by Dianne Drake
“After I teach you how to climb a rock.”
Nuzzling into her hair, he noted the faint trace of strawberry shampoo. It was a nice, sensual smell. “Give me a few minutes on the wall, and I’ll bet I’ll beat you up the next time.”
Zoey laughed. “That competitive, are you?”
“Either competitive or foolish.”
“So, do you want to make an actual wager on that?”
“Sure. One more date. If I win, you have to go. If you win, the decision to go or not is up to you.”
“If I go, I get to choose the place.”
“Agreed. And if I lose, I get to challenge you one more time to try and win that date.”
“But if you lose, my choice might be to have that date anyway.”
“Then it’s a win-win for me. I get one, maybe even two dates with you, no matter how it turns out.” That was the kind of wager he liked.
“But, if you win the second time, can I re-challenge you?”
“That could mean a third date, you know.”
“I think I can live with that.”
Sighing, Daniel tilted his head back on the park bench and looked up at the dark sky above, feeling so mellow he wanted to melt into the night. This was turning into such a lovely evening that he didn’t want it to be over with. “For a first real date, this was...nice,” he said. “I’m glad that we both fought our demons to get us here.”
“Big demons,” she said.
“But I think they’re shrinking.”
“I hope so, Daniel. I really hope so.”
“Are you up for a walk down to the docks? I like to watch the late-night fishermen go out.” Dreading that he would lose the sensual feel of her pressed to his body, yet wanting so badly to walk with her hand in hand along the pier—a romantic image he couldn’t get out of his head—he shifted slightly more in to Zoey. “They bring their haul in early in the morning and turn it over to the mongers to sell. I’ve been tempted to come down here some morning and buy something, but Maddie hates fish, so it would be a waste of time and money.”
“I love fresh fish,” Zoey said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “And I love late-night walks along the pier. Not that I’ve ever done that before, because I haven’t. But I’m sure...”
He silenced her with his finger to her lips. And smiled. “I’m sure, too,” he whispered, bending forward to kiss her.
Daniel’s touch was light at first. No probing, no pressing, no urgency. Just simply his lips to hers, heads tilted, mouths open. Blending to each other perfectly as he pulled her even closer.
Zoey yielded her mouth to his kiss, loving the way his tongue lightly tickled her lower lip. The feel of him was almost decadent, and in that sensation lay buried a world of deepness, of sensuality, she’d never before imagined. As she tickled his lip with her tongue, it was all she could do to keep herself reined in. But they stayed light for a time, existing in a place where exploration was so near, yet so far away.
“We’re pretty good at this,” she whispered, pulling slightly back from him. Wondering, for an instant, if he was conflicted at all by what he was doing.
His eyes sought hers in a deep, abiding gaze. Then he smiled. “Very good.”
Those were the only words she needed to hear as she pushed herself back into him and pressed her mouth hard to his.
Daniel parted her willing lips with his tongue and delved inside, meeting her probing tongue on its journey to him. Moaning, he pressed even harder until there was no separation between them. They were breathing the same breath, their hearts beating in perfect synchronization.
For Zoey, every kiss that had come before Daniel was now gone. Vanished. Forgotten.
* * *
Their moment ended when a foghorn from a distant lighthouse sounded its warning. Daniel was the first to pull away from it, regretting that they had to be separated. But they did. At least, he did, as his feelings were about to explode. He was falling in love with her, pure and simple. It wasn’t something he’d expected would happen so soon. Wasn’t something he’d necessarily wanted to happen. But there he was, sitting on the pier, holding the most glorious woman in his arms and not sure what to do about it other than defer the moment. Defer the emotions until he could figure out what to do with them. Defer his happiness. “Maybe some morning, instead of a walk, we could come down here and do a little shopping for something to cook after work.”
Zoey snapped her eyes wide open and looked puzzled over this sudden change in direction. But she regained herself quickly. “Right. Our morning walk. Um...do the mongers here sell to the individual public, or do the fish go mostly to restaurants and markets?” She reached up and brushed her finger to her lips.
Even her slightest gesture was sensual. Everything about Zoey Evans was sensual which made him suddenly feel out of step again. Damn it, he wanted that to go away. Didn’t want it always coming back to plague him. Not now. Not ever again. “The restaurants and markets get their pick, but there are a few stalls that open up to the public.”
Zoey cleared her throat and sat up straight, her body language a clear indication that their intimacy had ended. “You know, I think I’ll take a rain check on that walk. It’s late, and I have some reading to do before I go to bed. So I’d better be getting home to get things sorted so I’ll be up to beating you on the wall in the morning.”
Well, he’d gone and blown that one, hadn’t he? What the hell was wrong with him, anyway?
Zoey scooted away from him and broke their embrace, but she did reach back over and took hold of his hand. “Dinner was lovely. The whole evening was lovely.”
There it was. The official you turned me off verbiage. Zoey was clearly done with their evening, and there was nothing he could do to change that except kick himself.
“I really messed it up, didn’t I?” Of course, she wouldn’t tell him that he had. She was too kind to do that.
“Let’s just say that the evening went as far as it could go, and leave it at that, OK?” She stood up and waited for him to do the same. “And don’t blame yourself for anything because, for your first time really getting out there, I think you did quite well.”
“You don’t have to soft-pedal me, Zoey. I know exactly how well I did.” He knew exactly how he’d turned a pleasant evening into a disaster, and this time there were no doubts about anything. What he wanted and what he could have weren’t necessarily the same thing. Damn it, anyway!
* * *
“Wow,” Maddie said, looking up at her daddy. She took a step backward and reached for Zoey’s hand. “What’s he doing up there?”
“Trying to get to the top.”
“Why?” Maddie asked.
“To see what’s up there.”
“Why?” the child asked again.
“Because he doesn’t know and he wants to find out.”
“Why?” she asked for a third time.
“Because he’s never been all the way to the top before.” Maddie had been a little chatterbox ever since Daniel had strapped on the ropes, and Zoey was surprised by how un-shy she was. The Maddie she’d known a year ago, while she hadn’t had a mastery of much language yet, had always clung to her mother’s bedside, hiding her face. And the Maddie she’d encountered recently with Daniel had been very stubborn. But this child...she was totally outgoing. Happy. Inquisitive. A real delight. “He’s waving to you, Maddie. So wave back.”
Maddie hoisted her little arm above her head and gave her daddy a hearty wave. “What can Daddy see?” she asked Zoey.
“Right now he can see you.” Zoey wanted to be enthused, but it was difficult, considering the way their night out had ended. She’d paced the floor an hour after Daniel had dropped her off, then tossed and turned in her bed for another hour before she’d finally dropped off into a fitful sleep. Things had been going so
nicely, then all of a sudden he’d pulled back. She had to wonder if it was his guilt doing that, or if he was deciding it was easier to not get involved. Either way, it had her worried. “And he’s still waving. See?”
“He has to come down now,” Maddie said in all seriousness. “Because I want to climb.”
Zoey had shown Maddie the child’s climbing wall when Daniel was gearing up, and Maddie had wanted to climb it then and there. She was a lot like Daniel, in that respect. Adventurous. Outgoing. He was doing a good job with her, and it showed. “He’ll be down in a minute.”
“Then I’m going to climb!” the child said emphatically.
Zoey had her phone camera ready to take pictures, the way she’d taken pictures of Daniel getting ready to climb, then climbing, and now was snapping picture of his descent. He’d surprised her with his ability. For someone who’d never scaled a wall before, he’d done a good job of it. Much better than she’d expected. And, yes, on their second attempt, he’d beat her to the top, which meant he had a date coming. If he wanted another date. After last night, she wasn’t sure.
“That was fun,” he said, not in the least winded as he unfastened his helmet strap once he was back on the ground. “Looks like I get another date!” Before Zoey could respond to that, he tousled his daughter’s hair and asked, “You ready to climb, Maddie?”
“Not that one, Daddy.” She pointed at the child’s wall. “That one.”
“I told her it was just her size.”
Daniel handed his helmet and harnesses back to the attendant then took hold of Maddie’s other hand—the one Zoey wasn’t still holding on to. It was an intimate little snapshot—one, Zoey believed, that would make them look like the perfect family to anyone who was looking on. Stupid snapshot, she thought. Especially since two of the people in it didn’t know what they wanted.
“Can I climb it, too?” he asked Maddie.
“No, silly! You’re too big.” She giggled as she pulled away from Daniel and Zoey and ran toward the wall.
“I think she likes this,” Daniel said, looking over the tops of other children’s heads to keep an eye on his daughter.
“Will you do this again with her?”
“With you, too, I hope.”
“Are you sure, Daniel? Because after last night...”
“Remember when you said we were fighting some big demons, and I said they were shrinking?”
Zoey nodded.
“Well, it seems like mine aren’t shrinking as much as I thought they were. I’m sorry about last night, Zoey. Look at the bags under my eyes and that will tell you how much I didn’t sleep, because I was so upset.”
“I lost some sleep, too,” she admitted.
“Can you be patient with me? I know where I’m wrong, and I’m trying to fix it, but it’s not happening as easily as I thought it would.”
“You mean getting over Elizabeth?”
“Not getting over her. But getting on without her. Moving in a new direction, taking on a new life.”
“Keep in mind that I’m taking on a new life here, too, Daniel. And sure, it’s more difficult for you than it is for me, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that I’m struggling along with you.”
Daniel reached over and took her hand. “I know,” he said. “I really do know.”
She knew, too. But what she didn’t know was if they’d make it through. Daniel had already had his perfectly suited wife, and Maddie was a testament to their happiness. It was beautiful to watch, though, and beautiful to dream that she could find her place there. But could she really? Or would Daniel, at some point, draw his line and keep her on the other side of it?
“Are you going all the way to the top?” she asked Maddie, trying to take her mind off the hopelessness overtaking her.
Daniel turned and winked at Zoey. “Not only is she going all the way to the top, she’s going to do it faster than Daddy did.”
Maddie tugged Daniel toward the wall whilst Zoey stood back and aimed her camera, ready to shoot multiple pictures of them. “Look at me and smile,” she called out when Maddie was finally standing face-first to the gray, rock-shaped wall, ready to start climbing.
Both father and daughter smiled for the camera, but only for a second, as Maddie had already grasped her first hand-hold. Then the second. Then her feet were off the ground. Naturally, Daniel was there to support her, keeping his hand firmly in the square of her back.
“Good job, Maddie!” Zoey called out as the child reached the halfway point. Of course, she clicked off a picture of that milestone. Then another when Maddie reached the top and threw her hands into the air in celebration.
As her hands went up, Maddie started to lurch backward, but Daniel had a firm hold on her and kept her upright and in place. So after Maddie waved to Zoey, then had a good look down at the ground, she started her descent. A little too quickly, probably, as Daniel had to take over guiding her to the floor. None of that mattered to Maddie, though. She’d made her conquest and her victory was written all over her face.
“That was amazing!” Zoey said when Maddie ran over to her once Daniel had removed her climbing gear.
“I was faster than Daddy!” the child exclaimed, taking hold of Zoey’s hand. “Can I do it again?”
“Next time, sweetheart,” Daniel said.
“When?”
“Next Saturday, if I’m not called into work.”
“Can Zoey come, too?”
Daniel raised amused eyebrows at Zoey. “Can you come, too?” he asked, smiling. “And before you answer, let me just state that my daughter doesn’t make these kinds of requests lightly. She likes to keep me to herself when she has the chance.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t interfere.” Even though the prospect of another climb with Daniel felt promising.
“Actually, I kind of liked showing off for the fair lady.”
“You mean showing up the fair lady?”
“Did I hurt your feelings?” Daniel asked. His dimples accentuated his bright eyes when he smiled.
“Just my pride.”
“Well, your pride can have another crack at me next week.”
“Somehow, I don’t think my pride stands a chance with you.” Nothing about her stood a chance where Daniel was concerned. And, yes, she would be patient for Daniel, because that was the only promise she had to hold on to.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ZOEY GLANCED AT the caller ID on her phone and her heart automatically skipped a beat. Daniel. “Didn’t I just leave you a couple of hours ago?” she asked, rather than answering with a cheery hello. They’d walked together earlier. They hadn’t said much. Mostly just walked. And she’d wondered why Daniel had seemed so preoccupied.
“So, sue me. I wanted to hear your voice.”
Her heart skipped yet another beat. “It hasn’t changed since this morning. And I’m reasonably sure this morning’s voice will be the same as tomorrow morning’s voice. So, what’s your real reason for calling?”
“I thought we might have dinner together tonight. Maddie’s going to spend the night with her grandmother, which means it will be only the two of us.”
“Then I’m your back-up plan when Maddie’s not there to keep you entertained?” They hadn’t been out, with or without Maddie, since that day on the rock-climbing wall a week ago, and she’d been beginning to wonder if he was ever going to ask her out again.
“Are you going to make this difficult on me?”
Zoey arched amused eyebrows, even though Daniel wasn’t there to gauge her expression. “I’m not going to make it any more difficult on you than you do on me.”
“How do I make it difficult on you?”
Something about the lack of intimacy on a phone put her off, so she didn’t tell him that the way they’d established their rela
tionship was frazzling her nerves. And she didn’t tell him that she needed a clearer idea of where they were going, or where he wanted to take this thing between them. No, she didn’t tell him any of that, even though he needed to know. “You interrupt me at work,” she said, rather than blurting out all her concerns.
“Everybody needs a distraction now and then.”
“What I need is to re-start an IV and get some new medicines hung.”
“So how about I pick you up around seven, and we can decide where we want to go then?”
“How about you come over around seven and we stay in tonight?” She had to have a serious talk with him before she got in any deeper, and it certainly would never happen in a public restaurant.
“Sounds good. Want me to bring something?”
“No, I’ll cook...well...I’ll try to cook.” Maybe she’d make a salad or some grilled cheese sandwiches. Certainly, he’d had better with Elizabeth, but she wasn’t Elizabeth, and she didn’t have any particular prowess in the kitchen. But Zoey wasn’t going to let that bother her. Wasn’t going to let anything about Elizabeth bother her tonight.
Daniel chuckled. “I guess I should say I’m looking forward to it.”
“You may change your mind when you eat my food,” she cautioned, already skipping ahead in her mind to tonight. Would they finally make a firm commitment to being together as a real couple, or would they leave it as it was, hopping and skipping over everything between them that could have real substance?
“I’ll bring wine,” he stated.
“Better make that two bottles. I may need to drink a lot.”
* * *
Daniel stuffed his cell phone back into his pocket and headed up to the fifth floor to check on a patient who’d been admitted to the hospital the day prior with non-specific abdominal pains. He’d already ruled out appendicitis and viral gastroenteritis, and now he was considering some kind of intestinal infection such as giardia, since the man had recently traveled to a remote jungle village in South America where the water probably wasn’t clean. So, stopping by the nurses’ station before he went to his patient’s room, he typed some test orders in his patient’s chart then looked up, effectively staring blankly at the wall for the next minute. Trying to think, unable to focus.
