by Marie Force
He mulled over these and many other questions while they jogged to the far end of the Revolutionary War-era fort and circled around to a well-worn path on the Narragansett Bay side of the tan brick fort that formed one side of the entrance to Newport Harbor. The bay was already filled with boaters enjoying the summer day.
“I’m impressed,” Ted said.
“With?”
“I rarely run with anyone who can keep up with me.”
She laughed. “A little full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I guess that did sound kind of arrogant, but I run every day, so I guess I’ve earned it. It’s the one thing I make sure I do.”
“Me, too. I keep trying to get Smitty to go with me, but he hates to run.”
“He always has, but he kicks ass at football.”
“I can picture that,” she said. “Did you play sports in school?”
“Just club soccer and intramural baseball at Princeton, but I’ve always been a runner. I did cross country in high school. How about you?”
“Field hockey and lacrosse.”
They moved in companionable silence for several minutes before Ted asked, “So what’s your next project? You said you just finished something big, right?”
She nodded. “I’m going to take a break for a couple of months.”
He wanted to stop her on the path, tell her how he felt, and beg her to run away with him. They’d go somewhere that no one knew them. He’d give up everything—his life, his friends, his work, his family—if only she’d agree to go with him. Startled by that realization and the knowledge that he’d do it in a second if it meant he could have her, he forced himself to refocus on the conversation. “Any special plans?”
She glanced over at him, hesitating. “Sort of. I haven’t said too much about it to anyone in case it doesn’t happen.”
“Okay, now I’m dying of curiosity.”
“And I’m dying to tell someone,” she confessed.
Oh how he wanted to be the one she told all her secrets to. “Perfect,” he said with a grin.
“Well, I’m thinking about . . .”
Ted saw her stumble before she fell and was unable to stop himself in time to grab her.
“Oh,” she moaned, cradling the ankle that had twisted violently in a small grass-covered hole on the path. The knee on her other leg was bleeding.
Ted squatted down beside her. “Let me take a look.”
Her face was pinched with pain and all the color had drained from her cheeks. “Hang on a sec,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “Okay. Go ahead.”
Ted put a comforting arm around her shoulders and untied her running shoe.
She winced when he eased the sock over her already swollen ankle. “Oh, that hurts!” she cried as he did a perfunctory exam.
“I can’t tell if it’s broken without an X-ray, but if it isn’t, it’s a bad sprain.” He tucked the sock into her shoe and handed it to her before he lifted her into his arms.
She sucked in a deep breath when her cut knee bent around his arm. “What are you doing? You can’t carry me.”
“Sure I can.” He tried not to notice how perfect she felt in his arms. “You’re light as a feather.”
Her smile was weak as her arms encircled his neck. “Whose big idea was it to leave the phones at home?”
Ted had to remind himself to breathe as her scent surrounded him. “I never run with a phone or a pager.” He carried her back the way they had come. “It’s the one hour of every day I’m completely unreachable. Keeps me sane.”
“I hope we can borrow a phone when we get back to the parking lot,” she said, biting her bottom lip.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out.”
Caroline rested her head on his shoulder, probably because it was easier than holding it up.
Her soft, fragrant hair brushed against his cheek. “How you doing?” he asked.
“Hurts,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“Are you okay? I’m too heavy for you to carry me this far.”
“I just told you what a big jock I am,” he joked. “You’re insulting me.”
“Will they know where to look if we don’t come back?”
“Not really. I kind of mix it up every weekend. Elise usually runs with me, but I don’t go this far with her.”
“Sorry to mess up your run.”
“I’m sorry you’re hurt.”
When they reached the parking lot, Ted eased her onto a bench. “Hang on for just a second while I find a phone, okay?”
She nodded as she stretched her aching ankle out in front of her.
Ted found a young family eating a picnic at one of the nearby tables, explained the situation, and asked if they had a cell phone he could borrow. The husband handed Ted his phone while the wife took a bag of ice over to Caroline to put on her ankle. As Ted dialed the house and then Smitty’s cell phone, he watched Caroline nod with gratitude to the woman who had returned with a wet napkin for her cut knee.
“Did you reach your friends?” the man asked.
“No answer anywhere.” Ted rubbed the stubble on his face as he tried to think of what to do next.
“Can I give you guys a lift somewhere?”
“Would you mind? Our house isn’t far from here.”
“Of course not.” After telling his wife he would be right back, the man pointed Ted to his car.
Ted carried Caroline and the bag of ice to the backseat of the SUV and gave their new friend directions to the house.
She stretched her injured legs out in front of her and leaned back against Ted with a sigh.
“I haven’t forgotten the secret you were about to tell me when this happened,” he whispered, hoping to get her mind off the pain.
“I’ll get back to you on that.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” He told himself that reaching for her hand was a gesture of comfort and not capitulation to the overwhelming desire to touch her. Reminding himself yet again that she was Smitty’s girlfriend, he reluctantly pulled back when her fragrant ponytail brushed against his face.
The car hit a bump, and she squeezed Ted’s hand in a reflexive response to the pain.
“Almost there,” he said.
At the house, they thanked the man who had driven them. Ted lifted her out of the SUV and deposited her in the passenger seat of his car.
“Where are we going?”
“To the E.R. You need to get that ankle checked.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t want to.”
“Doctor’s orders,” he said with an empathetic smile as he fought the urge to brush the tears off her cheeks. “Let me just run inside and leave a note for the others. I’ll be right back, okay?”
She wiped her eyes and nodded.
“Keep the ice on it.”
Inside, he found a note from Smitty: “We went to the store to get stuff for lunch. Meet us at the beach.”
Ted ran upstairs to grab his phone, keys, and a clean T-shirt.
“They’re already at the beach, which is why I couldn’t reach them,” he told Caroline when he returned to the car. “There’s no signal out there.”
“Smitty didn’t wait for me?” she asked with annoyance.
“He went to the store to get lunch and then to the beach. He knew you were in good hands.” Ted felt a stab of guilt as he said the words. Maybe she wasn’t in such good hands, but judging by her pained expression, she didn’t care at the moment.
“Well, I guess that’s okay then.” She leaned back against the headrest with her eyes closed as Ted drove them to the emergency room at Newport Hospital. On the way, he left messages for his friends to let them know where they were.
“Do you think they’ll get the message?”
“One of them will check in with me when we don’t show up, so don’t worry.”
“I feel so bad,” she groaned. “I’m totally screwing up your day. The last place you want to be is
in a hospital.”
“It’s no problem. Let’s get you fixed up and on something for the pain. Then we can party.”
“Yeah, right.” She grimaced when she tried to move her swollen ankle. “Thanks for being so great. I can see why your patients love you.”
He looked over at her, wondering if he should read more into her statement, but found only friendship in her green eyes. He chastised himself for being so foolish. She wasn’t interested in him. She’s Smitty’s girlfriend. The words echoed through his mind like a chant.
Ted carried her into the deserted emergency room where he introduced himself as a doctor to the nurse at the triage desk.
They took Caroline right away, and Ted pushed her wheelchair to the X-ray department. The films showed a fracture, so the E.R. doctor called in an orthopedic guy.
Ted sat with her while they waited for the specialist to arrive.
“I’m not usually such a crybaby.” She wiped new tears off her face. “I just can’t believe this happened right at the beginning of summer. What a drag.”
Without a thought about the implications, Ted reached for her hand. “Lucky for you, you’re dating the green giant, and he can carry you anywhere you need to go until you heal.”
She laughed through her tears. “That’s true.”
When an hour had passed with no word from the specialist, the nurse gave Caroline something for the pain, and she drifted off to sleep.
Ted took advantage of the opportunity to study her, while wishing with all his heart that he had met her first. Her face had lost its lustrous color, but even pale from the shock of her injury she was gorgeous. She was petite but not tiny, athletic in an attractive way, and easy to talk to. His eyes wandered to the rise and fall of her chest, and he wondered if her full breasts were as spectacular as they appeared in the tank top she had worn to run in. Jesus Christ, Ted. That’s enough. But he couldn’t seem to look away.
He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard Smitty’s loud voice in the hallway.
“Where is she?”
Ted got up to lean out of the cubicle doorway. “Pipe down, will you? She’s in here sleeping.”
Smitty’s eyes were big as he came into the room to find Caroline in the hospital bed. “What the hell happened?” he asked in what he considered a whisper.
“She stepped in a hole on the path at Fort Adams. Broke her ankle.”
“Shit. Are they keeping her?”
“Just until the orthopod gets here. After the swelling goes down, she’ll probably be in a cast for six weeks, the first few on crutches.”
Smitty groaned. “She’ll hate that.” He squeezed Ted’s shoulder. “Thanks a lot for getting her here, buddy. You don’t have to stay.”
Ted glanced over at Caroline who was still sleeping. “I don’t mind hanging out.”
“No need,” Smitty insisted. “Go salvage your day. Parker’s got your board at the beach.”
He wanted to wail. He wanted to tell Smitty there was nowhere else he’d rather be. “If you’re sure . . .”
“I’m positive. You’re off duty, Dr. Duffy.”
“She’s going to be in a lot of pain,” Ted warned him.
“No worries. I’ll take good care of her.”
“Okay. I’ll see you back at the house.” Ted walked out of the emergency room with a heavy heart, wishing he could stay with her. He wondered why it was that when he finally found a woman who made his gut ache with desire she had to be dating his best friend.
Chapter Four
After a long afternoon at the beach and an even longer stint at a bar where Ted tried—unsuccessfully—to get drunk, he left Chip, Elise, Parker, and his car downtown and took a cab back to the house. He listened for Smitty and Caroline, but the house was quiet, so he went into the kitchen for a glass of water. Rooting around in one of the cabinets he found a bottle of painkillers and took two to address the headache he always got from drinking in the sun. He rested against the counter for a long time before he summoned the energy to go upstairs.
On the second floor, he noticed the door open and the light on in Smitty’s room. Telling himself he should just keep going up the stairs, Ted went to the doorway. Caroline was asleep, her broken ankle propped up on several pillows and an ice bag draped over it. Two prescription bottles and an empty glass were on the bedside table. Smitty was curled up to her with an arm looped possessively around her.
Ted stared at the two of them for an endless moment, until he realized his jaw ached from clenching his teeth so hard. He flipped the light switch to darken the room.
Upstairs, the shower pounded the tension from his neck and shoulders. Tilting his head from side to side to loosen his muscles, he stood there for a long time staring at the wall before he turned off the water and wrapped a towel around his waist.
Tugging on a pair of boxer briefs, he fell onto his bed and turned so he could see the harbor lights in the distance. The beer he’d consumed earlier swished around, making his stomach surge with nausea. Thinking of Caroline and how pale she had been after her injury, his heart ached. When he imagined her wrapped up with Smitty in bed, he wanted to punch something. Or someone. This weekend would surely go down as two of the most disastrous days and nights of his life. What should have been such a joyous event—finally meeting the woman his grandmother had sworn for years was out there waiting for him—was instead a mess of epic proportions.
He must have dozed off because he awoke just after four and couldn’t go back to sleep. He lay there wishing he had brought the glass of water with him until he decided to get up and get another one.
For the second time in as many nights he found Caroline sitting alone in the dark when he turned on the light in the kitchen.
She winced from the sudden blast of light, so Ted turned it off.
“Sorry. Are you feeling okay?”
“The pain pill wore off about thirty minutes ago, and I just took another one. I’m sitting here praying it’ll kick in soon.”
In the faint glow of a streetlight coming in through the window, he could see how pale she was. Pain made her eyes appear even bigger than usual.
“Can I do anything for you?”
She shook her head. “No, but thanks for your help earlier.”
“It was no problem.” Realizing all at once that he was wearing nothing more than form-fitting underwear, he reached for a glass, filled it with ice and water, and downed it in three long gulps.
“Thirsty?”
“Mmm.” He refilled the glass. “Want some?”
“No, I’m good.”
He eyed the boot on her foot. “How did you get down here?”
Flashing him a sheepish grin, she said, “Slid down the stairs on my bum because I had to eat something with the pill.”
He chuckled. “So what’s the plan for getting back up?”
“I was just pondering that very question when you showed up.”
He finished the water and put down the glass. “Can I give you a lift? For old times sake?”
She giggled, which he took as a sign the meds were beginning to work. “Why not?” Taking his outstretched hand, she let him help her up.
With her hand wrapped around his, Ted was staggered by the glow of the streetlight illuminating her beautiful face. Powerless to resist the magnetic draw for another second, he ran a finger over her cheek.
She gasped as her hand landed on his bare chest.
They stared at each other, the silence charged with awareness.
He was thankful the lights were off so she couldn’t see the effect her nearness had on him. Never in his life had he wanted so badly to kiss another human being. Before he could give in to the need pounding through him, he tore his eyes off her and lifted her into his arms to carry her upstairs. At the door to Smitty’s room, he reluctantly eased her onto her good foot.
“Ted,” she whispered.
He shook his head. “Don’t. Don’t say something that will change everything.”
She stared at him for the longest time before she turned away. In that brief moment he saw in her the same sense of awe, wonder and fear that had overtaken him. That she seemed equally affected by him didn’t do much to ease his guilt over feelings he had no right to.
Ted watched her hobble the short distance to the bed where his best friend slept. Panic stricken by the encounter with Caroline, Ted continued up the stairs. In his room, he fell face down on his bed and moaned into the pillow as desire continued to thrum through his heated body. This is insanity, he thought, even as he suspected it was probably something much, much worse.
In the morning Ted awoke full of guilt and regret. Smitty was the best friend he’d ever had. This is so wrong. I can’t think about her anymore. If it came down to her or Smitty, I’d choose him in a second. Of course I’d choose him. Wouldn’t I?
Tormented, Ted went downstairs to find Parker at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and the morning paper.
“Where is everyone?” Ted asked.
“Chip and Elise went out to breakfast, and Smitty and Caroline are still sleeping. Elise drove your car home last night.” Parker pointed to the keys on the counter.
“Oh, good. Want to grab something to eat?” Ted asked, anxious to get out of the house.
Parker looked up at him with surprise. “Not running today?”
“I’ll run when I get home this afternoon.”
“Sure. Let me grab my wallet.”
“It’s on me. Let’s go.”
In Ted’s car, Parker turned to study him. “What’s wrong?”
Startled, Ted glanced at his friend. “Nothing. Why?”
“You look funny.”
“Define funny.”
Parker laughed. “Let me try another word. Off. You look off.”
Pole axed. That might be a better way to put it. “I’m fine. I’m not funny or off, but thanks for asking.”
“Hmm, if you say so.” Parker continued to size up Ted. “Are you hanging out today? We’ve got the boat if we want it.” The “boat” was a ninety-foot, ocean-going sailing vessel with a crew of six to dote on their boss—or in this case, their boss’s son and his friends.
