Before him, Mallory did the bugaloo celebration dance he’d wanted to do himself earlier. He liked her version much better.
After she’d calmed down she hung his IV on a portable pole and connected to the wheelchair, placed a light blanket across his lap and rolled him outside to his patio. How long had it been since he’d seen his own house?
Jake had kept the yard in perfect order, with the tall bushes well trimmed and the flowers flourishing. One particular hibiscus bush was covered in bright single-layer red blooms, each open like a five-petal smile.
The night sky was a shadowed blue, yet several stars already shone brightly. The yard accent lights would have to be turned off if they were to star-gaze.
Gloria had followed them both outside.
“Gloria? As Mallory is here, I’m going to let you leave early tonight—full pay, of course.”
“Why, thank you, Dr. Prescott.”
She left almost before he could say goodnight. “Oh, and on your way out, can you turn off the accent lights?”
Once the coast was clear and the yard was dark, he reached for Mallory’s hand.
“It’s beautiful out tonight, isn’t it?” she said.
“Fantastic. And only one thing will make it perfect.”
Playing along, she looked coyly at him. “Why, Dr. Prescott, what could that possibly be? Do you want the keyboard so you can serenade me?”
He tugged her closer. “What I really want is for you to sit on my lap.”
After a surprised glance she obliged him. She felt all female across his thighs, and when she circled her arms around his neck, he thought he’d been reborn.
High on life and Mallory, he gazed into her fathomless eyes, smiled richly, and kissed her.
They kissed like teenagers in the back seat of a car, all hot and eager to thrill each other, easily aroused. He wished there were no blanket barriers between them. She grasped his head, fingers diving into his hair, and held him close as her tongue explored his lips. It made him growl and kiss her back—deeper. The sweet taste of almond cookies lingered in her mouth. Her warm breath sent a direct signal across his flesh, all the way down to his groin.
When had a woman last done that to him? He couldn’t remember any of their faces, except for Mallory’s. Right here. Right now.
His hand ran from her waist up her side, and was about to sample the soft flesh of her breast when he heard the familiar shuffling gait of Jake coming around the corner of the house.
Would he ever have his privacy back? He gave one quick squeeze and flick of his thumb then backed off. A cheap thrill, he’d admit, but enticing all the same.
Mallory quickly rose to a standing position, and for the first time that night he was glad he had a blanket across his lap.
“Hiya, boss. Beautiful night. I came to see why the backyard lights were turned off.”
Mallory subtly smoothed her clothes and hair, and gave the guiltiest smile he’d ever seen for Jake. It almost made JT chuckle.
“Pull up a chair and join us. We were just star-gazing,” JT said.
“Sure thing, but where is Mallory sitting?”
A mischievous glance from his dream date made him sputter a laugh. “How about on my lap?”
“Oh, you,” Mallory said, with a friendly cuff to his shoulder, as though the idea was preposterous.
“Right,” Jake said, all business. “Let me get a chair for her, too.”
Not having a clue how he’d dampened their passion, Jake sat in staid silence, staring at the cobalt sky. Occasionally, he’d clear his throat.
JT decided he’d had enough, and asked to be wheeled inside. Fortunately Jake didn’t follow them back into the house. It was twenty to nine and there were a few minutes remaining until his night nurse, Carlos, arrived. He hoped to have a chance to kiss Mallory again tonight, but this time the way he really wanted to.
*
Shaken by the passion she’d felt between them in his back yard, Mallory was grateful for Jake having barged in earlier. Where would their kisses have led? And when JT had caressed her breast, she’d almost called out with the surge of desire.
It had to stop.
“Let’s get you back to bed, shall we?” Mallory said, all business. Oh, damn. That hadn’t come out like she’d meant it.
“I like that idea, but only if you’ll join me.”
She cast him a shocked stare.
Her mind had wandered back to the Samantha and Wayne sighting from earlier that evening, and she wondered how best to broach the subject, or whether to let it be.
JT’s brow knitted with a perplexed look. “What happened to little miss wildcat from outside? I liked her better.”
She gave him the sincerest expression she could conjure up. “I’m just not sure what to do about us. Are we just playing around? Or are you really interested in me?”
He took her hand in his and stared into her eyes. “I trust you more than anyone I know—besides myself, of course. Please, believe me when I say I’m definitely interested in you. Hell, I think about you all the time. This isn’t warped gratitude for everything you’ve done for me. Not that I’m not grateful. It’s just so much more than that. Please, get that through your beautiful head. Now, put me to bed. And, if you’d like, you can join me.”
She sighed over her outburst of nerves. The sincerity in his eyes took her breath away. He’d pretty much laid it on the line, and now it was up to her how she wanted to reciprocate.
“At least tuck me in,” he whispered in a husky voice.
Mallory fought to ignore the chills running rampant on her skin. She locked the wheelchair in place, used her thighs and a straight back to lower herself to his level, and reached behind his waist. His arms naturally wrapped around her shoulders sending, a warm wave over her back.
“On the count of three we’ll stand. Pivot to the right, I mean your left, then you can sit on the edge of the bed while I get the wheelchair out of the way. Then I’ll help lift your legs. OK. One…two…three!”
He managed to make it to standing with little effort and her help. They did a dance of three short steps until the backs of his knees were pushed up flush to the bed. He was supposed to sit, but momentum from the sitting-to-standing movement must have made him lose his balance. He fell backwards onto the bed and, having never released her, she tumbled on top of him.
Now sprawled across his body, on his bed, still firmly in his embrace, she pushed up onto her hands to figure out what had happened. He smiled devilishly up at her, his blue eyes blazing with desire. He pulled her back down flush to his body and she became urgently aware that their hips were together in a most provocative place.
Shock coursed through her. She tried with all her resistance not to move, but she felt him throb to life beneath her. His mouth found hers in a hot, wet kiss, and in a mind-numbing response she straddled him.
They’d picked right up where they’d left off outside. Wild kisses and nibbles on the neck, each with a sweet wake-up message sent directly to her core. His hands found her breasts again—this time they explored her shape and feel. Her flesh tightened and pebbled beneath his fingers, and she grew wet between her legs. And, oh, that connection at the hip—the firm bulge was too much to resist.
She moved over him in sweet, deep undulations, their lips never losing contact. His hands made their way up the back of her blouse and managed to unclasp her bra. He released her, and she marveled at the feel of his warm hands on her flesh. She threw her head back and arched into his grip, savoring the feel. A tiny moan escaped her lips.
One of his hands pressed her tightly down on top of him. She gasped her pleasure. He pulled her close and ran a tingling course across her neck, and found a spot to kiss that sent fireworks throughout her belly. He kissed harder and she thought she might cry out. She pressed deeper onto him with a slow shimmy, while she lifted his hospital gown and ran her fingers over the crinkly curls of his chest. God, he felt good.
Stomach to stomach, her hand s
lipped down his ribs to his waist and finally to embrace his length, and savor the tight and smooth skin, hard and ready.
Driven with desire, she said, “I want you,” though she was shocked to hear herself say it.
In a flash his hands were at her zipper, pulling her slacks down over her hips. He’d gotten them just low enough to where the tip of him found her wet flesh. She pressed against him, overcome with excitement, unable to wait another second to feel him inside her.
She rose to her knees to help remove the rest of her slacks when a rap on the front door brought her to her senses.
Oh, my God. What was she doing? The night nurse was here!
*
On Saturday morning Mallory blushed at the thought of seeing JT again. He’d given her the sexiest smile she’d ever seen when she’d left the night before. And after all they’d done, and had almost done, how could she face him? Maybe she should give up the job. But she needed the money. It was just all too confusing.
She brushed her hair with hard strokes and pulled it so firmly back into a ponytail that her eyes slanted upward. She wrapped the hair around and around into a tight little bun. Next she put on her most unbecoming nursing uniform and thick white support hose, even though it was summer. She topped things off with a drab beige sweater. Nothing, absolutely nothing would be exposed.
Off to work she’d go, business before pleasure, completely doubtful of her resolve.
When she arrived, JT had done just the opposite. He’d had the night nurse help him clean up; he’d shaved but left a sexy-as-hell Zen patch beneath his lower lip. He’d put on a summery Hawaiian shirt instead of the hospital gown. There was fire in his deep blue eyes when she walked in. She couldn’t survive the day under that heat.
“Good morning, Carlos. Dr. Prescott.” She nodded without making eye contact. “I’m back on duty,” she said with a prudish smile. “On duty, got that?”
She flitted around the room, opening curtains, straightening books on tabletops, odds and ends on bookcases, adjusting pictures on walls.
Not betraying an ounce of disappointment, JT shook hands with Carlos, bade him goodday and waited for Mallory to face him.
“OK. I get it. You can relax now.” He sat taller in bed and crossed his arms. “Put me in the chair. I want to visit my real piano.”
“Let me take your vital signs first.”
Relieved to have a purpose, and hoping she wouldn’t crack under JT’s alluring spell, Mallory brought him upright and performed the three-step pivot dance until he’d settled into the wheelchair. Though the feel of his body so close to hers was torture, today the move had gone even more easily. Was it possible to recover so quickly from GBS after such a long plateau? Soon he wouldn’t need her or anyone to care for him.
“I’ll change the linen and get your meds ready while you’re in the living room.”
“Fine.”
Though wanting to explain her confusion to him, she chewed her lower lip and rolled him out the door in silence. He sat straight and stared ahead.
She pushed the piano bench aside and rolled him up to the keys, then dutifully lifted the lid and set up the support.
“Can I get you anything before I go?”
One hand fingered a couple of keys. He stared in reserved concentration.
Taking his reticence as a no, she turned to leave.
“The woman I held in my arms last night,” he said softly as she walked away.
Her crêpe sole tangled on the throw rug but she caught herself and faced him.
A nervous hand ran over her hair. “Look, JT, I’m totally confused about how to behave around you. I’m here to work today. We can’t maintain the sort of relationship we had last night when I’m on duty. It’s not acceptable to me.”
“I understand. Just admit that you feel something for me. I want to hear it.” He stared so deeply into her eyes she thought she might lose her balance.
“I can’t go to sleep at night without seeing your face. I think about you all week at work. You jump into my mind at the oddest times. I’ve lost any hope of hiding it, or resisting you. What more do you need to know?”
“That you take me seriously when I tell you I want you in my life.”
This was too much to face on a Saturday morning. She had eleven hours more to face JT. He’d just dropped a bombshell, which under other circumstances would have had her dancing in the street. But she was at work, and it was of utmost importance to maintain a professional attitude. And she was so confused. Could she trust that he wouldn’t lose interest in her once she’d given in and let herself feel everything brewing in her heart for him?
“I do, JT. It’s just now isn’t the time to talk about it.”
With that, she turned and left the room.
Mallory worked furiously to distract herself. She prepared his morning medicine and changed the bedlinen. She couldn’t help stopping from time to time to sway with the beauty of the sonata coming from the living room. She fantasized about a lifetime of hearing him play the piano—a lifetime with him. Dared she dream such a thing?
When she came to his pillow, she pulled off the case and a photo fell out—the one of her with her blouse off her shoulder, trying to look sexy but falling far short. The gesture of him keeping her photograph under his pillow cracked her hard resolve and she smiled for the first time that morning. She did mean something to him, though she had yet to sort it all out. She placed the photo on the bedside table and finished her job. She wanted JT back in bed before Dr. Berger arrived for his daily visit. She’d tell him all about her fears and worries then.
She’d just finished fluffing the pillow and smoothing the bedspread when she heard a crash from the other room. She ran out the door and into the living room to find JT sitting on the floor, his hand covering his eye. She rushed to his side.
“Are you all right?”
“Dammit!” he said. “I shouldn’t have tried to stand on my own, but I wanted to get some other music.”
“Let me have a look.” She eased his hand away and saw blood oozing from his brow. She knew that heads and brows bled more easily than other parts of the body, but this looked bad. He must have caught it on the corner of the table on his way down to the floor.
“Stay right there, and press on it,” she said. “I’m going to get something to clean it with. You may need a stitch or two.”
Mallory lunged for the supplies while drops of blood stained his shirt. She flew back into the hallway just as Dr. Berger arrived.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Dr. Prescott has fallen. I’m going to clean him up.”
He followed hot on her heels. “What the hell is he doing out here? Was he left alone?”
JT spoke up. “I made the decision to stand on my own, and I fell. That’s all there is to it.”
Dr. Berger squinted and tossed Mallory an incredulous look. “You left him alone?”
“Look, I’m not an invalid without a brain. She had nothing to do with my stupidity.”
Ignoring the doctor to tend to her patient, Mallory dropped to her knees and pressed gauze to his brow. “Wipe your hands on this.” She gave him a damp washcloth. “Does it hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“He wanted to play the piano, so I went back to change his bedlinen. I’m so sorry this happened.”
“Get the wheelchair,” Dr. Berger commanded, placing his medical bag on the couch. “And where did he get a wheelchair? I haven’t ordered one. Once again, I’m astounded by your poor judgement, Nurse Glenn. You consistently overstep your bounds.”
“Knock it off, Wayne. I already told you this was my decision. Now, either shut up or get out.”
Strained silence followed as they all worked to put JT back into his chair. Once everything was in order, Mallory rolled him into his bedroom.
In the bright sunlight, after washing his hands, Dr. Berger examined JT’s eye. “I think a stitch and a couple of butterfly bandages should do it. Nurse Glenn,
clean this area with Betadine.” He fished through his bag and found what he needed while she did as she was told. When he’d finished his job, he said, “Let’s get him back to bed.”
Mallory rolled the wheelchair to the bedside and locked the brakes. She noticed the picture of herself on the table and thought quickly about slipping it into her pocket as soon as JT was back in bed. “OK, just the way we’ve practiced before, Dr. Prescott. On the count of three.”
JT stood and Wayne Berger watched without offering a hand. Mallory danced him around and sat him on the edge of the bed. Her mind couldn’t help remembering what had happened the last time they’d attempted this maneuver together. A hot flush snaked up her neck. JT worked the muscle in his jaw, but kept silent. Was he recalling their near sex, too?
Mallory stepped back to remove the wheelchair and pick up the picture, but it was too late. She’d caught Dr. Berger’s gaze firmly on the photo. He lifted his eyes with a slow accusatory glare. Oh, how she wanted to bust him and his little fling, too. But she was the underdog here, and until she figured out how JT felt about his ex-wife, she’d keep her mouth shut.
“Is there something going on here?” Dr. Berger asked.
JT lifted a brow and glanced at the photo in Mallory’s hand halfway from table to pocket.
“I got bored. I took some pictures. That’s all.”
“Since when does your nurse dress like that to come to work?”
“She came on her day off, at my invitation. Whatever we do on our own time is none of your business.”
Dr. Berger gave Mallory a cold glance, judgement glinting in his eyes. “This is highly unethical, Ms. Glenn. If you insist on seducing your patients, you have no place in home health, or the hospital for that matter.”
“Back off, Wayne. Mallory is an excellent nurse and a boon to Mercy Hospital. We need more nurses like her.”
The rest of the examination took place in cool silence and thick tension. Mallory left the room to get a drink of water and regroup. She’d have to be very careful with her personal time and involvement in JT’s life from now on if she wanted to keep her job. And after today, because she needed the money, she promised to keep things strictly businesslike. But how was she supposed to do that when she had the rest of the day and several hours’ worth of physical therapy exercises to take him through?
In His Angel's Arms Page 8
