Catch 'n' Kiss (Are You Game?)

by Cahill, Rhian

  Luc smiled. “That’s my girl.”

  “Is he really okay?”

  “Yes. The airbag knocked him out for a few seconds and he’s got bruises from the seatbelt and steering wheel, a couple of minor scratches from flying glass. Nothing major at all,” Luc reassured her.

  “Why didn’t he ring me?” Did Dan think she wouldn’t want to know he was hurt?

  “His phone is trashed. A bystander called Are You Game? to let them know the van had been in an accident, which is how Cassie found out. She rang me because she thought you’d want to hear it from me in person instead of over the phone.”

  Jody smiled. “Thank you, for that and putting up with the crazy pregnant woman.”

  “Hey, it’s easy when you’re crazy all the time.” Luc grinned and ducked out of the way of Jody’s fist.

  “Smartarse.” She poked her tongue out. Turning around, she located her handbag on the counter and grabbed the handles. “Can we go now?”

  “Sure. But you might want to put some clothes on.”

  Jody glanced down at her pyjamas and groaned. Not only had she not dressed this morning, but her top and pants were smeared with dirt from when she’d helped Amy pot her herb seeds earlier. “Give me five minutes to change.”

  “Don’t rush. I’ll get the girls ready to go while you change.” Luc called after her as she made a dash for her bedroom.

  Jody made it back to the living room in three and a half minutes to find Luc waiting for her. “Where’s Cassie and the girls?” she asked as she slipped her feet into her sneakers.

  “Cassie took them to work with her. She said she’s giving them a crash course in event management.”

  Jody’s gaze darted up to meet Luc’s. “What?”

  “I’m kidding. I think she’s making a cake or something for tomorrow’s baby shower. She said the girls can hang with her until you find out if Dan has to stay in overnight or not.”

  She sucked in a breath. “You said he was okay.”

  “Relax.” Luc placed his hand on her back and steered her towards the front door. “It’s just a concussion. You know how careful they like to be with head injuries no matter how minor.”

  As far as Jody was concerned, no head injury was minor. A ball of lead sat on her chest and her tummy started churning. God, she hoped she didn’t throw up again. She was getting tired of living in the bathroom with her head in the toilet. Mind you, she’d rather be making a dash to the loo instead of one to the hospital.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Dan sat up in bed and cursed the idiot who’d phoned his mother. “I’m fine, Ma.” Then he cursed himself for still having her listed as his emergency contact.

  “You don’t look fine.” She leaned over and poked at the bandage near his temple.

  “Shit! Keep doing that and I won’t be fine.” He batted her hand away.

  “Daniel O’Conner. Language.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you get Reagan to take you home now? You don’t need to be here and you’ve seen that I’m okay.” Dan turned his gaze to his sister, pleading with his eyes to get her to take their mother out of here before Jody showed up.

  “C’mon, Mum. We can’t do anything for him and you’ve already spoken to the doctor and know his injuries aren’t life threatening.” Reagan placed her hand on their mother’s arm. “Besides, you know as well as I do that Dan has the hardest head in the world.”

  “Who’s going to watch him for complications? He lives alone. He could die in his sleep,” Ma argued.

  The gasp from the doorway had all three of them turning in that direction.

  “D-die? But they said…”

  Shit. Jody and Luc stood just inside the room. “Jody.” Dan held out his hand. “My mother is exaggerating as usual. I’m not going to die.”

  To his surprise, she came forward and took his hand. He’d expected to have to coax her into the room.

  “You’re really okay?” she asked as she wove their fingers together and squeezed them in a death grip.

  Dan gave her hand a gentle squeeze in return and tugged her closer. “I’m fine. One more set of observations and they’re letting me out of here.”

  “Really?” she murmured, her voice shaky with uncertainty.

  He smiled at her. “Honest. I tried to ring you, but my phone got broken in the crash and I couldn’t remember your number.”

  She brushed his hair away from his bandaged head. “Does it hurt?”

  “No. The headache is gone and the pain in my ribs is bearable.”

  “Ahem.”

  Dan’s gaze darted to his mother. Shit. “Um, Jody, this is my mother and sister, Susan and Reagan O’Conner.”

  Jody turned with a smile. “Hello. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.” She let go of his hand to offer it first to his mother and then his sister.

  Dan avoided his mother’s questioning look. A complete change of subject was in order. “Hey, Luc, how’s the van?”

  “Totalled according to the tow-truck driver, but Cassie said she’ll wait until the insurance assessor takes a look. She’s organised a rental for Monday.”

  “You wrecked the van?” Jody asked turning back and taking his hand again.

  “No. The idiot who ran a red light wrecked the van.”

  “You’re lucky a few bruises and a concussion is all you got.” She stroked her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes.

  “That’s what the policemen, the paramedics, the nurses and the doctor said.”

  “Are you supposed to go to sleep with a concussion?” Reagan asked.

  Dan opened his eyes. “I’m not sleeping, I’m resting. Doctor’s orders. So you can all leave now.” He pointed at Jody as he pulled her right up to the side of his bed. “You stay.”

  “Dan,” Jody gasped.

  “What? I’m grumpy and all I could think about was not being able to tell you I was going to be late and knowing you were going to get angry with me when I didn’t show up with lunch.” He used the hand he held to pull her closer until her face was near his. “Kiss me so I know I’m not having a drugged-up dream. Remind me I’m the luckiest man alive to walk away from that crash with nothing but bruises.”

  Her eyes darted to the side and he realised no one had left. But Dan didn’t care who saw. He was done pretending he didn’t love her. Wrapping a hand around her neck, he tugged her down the last few inches and pressed his mouth to hers.

  He forgot about everyone else. Nothing matter except Jody and the way she surrendered to his kiss. Her lips were soft and warm and such a welcome touch. Their tongues tangled and their breath mingled and a part of Dan that had been wound tight since the accident unfurled. He’d thought of nothing but her since he’d regained consciousness sitting in the mangled wreck, the airbag deflating around him.

  Dan pulled back, separated their mouths and leaned his forehead against hers. “No more. I can’t fight this anymore, Jody. I want to marry you, and not because of the baby. I want to spend my life with you because you’re the light in my days and the dark in my nights. You’re everything I never dreamed I wanted and I can’t take another day—another minute—without knowing you’re mine.”

  “Dan.” She breathed his name against his lips and the tightness in his chest eased.

  “You. The girls. The baby. Are my life. My future. And I want it to start now.” He locked his gaze to hers. “I love you, Jody Walsh. Marry me.”

  Jody couldn’t believe he’d blurted all that out in front of everyone. But she couldn’t worry about it now. Not when he was kissing her again. Kissing her like she was the breath that would save his life. She lost herself then. Lost herself in him. Lost every last shred of wall between her and this man. He’d said he loved her. She’d thought—hoped—his feelings ran deep, knew hers did, but she’d never once believed it was possible to love this completely.

  A clearing throat pulled them apart, but Dan didn’t let her go far. He tugged until she sat on the edge of his
bed. Jody turned to find a very familiar man in a white coat standing before them.

  “Hi, Doctor Moore.” Jody smiled at the man who’d treated her weeks ago.

  “Well, I must say it’s a pleasure to see you up and about. Can’t say the same for your young man though.” The doctor tipped his chin in Dan’s direction. “I could have done without seeing him come in on a stretcher.”

  She shuddered. “I’m glad I didn’t see that.”

  “So how are you feeling now? Keeping things down?” he asked as he picked up the chart from the end of Dan’s bed.

  “Yes. Things are going well and my doctor has scheduled those tests you requested.”

  “Good. Well, let’s get to today’s patient shall we?” Doctor Moore walked around the other side of the bed and checked Dan’s pulse. One by one, he made his way through blood pressure, temperature and a quick listen to Dan’s chest. “Well, young man, you’re free to go home as long as you have someone who can be with you for the next twenty-four hours.”

  “I do.”

  “He does.”

  Dan and Jody spoke at once, drawing a chuckle for the older man.

  “All right then, you can leave whenever you’re ready, no paperwork as you weren’t admitted.” Doctor Moore pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Jody. “Ring me if you’re worried, but I doubt there’ll be any problems. And I don’t want to see either of you again until it’s time to deliver that baby.”

  There was a split second of stunned silence before Dan’s mother exploded with the kind of lecture only a mother can give. Jody tried to interrupt but the woman was a force she had no hope of stopping. In the end, Dan had to lean over and cover her mouth with his hand.

  “Be quiet and listen for a minute.” Dan indicated Jody should say what she had to.

  “Please don’t blame Dan for not telling you. I asked that he keep things between us until the twelve-week mark. I have two other children and I wanted to be sure everything was okay before I upset their world by telling them about the baby.” It wasn’t a complete lie, but Jody didn’t think telling the truth would make a good first impression.

  “You have other children?” Susan asked.

  “Yes, two girls, they’re thirteen and fifteen.”

  “And you are going to marry my Daniel, yes?”

  It suddenly dawned on her that she’d never answered him. Spinning around she met his gaze. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  He grinned then pulled her in for a kiss.

  “Right, where are these granddaughters of mine?” Dan’s mother brought them back to the here and now.

  “They’re with my brother’s girlfriend, Cassie,” Jody said a little breathlessly.

  “You work with Dan?”

  “Yes. And Cassie is dating my brother, Luc.” Jody pointed to Luc leaning against the wall in the corner of the room.

  “When can I meet them?”

  “Ma, c’mon, give us a minute, would you?”

  Jody watched mother and son stare each other down until Dan’s sister stepped in and ushered their mother from the room with a promised return in five minutes. Luc pushed off the wall and walked to the door where he kicked the doorstop out of the way.

  “I’ll wait out here and hold her off as long as I can.” He waved his phone. “I’ve got pictures of Leigh and Amy I can bribe her with.”

  The door whooshed close and Jody breathed out with a rush. “Oh my God. Did I really just meet your mother?”

  “Yep. Now come here and kiss me again. Actually, better yet, use those lips for something else. Say it.” Dan held her face in his hands. “I need to hear you say it.”

  She knew what he wanted. He’d told her, but she hadn’t said the words yet, not to anyone but herself. She wasn’t sure if she could, but for him—for them—she’d force aside the fear that was still an automatic reaction. “First, I need to say I’m sorry. For everything I’ve put us through but mostly to you for what I’ve made you put up with.”

  “Hey, Ma always says nothing worth having is easy. And you—” he tapped her nose with his thumb “—are the least easy person I know. And you’re worth every painful second of it.” His smile softened the blow of his words.

  Jody smiled in return. “I love you,” she whispered before pressing her lips to his.

  Dan leaned back. “Again.”

  “I love you.”

  “Good, because I plan to love you for the rest of my life.” He kissed her this time. Only he didn’t keep it light. He took them deep. Fast. And it wasn’t until his mother cleared her throat from the doorway that they came up for air with matching grins on their faces.

  “Enough for now, I want to meet these granddaughters I plan to spoil.” Suzan O’Conner spun around and disappeared out of sight.

  Reagan stuck her head in the door. “I’ll detour as much as I can, but you better give me an address of where she can meet those two beautiful girls we just saw on your brother’s phone or Dan will need more than a few Band-Aids and rest to recover.”

  “What? Tonight?” Jody squeaked.

  “Yeah, there’s no stopping her when she’s on a tear, and she’s definitely on one,” Reagan looked to the side. “Yes, I’m coming.”

  Dan laughed. “My place at six for dinner.”

  “See you then, big brother.” Reagan disappeared.

  “I think we better get going. We’ve got lots to do before my mother turns up and lets the cat out of the bag about the baby.”

  “Oh no. I didn’t want to tell the girls yet.”

  “It’ll be fine. Besides, you know you were keeping it a secret as much to keep me at a distance as to protect them.”

  Dan helped her off the bed and stood. Jody turned and was struck speechless by his state. “Oh my God. Look at you.” His clothes were torn in several places and splattered with blood in others.

  He shrugged. “Not much I can do about them until we get home.”

  Jody liked the way he put home and we together. It had been a long time since she’d thought in terms of home as anything except her, Leigh and Amy. Now, the thought of home brought images of Dan to mind.

  She put her hand in his and pulled him towards the door. “C’mon, let’s go home.”

  Epilogue

  “Don’t you dare lift that!” Dan yelled as he walked into the bedroom and saw Jody attempting to put her suitcase on the bed.

  “It’s not that heavy,” she protested as she heaved it off the floor a couple of inches.

  He raced over and replaced her hand with his and swung the bag up on the mattress. “There. Next time just ask.”

  She pouted. “But you were busy with the girls.”

  “I’m always busy with the girls. They find something they want me to do every other second.” Not that he was upset by their constant need for his attention. In fact, he loved it.

  “You shouldn’t have told them they could do whatever they wanted in the house then,” Jody said as she unzipped the bag and threw open the top.

  “I want them to feel at home as soon as possible. I want you all to feel that way.” He wrapped his arms around her thickened waist and splayed his hands over her protruding belly. “Is he moving?”

  “She is asleep. For now.” Dan could hear the smile in her voice.

  They’d decided not to find out the sex of the baby, but each of them had their own thoughts on what was growing inside Jody’s rounded stomach. “I love touching you like this.”

  “You just like touching me.” She laughed.

  “Well, yeah, I am a guy. But like this.” He smoothed his hands over her curves. “It brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. There’s a part of you and me growing in here.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Jody cupped her hands over his and moved them lower. “She’s kicking.”

  “I’ll never get over how amazing that is.”

  He followed the movement with his fingertips. Their baby was so tiny. With less than three weeks to go, he worried their c
hild wouldn’t be big enough to survive. It didn’t matter how many times the doctors told him everything was progressing normally, he wouldn’t believe it until this little person was in his arms and breathing. Jody’s stomach tensed beneath his hands.

  “Whoa. What was that?” Dan’s own stomach tightened.

  “Mmm…” She leaned back against him and hummed out a breath.

  “Jody?”

  She dug her nails into his forearms as she hissed out a breath.

  “Jody?” She had him worried now.

  “Can you ring whoever drew the short straw for coming to sit with the girls while we’re at the hospital?” She let go and stepped from his arms like she was doing nothing more than getting a drink of water.

  “It’s time?” Did his voice just go up two octaves? “It can’t be time.”

  “Babies always have their own timetable. Ours has chosen today.”

  “But…” He watched as she pulled some things from her suitcase and piled them on the bed. Why was she unpacking now? “What are you doing? We have to go.”

  Dan wasn’t proud to say he was beginning to panic. What if she had the baby before they made it to the hospital? He moved next to her and grabbed her hand.

  “Jody. Talk to me. I’m freaking out here.”

  She patted his cheek. “Relax, these things take a whil—” The word was cut off by a gasp and she doubled over just as water splashed over his bare feet.

  “Fuck.”

  “Okay,” she panted. “Maybe this won’t take so long after all.” She gripped his arm and dug her nails in so hard he had to clench his jaw to keep a cry of pain from escaping.

  “Leigh! Amy!” he yelled.

  Both girls came running and skidded to a stop in the doorway.

  “Get the phone. Call 000,” he ordered as another pain ripped through Jody.

  “Is Mum having the baby now?” Leigh asked. “She can’t have it now. It’s not time.”

  “Try telling him that.”

  “Her,” Jody got out through gritted teeth.

  Dan eased her towards the bed.

  “No. Not on the bed. I don’t want to ruin the bedding or mattress.”