by Jess Dee
Daniel squeezed her hand, and she belatedly realized she was glaring at the doctor. She pasted a smile on her face. “Forgive me, I never saw you there. It’s nice to meet you.”
Leona stared daggers at her. “Yes, I’m sure.”
Silent tension simmered between the two women. “Leona was telling me about the ward,” Daniel said. “All the renovations are finished, and it looks pretty good. I’m on my way up there.” He looked at Amy. “Why don’t you join me? Come and see what they’ve done.”
She hesitated. A quick glance at her watch told her she really needed to get back to her office, but at the same time, she wanted to see the ward.
“Vicky’s back in hospital,” he said quietly. “I was going to drop in. Would you like to meet her?”
The pained look in Daniel’s eyes as he conveyed that bit of information helped her decide. “I’d love to.”
“I have patients to see, so I’ll head up with you,” Leona said. Not entirely sure whether this was true, Amy suspected Leona used it as an excuse to spend more time with Daniel.
Perhaps someone should explain to her that subtlety was a far bigger turn-on for her friend than the obvious advances she was making? Daniel wasn’t interested. Couldn’t she see that? It was so glaringly obvious. If she had been Daniel’s girlfriend, she would’ve happily spelled it out for Leona.
But she wasn’t. So she kept her mouth shut.
The three of them caught an elevator up to the eighth floor and walked across a long, narrow corridor to POWS. Amy was struck by Daniel’s easy, sexy stride, and she suppressed a grin. “You’re not limping. Your knee must be improving.”
Daniel had the grace to squirm before he shrugged. “It twinges now and again, but it feels fine. No thanks to my sister.”
“And your shoulder?”
“A bit tender still.”
Amy resisted the urge to laugh. She could attach a microscope to his knee and shoulder, study them for three days, and still not find any sign of bruising. Daniel was a big baby.
With a very adult body.
Don’t go there.
Leona pushed open a pair of swinging doors and they walked inside. “I have patients to see.” She nodded curtly at Amy and gave Daniel a slow once-over before walking off.
They shared a smile as they watched the doctor stalk away.
“You could have warned me.” Amy laughed, both relieved and disappointed that Daniel’s kisses had been nothing more than a ruse. “I didn’t know what the hell you were doing.”
“There wasn’t time. I had to act. I was on my way to the ward when Leona blindsided me. I didn’t want to be rude, so I agreed to have a drink with her. You saved me from another grueling invitation over to her place.”
“Glad I could help.” Was she? In essence, Daniel had kissed her. Again. And once again, she was left aroused and hungry for more.
“Me, too.” He grinned. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see a client.”
“Everything okay?”
“Better than okay. She had a baby.”
“Congratulations. Must be nice to reap the rewards of your work, I’m sure.”
“As it must be for you.” She stared over his shoulder. “The ward is charming.”
Daniel looked around, his face incredulous. “It looks amazing.”
She could only agree. Although she’d never been in the ward before, Daniel’s exhibition had given her a good idea of how it had been—run-down, with old wallpaper peeling off the walls, its designs faded and dull.
Now the passages gleamed with fresh paint and bright wallpaper. If one had to be in a children’s hospital, this was a good one to be in.
“Look in there.” Daniel headed to an alcove filled with toys and books. “They’ve replaced all the old junk. Everything’s new and unused.” He was like a small kid, and she suspected more excited about the changes than most of the children.
He should be. He was the one responsible for them.
They stopped at the nurses’ station. New filing cabinets lined the walls while boxes from recently unpacked computers lay on the floor, waiting to be discarded. Not only was the ward more presentable, it also had a lot more modern technology, making administration easier.
Amy recognized a few of the nursing staff from Lexi’s party and the exhibition, and she and Daniel chatted with them for a while until Daniel asked for Vicky’s room number. She sensed a little apprehension in his gait as they made their way to her room.
“Maybe I should stay outside.” She was reluctant to invade the little girl’s privacy.
“No, I’ve told Vicky all about you. I’m sure she’ll want to meet you.”
Why would he have told Vicky about her?
There wasn’t time to ask. Daniel stepped up to a closed door and knocked softly before sticking his head inside.
“Hi there. Feeling up to visitors?” She didn’t hear a response, but Daniel opened the door wider and motioned for her to walk inside with him.
A quick glance revealed a cozy, inviting room, the walls done in the same colors as the corridors. The bed was made up with crisp linen in soft pastel shades of orange, lime, and lemon. There were two armchairs covered in matching fabric and a bookshelf against the far wall, overflowing with books and toys. A TV and DVD player hung suspended from the ceiling.
The only difficult thing to take in was the slip of a girl lying in the bed. She was so tiny that at first look, Amy would have estimated her to be around seven or eight had she not known Vicky was ten. Her hair looked as though it had been shaved off and was only now beginning to grow back.
“Hey, slugger,” Daniel said affectionately. “I thought they sent you home weeks ago.”
“They did. But then they brought me back.” Vicky laughed weakly. “I guess they like me too much to let me go.”
Amy’s chest tightened, and she blinked back her tears.
“Nah,” Daniel said, “I think they wanted a professional opinion on the wallpaper.”
“It’s nice.” She looked at Amy. “Who’s your friend?”
Amy walked forward. “My name’s Amy.” She held her hand out.
Vicky took it in hers and gave it a firm shake, firmer than Amy had expected. “You don’t have to be scared, you know. I’m sick, but I won’t break.” Wise eyes, so out of place in the face of a girl so young, seemed to probe and then she said, “You’re Daniel’s girlfriend.”
Amy couldn’t help but like the girl. “I’m Daniel’s best friend. I’ve known him since high school.”
“I have a best friend, too, but he doesn’t come visit me here. His mum won’t let him.”
“That must upset you.”
“Kind of. But I understand. It’s frightening for him to come into a hospital where there are very sick children.” She looked solemnly at Amy.
“You understand a lot for someone so young.”
Vicky shrugged. “It’s taken a while to get it. At first, I was hurt ’coz I thought he didn’t like me anymore. But now I understand it’s the cancer he doesn’t like. He doesn’t know how to deal with it. Neither does his mum. That’s why she won’t let him come see me.”
“You must miss him.”
“I did. We Skype and FaceTime a lot now, and he tells me what’s going on at school. He promised to come visit as soon as I get out of hospital this time. And”—she turned to Daniel—“he’s going to bring all the Harry Potter DVDs so we can watch them together.”
“Cool,” Daniel said with enthusiasm. “Did you finish the last book?”
“Yep.” Vicky looked at Amy. “Daniel gave me all the Harry Potter books. I started reading them in hospital, and when I felt too sick to read to myself, Daniel read to me.”
“So, what did you think?”
“I loved number four. And number five. When I got home, Theodore and I read the seventh book together. Theodore’s my little brother,” she told Amy.
“Did he like the books?”
“
Very much, although he was a little young to understand it all. I had to explain a lot of it to him.” Amy imagined Vicky had explained a lot of things to her little brother, and not just about Harry Potter.
“Well, then,” Daniel said, “I guess I’m just in time.”
“For what?” Vicky’s eyes grew large.
“To give you this.” He handed her a wrapped parcel.
She pushed herself up slowly. Amy saw how much effort it cost her. But the child’s smile was enormous. A touch of pink shaded her pale cheeks.
“I know what it is,” she exclaimed before she’d even opened the present. “And it’s perfect. Thank you. Theo will love this, too.”
Little fingers worked at the sticky tape until she had the paper off. She held it up and grinned in delight. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”
Daniel’s smile was just as large.
Amy stared at her friend, her heart filled with silly warm fuzzies. What a sweetheart. Without a doubt, he was the nicest man she knew.
Holding the book like a valued treasure, Vicky looked at Daniel. “Last time I saw you, you told me I’d encouraged you to do something. Have you done it?” She winked, scrunching up the right side of her face.
Daniel winked back. “I’m in the middle of it.”
Amy followed their conversation with curiosity.
“Is it working?”
“Too early to tell. I’ve made some progress, though.”
Vicky looked at Amy then back at Daniel. “You won’t give up, will you?”
“And let you down? Not a chance.”
“Well, let me know how it works out, okay?”
“Okay,” Daniel agreed. “Now we’d better let you get some rest.”
The dark circles under Vicky’s eyes stood out on her abnormally white skin. “I think I need it.”
“I’ll be in soon to see you again.”
And no doubt drop off another gift. Amy smiled at the thought. “Nice meeting you, Vicky. Hope you feel better.”
“See you soon, slugger.”
“’Bye, Amy. ’Bye, Daniel, and remember…don’t give up.”
He winked at her, and they left the room.
Daniel led her to the doctors’ room, where he sagged into a chair with a heavy sigh. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “She looks awful. Worse than she did in the middle of her chemotherapy.”
“Her face lit up when she saw you. She adores you.”
As do I.
In that moment of silent confession, something shifted in Amy’s chest, like a cog clicking into place. Her heart had melted at the way he’d acted toward the young girl.
He’d treated her like an adult, showed her absolute respect and handled her with such gentleness, affection, and care. And it was obvious the girl was crazy about him.
Amy was pretty crazy about him herself.
The warm fuzzies from earlier converged into something more solid, more tangible, an unexpected pressure pushing against her ribs. Watching Daniel and Vicky together had touched something deep inside her. Watching Daniel now touched something even deeper. A place he’d never touched before.
“Yeah, well, I adore her, too,” Daniel said. “It’s amazing how much she taught me about life.”
“She’s learned a lot in her short one.” Amy regarded Daniel thoughtfully. “What was that whole conversation about? What did Vicky inspire you to do?”
“You don’t know?”
“You were both so cryptic in there, I didn’t have a clue what you were talking about.” Nevertheless, her heart began to pound.
Daniel’s blue eyes shone bright with intensity. “It’s all about you.”
Amy placed a hand over her thudding heart, trying to ease the mounting pressure there. It wasn’t an uncomfortable pressure, exactly, just unexpected. It made breathing a whole lot more difficult than usual. “What about me? What did you discuss?”
He smiled a mysterious, appealing smile. “We spoke about the important things in our lives.”
“And what are they?” A memory intruded then, of the two of them sitting at Tamarama the day after he finished his shoot. What were the words he had used then?
Vicky forced me to look at my life and my behavior. I’m not happy with where I am right now.
It was all connected. Whatever he was about to tell her, it was exactly the thing he’d felt he wasn’t ready to discuss back then. And it was about her. “Danny? What did you say about me?”
The door opened, and Leona walked into the office. She looked at them in surprise. “Oh. I thought you’d have left by now.”
Amy nearly moaned out loud. Leona’s timing couldn’t have been worse.
“I’m glad you haven’t.” She looked coquettishly at Daniel, oblivious to Amy’s turmoil. “I wanted to discuss tonight with you. I thought we could get together.”
What the…?
Leona had seen Daniel kissing her at least twice now, and still she couldn’t take a hint. Apart from that, Daniel looked harassed. He was visibly upset by his visit with Vicky. The last thing he needed was Leona bugging him.
To top it all, the doctor had interrupted a very private, very pivotal moment.
She checked her watch. Time was running out. She had an appointment with a client in less than half an hour. Daniel wasn’t going to get a chance to tell her his big secret. And the pressure around her heart hadn’t eased at all.
Damn the woman.
Enough was enough. “Daniel has plans tonight with me.” He didn’t, but Leona didn’t need to know that. “So, no, I don’t think you’ll be getting together with him. Not tonight, nor any night soon. Okay?” She turned to Daniel and softened her tone. “My place, around seven?”
Daniel nodded. His dimples flashed as he tried to hide a grin. “Don’t forget, I’m cooking.”
Aware of a glowering Leona beside her, Amy gave him a slow smile. “You sure were last night.” With that, she planted a tender kiss on his lips, and her heart raced into overdrive.
His eyes closed as he murmured a low “mmm…”
The sound reverberated from her breasts down to her belly.
Amy could have kissed him forever. She ached to deepen the intimacy. To part her lips and invite his tongue into her mouth. Wrap herself around his body, press her breasts against his chest, and nestle her pelvis into his.
The pressure in her chest coalesced into a sense of rightness. This moment, here, kissing her best friend, was absolutely meant to be.
The less-than-subtle ahem from across the room broke the spell, shattering the intimacy, reminding Amy where she was and where she needed to be. She pulled away reluctantly, her lips warm and tingling.
It took a good few seconds before she could catch her breath long enough to speak normally. “I have to go back to work. See you later.” With a wave at Leona, she walked out of the room, feeling certain something life altering had just taken place, yet unable to put her finger on exactly what that something was.
…
Daniel watched Amy leave with a barely repressed smile, his misery over seeing Vicky in such a bad state temporarily masked. What a stroke of luck running into Amy like that. If he’d thought about it before, he’d have choreographed the whole damn thing himself. He laughed out loud, grabbed Leona, and twirled her around.
“Put me down, you stupid lug.” She was chuckling by the time Daniel set her back on her feet.
“You were brilliant. I can’t believe how quickly you fell into character. I hadn’t even introduced you to Amy and already you were playing the hard-nosed bitch.”
“Beside the fact that I recognized her from the party, the look of undisguised adulation on your face was a dead giveaway. There was no question about who she was.”
“What can I say? I’m a man possessed.”
“Say you’ll never subject me to such nonsense again.”
“I can’t promise. You do it so well. So did Amy. It took a while, but when she realized who you were, she played her part.”
/>
Leona looked thoughtful. “Amy wasn’t playing. She took those kisses very seriously.”
“You think?”
“I’m well qualified to know how a woman responds when she’s enjoying a kiss. Amy enjoyed those kisses.”
Exuberance made Daniel grin like an idiot. “Know what I think, Leona? Deep down, there’s a woman with a big heart and a soft spot for romance.”
“I have no problem with romance. I’m just choosy about who I get to be romantic with.”
“Man, that’s no lie.” When Daniel had met Leona a few years back, he’d found her aloofness toward him refreshing. He’d made a move. She’d turned him down cold.
“You weren’t my type.”
Daniel laughed. “Yeah. Learned that the hard way.”
“Your advances were flattering.”
“Your rejection…not so much.” He attempted a frown but grinned instead.
“Are you really cooking Amy dinner tonight? Or was that all for show?”
Daniel sighed. “All for show. Trust me, the next time I cook her dinner, I’ll be making her breakfast the next morning, too.”
Leona looked at him, her round eyes filled with compassion. “Oh, you poor man. What a pity your self-confidence is so low. It must be your lack of experience with women.”
Daniel gave Leona a halfhearted smile. His only lack of experience was with Amy, and it was just about killing him.
“I wouldn’t worry,” Leona reassured him. “I have a strong suspicion all that is about to change.”
Back at work, Amy drummed her nails restlessly on her desk as her mind raced.
Her world had changed, but she couldn’t pinpoint how. It all centered around Daniel. That pressure in her chest after seeing him with Vicky, the sense of rightness as they’d kissed… Her feelings for him were shifting, evolving. Yes, she loved him as a friend. But there was more to it now. There was the physical desire and lust, and more importantly, there was the longing to connect with him on a deeper level than before, a more intimate one.
