She sits up. “God, you’re so silly. Like I’m going to take care of you.”
I know what she’s thinking. That I’m expecting her to dote on me, maybe mother me since being sick will mean our sex life comes to a screeching halt. (Of course, if I’m not fucking her, then she must be a mother figure, right? I jest, but I know plenty of men my age who think that.) Except there isn’t a maternal bone in Kathryn’s beautiful body. Her idea of taking care of her cat is paying her PA extra money to scoop the cat box and put food in kitty’s bowl. (I’ll have you know I feed my own cat, thanks. Unless I’m away, of course. Who wouldn’t pay for someone to clean the cat box so they don’t have to?) The last time I had a bad cold and spent two days straight in bed, she came over long enough to put a mask on her face and sit on the other side of the room while we talked business and family. I couldn’t even get a kiss out of her! Not that I held it against her. She can be quite the germaphobe outside of one of our sexy scenes.
If anything, I’m more likely to smother her when she’s ill. Who does she think I got that cold from? Valerie? My dad? Ha!
“That’s not what I mean, Katie.” She always blushes when I call her by her pet name. “I love having you by my side. I was a moody mess before you got here. Know what the first thing you can do for me is?”
She cocks an eyebrow. “I’m not giving you a handjob here.”
Well, darn! There goes that flawless plan to scratch something off my bucket list! “Could you please pick up that TV remote? It’s on the floor. By your feet. Your other foot.”
“You’re incorrigible.” She slams the remote into my hand. “Here I was going to tell you that you could have anything you want when you get out of here.”
“Anything? That’s a dangerous thing for you to say, Katie.”
She sighs. “Shut up. I mean it. Anything you want, buddy.”
“Skip-howdy, it’s like my birthday. I should eat things I’m allergic to more often, Mrs. Mathers.”
“Don’t push it. I love you more than my own life right now, so be careful what you do with that love.”
“Oh, I will be. Don’t worry. When I’m up to snuff again, I’ll go easy on you. Ease into it, you know? With lots of lube.”
She rolls her eyes so dramatically that I fear they’re going to pop out of her head.
I hate to say it, and this is going to make me sound like a total dude, but I think I can get it up. Maybe. Almost? Aaahh, not quite. Sorry, ladies, I’m a pretty virile guy, but I’m completely wiped out of commission. Oh well. That means plenty of rest for Little Ian until it’s time to become reacquainted with our favorite woman again.
Chapter 11
IAN
“Wow,” I say, fingers drumming on the first real cup of coffee I’ve had in days. “Congratulations.”
Valerie smiles in relief. She’s told me her big news. Mama #2. Or is it second time over? Pretty soon I won’t be able to cart her around the world with me again. You know what Kathryn loves? Becoming my assistant on business trips. Really makes her feel like an important member of my family’s business. (Cough.)
Of course, she’s waited until I’m out of the hospital. With a few extra days tacked on. Both my doctor here in Japan and my one back home – what a FaceTiming experience that was – didn’t want me traveling for a full five days after being released. Extended vacation in Tokyo? I wish I could say it’s been a vacation. Most of these days have been filled with getting caught up with business meetings I was supposed to have back home. A couple of my associates flew out here to see me, that’s how important the damn meetings were. (The fact they could swing by Hong Kong and Thailand afterward helped.) It also meant I couldn’t send Valerie home until I was released as well. Today is our last day in Tokyo, and the only day off we’ve had since I got out of the hospital with a stomachache and still no appetite.
That’s changed now. Three days in a row of big meals, coffee, and even some alcohol. Yours truly is all better now! What cracks me up, though, is that Kathryn is the one who has had the most time off since I got out of the hospital. She has nothing to do with my business dealings, so she’s been spending her days working in the hotel room (or a café) or going shopping… only to return an hour later, saying she’d rather eat dirt than deal with the Tokyo crowds. Still didn’t stop her from taking a personal shopping assistant with her to surrounding Shibuya and then Ginza and Akihabara. I told her to go home and deal with her own schedule, but she wouldn’t have it. This is her way of taking care of me, I guess. That and she’s too paranoid to let me out of her sight. Again, it’s how she fawns over me when I’m sick.