by Marie Force
“It’s a fifty-fifty shot, sweetheart, and I’m betting on you.”
She looked up at him, so handsome and so sincere. His strong, steady presence made her believe anything was possible—even the impossible. Ali was right and so was Nathan. The fear was debilitating, and in Georgie’s case, paralyzing. Since wishing it away hadn’t worked, it was time to take action. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Okay.”
His face lit up with surprise. “Yeah? Really?”
She nodded.
He swept her right off her feet and into his arms. “No matter what, Georgie, no matter what, I’ll be right there with you. I promise.”
Closing her eyes tight against the rush of emotion, she held him for a long time until he finally put her back down.
“How do you feel?” he asked as he caressed her face.
“Relieved to have made a decision. Don’t let me back out, okay?”
“No way.” He leaned in to kiss her.
Georgie held on to him for a long time, absorbing the comfort he offered so willingly.
“Hey, did you happen to talk to Tess this morning?” he asked.
“No, I didn’t see her. Why?”
“I guess she and Ben are going to Pittsburgh on Thursday so he can visit the family of the guy he was with when he got hurt. Greg died, and Ben’s had a lot of trouble accepting that. Apparently, Tess encouraged him to see Greg’s family, thinking it might help him.”
“She’s such a good person,” Georgie said. “After everything she went through—” She stopped herself, horrified by what she had almost said.
“What did she go through, Georgie? It drives me crazy that you won’t tell me, especially now that my fragile brother is all wrapped up in her.”
“I can’t. I promised her.”
“All this secrecy makes me want to go into detective mode in the worst way.”
“Don’t,” Georgie said. “Please just leave it alone. Please.”
“I’m getting a bad vibe on this, and my vibes are almost never wrong. But I’ll let it go—for now.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “How about a cup of coffee?”
“Do you have time for that?”
“I took a couple of hours off so I could come check on you.”
She reached up to caress his face. “I’m glad you did.”
After an emotional two-hour visit with Greg’s family and his longtime girlfriend, Tess backed the rental car out of their driveway. She had so much she wanted to say to Ben, so many feelings ricocheting through her. She could only imagine what he must be going through after reliving the worst day of his life.
Glancing over at him, she saw that he was gripping his cane and staring out the window. “Are you okay, Ben?”
“You were right to encourage me to do that. They were so grateful to know he’d been talking about them just before it happened.”
“I know it wasn’t easy for you, but you did a wonderful thing for them.”
“As sorry as I am for his parents and his sisters, I feel worse for Kristy. I mean, we’ve been together a week, and I already know I couldn’t live without you. They were together for years, planning a wedding. How do you go forward without that person?”
“I can’t imagine.” Tess reached for his hand. As his fingers curled around hers, she was flooded with gratitude that he hadn’t been killed that day in Iraq. Just the thought of how close he had come was enough to reduce her to tears.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head.
He reached out to brush the tears off her cheek. “Pull over, hon.”
“I’m okay.”
“Pull over,” he insisted.
Bringing the car to a stop on the residential road, she wiped her face. “I’m sorry.”
“What is it?”
“I was just thinking how close I came to never having the chance to know you at all. You could’ve died that day, too, Ben. And if that had happened, I would’ve had to live my whole life without ever knowing you were out there somewhere, without knowing it was possible to love someone this much.”
He leaned over to embrace her. “I was so pissed at Nate for dragging me to a dance at a senior center. Who knew I was going to meet the girl of my dreams there?”
She laughed through her tears. “Just when you least expect it.”
“There you were, surrounded by old men drooling over you, and nothing will ever be the same again.” He held her as tight as he could in the cramped car.
“I was proud of you today,” she said. “You were so good with them.”
“That’s nice to know. I was really nervous.”
“I couldn’t tell.” She kissed his cheek and brushed the dark hair off his forehead. He looked tired and drawn, signs his leg was bothering him. “Are you still mad at me about the wheelchairs?”
“Yes.”
She laughed at his quick answer. “It was like a mile to the gate. You would’ve used up a whole day’s worth of energy just getting through the airports.”
“It’s humiliating to be pushed through airports in wheelchairs. I spent months working my ass off to get free of those damned things.”
“Well, I’m not going to apologize for doing what was best for you, so you have to get over it.”
“There you go being bossy with me again,” he teased. “You’re going to have to work on that when we’re married. I can’t be nagged nonstop this way.”
His use of the word “married” stopped her heart. The shock must have shown on her face.
“Too much too soon?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Nothing. Do you have the directions to the hotel?”
Their hotel room overlooked the Monongahela River.
“This is beautiful, Ben.”
He hobbled over to the window to check out a barge sliding through the glassy water. “Greg’s mother told me this was one of the nicest hotels in Pittsburgh.”
“I hope you didn’t go to all this expense for me.”
“Who else would I do it for?” he asked, amused.
“I don’t need fancy hotels. That’s not me.”
“Which is why it was fun to do it.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “You should rest for a bit. I can tell you’re in pain.”
“How do you know?”
“You wear it on your face.”
“Should I be worried that you can read me so easily?”
“Very.”
“Will you come with me?”
“Twist my arm.” She reached for the hem of his navy blue polo shirt and lifted it over his head. When she started on the button to his khakis, he stopped her.
She looked up to find his face tight with tension. “What?”
“I’m okay with them on.”
“All right.” She pulled down the comforter and blanket. “Which side do you want?”
“I don’t care.”
As they stretched out on the bed together, Tess wondered how to eventually broach the subject of making love with him. Just being around him made her burn with a kind of desire she had never felt before. But if he didn’t feel the same way, that was going to be a problem, not to mention a terrible disappointment. After what she had been through with her ex-husband, she wasn’t going to settle for anything less than everything ever again.
Ben laced his fingers through hers, brought their joined hands to his chest, and was asleep within minutes.
Over the next hour, Tess wondered how he could possibly sleep when they were alone together in an elegant hotel room. Somehow she had to move this whole thing forward. But how? What if there was a medical reason he couldn’t have sex, and he was afraid to share that with her? He knew she was a nurse, so why would he think she wouldn’t understand? She hated the idea of embarrassing him, but she wanted him, and after her disastrous marriage, she was desperate to know what it was like to really make love.
Her heart ached when she remembered the last time she’d had sex. Kurt had forced himself on her, and when she resisted, he punched her in the ribs, breaking two of them. She shuddered at the horrible memory. But this wasn’t the time for such thoughts, not when the man she loved was right here next to her. This was the time for action.
Raising herself up on one elbow, she watched him sleep for several more minutes before she leaned over to press soft kisses to his belly.
He tensed, squeezed her hand, and then settled back into sleep.
No way, mister! She added her tongue to the mix, dragging it in lazy circles through the thatch of hair that trailed off into his pants. Even though his breathing stayed steady, she was fascinated to watch him become aroused. Do I dare? She bit her lip as she studied his adorable face. Yes, I do. Moving very carefully, she unbuttoned his pants, slid the zipper down, and reached in to wrap her hand around him.
While Tess held her breath and hoped her heart wouldn’t leap right out of her throat, he only sighed in his sleep. Was he for real? This was clearly going to require radical action. She moved closer and took him into her mouth.
He awoke with a start. “Tess. Jesus Christ, what’re you doing?”
That he sounded mad didn’t deter her. She moved her tongue over the sensitive head, and he sucked in a sharp deep breath. It was all she could do not to smile when she realized she had him. Pushing at his clothes to gain better access, she moved her hand in time with her mouth, drawing him in and then backing off slowly.
She ventured a glance up at him and found him watching her intently, his eyes narrowed with desire and something else. What was that? Later, she thought. I’ll worry about that later. Keeping up the steady pressure of her mouth and hand, she put everything else out of her mind and focused only on bringing him as much pleasure as she could.
“Tess,” he said through gritted teeth.
She felt the change in his breathing, knew he was close, and redoubled her efforts.
With his fingers in her hair, he tried to warn her, but she didn’t back off. He came with a restrained groan that was more reluctant than rapturous. When she tried to move up to kiss his belly, he turned away from her.
Stunned and frightened, she stared at his back.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he finally said.
“Why not?” she cried. “I love you! I want to make love with you.”
“I can’t.”
“Of course you can. You just did.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what, Ben? Is it me? Do you not want me?”
“No, honey,” he said with an ironic chuckle. “That’s not it. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything.” He shifted onto his back and reached for her.
Resting her head on his chest, she studied him. “Then tell me what’s wrong. I want to understand. Is it your leg?”
“Yes.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Always.”
“We can work around it. I’m not going to hurt you, Ben.”
“I know.” His cheek pulsed with tension. “It’s just that it’s . . .”
And right in that moment she finally got it. “You don’t want me to see it, do you?” She realized she had never seen him in anything other than long pants, even on the hottest of days.
“It’s horrible, Tess.” His eyes filled. “Totally disgusting.”
“And you think that matters to me?”
“It matters to me.”
She sat up.
“Where’re you going?”
“Right here.” She raised her skirt, turned her leg, and showed him her scars. “Do you think I’m proud of these?”
He lifted himself up for a closer look. “How the hell did that happen?”
“I got burned.”
“By what?”
“A cigar.”
His head whipped up, his eyes met hers, and what she saw there told her everything she would ever need to know about him.
“Someone did this to you.”
“Yes.”
He shook his head, and when tears filled his eyes, he covered his face with his hand. “I can’t hear this. The thought of someone hurting you on purpose . . .”
“I didn’t tell you to upset you, and it’s the last thing in the world I want to talk about right now.” She took him by the shoulders, pressed him down on the bed, and straddled him while being careful to steer clear of his injured leg. “I have scars, too, Ben. Yours won’t make me love you any less. Nothing could. Do mine make you love me less?”
“No,” he said emphatically. “They make me want to kill someone.”
She smiled. “How about you use that energy more productively?”
His hands found her hips and then moved up her back to bring her down for a kiss. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips. “I never dreamed in a million years that I would find you.”
“Well, now that you have, whatever will you do with me?” she asked with a teasing smile.
“Everything—as long as you promise not to look.”
“I won’t look. We’ll need condoms. A lot of them.”
“Am I going to survive this?” he joked.
She laughed and kissed him with all the joy and love she felt in that moment.
“Nate stuck a box in my bag as I was leaving.”
“I knew I loved him.”
“He’s such a dad. I swear to God. He drives me nuts.”
“Except that he saved us the trouble of having to go buy them right now.”
“That’s true. Maybe he’s not so bad after all.”
“Mmm,” Tess agreed as she kissed her way down the front of him. Keeping her promise not to look, she removed his pants and quickly covered his injured leg with the sheet.
The relief on his face was palpable, as she had known it would be when she eliminated his worries from the equation. As she lifted her dress up and over her head, she didn’t want him thinking of anything but her.
“Come here,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion and desire.
She stretched out on top of him.
He hooked an arm around her neck to bring her in for a sizzling kiss while using his other hand to unhook her bra.
“Very impressive,” she whispered as he moved her up so he could reach her breasts. “And you thought you’d lost your moves.”
“It took finding you to get them back,” he said, drawing her nipple into his mouth while brushing his thumb over her other breast.
Tess looked down to find him gazing up at her. “Where’d you say those condoms are?”
He directed her to a zipped pocket in his bag. When she returned to the bed, she shimmied out of her panties and rolled a condom on him.
Being careful not to go anywhere near his injured leg, she straddled him and took him in slowly.
He sighed as his fingers caressed her thighs and came to rest on the series of circular scars.
Tess rolled her hips to take him deeper and looked down to find him watching her with eyes full of love. “Good?” she asked.
“So good. You?”
“Mmm,” she said with a smile. “Anything hurt?”
He shook his head, reached for her hands, and held on tight as she began to move faster. “Tess, honey, what do you need?”
“Only this.”
Using his good leg for leverage, he moved with her and drove her up so fast, she had no time to prepare for the powerful orgasm that crashed through her. With his hands on her hips, he anchored her, surged into her one last time, and went with her.
Chapter 28
Cat scrubbed at the dingy brass rail that ran the length of the bar and tried to remember the last time she’d had someone clean the damned thing. With sweat rolling down her face, she used all the elbow grease she could muster to attack the black patches on the once-shiny railing. Music pounded through the club’s sound system, which along with the hard work, was supposed to be keeping her from further obsessing about Ian. Her
plan was failing miserably.
She hadn’t seen or talked to him in three days—three long days. From Nathan she had heard that Rosie was still sick with some sort of bug that seemed to be lingering. He must be so worried about her. Otherwise, he would’ve at least called by now, right? Guys like him fight for what they want, don’t they? He said he wanted me. I guess not enough to fight for me. You’re so pathetic, Cat. Since when do you care if a guy likes you enough? Since I met Ian Caldwell.
With a moan of frustration, she rested her head on the bar, hating herself for the moan, the frustration, all of it. Cat Kelly was not a woman who cried over men. Cat Kelly was a woman who scorned other women who cried over men. Just the fact that she was about to weep—again—over him should have been enough to make her hate him. But she didn’t.
No, she didn’t hate him. She missed him and his big broad shoulders, those blue eyes and that smile. And she missed feeling, well, like a girl when she was around him—not that she would ever admit that to anyone, even under the threat of torture. She missed him so much she was sick from it. You haven’t known him long enough to miss him that much. Yes, I have, the other side of her brain answered defiantly. I’ve known him long enough. Just long enough to know he’s worth missing like crazy.
Trying and failing for the hundredth time to forget about the sign she had seen in front of The Landing, advertising his appearance there that afternoon, she wondered if he had managed to keep the gig or if he’d had to cancel to stay home with Rosie. There’s one way to find out. No. You are not going there to stalk him. That goes beyond pathetic straight to downright desperate. You’re the one who walked away. He still has a kid. You still don’t want to be shackled with a kid. But if I could talk to him, if we reworked the boundaries of the sex-only relationship, then maybe we could still see each other once in a while without it getting all messy.
Rubbing the soft cloth over the brass with much less enthusiasm than she’d had a few minutes earlier, she let that idea run around in her mind for about ten seconds. “The hell with this.” She chucked the rag across the bar, grabbed her purse, and left without shutting off the music.
