Noah nodded as if his friend could see. “I actually rescheduled all of this week’s appointments. I wanted to be able to stay with her for a while until I could see how she was getting along.”
“You can’t keep your eye on her all the time, Noah.” Max hesitated before going on. “You also can’t blame yourself for her condition.”
“I can do whatever the hell I want,” Noah countered, ready to defend his actions. “I won’t have another woman suffer when I can prevent it.”
Max sighed. “I won’t argue with you about this again. I just called to see if you’d like to get together for a cookout or something. I want you to meet Abby.”
“Abby?” Noah laughed. “Weren’t you just dating someone else?”
“Not dating…”
“Forget it,” Noah said. “Bring whomever you want, but let me get back to you as to when. I don’t want to make Callie uncomfortable.”
He had a feeling the last thing she’d want was visitors, especially a woman of Max’s choosing, because if Max was “dating” someone, she more than likely would show up with three things: silicone, implants and a spray tan.
“You know, why don’t you just come over?” Noah asked. “I’d love to meet your new friend, but maybe not with Callie around. She’s pretty vulnerable right now.”
“Sure. I understand. Why don’t I come over tomorrow night with some steaks and we can just grill out?”
“I’ll run it by Callie, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Just text me and let me know what’s going on.”
“Will do.”
Noah hung up and grabbed a towel off the bar to wipe his head and chest. He’d pounded the bag for nearly thirty minutes and before that he’d run five miles on his treadmill. Normally he’d run outside, but he didn’t want to leave Callie in case she needed something.
No matter what Max said, Noah knew Callie was his responsibility. She’d been in that accident because of him and she was going to get the proper care because of him, too. It was the least he could do.
Fantasizing about her, thinking about her in a sexual way was not going to help matters. He needed to keep in mind what happened last time he lost himself to a woman who had stars in her eyes.
No, this time he would remain professional. He was one of the best plastic surgeons in L.A., damn it, and he needed to remember that and keep his hormones in check.
He’d just come to his feet when he felt Callie step into the room. He couldn’t explain it, but suddenly there was this…presence that had him turning.
She stood leaning against the doorjamb with her good shoulder. “I was wondering if I could use your computer. I forgot to bring my laptop.”
He took in the sight of her still sporting his shirt, the one she’d slept in, and those damn sexy legs peeking out beneath little shorts, and like a hormonal, stuttering teenager, he merely nodded.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
Yeah, something was wrong. He was getting confused between being a man and being a doctor, not to mention the fact he was torn between being dutiful and giving in to his most basic of desires.
“Just trying to finish my workout,” he told her, coming off a little more agitated than he meant to. “I’ll be done in a minute.”
She straightened. “I won’t bother you again.”
Turning, she eased back down the hall and disappeared around the corner. Great, now he’d upset her and made her feel worse. As if she needed to feel worse. The woman had lost her dream job, her independence and the simple life she was used to, and he’d growled at her simply because he had a hard-on that he couldn’t keep under control.
Well, whose fault was that?
Noah shoved his hands back into his boxing gloves. He wasn’t done with that heavy bag. As long as his past demons were chasing him and his present situation was joining in, he needed to punch out some of his anger and frustrations.
Eight
Callie booted up the computer that sat in a small nook off the kitchen. She’d just wanted to look for some online work she could do until she felt comfortable facing the world again. There was no way she could go back to the office looking like a constant work in progress, and there was certainly no way she could go to a casting call, unless they were doing a horror film.
But she wasn’t going to focus on what she couldn’t do. In order to get back on her feet, she needed to focus on what she could do. Noah wanted to see that old Callie back, so she was going to try.