these allegations going around I can hardly have his girlfriend take care of the patient, now can I? I had attributed common sense to your particular skill set. Was I mistaken?”
I cannot believe this woman. The hag has a point but there is a way of talking to people without being offensive. Not for the first time during this conversation I force myself to smile.
“I understand your reservations Mrs. Sims, and although I will be sad to leave Mik—I mean Ms. Kingsley, I will take whatever assignment you’ll give me.”
“You’ll be assigned to Sam King. He has been with us for a very long time. This gentleman is catatonic and is a very different kind of client than Ms. Kingsley. Can I assume that you will come in prepared for this patient? You can take some time going over his chart right now if you want.”
“I would like to look over his chart please and then I will prepare at home.”
“Your schedule will change now, too. I will need you to come in tomorrow. Is that a problem, Ms. Ray?”
She’s your boss, she’s your boss, she’s your boss, I chant inside my head. I plant yet another fake smile on my face.
“No Mrs. Sims, that will not be a problem.”
“Very well, we are done here. You may leave.”
Well alrighty then.
“I hope you have a wonderful day, Mrs. Sims. I will see you tomorrow,” I say as I stand to take my leave.
“Oh, and Ms. Ray?” she says, tone as chilly as an iceberg.
Fake smile in place…
“Yes, Mrs. Sims?”
“I would hope that it is understood that your relationship with Mr. Kingsley is to be professional while at work. Is that clear?”
I tell myself to count to ten again, which I do, and it does the trick... sort of.
“Crystal.”
And with that I take my leave before I open my big mouth and lose my job.
I walk back to the lobby to tell Mika that I need just a few more minutes when I find him in heated conversation with a very handsome, very tall man. Talk about tall, dark, and handsome. Holy crap! Mika’s back is facing me, so he doesn’t see me approach, but the strangest thing happens. Mika stops mid-sentence and begins to scan the room. When his eyes land on me we move to each other, like magnets who have no choice. He envelops me in his arms.
“Raeva,” he breathes.
I gaze up at him and I know that he must be able to read the adoration in my eyes.
“How did you know I was coming?” I demand.
Mika softly brushes my lips with his.
“That’s a silly question, Sweet Pea. I can feel you. My soul hears yours whenever you are near, that’s how I know.”
Tall, dark, and handsome clears his throat.
“Damn it, Hardwick. Can’t you see that I am in the middle of something here,” Mika grumbles.
I step out of his embrace and smile brightly as I take a step towards Mika’s friend.
“You must be Eric. I am Raeva Ray. You can call me Rae if you want,” I say as I hold out my hand.
Eric takes my hand, returning my smile.
“Eric Hardwick. I have been looking forward to meeting you. You have no idea how much,” he says as he grins like the Cheshire Cat.
“Back off, Hardwick.,” Mika protests.
Eric seems to be highly amused by Mika’s reaction and eggs him on. He leans down and kisses my hand and when I look over to Mika, I think he’s going to flip.
“Damn it, Hardwick,” he says, downright irate.
Eric all but doubles over from laughter. Mika pulls me flush against his side. I wrap my arm around his waist and look up at him, unable to mask the smirk on my face.
“Simmer down, Kingsley,” I tease.
Eric beams at my words. I get on my tiptoes and press a kiss onto Mika’s cheek. He relaxes his stance slightly as he turns his gaze on me and smiles.
“Well Rae, I can’t say that I have ever had a better time meeting anyone. Any woman who can take down Kingsley must be incredible.”
“Go do what I pay you to do, Hardwick,” Mika grumbles.
“Sir, yes sir,” Eric says with a salute.
I snicker, which earns me a warning look from Mika.
“I will call you later, Kingsley. I’m dropping by to see Lady Kingsley for a few and then I’ll head to the office to deal with your bullshit,” he says as he walks toward the grand stairway. “Oh and Rae, I’m sure I’ll see you around. Keep that one out of trouble, will you? He’s making me work around the damn clock with all this shit he brings upon himself.”
Eric winks at me and takes the stairs two at a time.
“Lady Kingsley?” I ask, amused.
Mika rolls his eyes.
“The three of us grew up together. When we were kids Mik decided that she wanted to be royalty and insisted we address her as Lady Kingsley and it stuck. It has been a long-running joke between the two of them.”
My insides melt a little when I see his face softening as he tells me about the memory.
“He means a lot to you, doesn’t he?”
Mika smiles.
“That man is like a brother to me. Don’t tell him I told you so. He’s too big for his britches as it is.”
I smile and shake my head.
“I just need a couple of minutes to look over a chart. It won’t take long.”
Mika kisses my cheek.
“Go right ahead, baby. I will wait right here and make some phone calls.”
I turn to go to the break room where I can access my new patient’s chart on the computer. It takes me about ten minutes to get the gist of it. I go to find Mika and he’s exactly where I left him. Sure enough, even though he’s on the phone, the very moment that I turn the corner, I see his demeanor change. He turns, flashes those pearly whites, and knocks the wind right out of me. That smile does it every single time.
“Have mercy,” I whisper to myself.