by Marie Force
“Me, too. At least a thousand or maybe three thousand times.”
“Thank you for forgiving me for freaking out afterward.”
“I was freaking out, too, you know—and not just because you tried to lose me like a bad habit the next morning.”
“You really were?”
“I’ve never felt like I do when I’m with you. It’s totally different and way, way better than anything I’ve ever known.”
“It is for me, too. And you’re a big reason why I don’t care about Matt and Kelly anymore.”
Dan knew there was no greater compliment she could ever pay him than that one.
“In my best moments with Matt, it was never like it is with you.”
“You stop my heart, Kara Ballard. Sometimes I think I dreamed up that day on the dock when you told me you love me. I wanted to hear those words from you so badly.”
“You didn’t dream it, and I want your love just as badly.”
“You have it. You’ve had it for a long time now.” Cupping her breast and running his thumb over her nipple, he captured her lips in a deep, soulful kiss that started the fire burning again, hotter than ever. The last thing on his mind at that moment were broken ribs or the arm still encased in plaster or anything other than the exquisite sensation of her soft skin against his, her legs curled around his, her tongue tangling with his.
Judging by the way he rolled them so he was on top, his injuries might never have happened.
She gazed up at him with wide eyes. “Dan! Be careful! You shouldn’t be doing that.”
“Kara?”
“What?” she asked, her voice full of exasperation.
“Shut up and kiss me.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down slowly.
Her concern for his well-being touched him as he lost himself in the sweetness of her lips and the sensuous strokes of her tongue.
“Condom,” he said, wondering where the presence of mind had come from when every brain cell in his body seemed to be heading south to join the party.
“Where are they?”
“Bedside table.”
“Don’t move.” She shifted carefully under him to retrieve a foil packet, rolling it on him with an efficiency that astounded him. His girl didn’t mess around. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking up at him.
“I will be in a minute.”
That drew a small smile from her as she took him in hand and guided him to where he most wanted to be. The relief of being joined with her after so many weeks of uncertainty was nearly as overwhelming as the clutch of her tight muscles. “Christ,” he muttered. “This is going to be over before it begins.”
“That’s okay.”
He thrust into her deeply. “Tell me again.”
She arched into him, her fingers moving gently down his back, and he could tell she was afraid to hurt him even in the throes of passion. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
That was all he needed to hear. All he’d ever need to hear.
Chapter 7
David lived in a spacious garage apartment behind a big house on the island’s west side.
“Whose house is that?” Daisy asked of the enormous contemporary that overlooked the water.
“A guy named Jared James. He’s a Wall Street tycoon who’s never here except for a week or two in the summer, so he wanted someone in the apartment who could keep an eye on the house, too.”
“Imagine having a house like that and living in it for a week or two every year.”
“I think he bought it with plans to retire here eventually, but he likes to work too much to ever retire. The guy is filthy rich, from what I hear.”
“It’s sad,” Daisy said as David parked in front of the garage.
“What is?”
“That he’s so devoted to his work that he’s forgotten to live. How much money does anyone really need, you know?”
“Don’t say that to Jared,” David said with a wry grin as he grabbed his duffel bag from the car. He led her up the stairs to his place while trying to remember the condition he’d left it in two days ago. Hopefully, nothing was smelly or messy. “Making money is a religion to him.”
“I need to get some of his brand of religion,” Daisy said. “If I don’t pass the probationary period and get the manager job full-time, this will be my last summer on the island. I can’t do the unemployed off-season thing anymore. It’s just too expensive.”
“I’m sure you’ll get the job. Mrs. McCarthy would be crazy not to give it to you.”
“One thing she isn’t is crazy, but she’s not going to give it to me out of loyalty. I have to earn it. It didn’t help that I had to take a week of sick leave right after she gave me the chance.”
He used his key in the door and stepped inside ahead of her to turn on the lights. Thankfully, the air smelled musty rather than stinky. David opened a window to let some fresh air in and turned on a light. The apartment was better than most, with high ceilings and a huge room that served as a combined living room and kitchen. A hallway led to a bedroom and bathroom. It was small, but it was all he needed, and it had gotten him out of his mother’s house, which was critical to his sanity. “The week out of work wasn’t your fault, Daisy. Mrs. McCarthy knows that.”
“Still… It was the last thing I needed.”
“I hope you’re not pushing yourself too much trying to prove something to her. You need to be taking it easy for a while longer.”
“Don’t worry about me, Dr. Lawrence. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine—yet, but you will be soon, and I do worry.”
“About all your patients, or me in particular?” she asked with a teasing smile.
Drawn in by that smile and her sweetness, he rested his hands on her shoulders. “All my patients, but some more than others.” He tipped his head to kiss her and loved the soft sigh of pleasure that escaped from her lips.
It took every ounce of control he could summon to remember that she was fragile and he needed to take it slow with her. Things had gotten way, way out of control the other night, and he couldn’t let that happen again until he was certain she was ready for it.
“Let me know if your boss needs a note from your doctor,” he said with a teasing grin.
“Oh, I definitely will! Nice to have friends in high places.”
With tremendous reluctance, he let his hands fall and stepped back from her. “I’ll be just a second. Have a seat, feel free to snoop, whatever you want.”
“I don’t snoop,” she said indignantly.
“Daisy, all women snoop. Give me a break.”
“On behalf of all women, I’m offended.”
“Sure you are,” he said, chuckling as he left her in the living room to rush through a quick shower and shave. He donned a dress shirt and black pants, slid a belt through the loops and stepped into loafers at the same time. As he applied a small bit of cologne, he looked at himself in the mirror and summoned some calm.
He’d shared the worst of himself with her, and she was still here. Rather than feeling relieved that he’d gotten past that huge hurdle, he was more anxious than ever about not making a mistake that would drive her away. It had been a very long time since anything had been as important to him as she was becoming, but he had to keep reminding himself that she was recovering from physical and emotional trauma.
Despite her resilience and spirit, she needed tenderness far more than she needed the out-of-control desire she roused in him. There’d be a time and a place for that, he told himself, if he didn’t move too fast and drive her away.
When he felt like he had found the calm he needed to proceed with caution, he left his room and returned to the living room.
Daisy was on the sofa, flipping through a photo album.
David winced when he realized what she was looking at.
She glanced up at him. “What? You said I could snoop.”
He took a seat next to her. “Had to be that one, huh?�
�� The photos of the happy years he’d spent with Janey brought back bittersweet memories.
“It was the first one on the pile. Do you still look at it a lot?”
“I haven’t looked at that in ages. More than a year.”
“Thirteen years is a long time to spend with someone to have it not work out in the end.”
“It was a tough breakup. I won’t deny that.”
She glanced briefly at him before returning her attention to the photos. “Do you still miss her?”
“I miss my friend. She was my best friend for a very long time. I miss that sometimes, like when I hear something funny that I know she’d appreciate. The romantic part had been over between us for a while before we broke up. In a way, our relationship had become more of a habit than a romance, if that makes sense.”
“It does. Is it okay that I asked you about her?”
“Of course it is. You can ask me anything you want to.”
Her lips pursed, and it was obvious there was something else she wanted to know.
“Whatever it is, Daisy, just ask me. It’s fine. I swear.”
“The nurse that you slept with… Did you have feelings for her?”
David hated to think about the night he torpedoed his entire future with Janey. “God, no. That was a one-time lapse in judgment, brought on by an overabundance of stress and fear. I can make excuses until the cows come home, but that was a mistake. A very big mistake.”
“Everyone makes them, you know. It’s probably time you forgave yourself.”
“Maybe so, but I’m not quite there yet.”
Daisy closed the photo album and put it on the coffee table. “Do you have your heart set on going to Domenic’s tonight?”
“I wanted to take you out for a nice dinner, but if you’re not up for it, we can do it another time.”
“I think I’d rather stay here and get a pizza and watch TV.”
“Whatever you want is fine with me.”
“I wish Mario’s delivered.”
“You’re looking at the doctor who tended to Mario’s grandson when he had the chicken pox, earning free pizza delivery for life.”
“Really? That’s awesome.”
“One of the few perks of being the island’s only doctor. What’s your pleasure on the pizza?”
“Plain old cheese and maybe a salad?”
“Coming right up.”
While they waited for the pizza delivery, David poured them each a glass of wine and they flipped through the TV channels looking for something to watch. Daisy vetoed the Red Sox game, and David said no to HGTV.
“Please? I love this show about how they completely transform a space with almost no money.”
“I’ll trade you one half hour of decorating for a half hour of baseball.”
Daisy extended her hand. “Deal. Me first.”
“I see how this is going to go,” he said, grumbling as he shook her hand. He was thrilled to have her all to himself even with more than foot between them on the sofa.
When the pizza arrived, he took advantage of the opportunity to move closer to her while they ate in front of the TV. He had to admit the decorating show was much more interesting than he’d expected it to be. “Wow,” he said after the big reveal, “I can’t believe what they did to that place with a five-hundred-dollar budget.”
“I know! That’s why I love these shows. I get so many good ideas for my place.” As she said the words, her mouth puckered ever so slightly.
“What’re you thinking?”
“That I’ll miss that place—and the island—if I have to move. I’ve been here long enough that it feels like home. It’s too bad it’s so hard to make a living here in the off-season.”
“Hopefully you’ll get the year-round job at the hotel and you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“Hopefully.”
As another episode of the budget decorating show got set to begin, Daisy handed him the remote control. “Your turn.”
“Let me do a quick score check, and then we can watch this one, too.”
“You’re hooked!”
“I never said that.”
“You are, too. I can tell.”
“I’m not admitting to anything.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep your secrets.”
They settled in to watch the second episode, and he caught her suppressing a yawn.
“Tired?”
“A little. It’s been a long day.”
“Do you want to go home?”
“Not quite yet. This has been the nicest part of my long day.”
He raised an arm to encourage her to come closer to him and put it around her when she snuggled into his embrace. Brushing his lips over her soft hair, he said, “Best part of my long day, too.”
“Even though I’m forcing you to watch decorating shows?”
“You’re not forcing me to do anything.”
“This is much better than going out.”
“Definitely, but I don’t want you to get overtired. We should get you home to bed.”
Her hand, which was flat against his belly, moved up to his chest and kept going until her fingers were moving lightly over the whiskers on his jaw.
He was so affected by the soft brush of her fingers over his face that he could barely draw a breath. “Daisy… What’re you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s not nothing.”
“Is it okay if I touch you?”
“I love when you touch me, but—”
“David?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you kiss me again like you did the other night?”
He turned to face her on the sofa, his gaze zeroing in on her full lips. “I want to more than you know, but I worry about moving too fast. I don’t want to do anything to upset you like I did that night.”
“You’re sweet to worry, but I’m okay, and I really liked kissing you.”
“Me, too. I thought about it the whole time I was in Boston.”
The left side of her mouth lifted into a smile. “The whole time?”
Nodding, he leaned in slowly and kept his eyes open, which was how he saw the flush of her cheeks, the flutter of her lashes and the dab of her tongue on her lower lip. The movement of her tongue sent a charge of desire roaring through him, but he tried to ignore the insistent press of his cock against the fly of his pants. This was about her, about going slowly for her, about taking his time and not scaring her off.
As their lips met and her eyes closed, David kept his open so he could be certain she was with him and not reliving memories that would be better forgotten. He loved everything about kissing her, and could’ve so easily let the desire and the passion overtake his better judgment.
He went slowly, determined not to let it get out of hand the way it had the other night. But then her tongue slid over his lower lip, setting off a chain reaction that made him groan.
Apparently encouraged by his reaction, she did it again and again until he couldn’t remember his own name, let alone his vows to go slowly. Before he knew it, they were reclined on the sofa, facing each other as their tongues mated in a sensual battle.
With their bodies pressed together on the sofa, it wasn’t easy for David to hold back. And then he felt her tugging at his shirt, pulling it free from his pants. Her hand on his back was nothing short of electrifying. When he’d said he loved her touch, he wasn’t kidding.
Reluctantly, he eased off from the kiss, turning his focus toward her jaw and neck. She smelled so sweet, like soap and flowers. He could easily become addicted to that scent, he thought as he kissed his way to her throat and then focused on her collarbone.
Her free hand encircled his neck, keeping him from pulling back from her.
He knew he should stop before things went any further, so he dropped his forehead to her shoulder, summoning the control that had all but deserted him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing.
”
“Why did you stop?”
“Because I…”
“It’s okay if you’re not in the mood. I didn’t mean to be so forward.”
Laughing softly, he flexed his hips so she could feel the evidence of how “not in the mood” he was.
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Definitely in the mood.”
“Then what’s wrong?” She combed her fingers through his hair, making his scalp tingle.
Every inch of him was affected by her touch. “I feel like we’re moving too fast. You were hurt badly, in more ways than one, and I need to be careful with you. Yet…”
“Yet?”
“I can’t get enough of you. When I kiss you, I forget all about being careful.”
“I’m not fragile, David. I won’t break.”
“You’re not fragile. You’re strong and resilient, and I respect that about you more than you know. But you were seriously injured not all that long ago. It would kill me if I ever did anything to hurt you.”
“It would hurt me if you treated me differently because of what happened with him.”
He blew out a deep breath, uncertain of what to say to that.
“I love when you kiss me,” she said. “I love when you touch me. And the last thing I’m thinking of when I’m kissing you is anything to do with him. I can barely remember my own name when you kiss me.”
He smiled because he knew exactly what she meant. “I’m still afraid of moving too fast and spooking you.”
“You won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s you, and you’ve been so amazing from the very beginning. I’ve never been in a relationship like this one.”
“What makes it different?”
“I’m not afraid all the time. I’m not afraid of saying the wrong thing and making you mad or doing the wrong thing and waiting for you to explode. I feel safe with you.”
“I could kill him for putting you through that.”
“It was partly my fault.”
“How in the world can you say that?”
“I put up with it far longer than I should have. You and Blaine both tried to warn me after it happened the first time that he was escalating, but I was convinced that he loved me and would never really hurt me. I’d be dead if Blaine hadn’t gotten there when he did, so yes, I blame myself for not putting a stop to it sooner.”
