Chapter 4 is coming soon and I wanted to get this edit in before I posted it. I didn't like the way I ended Chapter 3 and I suspect I'm not the only one. So I changed it. Because I can. The rest of the story is pretty much exactly the same, I just added a couple of scenes at the very end so if you've read it before you can just skip to page 3.
Thanks for reading,
P
...
She didn't answer her phone. Again. For the third time in two days. She stared at it buzzing away on the arm of the couch, the glowing LED screen spitefully flashing a number with a Knoxville area code at her. It finally fell silent and her jaw unclenched as she looked away, sighing at herself.
For three days she'd been turning the weekend over and over in her mind trying to sort out her conflicted feelings and three nights she'd been laying in bed trying not to think about the way his hands felt on her body, his mouth on hers. She'd been sorely mistaken to think one night with him would get him out of her system and told herself she should just answer the phone the next time he called.
As if it read her mind, her phone started buzzing again, the same number on the screen. Her hand drifted toward it briefly before her throat closed up at the idea of actually seeing him again. She grabbed it, stuffed it under a couch cushion and walked quickly into the kitchen. Her heart was pounding and breath was coming in rapid gasps.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" she asked her refrigerator. When it didn't answer she rolled her eyes at it and forced herself back into the living room.
They'd said goodbye in the trailhead parking lot with a friendly hug; Katie rolling her eyes at Sarah and Caleb's effusive display of tongues and Mike silently laughing at her for it. He'd acted totally normal around their friends, giving no hint of anything that had happened between them, good or bad, and she'd appreciated it more than he could know. But as soon as they'd driven out of sight she felt the anxiety start to creep in.
She'd been careful for so long, keeping her secret as close as possible so no one would judge her or think any differently about her. She didn't want to have to think about it or talk about it or wonder if others were thinking about it or talking about it. But now the secret was out and she no longer had control over it because someone else knew. He knew. Well, he knew enough and that should be reason enough not to want to see him ever again.
Despite all of that a huge part of her did want to see him again, and not to take advantage of his incentive plan. Well, not just that. She also found herself missing his easy conversation, his quick smile, his goofy jokes, and wishing she could relax into that calm that he seemed to bring her.
Maybe that was what was really scaring her. It wasn't that she didn't trust him to keep her secret or that she thought he would judge her; he'd given her no reason to think so. Quite the opposite, in fact. It was that she shouldn't want to see him, but she did; that she didn't quite have control of herself when he was around.
Katie closed her eyes and thought about how he'd stopped her on the trail right before they made it back to the first campsite. She'd been hiking along, starting to get nervous about how she was supposed to act around him with Sarah and Caleb there, but he'd taken her hand and pulled her close muttering something about one last kiss and as soon as his arms were around her it was like all her concerns evaporated. All she thought about was how good it felt when he held her. So when he asked her for her number she'd given it to him, not really thinking about it until it was too late.
And now he was calling, expecting to see her in a few days and for whatever reason she just couldn't do it. Surely if she didn't answer he'd get the idea and just stop calling and she wouldn't have to deal with it. Or if he didn't cooperate she could change her number. Or move to an island in the Caribbean. She shook her head at herself and wondered, not for the first time, if maybe she really was crazy.
...
Katie munched on her apple and let her gaze roam the tiny courtyard behind the east wing of the hospital. There wasn't much to look at and nothing she hadn't seen a million times before on breaks or walks outside with her patients, but she was trying to soak up the remnants of the summer day before going back in to finish her shift.
She'd been so busy today she missed her lunch break and was only just now, with an hour left before she got off for the weekend, getting a few minutes away to relax. It had been a hell of a week, in more ways than one, and she couldn't wait to go home, take a long bath, and climb into bed. Maybe tonight she'd be tired enough to just fall asleep instead of tossing and turning.
After Wednesday night he'd stopped calling. Rather than being a relief, it only increased her anxiety and made her irritable. God, she was so stupid sometimes. She didn't want him around, but she wanted him to want her. It was a silly, childish way to feel, but she couldn't help it.
She took the last bite of her apple and stared with narrowed eyes up through the branches of the pretty sugar maple hanging over the picnic table to the deep blue sky above. Sometimes she was able to block the buildings and power lines out of her peripheral vision and pretend she was laying somewhere quiet and peaceful surrounded by trees and mountains. It wasn't working today so she let her eyes drift closed and tried her best to stop thinking. That wasn't working either.
"Sleeping on the job?"
Katie's eyes flew open as the bite of apple wedged itself in her windpipe. Her eyes watered and she leaned forward coughing to clear her throat. Mike straddled the picnic table bench facing her and handed her the water bottle on the table.
"Shame on you."
"I wasn't asleep," Katie said when she finally caught her breath and took a sip of water.
"That's not what I was talking about."
A pang of guilt struck her and she couldn't look up. She was about to open her mouth to apologize when he spoke again.
"Do you always choke on your food or is it just when I'm around?"
"It's just when you're around," Katie replied before she had time to think about what she was saying.
She immediately blushed and looked away, wondering how he'd done it to her again. Whatever it was he did. She should be angry that he'd tracked her down and showed up at her work, or maybe even scared. Instead she was fighting the urge to apologize and beg his forgiveness. Or wrap herself around him and lick his neck to find out whether his skin still tasted like woodsmoke and sweat. Or both.
Of course the faded blue t-shirt pulling tight across his chest or the way he smelled like aftershave and fabric softener was at least partly responsible for her reaction.
"I suppose it's good to know I have some effect," he said with a smirk. "Even if it is potentially life threatening. It makes me feel a little better about this whole stalker thing I'm trying to pull off."
Katie cleared her throat, trying to shake off thoughts of licking him and pay attention to what he was saying. "How'd you find me?"
"A very friendly lady pointed me in the right direction. She even wheeled me to the door, though I told her I could find it on my own."
"You know what I mean," she said with a wry look.
"There's only one hospital in the county. It wasn't hard."
"Oh yeah, I guess so. Wait, what did you say the friendly lady in the wheelchair's name was?"
"I didn't, but it was Erma."
