by Janice Lynn
He spun toward her.
“To eat,” she clarified. “You’re exhausted, and it’s been a long day. Let’s just dine at one of the hotel restaurants so you don’t have to drive so far to get home.”
Not that she knew where home was for Daniel. She knew nothing about his life now, so how could she feel so strongly toward him?
Nothing about this man and her reaction to him made sense.
He shrugged. “Okay.”
He drove the car out of the garage and in the direction of her hotel. Heavy traffic clogged the streets, but Daniel turned onto a back street and bypassed the worst of it.
“Mr. Reed looked excited at the prospect of going home,” she said to fill the silence.
“Too bad his daughters didn’t look as excited.”
“They’re scared of being alone with him.”
“Taking care of an ill parent is a lot of work.”
Something about his tone made her wonder if he knew she’d cared for her mother those last few years. But how could he? He hadn’t even known she had a son and being a mother was who she was all about. If he’d ever checked on her he’d have known about Ryan.
He hadn’t.
“The nurse went over discharge care and a home-health nurse will visit him in the morning. He’ll do fine.”
She nodded and they began discussing another patient. Eventually the conversation led to the Clark family.
“Dr. Bourne couldn’t sing your praises enough on how you handled Aaron Clark.”
“He’s not out of the woods yet.” Daniel sounded tired.
“No, but just the fact he’s holding his own is a miracle. A miracle you gave that family.”
“I’m no miracle-giver.”
She smiled softly. “I’d argue that. I’ve seen how you interact with your patients. Each time you’re in contact with them is a blessing. It’s on their faces, in what they say to you, in how they respond.”
“That’s just doing my job, Kimberly. Not working miracles. My guess is you did the same when you worked as a floor nurse.”
She’d like to think she’d made a difference in her patients’ lives, in their families’ lives, but did one ever really know what impact they’d had on another?
“You’re very good at what you do,” she praised.
“I’m one of the lucky few. I’ve always known I wanted to be a heart surgeon. I got to grow up and do the job I wanted. Not many people get to do that.”
“No,” she agreed. They didn’t. If she hadn’t had Ryan, what would she have done after high school? She’d told Daniel she wanted to go into acting and a serious relationship would hinder that pursuit. Pretending her heart wasn’t shattering had embodied all the acting she’d ever done. She’d once thought of going into forensics, but that had just been the silly ponderings of a young girl who hadn’t had a clue about life and the real world.
She’d chosen nursing because of the flexible work hours and the decent pay. A single mother had to consider those things when making career decisions.
Fortunately, she loved her profession.
“I worked hard, but I was also lucky that life gave me the opportunity to go after my dreams,” Daniel continued, his hands loosely gripping the steering wheel.
Should she tell him now what she’d sacrificed for his dream? What he’d unknowingly sacrificed?
She stared at him. Although he watched the traffic and drove carefully, he looked relaxed. More relaxed than she’d seen him look since she’d met him again.
She couldn’t bring herself to mention Ryan. Not yet.
Was it wrong that she wanted more time with him like this, before changing the world he knew?
She’d wait until later tonight, after they’d eaten, then she’d tell him.
Throughout dinner, they laughed, talked about Cardico, reminisced over old times, talking about things Kimberly had forgotten, times she grieved about for the sole reason that Daniel had loved her then.
Daniel drank a single glass of wine and, although Kimberly rarely drank, she had one, too.
“Why haven’t you married, Daniel?”
“Never met anyone I thought I could spend the rest of my life with.”
“But you might someday marry and have children?”
He shrugged. “Maybe, if I met the right person. But I don’t feel any need to marry just for the sake of not being alone, and the world will go on even if I never have kids.”
For a brief moment telling him he already had a kid played on the tip of her tongue, but she made a general remark instead.
When the waiter took their emptied plates, Daniel leaned back in his chair and smiled. “This has been nice, Kimberly.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Very nice. We should do it again sometime.”
His blue eyes caught hers and twinkled with mischief.
“Talk, that is,” she clarified, giving him a scolding look that might have carried more weight if she hadn’t been smiling.
“You free tomorrow night?”
Tomorrow night? Would he want to see her after she told him about Ryan tonight?
She had to hope for the best.
“Once this hard-working heart surgeon finishes with me, I’m free.”
“And if he doesn’t finish with you?” He picked up his wineglass and finished off the contents, but his eyes never left hers.
What was he saying?
Her heart thudded in her chest, so she couldn’t catch her breath.
“Then I’m his and wouldn’t be able to make other plans.”
“My guess…” he leaned forward “…is that this heart surgeon is a pretty intelligent guy.”
“Brilliant,” Kimberly agreed.
“If he’s that smart, he’s not going to let you go that easily.”
Oh, he’d let her go quite easily fifteen years ago, but she just smiled because thinking about the past would ruin the beauty of the moment.
“Which means you shouldn’t make other plans for tomorrow night.”
“Are you on call?” She asked the magic question that came from having worked with and dated doctors in the past.
“Not until Sunday.”
Sunday. She’d be back in Atlanta by Saturday evening.
That meant they had two nights without interruption.
What was she thinking? Nights?
It wasn’t as if she was going to spend those two nights with him. After all, she expected him to be angry when he learned about Ryan, but once he calmed down, surely he’d see why she’d made the choices she had.
She had to believe he’d understand. For Ryan’s sake, if nothing else.
The waiter reappeared and left the bill on the table. Before Kimberly could pick it up, Daniel did.
“I’ll pay.”
His brow lifted. “Is this a business meal, then?”
She knew what he was asking. Knew that he was allowing her to define their current relationship before they went to her room, but they both knew they’d crossed that invisible line a long time ago. Nothing between them could ever be just business.
“No,” she answered honestly. “Tonight was personal, but I’ll still pay.”
He dropped several notes onto the table. “How personal?”
Kimberly didn’t squirm, although she might have if she’d thought it would help give her the strength to hold his gaze. “Tonight was about me and you.”
“Because of the past?”
She shook her head and stared straight into his eyes and hoped he could see what was in her heart. Was terrified that he actually might.
“Because of right now.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
DANIEL cocked his head toward Kimberly because he was worried that his ears had played tricks on him.
The anxious way she held his gaze, the nervous tilt to her mouth told him Kimberly just admitted to having feelings for him.
God, he wished he wasn’t so tired. He was functioning on thirty-six hours without sleep. Not the first time he�
�d done it, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but he hadn’t slept well all week, thanks to a certain blonde refusing to let his mind have peace.
A smart man would go home, rest, and think long and hard before contemplating becoming involved with the only woman who’d ever broken his heart.
Yet looking at her hopeful expression there was no way he could walk away.
“Can we go to my room to talk, Daniel?”
Only a stupid man would turn down an invitation made by a woman like Kimberly.
Daniel wasn’t stupid.
He stood, took her hand and lifted it to his mouth. He placed a soft kiss in the center of her palm. “Let’s go.”
Gulping, she stood and laced her fingers through his. Her hand trembled. “Daniel, this isn’t an invitation for more. I…” She hesitated. “There’s a lot that needs to be said before you and I can move forward.”
She wanted to talk. She wanted to move forward. She wanted. He could hear her want in her voice. Despite his logical arguments on the reasons why it shouldn’t, Daniel’s hope built with every floor ding of the elevator.
By the time they reached the twenty-third floor his insides felt raw. Raw and ready and racing.
Logic stayed somewhere on the main level, and his libido had risen to the occasion.
Kimberly fumbled with her room key, sliding the card several times before the light blinked green.
Looking unsure, she flipped on the light, met his gaze, and took a deep breath. “There’s so much I need to say to you that I don’t even know where to begin.”
She really wanted to talk? That’s really why she’d invited him to her room? And why wasn’t she shutting the door? She stood there, holding the door wide and looking ready to bolt.
She laughed nervously. “I—Do you want a drink? There’s a minibar and—”
He didn’t want to talk. “Shut the door, Kimberly.”
“The door?” She glanced at where she held the door, blinked as if she hadn’t realized she was still holding it open, and nodded. “Okay.”
But she didn’t.
She moistened her lips and lifted her eyes to his.
Tension zapped between them.
He took a step toward her, placed his hand over hers, and released her fingers from the door one by one.
The moment the door closed, Daniel pulled her to him, and their lips touched in a hungry kiss.
A hungry kiss that demanded more. A hungry kiss that released long-suppressed desires. A hungry kiss that threatened to devour his whole being.
He touched everywhere, feeling, caressing, refreshing his memory, learning the changes to her woman’s body.
She was just as intent on rediscovering him. After skimming his shoulders and arms, she slid her hands down his back, causing every muscle to contract beneath her touch. Her fingers ran over his lower back, pulling him closer, burning him.
He kissed her throat, her neck, breathing in the scent that he’d never forgotten. Kimberly.
It was a fragrance that brought him home. Home to a place where only the two of them existed, where he needed what only she could provide, where he wanted nothing more than to give her the world.
At the moment she felt like all he’d ever wanted, ever needed.
“Kimberly,” he groaned at the passion with which she kissed him. Like she was starved.
Not in his wildest fantasies had he thought this moment would happen.
Sure, he’d dreamed about it. Craved it.
That didn’t mean he’d ever believed Kimberly would want him.
Then again, he’d never understood why she had suddenly quit wanting him all those years ago.
They’d gone from wonderful letters saying she couldn’t wait for him to come home to her seeing someone else in just a few weeks of him leaving for medical school.
Struggling to meet the demands of his rigorous schedule and maintaining a job, he’d let her slip through his fingers.
He couldn’t think about that right now.
Not when she responded so sweetly to the kisses he blazed over her skin.
Besides, it was in the past and the here and now was much more exciting.
He rapidly undid the buttons of his shirt and shucked the garment off his shoulders.
She watched him peel off the T-shirt he always wore beneath his shirt. Her eyes darkened with desire, making him want to give her everything, to stare into her eyes and see her pleasure when he made love to her.
She didn’t comment when he removed her shirt, when he dropped kisses on her bare shoulders.
Slowly, he removed her slacks, and his, leaving them both standing in their underwear, just inside the hotel room entranceway.
Stepping back, she stared at him from head to toe. She drank in the sight of him and lifted dewy soft green eyes. “You’re beautiful, Daniel.”
He wanted to laugh, but the way she looked at him made him feel beautiful.
Which made him feel uneasy.
Men weren’t supposed to feel beautiful, were they?
But her eyes ate him up, told him he was the sexiest man she’d ever seen, and most of all they said she wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her.
His gaze lowered to the silky lace covering her full breasts, larger, softer than they’d been at seventeen. “So are you.”
She blushed.
“My body’s changed,” she warned, looking shy for the first time since they’d entered the room, like she wanted to cover herself, keep him from seeing the changes.
“For the better.”
He meant it. She had the curves of a woman, not a young girl’s body. Oh, he’d craved her enough back in the past, but now he wanted her with a man’s lust, not that of a boy.
“Daniel.” His name choked out of her mouth, and she moved into his arms. “There’s so much I need to say to you before this happens.”
Words would only get in their way. Besides, he didn’t know what to say, how to put what he was feeling into words. Much better to show her.
Despite her soft protests, he lifted her, carried her to her king-sized bed, grateful she had a room with a bed big enough for both of them.
Ripping back the covers, he lowered her and, after sliding out of his underwear, he joined her between the crisp cream-colored sheets.
“We’ll talk later, Kimberly. Let me touch you first. Please.”
She hesitated, looked torn, which on some level told him they should talk first, but this was Kimberly. His Kimberly, and he’d missed her. For fifteen years he’d missed looking into her eyes, missed touching her and knowing she was his.
For the moment she was his again and he’d take the moment and make it his own.
“Daniel.”
How many nights had he woken up over the years with her sweet voice in his ear, calling out his name, only to find that he’d dreamed her yet again?
Tonight was no dream. This was real.
He and Kimberly, as they had always been meant to be. Together.
He kissed her. Long and hard and until they were both breathless. Then he kissed her more. Her lips. Her pretty face. Her soft throat. Her breasts.
He kissed her until she whimpered beneath him, held on to his shoulders and met his gaze with such longing and need he could no longer restrain himself.
Until he no longer wanted anything but Kimberly.
He slipped her panties down her hips.
“I want you,” he whispered, sliding his hands over her, inside her. He stroked, lavished her with attention, soaked up the caresses she bestowed on his aching body.
A voice deep within screamed that this was Kimberly he held, Kimberly he touched, and had he lost his mind?
“Daniel, please,” she whispered against his lips, her gaze locked on his. What he saw in her eyes told him he had lost his mind. Had lost his mind the moment he’d met her and had never regained it.
Hating to get up, he did so, found his wallet and got out a condom.
In seconds he had th
e rubber barrier rolled over himself.
One thrust of his hips brought him deep into where he always wanted to be. Where he never wanted to leave.
“Kimberly.”
She was tight and hot and wet.
He wasn’t going to last.
But he paced himself, moving slowly at first, watching her eyes glaze with passion, feeling her body wind tighter and tighter as she neared orgasm.
“I’ve missed you, Daniel. So much.”
Somewhere in the back of his mind he wanted to remind her he’d wanted to spend his life loving her and she’d been the one to walk away from their relationship.
“Tell me,” he encouraged her, wanting to hear her words of need, wanting to know he wasn’t alone in this crazy need.
The rhythm between them spiraled upward, steadily building to a crescendo, steadily engulfing more and more of reality and carrying them to some other world where only the two of them existed.
“I dream of you,” she panted into his ear, her voice a raspy whisper. “I wake up with thoughts of you haunting my mind, my body.”
He kissed her deeply.
Knowing she was on the brink, he held back his own release only with the greatest willpower.
“What do I do in these dreams?” he asked, immersing himself inside her in a slow, torturous stroke that would certainly haunt his own dreams for years.
“You love me, Daniel.” Her fists clenched and un-clenched in the sheets, then she drew him close, holding him to her, and greedily demanded he love her at this very moment.
Whatever willpower he’d thought he held evaporated and his tempo picked up, driving them toward the pleasurable burst they sought.
He felt her orgasm, felt her flesh tighten, spasm around him.
“In my dreams…” Her words came out in short gasps as her body worked in rhythm with his, reaching higher and higher. “You loved me.”
Her nails dug in, her back arched, and she moaned beneath him.
“Now,” she pleaded. “Love me, now, Daniel. Please, please, love me.”
He did.
Kimberly couldn’t say it surprised her when Daniel fell asleep almost immediately afterward.
At first she’d thought he had only been resting, but his even breathing and soft snores told the real story.
He’d made love to her and dozed off.
