She sat up and pulled the sheet up to her neck, watching him pull on his jeans. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
He let out a noisy sigh and turned. “Are you mad?”
“No.”
“You sound mad.”
She battled between mad and trying to be understanding about his general cluelessness when it came to women. Did she have to spell it out? You don’t just hook up and then leave. She opened her mouth to tell him just that when he interrupted.
“Look, I’m new to all this relationship stuff, so why don’t you save us both some time and tell me what you’re mad about.”
“We have a relationship?”
“We’ve been dating four weeks!” he roared.
“Don’t yell at me!”
“I said I love you.” He jammed his hands on his hips. “That’s a relationship. What would you call it?”
He said it again. Out of bed. Her heart squeezed. “A relationship.”
“Thank you.” He sat next to her on the bed, wearing only jeans. She forced herself not to touch because that would be the end of any meaningful conversation. “Now tell me why you’re mad.”
“It’s just the way you race out of bed after we hook up.”
“I told you I gotta be someplace.”
She sighed. “Last time you rushed off it was church. Let me guess, on Saturdays you visit sick children at the hospital.”
The tips of his ears reddened.
“Omigod, you do! Why are you hiding good things from me? Are you trying to preserve some player rep?”
He turned away and spoke to the wall. “I don’t want you to see me in costume.”
“There’s a costume? What kind of costume?”
He stood. “It doesn’t matter. There, now I told you, so you can stop freaking out every time I gotta do something.”
“Is it Big Bird?”
He sputtered. “No, it’s not Big Bird!”
“Well, you’re tall enough. What is it?”
He mumbled something she couldn’t quite catch. She stood and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Say that again.”
His hands started roaming along her bare back. “A porcupine.”
“A porcupine?” She bit back a laugh.
“You’re laughing at me.” He peeled her off him and stepped away.
“I’m not! I was just surprised.” She threw herself in his arms again. “Why a porcupine?”
He told her about the picture book series his stepmom created about him and his brothers—the Huddles and Cuddles. She suddenly remembered the picture books that were the only books on the bookcase at his place. Vince explained there were hedgehogs (his stepbrothers) and porcupines (him, Nico, and Angel) who battled and then worked out their differences. Apparently he was the leader of the porcupines.
“I want to see the costume,” she said.
“No.”
“This is what people in relationships do,” she said with a straight face. “They see each other in costume. You saw me as a kitty cat. I’m coming with you.”
He stepped away, but she clung to him, not letting him escape. He palmed her ass and pressed her against him. “Soph, I look ridiculous. You’re not going to want to sleep with me after you see me like this.”
She smiled up at him. “Actually, I’ll want you even more.”
He smiled uncertainly. “Yeah?”
“Yup.”
He ground her against him. “How much more?”
“Like anything you want more.”
His gaze heated. “Anything?”
She nodded. The truth was he owned her in that bed, and now knowing what he really did with his weekend mornings, she just fell heart thumping, head-over-heels, can’t-even-think-straight in love.
He looked painfully conflicted. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
He pulled back. “You handling me, Soph?”
“Damn right. I learned from the best. Ah!” He’d grabbed her and turned her upside down. “Vince! Put me down!”
“If you laugh at me in that costume, you will pay. I will show no mercy.”
He’d shown mercy before? Even upside down, he turned her on. “I won’t laugh,” she promised.
He set her back on the ground. She looked at his disgruntled expression, love surging through her heart. “I love you, Vince.”
He sucked in an audible breath. “When you didn’t say it before…” He grabbed her and hauled her up against him. “I love you too.”
She spoke into his chest where she was comfortably nestled. “Tell me how this whole porcupine thing got started.”
He sighed and spoke over her shoulder, still holding her tight. “One of my guys on crew, his boy Jaden was sick. Leukemia. I started visiting him at the hospital. I didn't know what to say to the kid. I mean, it sucks, you know? So I read him the Huddles and Cuddles books that I loved as a kid. Then more kids wanted to hear the stories. One of the nurses, Emily, made me a costume.”
She pulled back to look at him. “Does it have quills?”
He pushed her back against his chest, so she couldn’t see his face. His voice rumbled in his chest. “Yes.” She stayed utterly still, hoping he’d continue to talk. “The kids went bananas. It was good for a while, you know? Jaden was getting a kick out of it. But he was getting worse, weaker.” He went quiet, and she held her breath. “He…died last summer.” His voice came out choked.
She pulled back to look in his eyes shiny with unshed tears. “I’m so sorry.”
He blinked and rubbed one eye with a fist. “I stopped going. Emily called me, said the kids missed me and it made things worse to lose Jaden and me. I’ve been going ever since.”
“I think my ovaries just exploded.”
He cocked his head. “What?”
“That is beautiful. Now why were you hiding that from me all this time?”
“I look like an idiot in that outfit.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
She held his face in her hands. “I love you. All the parts. The sexy parts. The idiot parts. I want it all.” His large hand covered one of hers. “Give me it all,” she demanded.
His eyes watered. “Whatcha doing to me, Soph?”
“I’m loving you.”
He kissed her, backing her up until her knees hit the back of the bed, then with one little push he had her on her back. He smiled wickedly. “You owe me anything.”
“That was after I went with you to the hosp—” The words died in her throat as Vince slowly undid his zipper. She swallowed as his jeans and briefs hit the floor, then he joined her, and the rest was fingers-fisting-in-the-sheets oblivion.
Chapter Twenty
Vince sighed and looked to the ceiling where he stood at the nurses’ station in the pediatric hematology-oncology ward of Eastman Hospital. The women were oohing and aahhing over his costume, giggling about how cute he was. This always happened. And he could tell Sophia was trying not to laugh.
This was exactly why he got his part of the deal upfront from Sophia. He knew she would think he looked ridiculous. He’d be lucky to ever get her naked again. And even if he did, she’d always be picturing him like this—bright red T-shirt with a felt C sewn on the front, a red eye mask, a gray knit cap with gray yarn that stuck up every which way for quills, and a blue cape. He refused to wear tights.
“Do you have a special name?” Sophia asked, fighting back a smile.
Emily, the nurse who made him the costume, grinned and handed him the goody bag. “He’s Captain Cuddle. I put some spider rings in there for Halloween.”
He nodded. Today was Halloween, and the nurses had decorated for it, but none of the kids in the hematology-oncology ward would be trick-or-treating. There were about ten to twenty kids usually because Eastman had a specialty team for kids with cancer that drew people from all over the tri-state area.
“The captain part was not my idea,” Vince mumbled. “The kids just started c
alling me that.”
“Can I be co-captain?” Sophia asked with a grin, eyes dancing with amusement.
“There’s no such thing,” he muttered. “I have to get started before visiting hours end.” He grabbed the stack of Huddle Cuddle books and headed resolutely into the ward. He always stopped at the sickest kids rooms first because they tired out quickly. Sophia trailed behind him.
“Knock, knock,” he boomed.
“Who’s there?” Olivia said with a giggle. She had leukemia too like Jaden. They’d been friends. She was skinny, had lost her hair, and was nine.
He bounded into the room.
“Captain Cuddle!” she exclaimed.
“In the flesh. I brought my friend Sophia today.”
Sophia smiled and waved, but stayed in the background.
“This is Candace,” Olivia said, pointing to a new girl in the other bed with blond hair in pigtails. “She has leukemia too. Newly diagnosed.” Sometimes Olivia sounded much older than her years. Probably from spending so much time with adults.
“Hi, Candace,” he said. “Have you heard of the Huddle Cuddle books? My mom wrote them.”
He held them up. Candace shook her head.
“Read The Huddle Cuddle Water Balloon Fight,” Olivia said. “That always sounds like fun. I never did that before.”
Vince had many times. His stepmom pulled most of her stories from real life. He’d never thought his childhood anything special, but when he got to know some of the kids here and what their daily life was like, full of tests and treatments and surgeries, he’d realized his childhood was pretty idyllic.
He pulled the book from the pile and set the others on a small table along with the goody bag. He always saved the goodies for the end, so they’d have something fun to play with while he moved to the next room. He held up the cover for both of them to see; then he turned the book so he could read the story and they could still see the pictures. His stepmom’s artwork was incredible—detailed, realistic, but also a bit magical. He didn’t know what it was, but the pictures drew you in and made you feel like you could live in this enchanted forest where hedgehogs and porcupines could speak and play.
“The leader of the Huddles wasn’t happy that day,” he began. He smiled to himself, checking out the leader of the Huddles that he knew was based on his brother Gabe. Olivia clapped. “It seemed he’d been hit quite unexpectedly on his way to his favorite swing with a water balloon. Splat!”
The girls giggled. He glanced at Sophia, who looked very serious. He returned to the story and acted out a bit of the water balloon fight to keep things interesting. When he finished, Olivia started chanting, “More, more, more!”
“Two more and then I have to go to the next room. You know the drill. And since Candace is new here, I’m going to read The Huddle Cuddle School Smashup.” That was based on when he and his brothers had started going to Clover Park schools after their dad married their stepmom. “Sucks to be the new kid, right?”
Olivia giggled. “You said a bad word.”
He did? “Which one?”
“Sucks!”
“Oh. That’s not really bad. Okay, no fun to be the new kid.” He read that one too and added some gory bloody detail to a playground brawl that his stepmom hadn’t included, but he thought made it more exciting. He finished with the last book and both girls begged him to stay.
“Ladies, I’ll be back next weekend. You get a parting gift.” He opened the goody bag. The gifts were something he’d wanted to do, but he didn’t know what kids would like, so he’d worked out a deal with Emily where he gave her money every Saturday and she filled it with little toys and trinkets she thought the kids would like. He eyed the girls. “You like bracelets or spider rings?”
“Bracelets!” the girls chorused.
He pulled out some rubber bracelets that had smiley faces on them and flowers. A few had words like Strength and Courage and Hope. He got a lump in his throat. These kids had all three.
He stopped in front of Candace. “Pick one.”
She spent a long time looking at each one. “I’ll take the pink one with flowers,” she said in a whispery soft voice. “Thank you.”
He handed it over and turned to Olivia. “Let me guess, purple.” That was her favorite color. She had purple everything—pajamas, a special blankie, even her teddy bear wore a purple dress.
She nodded and held out her hand. The pale flesh of her inner arm had scars from all of the needle pricks she’d received. He gave her the bracelet, and she unexpectedly grabbed him around the middle and hugged him. “Thank you, Captain Cuddle.”
He patted her shoulder awkwardly. “You’re welcome, Awesome Olivia.” The girl clung to him. “Hey, now, you okay?”
She looked up at him with big puppy eyes. “You’re the best part of Saturday and it’s over.”
“All right, you little con artist, you win with those puppy eyes. Two more stories and then that’s it.”
She grinned and sat back in bed, waiting. This was by far the most difficult part of this gig. The kids were just stuck here, mostly alone in their beds, and desperate for something fun in their lives. She drifted to sleep before he’d even finished the next story. He made an exaggerated shushing motion to Candace and left.
He finished up his visit three hours later. He never wanted to shortchange any of them. If they really wanted him to stay, he did. As long as he’d still have time to get to the others before visiting hours ended.
He headed back to the nurses’ station to pay Emily for the goody bag stuff and say goodbye. Sophia walked at his side, looking serious. He elbowed her. “Tough gig, huh?”
“I don’t know how you do it,” she said.
He frowned. He’d meant it was a tough gig for the kids. “It’s easy for me. I’m just reading picture books and handing out stuff. It’s the kids who’ve got it tough.” He’d grown up with a sick mom. It didn’t faze him.
She took his arm and held it as they walked. “Thank you for letting me see you like this. It was beautiful.”
“Even the porcupine hat?”
She smiled. “Especially the porcupine hat.”
~ ~ ~
To Vince’s surprise, Sophia was still hot for him that night. They went back to her place because she’d wanted to take him to her favorite restaurant in Brooklyn for dinner. Her roommate was gone for the weekend, visiting his girlfriend in Canada. He’d really thought the costume would’ve made her giggly every time she clapped eyes on him. He knew he’d have a hard time forgetting it if she walked around with some weird hat and cape.
She was unexpectedly aggressive in bed, and they’d had a crazy tangle in the sheets because he was always aggressive. She was kind of a perfect match for him. For the first time he saw the appeal of being tied down to one woman.
The tied-down-to-one-woman idea became less appealing the next morning when Sophia was all up in his business just because he got out of bed early. He had to drive more than an hour to go home and get ready for his mandatory godfather church duty. It wasn’t like he was skulking on his cuddle duty either. Last night he’d held her for way more than seven minutes.
She snagged his arm where he sat on the edge of the bed about to make a break for it. “Now what’s the deal with church?” she asked. “Why can’t I go with you?”
He groaned and peeled her off his arm. She leaped on his back, and he nearly fell forward at the unexpected move. She wrapped her arms and legs around him like a damn monkey. He could easily flip her over his shoulder or bring her around to his front, but she was naked and felt damn good back there. Besides it was easier to talk when he didn’t have to look at those deep brown eyes that he knew would be looking at him with pity. “It’s not a big deal, Soph.”
She spoke in a husky voice right into his ear. “You a sinner?”
Damn, he wanted her again. But he was going to be late if he didn’t get going. There could be bridge traffic. He looked at her over his shoulder. “You know I am.”
/> “I’m going with you.”
“No.”
“I’ll go with you just like this,” she threatened. “Naked woman on your back. Is that what you want?”
He chuckled. Wouldn’t that be a sight for Father Munson? “I don’t want you to see me there.”
“Why? I saw you as a porcupine. Why can’t I see you in a shirt and tie?”
He really didn’t want to have this conversation. He was about to stand and flip her over his shoulder when she scooted around to his front, wrapping that delicious body around his naked one, pressing up close enough to make his cock pulse against her.
“How about naked woman on your front in church?” she asked with a cheeky grin. “Does that work better for you?”
He pushed her hair back where it had fallen in her face, all tousled like she’d had a good roll in the hay. Which she had. “You’re a piece of work.”
“I know.” Then she started kissing his neck, her hot mouth licking and nibbling away. “Tell me the problem, and I’ll fix it.”
“The problem is I want to screw your brains out, but I have to get back before I miss Mass and disqualify myself as godfather.”
She met his eyes. “I saw you last week at church. How come Jasmine gets to sit with you and I can’t?”
“Don’t worry about her. She’s married and practically family. Her sister married my brother.”
“I’m not worried.” She kissed him on the mouth, and he welcomed the distraction. He returned the kiss in his usual aggressive way, hoping she’d forget all about this conversation. When he finally let her up for air, she looked dazed, and her eyes were hazy with lust. He picked her up and set her back on the bed.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
She rolled out of bed and started getting dressed. “I’m coming with you.”
“Soph.”
“It’s a free country. I can go to whatever church I feel like. If I happen to want to go to your church when you’re there, I can go.”
“Did I say you were my dream girl?” he thundered. “More like a nightmare.”
She gave him a small smile. “I love you too.”
That hit him right in the gut. “M-me too.” He swallowed, not used to this love stuff. “Love you, I mean.”
Not My Romeo Page 17