The nurse pointed down a hall behind her position, her eyes wide.
Jessica raced in that direction, her gaze frantically darting back and forth to the rooms that lined the hall. Someone in uniform stepped out of the last cubicle.
“Jessica, he’s all right,” Ricky, one of the deputies, hurriedly said.
“All right? They said he was shot!” she screamed, staring at him incomprehensively.
Her response alerted Ed and Mabel and Betty, who stepped past the curtain together and came to meet Jessica.
She took Mabel’s hands, trying to control her sobbing. “Cal! Is he really all right? Where is he? What happened?”
“Jess?” Cal called from the cubicle.
She didn’t wait for answers to her questions. She darted past the curtain, then came to an abrupt halt.
Cal was sitting up on the bed, his shirt off, while a doctor was working on his left arm.
“Cal?” Jessica called, her voice wobbling. “Are you all right?”
He held out his right arm and she ducked into his embrace.
“Steady, there,” the doctor ordered.
“What’s he doing?” she demanded, her voice cracking, her body shaking.
“I got nicked and he’s sewing me up.”
One of the other deputies stepped up. “Cal’s lucky Betty made him wear his bulletproof vest, or he’d be dead right now.”
Jessica turned around, spying Cal’s receptionist who had followed her back into the cubicle. “Bless you, Betty.”
“Still left a big bruise,” Ed muttered.
Jessica turned her attention back to Cal, smoothing her hands over his bare chest. He winced, and she pulled her hands back as if she’d touched fire.
“Easy, baby. I’m a little sore.”
She stared at him. Then she completely lost it. Bursting into tears, she leaned into his neck, sobbing with relief that Cal was still the center of her world.
CAL DIDN’T NEED ANYONE to tell him he’d been lucky. If one of his bullets hadn’t struck the man with the guns, he’d definitely have come out worse, if not dead. Then, if several of his men, flying down the road, their sirens blaring, hadn’t scared the other man, who’d taken off running, he probably would’ve completed the job his fallen friend had tried to do.
Yep, he’d been lucky.
Of course, when he awoke the next morning, in a spare bedroom in his parents’ house, he didn’t feel quite so lucky. He ached all over, but his arm and chest in particular were painful.
The doctor had prescribed pain pills. He vaguely remembered Jessica giving him one last night. Then he didn’t remember anything.
He groaned as he took a deep breath. That hurt.
“Cal? Are you awake? Do you need something?”
Jessica popped up, and Cal realized she’d slept beside him on the king-size bed. Damn, the first time she’d slept with him and he couldn’t remember it.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked, surprised to hear his voice slur. He hoped her presence meant she’d realized how right they were for each other. How real their engagement should be. He’d been encouraged by her reaction yesterday at the hospital.
“I’m taking care of you, just like I always have. Remember when you broke your arm?”
He sighed. Just like always. He guessed she’d been afraid of losing a friend yesterday, instead of a lover. At least he had their friendship as a starting point.
Staring at her, he decided she looked as if she needed care, instead of him. Dark circles were under her eyes and her hand trembled as it rested on his good arm. “Did I keep you up half the night?”
“No, you scarcely moved.”
“Then why do you look like you haven’t slept in a month, baby?”
Instead of answering him, she slipped off the other side of the bed and crossed the room to the bathroom. He noticed she was dressed in the same jeans and T-shirt she’d worn yesterday.
“Jess?” he called after her.
She reappeared almost immediately. “Sorry. I didn’t realize I looked so bad. I’ll go—”
“No! Hell, baby, I don’t care if you don’t look your best. I was just concerned about you.” He lifted his right arm toward her.
She took his hand. “I didn’t sleep well.”
“Probably ’cause I didn’t kiss you good-night,” he teased, hoping to see a smile on her lips.
No such luck. Instead, they trembled.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? You could’ve died, Cal! That’s what’s wrong.”
“But, Jess, I didn’t. I’m too stubborn to—”
Before he could finish, a knock sounded on the door.
Mabel opened the door. “Is everything all right?”
Jessica stood rigid beside the bed, seemingly unable to speak. Cal looked at his mom. “I was concerned about how tired Jess looked.”
Come to think of it, his mother didn’t look a lot better.
“I guess I caused y’all a lot of worry, but, really, I’m fine,” he assured them, then winced as he tried to shift on the bed.
“I think he needs another pain pill,” Jessica said at once.
“I’ll bring up his breakfast,” Mabel added, and both women started to leave him.
“Wait a minute! Don’t I get a say in anything? I don’t want a pain pill. It knocked me out last night and I don’t want to lose consciousness again. And I’ll come down for breakfast as soon as I shower, Mom.”
Mabel looked at him doubtfully.
Jessica, however, wasn’t as willing to let him have his way. “The pain pills for this morning aren’t as strong as last night. The doctor said you’d get well faster if you take them, because it will relax the muscles.”
Her chin was up, a sure sign of her stubbornness. Cal grinned. “You promise it won’t make me pass out?”
She nodded.
“Okay, I’ll take a pill after I eat. Mom, give me five minutes for a shower.”
Jessica intervened again. “No shower. You’ll have to take a bath because you can’t get your stitches wet.’
“Damn. I think I’ll go back to sleep and wake up another day. Maybe everything will be better then.” He frowned at Jessica.
For the first time, a small smile peeked out. “Your choice. I have a pill for that, too.”
Mabel laughed. “I see everything’s under control here. I’ll go start his breakfast. And yours, too, Jess.”
“Oh, no, Mabel that’s not—”
“Yes, it is necessary,” Cal said firmly, staring at her. “You’re going to need your energy to take care of me.”
“I won’t argue about that,” Jessica agreed.
But her smile remained in place, indicating she didn’t mind taking care of him, and that made Cal happy.
Jessica decided Cal didn’t seem quite as happy when, after his mother left, he tried to throw back the covers and rise.
The doctor had warned her and Mabel that Cal would have considerable stiffness and pain. She pulled the covers back farther, trying to ignore the picture of Cal in his white briefs, stretched out on the bed.
“Take it slowly, Cal. The doctor said—”
“I don’t care what the damned doctor said. This hurts!”
“That’s exactly what he said.”
“Thanks.”
She grinned at his sarcastic response. At least he sounded normal. She’d been so shaken last night and this morning at the thought of losing Cal, it was reassuring to hear him complain.
As he tried to sit up, she slid an arm behind his back and lifted as much as she could. He was a big man. There was no way she could lift him by herself.
As soon as he was upright, sweat breaking out on his brow, she lifted his legs to the floor.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with my legs!”
“I was just trying to conserve your strength. The doctor said you should take it easy at first.” She watched his jaw square and his lips press together.
Cal Baxter was known for his hardheadedness.
Maybe that was why he’d never married.
Dismissing that thought, she wrapped her arm around his waist as soon as he was standing. She certainly didn’t want to chance his falling. If there was anything he didn’t need, it was more bruises.
He laid his arm around her shoulders and they made slow progress to the connecting bath. She helped him sit on the closed commode so she could run his bathwater.
As she adjusted the temperature of the water, he said, “I want to know just how far your nursing is going to go.” His breathing had evened out after the strenuous walk to the bathroom. “Are you going to bathe me?”
She gave him a mock look of shock. “Of course not.”
“Why not? It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve seen me naked.”
With his gaze on her, she felt her cheeks heat. “But that was over twenty years ago when you taught me about skinny-dipping. And both our mothers made it clear why we’d better not do that again.”
He smiled. “Yeah, but we’re all grown up now. The rules are different. Besides, we’re engaged.”
Jessica gave a cautious look to the door she’d closed behind them. “Behave, Cal. You have to bathe yourself. I’ll leave a towel nearby. When you’re finished, drain the water, put the towel over you, and I’ll come help you get out of the tub.”
“I don’t think I can manage without a kiss.”
Her gaze whipped back to him, catching the teasing glint in his eyes. “This is not the time to play games.”
“Baby, I never felt more like playing games in my life. Because I can.”
He still had a grin on his lips, but she caught the dark significance of his words. And she couldn’t agree more. “Okay,” she agreed without argument. “One kiss.”
Reaching for her waist, he tipped her into his lap before she knew what was happening. And by the twist of his lips, paid for his behavior with pain.
“Oh, Cal, you’ll hurt yourself.”
“Yeah, but I think it’ll be worth it. Give me my kiss.”
Conscious of his near nudity, the warmth of his body, the strength of her wounded warrior, Jessica didn’t hesitate to comply with his request.
Besides, it was what she wanted.
Their lips met in a fierce coming together, a draining, life-reinforcing kiss that celebrated what they shared. Immediately Jessica wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and clung with all the fervor of her being, giving thanks that Cal was alive.
His lips pressed for deeper union, his tongue pulled her into his being, his arms held her against him. She almost became one with him by the kiss alone.
When she felt his burgeoning erection against her legs, she knew they should stop. He certainly wasn’t in any condition to carry the embrace to its logical conclusion, but his closeness felt so good, so right, that she only pressed closer.
Until her feet got wet.
Chapter Thirteen
By the time the overflowing bathwater had been mopped, breakfast consumed and Cal returned to his bed, he was ready to admit his need for rest.
Spence and Tuck arrived about the time he subsided onto the mattress. He was glad to see his friends. But Jessica used their arrival as an excuse to leave his side. Though he felt guilty for his selfishness, he wanted her with him.
Mabel, who’d escorted the two visitors to his bedroom, grinned. “She’ll be back after she has a shower and packs some clothes, son.”
He glared at his mother. Her response made his need clear to his friends. She kept grinning but left the room.
“I hear you scared Jess bad,” Spence said. “Us, too.”
“It wasn’t in my plans. It just happened that way,” Cal assured his friends.
“It must’ve been tough,” Tuck added.
“Sort of. But everything happened quickly. And I missed a lot of the action by passing out about the time Ricky and Hank arrived.”
“How long you gonna be down?” Spence asked.
“Long enough to miss a rodeo or two,” Cal assured him. The thought of those Saturday roughhouses with his friends made him feel old. “Actually, I’ll be out of the office for a few days, but that’s ’cause the doc is cautious.” Dr. Greenfield had delivered all four of them. He was an institution in Cactus.
“Yeah,” Tuck murmured. “Remember when I broke my arm playing football? He thought I should stay out the rest of the season.”
All three of them laughed since Tuck had played the next game. The door opened on their laughter.
“Well, it seems you’re doing better than expected if you can laugh,” Mac said from the doorway.
“Come on in, Mac. We were just reminiscing,” Cal chuckled.
Mac pulled a chair alongside the other two and settled in. “Well, we’ve got a few memories, don’t we?”
In the general agreement, it was Spence who grew somber. “It makes a fellow think, something like this happening.”
“What do you mean?” Tuck growled.
“Facing death, whether it’s you or a friend, makes you think about all the things you’ve done. It might even help us understand our parents’ wanting grandchildren.”
No one spoke until Tuck looked at Cal. “What do you think, Cal?”
“Hell, I don’t have to think. I’m engaged. It’s you guys who need to change direction. I’m going to produce some grandchildren as fast as I can.”
“And don’t he look miserable thinking about doing that producing?” Tack teased.
Cal laughed with his friends, but his temperature indeed was rising. Every time he thought about making love to Jessica he grew hot.
Mac shook his head. “You guys go ahead and produce the kids. I’ll be their doting uncle. That’d be best.”
Cal studied his friend. “Don’t give up on life yet, Mac,” he said softly. “If you’d told me last year I’d be marrying Jess, I’d have thought you were crazy.”
Mac smiled. “You would’ve, but the rest of us always believed you were meant for each other.”
“Hey,” Spence said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Do you see anyone for me?”
“I’m no palm reader, Spence. Find your own woman,” Mac returned.
“I bet your mother would help you,” Tuck said with a grin.
“Hell, all our mothers are on the warpath, looking for brides. Any hint of a willing woman and you’ll be tied up faster than a stray calf,” Cal advised his friend.
“Even Aunt Flo is participating in this debacle,” Mac said.
“Participating?” Tuck said, staring at Mac. “I heard she’s the one who started the entire bet. In fact, if any of us, except for Cal, here, who wants to get married, is trapped, we can lay it at your feet.”
“Not me! Aunt Flo’s maybe, but not mine.”
“Besides,” Spence added, “as soon as Cal and Jessica make a baby, the bet will be over, and we’ll all be safe.”
Interestingly enough, Cal thought he caught a sad note in Spence’s voice. Did his friend really want to be married? Had he simply gone along with their sentiment because he was a friend?
“Well, I’ll try to rescue you guys as soon as possible.”
“It doesn’t sound like it if you’re postponing the wedding for a couple of years,” Mac pointed out.
Cal was suddenly reminded that he was the only member of the new couple who thought they would be married. But that didn’t deter him. “It’s under negotiation.”
“That’a boy,” Mac cheered.
“Well, now that you’ve agreed to rescue all of us from Operation Baby, we’d better let you get some rest. Jessica will be back in a little while and we want you up to snuff for whatever, er, happens.”
Cal wasn’t enough of an optimist to think that he’d be up to bedroom Olympics today. But he intended to bring that event to fruition as soon as possible.
Because he’d discovered a truth yesterday.
The only thing he would have regretted, had he died yesterday, wa
s not making love to Jessica.
And as soon as he was able, he intended to take care of that omission.
MAC LEFT CAL’S BEDROOM in a melancholy mood. Oh, he was happy for his friend. Cal’s love for Jessica was in his eyes. Mac thought they made a perfect couple. If any pair had a chance of happiness, Cal and Jessica did.
He couldn’t help remembering, however, when he’d felt as optimistic as Cal. It hadn’t lasted. The pain of his divorce was more than he ever wanted to face again.
Maybe he was a coward. He hadn’t thought so, but his unwillingness to risk his heart again made him think that maybe he might be.
Well, too bad. He’d cheer for Cal and Jess’s marriage, but, coward or no, he wasn’t going to risk his own heart ever again.
FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS, Jessica stayed with Mabel and Ed, providing around-the-clock care for Cal.
Well, not quite around-the-clock. She didn’t stay in the same bedroom with him after that first night. And she didn’t flood the bathroom again.
But she was at his beck and call. Her restaurant held no interest for her as long as Cal needed her. The thought of living in this world without him rearranged her priorities.
After three days he seemed his old self, scarcely even demonstrating any stiffness. In spite of her protests, he even went back to the office, though he promised to leave any active work to his staff.
After he lustily kissed her goodbye on the fourth morning after his accident, she packed her bags, hugged Mabel and Ed goodbye and returned to her town house.
“What are you doing at home?” Cal barked into the phone when she answered its persistent ringing an hour later.
“Why wouldn’t I be at home?”
“You should be at Mom’s. I thought you’d stay there.”
“Cal, if you’re well enough to return to work, you don’t need me waiting on you hand and foot.” Not that she’d minded. She found sweet pleasure in making him happy.
“I know, but I liked it,” he said, and she could hear his grin.
“I bet you did, you rat. Maybe you took advantage of me,” she accused, though she wasn’t serious.
“No, baby, I wouldn’t do that. How about I take tomorrow off and we go for a ride? You’ve been neglecting Red again.”
One Hot Daddy-To-Be? Page 14