“Are you trying to sell her to me?”
Katie sighed. He didn’t deserve to spend his life alone. If he wasn’t going to take matters into his own hands, then she was going to help him. “It’s not that. I thought most guys your age were married by now. I’d hate to see you grow old and spend the rest of your life alone.”
“Thanks for your vote of confidence. I think I can find my own dates.” He gritted his teeth.
Katie laid her hand gently on his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just concerned. You’re a wonderful man and a great friend. You deserve to be happy.”
If they hadn’t arrived at her place just then, he would have pursued the subject further. Why couldn’t she see that he was happy? Only one thing could make him happier and it wasn’t dating Trina, or whatever her name was. “I’m going to go home and shower. I’ll be back to help you study in an hour.”
Katie sighed. “All right.”
* * *
Less than an hour later, Wade stood on Katie’s front porch, showered and refreshed. He steadied the pizza box in one hand as he rang her doorbell with the other.
Katie answered the door in a pair of gray sweats and a University of Missouri T-shirt. Damp blonde strands of hair lightly soaked the shoulders of her shirt. “I see you took a shower, too.”
“Yeah, thought I’d get comfortable. What’s this? Mm. It smells delicious. You didn’t have to bring dinner, but thanks.” Katie grinned, retrieved the box from his outstretched hand and headed for the kitchen. “Ooh, sausage. My favorite. You really shouldn’t have. You keep bringing me food every time you come over to help me and I’m going to gain five pounds.”
“You can afford it,” Wade replied, as he eyed her slim figure. It took an effort to raise his eyes to her face as she turned and gave him an indignant look.
“I can’t afford to gain weight and you can’t afford to keep spoiling me.”
He chuckled. “You could always cook for me instead.”
Katie blushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about your being hungry. But see, this goes to show you, you could use a wife.”
He didn’t dispute that, but he didn’t like where he thought this conversation might be headed again. If only she had eyes for him. However, fear of pushing her away kept him quiet. He had to be patient.
Lord, help her to have eyes for me and if not…help me to learn how to deal with it.
“You make a great lasagna. I think I could stomach your cooking again,” he teased. Apparently it helped to distract her because she grabbed a dishtowel and flung it at him.
“Humph. Stomach my cooking? See if I cook for you again." Katie grabbed them both a plate from the cabinet. "We’d better get busy. I can’t afford to fail Anatomy.”
They both filled their plates. Wade followed Katie into the living room, each taking a seat on opposite ends of her faded blue and white plaid couch. Hand-made crafts adorned beige walls. Behind them, hung a wooden plaque with two cows cramped together on a swing. ‘Moo-ve Over’. He smiled to himself. It never failed, every time he came close to the couch he couldn’t help reading it. He thought of sitting closer to her. After all, he'd be taking the cow's advice. But as usual, he resisted the temptation.
Across the room hung a wooden shelf occupied with a ceramic cow he’d given her for Christmas. Its leg and tail hung lazily over the side of the shelf. After Katie inherited her grandmother’s home, she had decorated it with touches of country charm. He didn’t mind all the craft sales she’d dragged him to, it had always given him ideas of what she liked and what he could buy her to make her smile and hug his neck. Warmth filled him as he thought of her in his arms.
He felt comfortable here. It was more than the furnishings that made him feel at home. It was her. She filled the empty space in his heart and the lonely hours he would have spent doing nothing of great importance to kill time between work and bed. She made his life almost complete. The only thing that could make it better would be coming home to her, night after night.
It wasn’t the fear of her laughing at him if he confessed his undying love. He feared he’d lose her friendship. It had been at least a year ago that she told him she couldn’t afford to entertain the thought of dating anyone. School was too important to her and she had no intentions of becoming entangled with any man and putting aside her goals for a family. A degree first, then there would be time for a husband and a family. With that proclamation, he’d decided to wait. Patiently if possible.
An hour rapidly turned into two as they delved into Katie’s textbook and notes. Yawning, she stretched in order to relieve her aching muscles before she continued. “Let’s see, the infraorbital canal is mounted on a septum that partly divides the cavity into something or other.”
Wade’s brows rose in amusement. “Divides the cavity into something or other? You mean, like into a rostral maxillary sinus laterally, and a ventral conchal sinus medially?”
Katie laughed. “Yeah, that something. Why can’t it be something simple like the head bones connected to the neck bone?”
As Katie broke into song, he couldn’t resist tracing his fingers down the trail of her back, from head bone, to neck bone, to her spine. She shivered and giggled in response to his caress. Without warning, she reached over and began to tickle him. Not that he was ticklish; he jumped because her touch gave him a heady feeling. There was only one anatomy he wanted to study. Hers.
The flowery cologne she wore had to be exotic because it was driving him wild. He grabbed her around the waist and held her to him in hopes of stopping her tantalizing assault. Finally her body stilled in his arms, their gazes locked momentarily before his traveled down to rest on a pair of sensuous ruby-red lips. She laughed and he watched as her mouth parted, almost inviting him to investigate intimately. He was so fascinated with his conquest, he barely heard her holler.
“Uncle. Uncle.” She laughed and pressed her hands against his chest.
“Uncle?” Wade snapped back into reality, confused as to why she would call him uncle.
“I give. Uncle. You win.” She pushed herself to a standing position, laughing merrily as if they were kids wrestling together.
Would she ever see him as more than a big brother figure? Or a friend? Would she ever want to get to know him as a man? A man whose sole desire was to see her happy. He loved to see her eyes sparkle when she laughed or sobered when she turned serious. If she had eyes for him.
“It’s getting late. I think we should call it a night.” Wade stood and headed for the door, not dwelling on the look of surprise that registered on her face.
“I’m sorry. I’ve kept you late enough helping me." Katie held the screen door open "Thank you. I’d never get through half my classes without your help. Are you picking me up in the morning?” She waited for his response.
Not even bothering to turn around, he called over his shoulder, “I’ll be here.”
He didn't let Katie hear his whispered, “As always.”
Accidental Meeting Page 8
