On the Mend (Carolina Waves Series Book 1)

by Tina Gallagher

  I was about to respond when I heard the topic of our conversation making his way down the hall. I shot Jeff a look that warned him not to say another word on the subject. Apparently he got my message loud and clear because he held his hands up as if in surrender, then grabbed his mug and leaned back in his chair.

  Dan ambled into the kitchen wearing only a pair of loose gym shorts, looking better than a body had a right to this early in the morning. His eyes were bloodshot, but other than that, he looked sexy as hell with his slightly rumpled hair and shadowed jaw. I know from experience how that stubble would feel against my fingers and skin. My stomach flipped at the thought.

  “Morning.” His voice sounded raspy. “What are you guys doing up so early?”

  “I just got in,” Jeff said.

  Dan gave him a “way to go” look before turning his attention to me. “What about you?” Dan settled himself onto a stool. “Why are you up so early?”

  The sight of his bare chest was very distracting, and I had to make a conscious effort not to stare. Only the rest of him was just as bad. His cheek still held the crease from his pillow and his hair looked adorably mussed, like someone ran their fingers through it. I froze. Maybe someone had. There were girls here last night after all. That thought cooled me off fast.

  “I woke up and couldn’t fall back to sleep.” I dumped my now-cold coffee into the sink and rinsed out the mug, setting it on the drain board before turning around. “Come downstairs whenever you’re ready. I wasn’t expecting you up this early and planned on getting a workout in myself.”

  “Lexi usually bounces in on me at the crack of dawn.” His eyes twinkled with amusement. “The one day I get to sleep in and I wake up early anyway.” He pointed to the coffee maker and looked at Jeff. “Did you make that?”

  “No. Sabrina did.”

  “Good, then it’s safe to drink.”

  “Hey, mine’s not so bad.” Jeff sounded offended.

  “Jeff, your coffee could double as paint stripper.”

  “Wimp.”

  Dan chuckled but didn’t comment.

  “Let me down a cup of coffee and change.” Dan pushed up from his stool and made his way around the island to the coffee maker. I backed out of his way. “I didn’t sleep too well last night myself. Hopefully some caffeine will give me a jump start.”

  I bet you didn’t sleep well.

  What I actually said was, “I’ll see you downstairs.”

  Dan

  “What the hell happened here last night?”

  “Damned if I know,” I said, settling onto a stool. “One minute I was ready to go out with Sabrina, the next my old college crew showed up, and she flaked on me.”

  “Flaked?”

  I took a sip of coffee and nodded. “Said she wasn’t hungry and went upstairs.”

  Jeff looked at me like I was a few cards short of a deck.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I think your pretty face has made getting women too easy for you, because it doesn’t seem like you have a clue.” Before I could ask what the hell he was talking about, Jeff asked, “Why were they even here?”

  “They just stopped by. Said they were in the neighborhood.”

  “With pizza and women?”

  I shrugged. “It’s been years since they stopped by like that. Not since Lexi was a baby.” I chuckled at the memory. “They didn’t stay as long that time. She was teething and screamed the entire time they were here.”

  “Too bad no one screamed this time. Maybe you would have made it to dinner.” He

  walked over to the sink, washed his mug, and set it in the draining rack. “I’m gonna take a nap. See you later.”

  After topping off my coffee and pouring a bowl of cereal, I surveyed the clutter around me. I’d never allow Lexi to leave a mess like this for Mrs. Evans, so I shouldn’t either.

  I settled into my Cheerios and thought about what Jeff said. Maybe he’s right—maybe women have come so easy to me, I don’t know how to deal with a challenge. And Sabrina’s been challenging from the day I met her.

  I swear I fell in love with her the minute I saw her in the trainer’s room taping ankles. It took me weeks to convince her to go out with me. Even then, every subsequent time I asked her out, I was never confident she’d say yes. She just didn’t seem to be that in to me. It was only after we were dating a few months that I felt secure.

  Life would be so much easier if I could just forget her, but I can’t. For whatever reason, she’s it for me, always has been.

  I finished my cereal and took a last gulp of coffee. After cleaning and setting my bowl and mug to dry, I grabbed two large garbage bags from the pantry.

  Time to clean up my mess.

  11

  Sabrina

  I concentrated on my workout. Breathe in. Lift the weight. Breathe out. I repeated the mantra in my head through my thigh and bun reps, then altered it slightly for stomach crunches. My riotous thoughts distracted me from keeping a count, so I simply kept doing crunches until my muscles ached.

  After stretching and mopping off my face and arms, I walked across the room and snagged two five-pound weights off the rack. Bracing my legs shoulder width apart, I started my routine, but no matter how hard I tried to concentrate, my mind wandered back to the things Jeff said.

  Regardless what he thinks, or how smug he acts, I do not care about Dan anymore…not in that way anyway. Sure, as his therapist, I’m concerned about his wellbeing, and I have to admit we’ve had some pretty good conversations since I’ve been here. I suppose I’d consider him a friend more than an enemy at this point, but it’s not like I want a relationship with him or anything.

  Then why were you so upset at the thought of him with another woman?

  I wasn’t.

  Yeah right.

  I shook my head and laughed out loud. Now I’m fighting with myself. I must be going crazy.

  Straddling the bench, I lay down, my feet still on the floor. Stretching my arms out alongside me, I slowly raised them until the weights touched then lowered them to the side again. I’ve been doing these exercises for over a year now, and I haven’t noticed any lift to my boobs, but I figure it must be doing some good somewhere. My mind wandered shortly after I finished my first set of ten.

  I can’t believe I was actually starting to believe Dan changed. Last night just proves he hasn’t. Sure he spends most of his time with Lexi now, but as soon as she’s not around, he reverts back to his old ways.

  But he didn’t invite them over. They showed up on their own. He made plans with you, not them.

  Yeah, he made plans with me, but he didn’t hesitate to cancel them.

  He didn’t cancel, you did. If you said you wanted to go out to dinner, he would have sent them packing.

  I don’t need any favors from him.

  He wanted to go with you and you know it.

  Then why didn’t he say so instead of just sitting there like a moron?

  Ask him.

  I shook my head again and tried to concentrate on my weights, deciding that I must be schizophrenic because having arguments with yourself inside your head is just not normal.

  “Don’t you know that you shouldn’t lift without a spot?” Dan shot my own words back at me.

  I paused, my arms raised straight out over me and tilted my head back to look at him. Big mistake. He’d cleaned up all right. His clean-shaven face held a shiny softness and his hair still looked damp from a recent shower. Navy performance shorts replaced the old gray gym shorts he’d worn earlier and a white T-shirt boasting the blue and yellow Carolina Waves logo stretched across his magnificent chest.

  Not wanting to be at a disadvantage, I stood and faced him. “It’s okay. I’m a professional.”

  Instead of commenting, Dan let his gaze roam over my body. “You look cute.”

  In ratty shorts, a sweat-soaked tank top, my wet hair half-in and half-out of its ponytail, and my face as red as a beet? I don’t think so.

&nbs
p; I turned away from him and went to place the hand weights back on the rack. That done, I did a few cool-down stretches. Dan’s eyes tracked my every move.

  Removing my ponytail from its holder, I finger-combed my hair and once again pulled it off my face into some semblance of order. “Let me grab a drink and we can get started.” I felt his eyes on me as I walked to the refrigerator and grabbed an orange juice for myself, and an ice cup from the freezer for Dan’s leg.

  When I turned around to make my way back across the room, I nearly fell down when I crashed right into the solid wall of Dan’s chest. I didn’t even hear him come up behind me. How can a man wearing a leg brace and using a crutch move so quietly? His right hand clamped around my elbow in order to steady me.

  “Whoa,” he said.

  “God Dan, don’t sneak up on me like that.”

  “Sneak?” he chuckled. “Bri, I couldn’t sneak these days if my life depended on it.”

  “Well I didn’t hear you.” I took two quick gulps of juice and squared my shoulders. “And please don’t call me Bri.”

  Dan is the only person who’s ever called me that and I used to love it. I thought it was sweet. You know, like Ricky Riccardo calling Lucille Ball “Lucy.” Then again, he was a cheating pig, too.

  “You never minded before.”

  “Well, now I do.” I had to resist the childish urge to cross my arms over my chest and stomp my foot to emphasize the point. At the thought of my arms, I realized that Dan’s hand still had possession of mine. I pulled it out of his grasp.

  “You’re pissed,” he sighed, rubbing his brow.

  “I’m not pissed. I just don’t want you to call me Bri. No one calls me Bri.” I knew what he was talking about, but chose to play dumb, with the hope he’d drop the subject before it got started.

  “I’ve always called you Bri,” he pointed out. “And you know that’s not why you’re pissed. You’re mad about last night.”

  I finished my orange juice in one long gulp and threw the empty bottle into the recycling bin, but didn’t say a word.

  “Why didn’t you say you wanted to go out to dinner? Insist that we go out to dinner? The guys would have understood. After all, they dropped in uninvited and unannounced.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell them to go?”

  “Because you said you didn’t want to go out. You said you weren’t hungry.”

  He cannot be this dense.

  “Did you want to go out to dinner?”

  “I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t.” He looked at me and sighed. “Yes, I wanted to go out with you.”

  “Then you should have said that instead of sitting there like a mute.”

  “But you said—”

  “I know what I said, Dan. Why should I have said anything else? Huh? If you had really wanted to go out with me instead of having a party with your friends, you should have said so. I was the bad guy enough back in college, I refuse to play the role now.”

  The aggravation drained from his face and was replaced with something that looked suspiciously like understanding. Since he seemed to be a captive audience and I was on a roll, I continued. “You need to say what you mean and take responsibility for your actions.” I could have gone on, but I figured I made my point and realized that I was starting to sound like my mother.

  I took a deep, cleansing breath, which was a big mistake because my lungs filled with the clean fresh-from-the-shower scent of Dan. At that moment I realized how close he was standing. My eyes widened and met his smoldering gaze.

  The air between us crackled. I wanted to step back but couldn’t. Tried to look away, but I couldn’t seem to do that either.

  Dan’s eyes bore into me and of course he could read my every thought, anticipate my every move. I swallowed hard and attempted to put some space between us. He shook his head and took a step closer, fully invading my personal space. I was about to protest—at least I like to think I was—but he placed his index finger across my lips and shook his head again.

  “I promise I’ll take responsibility for my actions.”

  My befuddled brain didn’t have a chance to process the meaning of his words before Dan’s mouth claimed mine with a kiss that started out frantic, but quickly turned into something softer, slower, more languorous, but no less potent. Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized that I’d dropped the ice cup I had been holding. It landed on the floor with a dull thud.

  I knew I should step back and push Dan away, but all I could manage was to take my now-empty hand and wrap it around the back of his neck. I curled my cold fingers into his hair, threading them through the damp strands, seeking the warmth of his skull. Dan’s moan echoed against my chest.

  Dan took a step closer still, backing me up against the refrigerator. His fingers plowed through my hair and tilted my head back and to the side, opening my mouth further to his sensual exploration. I had expected a full-blown, tongue-tangling kiss, but instead, he nibbled at my bottom lip before fully placing his mouth over mine once again and applying a wonderful suction that nearly brought me to my knees.

  My mind whirled and my resistance—yeah right, resistance—weakened as Dan’s mouth opened and closed over mine in a steady rhythm. The taste of him filled my senses as his tongue swept into my mouth. It was both familiar and new, as were the sensations he stirred within me. Only Dan has ever made me feel this way, this out of control, this wonderful.

  The kiss went on and on, long and hard, soft and gentle, our tongues tangling in a hot, sexual assault. He was literally making love to my mouth and I loved every single minute of it. A groan erupted from Dan’s chest and he pulled back slightly, looking down at me with heavy-lidded eyes.

  “Oh God, Bri,” he groaned before dipping his head and starting all over again.

  I couldn’t say how long the kiss lasted or how long it would have gone on—or God forbid, what else would have happened right there against the refrigerator—if the distinct sound of Lexi’s feet pounding down the stairs didn’t break through the sensual fog that surrounded us.

  If I want to be totally honest—and I’m not sure I do—I didn’t actually hear anything until Dan broke the kiss. His head had cocked to the side as he listened, but his burning green gaze never left my eyes. In their depths I saw his desire so clearly, I couldn’t turn away.

  Lexi’s steps danced closer and Dan squeezed my waist gently before taking a step back. His eyes were still on mine, but when I licked my lips, they dropped to my mouth. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose and let it slowly out his mouth.

  Part of me was terrified of the desire I saw etched on his face, but another part felt thrilled. My own body hummed with a need I haven’t felt for ten years. And if the bulge in Dan’s shorts was any indication, he was pretty turned on himself.

  “Daddy!” Lexi ran across the room and flung herself at Dan. How he caught her, I’ll never know. My legs feel so weak a good breeze could blow me over.

  “Hey munchkin. Did you have a good time?”

  Lexi’s head bobbed up and down. “Uh huh. Hi Sabrina.”

  “Hey Lexi. How were those rollercoasters?”

  She looked me over before answering. “They were awesome.” Her eyes left me and returned to Dan, giving him the same once-over. “Sabrina likes rollercoasters too, Daddy.”

  “I know.”

  Right then my stomach felt like it was on a rollercoaster. Why does Dan affect me like this? I’ve made love with guys before and haven’t felt this flutter. I needed to gain control of myself. Letting Dan kiss me was a big mistake with a capital B.I.G. Kissing him back was even worse.

  “Do you want to put this off until later?” Dan raised a questioning brow and I felt myself blush. “I thought you might want to postpone your workout so you could spend some time with Lexi.”

  His “yeah right” look made me feel like a coward, but I suppose that’s exactly what I am where Dan is concerned.

  “Did you eat breakfast, honey
?” he asked Lexi.

  “Mrs. Evans is making it now.”

  “Give me a half hour?” he said to me.

  “Sounds good.”

  That should give me enough time to get my head together.

  Dan’s eyes narrowed and I knew that once again he’d managed to read my thoughts, and from the look in his eyes, he wasn’t happy with them. In fact, he now looked determined to keep me from ever getting my head on straight again.

  Dan

  Lexi dug into the plateful of perfect pancakes Mrs. Evans had set in front of her.

  “So you had fun?” I asked.

  She nodded and swallowed. “We got to go on all the rides, then we went to the campground.” She shoveled another forkful of pancakes into her mouth and chewed.

  In between bites, Lexi told me what happened during every minute we’d been apart. Or so it seemed. My daughter is nothing if not descriptive, not to mention enthusiastic. And I love that about her…normally I hang on her every word. But right now, I’m struggling to focus on what she’s saying.

  I hadn’t planned on kissing Sabrina, but the pull between us was so strong, I couldn’t resist. And it been so damn good. Better than I remembered, if that’s possible. She’s the perfect combination of sweetness and fire, even now. And she tastes amazing.

  When she curled her fingers into my hair, I was half a heartbeat away from pinning her to the refrigerator and ripping her clothes off when I heard Lexi’s feet on the stairs. It was either some kind of parent radar or divine intervention that made me hear her, because every cell in my body had been focused on Sabrina. Whatever it was, I’m thankful. It would be horrible for Lexi to walk in on Sabrina and me doing God knows what.

  I caught the tail end of Lexi’s last sentence and switched gears to finish our conversation.

  “I’m glad you had a good time,” I said.

  “It was the best,” she said. “Maybe you can come next time.”

  “We’ll go once my leg is better.”

  “Maybe Sabrina can come, too.”