Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(56)
Claire felt her spine stiffen. She gave Dr. Mauldin a tight smile and turned to Jason. “May I talk to you privately for a moment please?”
Obviously puzzled by her behavior, Jason replied, “Sure. Tom it was great to see you again. I’m sure we will talk soon.”
Jason steered her down the hall and stepped out a side door into a small courtyard. When he attempted to put his arms around her, she stiffened and pushed away. “Jason, why were you discussing my mother’s medical care with her doctor?”
Still looking confused, he said, “As I mentioned, Tom and I are friends, and I wanted him to know that your mother could afford to have any care that she might need. Doctors have their hands tied these days getting insurance companies to approve adequate care for their patients, and I don’t want this to be the case with your mother; I know how important she is to you.”
“Jason, I appreciate the fact that you’d care, but I need to make these decisions. I realize that you’re somewhat in the know about my mother’s financial situation; however, I must be completely informed so that I can make the necessary judgments concerning her care. I can’t promise the hospital or the doctor that I can give them a blank check for whatever they deem necessary; we’re not rich. I can, however, start making arrangements as soon as the doctor discusses options with ME.”
“Honey, you don’t have to worry about looking at options. I’m perfectly happy to pay for whatever your mother might need. You don’t need the additional stress of thinking about money while you’re worrying about your mother. Claire I’ve the money, and I would like nothing better than to help you. I’m not trying to take over here, but I do want your mother to have every opportunity to recover,” assured Jason.
“I know that you feel like you’re helping, and I do appreciate it, but she’s my mother Jason, and I need to make the decisions. Please let me handle this, and I would appreciate it if you’d not discuss my mother’s case with her doctor without my knowledge.”
Jason was temporarily at a loss for words. “Claire, I’ve obviously upset you, which was not my intention. Tom asked me who I was seeing at the hospital which brought up the conversation of your mother. As I said, I know how important she is to you, and I wanted to make sure you didn’t have to worry about her getting the help that she needs. I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, and I’ll of course respect your wishes in this.” Claire stared into his eyes and saw nothing but sincerity.
Was she overreacting? Was her past relationship with her father coloring everything she did? Still feeling uneasy despite his assurances, Claire knew that the hospital was probably not the best place for a heart to heart talk with him and decided to let the matter drop for now. Soon though, they had to discuss his habit of trying to run her life. He had to understand that she was capable of making her own decisions. Maybe her mother and father started out this way in the beginning; then he had he started taking over small areas of her life until he finally consumed her?
~~~
Boy he royally messed this one up. His conversation with Tom had begun as innocently as he indicated to Claire. His assurance to Tom that he wanted the best for Claire’s mother regardless of the cost had gone a little beyond what he had admitted to her. Taking care of people was second nature to him. He never considered himself a nurturing person, he was simply someone who saw a problem or a need and fixed it.
One thing having money, and plenty of it, had taught him was that most everything could be fixed for a price. He wasn’t consumed by money and didn’t throw it around. He, however, did appreciate the good deeds that he could easily do because of it. Growing up as he had obviously colored his views of relationships. Whatever he had with Claire now was the closest he had ever been to a committed relationship, and he was committed to her, more than she would be comfortable knowing.
He needed her; he burned for her, and he longed for the taste of her. He stayed in an almost constant start of arousal now. If she walked into the room, he was hard within minutes. Each time he thought he had sated his hunger for her, but it only burned brighter. She was a witch, and he was completely under her spell. It wasn’t just the sex though that held him spellbound; it was Claire, the person, as well.
He loved that she worried about everyone around her but never herself. He loved how she sucked her lower lip into her mouth when she was deep in thought, he loved how his house had felt like a home with her inside, and he loved her independence even though he didn’t know how to handle it and seemed to screw up at every turn.
How could you explain to a woman that you’d practically been born taking care of people? He often thought his mother had decided to have a child simply to have someone to solve all her problems at any time of the day or night. He had never been a child though, he had been the go-to man since he was old enough to walk and talk. Hell, he still spent a good part of his time solving his mother’s problems.
After almost losing Claire over the loan at work and the loss of her job at Partiez Plus, he told himself he would never again interfere in her life, but he had stumbled again today. His need to protect her was taking over with little thought to the consequences. Being involved with someone who seemed to want nothing from him other than, well, just him was something new; and frankly, he didn’t know how to act. He was a smart man; surely he could manage to keep it together enough not to ruin the best thing to happen to him.