Charity’s heart hammered. She forgot to breathe. His eyes never left hers. If they somehow ended frozen in that moment, she could stay there forever.
“I think about you… a lot… Charity.” He leaned so his head was closer to hers, their foreheads almost touching but he somehow managed to not make contact. “Ever since the day we talked on the phone. I don’t have the right, but I can’t stop myself.”
She blinked and let her gaze drop down to his mouth. Soft music from inside drifted as if by some secret cue. “I’ve been thinking about you, too,” she whispered.
Elijah’s tongue ran over his lips and his hand slipped around to the nape of her neck. He pulled and the small remaining space between them disappeared. His soft lips pressed against hers.
All reason and thought slipped from her mind. All she could concentrate on was the pressure of those lips on hers and his fingers pressing along her jawline. She knew she shouldn’t be out here, and if her father saw them, he’d be furious with both of them. She hesitated and pulled back slightly.
“I’m sorry.” Elijah tilted his head and step
ped away.
Her body didn’t like the emptiness from the sudden space between them. “I… I just thought we should go someplace more private.”
A shiver tingled down her spine when Elijah’s eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped slightly. The shiver ran up her back when his sexy smile appeared.
What willpower Charity had disappeared. She slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his with an uncontrollable passion she had never felt before.
Elijah returned her kisses, pressing his warm body against hers. Groaning, he slowly pulled away. “Let’s get out of here.” He scratched the stubble on his chin and smiled. “Can you do that? Are you allowed to slip out? What about your father?”
She laughed. “I’m pretty sure it’ll be okay.” She squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry, I’m sure my dad doesn’t suspect a thing.”
“Your dad?” He walked over and held the door open for her. “He loves me.”
Charity laughed and gently tapped his cheek as she slipped by. “That’s what he wants you to think.”
Elijah’s fingers trailed down her back and traced along her side. Charity nearly moaned out loud but caught herself just in time.
“Elijah!” her father called out from the men at the table. “Come join us for a drink. I need your opinion on a case.”
Now instead of moaning, Charity had to swallow back ironic laughter. They didn’t stand a chance slipping out of the room together without being noticed. She’d gotten caught up in the heat of the moment out on the balcony and should have realized.
She spotted Julie and Simon at another table playing cards. Who had brought a deck of cards to the room? She hadn’t.
Elijah gave her a frustrated smile. “I need to go see your dad.”
“I know. Go mingle and get those men to agree to come to the gala. At a thousand dollars a ticket, that’s ten thousand dollars sitting over there.”
“Well, I’d better get over there, then. I don’t want to disappoint you.” His eyes lingered on hers before he finally walked over to the table. Someone had pulled a chair beside her father for Elijah. He sat down and was immediately poured a glass.
It wasn’t hard to see that he was well liked amongst the doctors. He was younger than a lot of them, but they didn’t seem to mind he was their chief. He must be very, very good, as her father wouldn’t settle for anything less at his hospital.
For once, she agreed with him. She walked over to Julie and Simon’s table. “What are you guys playing?” she asked as she sat down on an empty chair, which just happened to face Elijah.
Chapter 12
Two weeks passed quickly. Charity had a lot going on down in Atlanta: she held a similar staff party, she met with Forever Hope’s board and together they agreed on hosting a small event in three months and another larger one six months later. They wanted a sporting event of some kind. All great ideas which had Charity researching locations and unique possibilities.
After flying back from New York, she got cold feet over letting herself be interested in Elijah. Maybe they had a connection or some kind of chemistry, but now away from the Scott Thompson hospital, it all seemed a bit more of a dream than what was really there. It had to be based on physical attraction; the man was a demigod.
She pushed herself at work and planned several functions with the local hotspots in the city to get the word out about the hospital. The response was very positive and it encouraged her. Even in a town tight on funds, there would be ways to raise the money for the hospital.
Elijah had given her his phone number before she left and she hadn’t sent him a text or called him. She had started several times and ended up deleting the message or ending the call before it even went through. She talked herself out of it the first few days, and then when she didn’t contact him over the weekend, she felt guilty and thought it was too late to message him. She’d see him the following Friday or Saturday back in New York when she flew back.
On Friday morning she caught up on everything, and by ten o’clock she had finished her work for the day. She called the airline and found out there was an earlier flight leaving in an hour that had availability. Julie had wanted to go shopping this afternoon and do dinner in New York. Leaving two hours earlier would give her a jump start on the details for her father’s gala.
Everything seemed in her favor; the flight went quick, the car rental had next to no one there, and the roads were not that busy for a Friday. What were the chances it would continue?