“Yes,” the doctor said. “To talk about how our research might affect your case. As you may or may not know, the Prescott Trust continues to be one of UAB’s most generous donors. However, the money has traditionally been directed toward the School of Business, per your father’s will. I was hoping you might be interested in either diverting some of that ongoing allocation or donating to the Department of Ophthalmology yourself, since you might be able to benefit from the research we’re doing here… someday.”
“When you say ‘someday,’ do you mean someday next month?” Beau asked.
“More like someday in the next decade—I hope.” The doctor’s voice sounded very agitated now. “I’m sorry, Mr. Prescott, I didn’t purposefully mean to mislead you. But now I’m seeing something might have been lost in translation when I talked with your assistant about all of this.”
Beau gritted his teeth together. “She said you said that you had fixed cases like mine before. Hundreds of them.”
“Again I’m extremely sorry, Mr. Prescott. When she said you were interested in my research, I assumed she had read my papers in full, and I was so excited about possibly getting your financial support for the Department of Ophthalmology—but I should have given more of a mind toward managing your expectations.”
Beau could barely comprehend what this guy was telling him. How the hell was he supposed to manage his expectations? He either got his sight back and returned to playing football, or his whole life was ruined.
He held up a hand up to stop the doctor’s blathering. “Did you or did you not cure hundreds of cortical blindness cases like you claimed?”
“Yes, I did,” the doctor said, his voice laced with frustration. “In mice. Those cases I told your assistant about referred to the work we’ve done with mice. We’re still several years away from being able pursue human trials, and there are a few hoops to jump through before that—hoops that will require a lot of time and money, which is why I wanted to meet with you…”
He kept talking, but Beau didn’t hear much beyond “in mice.”
“Get me out of here,” he told Mac.
“Mr. Prescott, I’m sorry to have disappointed you, but if you could just consider how much a large donation would benefit the work we’re doing here.”
“Mac!” he bit out.
Less than five minutes later he was back in the passenger side of Mac’s car.
“Call Carol and tell her she’s fired,” he said as soon as he heard Mac get in on the passenger side.
“Firing folks isn’t exactly in my job description,” Mac said. “I’m just supposed to be your home aide.”
“Fire her and then I want you to find a doctor who can fix me.”
“Man, I know you’re in your feelings right now. I would be, too. Maybe what we should do is call Josie. She’s the kind of girl you want by your side after you get news like this.”
Beau gritted his teeth. Mac had no idea Josie had professed her love to another man twice within earshot and that she was only with him because he was paying her.
“Mac, I’m going to say this once,” he said. “Don’t talk to me about Josie. You have no idea what kind of girl she is, so keep opinions about her to yourself. Either do what I tell you, or you can find another job, too.”
“Sorry, man, I overstepped.” Mac started up the car. “I’ll ask around and do some research. See what I can find.”
They drove the rest of the way home in silence.
JOSIE WAS HOME when he arrived back at the house, just like she said she would be. He knew this because she showed up a few minutes after Mac left him alone in his bedroom. Right after he’d just laid himself down on his bed with the weight of the world crushing down on his chest.
“Hey,” she said, crawling into bed with him. “Mac’s gone.”
“Good,” he said between clenched teeth.
He could hear Josie hesitate and shift in the bed before she said, “It’s not Mac’s fault that neurosurgeon didn’t tell you what you wanted to hear.”
“I don’t want to talk about this,” he said.
“But maybe you should talk about it. It would probably make you feel better.”
His jaw set. “I’m not paying for your fucking counsel. I don’t need you to lend a goddamned ear. If you really want to help me, shut up and strip.”
The old Josie wouldn’t have let him talk to her that way. The old Josie would have put him in his place. But this Josie just went silent for a few long moments before saying, “I’m already naked.”
His dick sprang to life like she’d hit it with a defibrillator. “Hell, Josie, why didn’t you lead with that?”
She swung a leg over his torso and made herself comfortable, so he could feel the heat of her pussy through the crotch of his tailored trousers. “Now I’m unbuttoning your shirt…”
She unbuttoned his shirt and let her hands fan over his chest before leaning forward.
“I’m kissing you on your neck.” She placed a kiss on his shoulder, then started working her way down his chest. “…and on your chest… your stomach.”
Her soft, warm lips pressed into a few of his ab muscles. Then he heard an unzipping sound. “The next part is a surprise.”
Her tongue flicked across the slit at the top of his dick and his whole body seized up. It was just a lick, a tease really, but just the thought of Josie touching him that way… She sucked on his bulbous head for a few moments before licking her way down his shaft.
He clenched his teeth. “Josie…”
She took him all the way into her mouth, so far in he could feel the back of her warm wet throat on the tip of his dick.
He groaned out his pleasure and fumbled until he found the back of her head. “Keep going, darlin’,” he said, helping her find a good rhythm.
And she did just that, bobbing her head up and down on his dick and sucking like a vacuum at the same time.
“Oh, hell, you’ve got to stop.”
There was a wet pop of sound when she let go of his penis. “What? You want me to stop? Am I not doing it right?”
He laughed, actually laughed after being told the procedure he’d been counting on to fix him wasn’t ready for humans yet. “No, you’re doing it too right, darlin’. I don’t want to come in your mouth.”
“Oh.” A few beats of silence, then she said, “I don’t mind if you come in my mouth.”