She drank in his body for a long time. It was as though her eyes couldn’t get enough. It was as though they were hungry. She focused on his nipples, wondering if his were anywhere near as sensitive as hers. She wondered what it would feel like to run her tongue across one of them. She wondered what his mouth would feel like on hers.
That thought was a shock to her system. She was his nurse—she was supposed to be treating him, not fantasizing about him. She cleared her throat and looked back up to his face. This time he was staring at her. His intense green eyes were boring into her. It made her even hotter than before, and she hoped that he wasn’t able to read her mind.
“Aren’t you supposed to be telling me a secret tonight?” She carefully peeled off his bandages to reveal new pink skin, finally returning to her nursing duties. One more part of his body healed. He was one step closer to walking out of the hospital. She grew unreasonably sad. “Don’t think I forgot about it.”
Little by little, she exposed his entire torso. More beauty. Hard stomach with lines she wanted to trace with her fingers. Why couldn’t he have had a jellylike gut instead of perfectly formed abs? Why couldn’t one part of him be just a little bit unattractive to her? She swallowed hard. “Tell me about your family.” Her voice sounded thick even to her own ears.
“I thought you wanted to know my darkest secret.”
“Huh?”
“You asked me to tell you a secret. Then you asked about my family. Which one do you want?”
“I want all of it.” All of you, she stopped herself from saying.
She turned away from him and went to the sink to fill a basin of water. His nearness was suffocating her. She should walk away now, go about the rest of her shift pretending that it was just another normal night, but she couldn’t force herself to leave. “What are you doing over there?”
“I’m going to clean you up a little. You’re sticky from the bandages.”
“I stink. I don’t know how you can stand to be around me sometimes. Is there any way I could take a shower?”
She turned to face him as the thoughts of his hard naked body in the shower invaded her. Heat and water and soap all over his body. She wondered if he touched himself in there. If he put his hands on his... She tried to stop herself from completing that thought. But lately when she showered she wondered what it would be like if she were ever to touch herself there, in between her legs. It was wicked, or so she had been taught. She had never touched herself, but lately she ached there. Her breasts felt heavy and her body yearned for some kind of relief.
“Georgia?”
“Hmm?”
“Can I take a shower?”
“No.” She snapped back to reality. “Soon, honey. In the next couple of weeks or so. And you don’t stink.” She pulled a bar of soap out of the cabinet. “You smell like a man.” She approached him with the steamy basin of water. “I’m going to give you a good washing. And you’re going to tell me all about yourself while I do.”
She needed to hear him talk to distract herself. When they were quiet her mind had a chance to wander.
“I don’t have a family,” he said as she dipped the soap into the water. She didn’t bother with gloves, like she should have. She was going to allow herself this. Contact. Her skin on his.
“Lift your arm,” she ordered. “You’d better not have any family. Or else I would have given them one angry phone call for not bringing their behinds here to visit you.”
He smiled. “My mother would have liked you.”
“Would she? Tell me about her.”
She cleaned him, attacking him with the bar of soap and washcloth just like she did all of her other patients, but the whole time she kept telling herself that there was nothing more intimate or special about her cleaning him.
She was lying to herself.
“My mother was a tiny, bigmouthed New Yorker.”
“What?” She looked up at him as she ran the wet cloth across his chest.
“Yeah. She was from Queens and barely reached five feet. She met my father in a strip club in New York City, where she was a cocktail waitress.”
“You’re kidding.”
A slight smile curled his lips. “Nope. My father was there for a bachelor party and he took one look at my mother and they were a couple from that day on. They were mismatched. My father grew up Westport, Connecticut. He was quiet and reserved and everything my mother wasn’t. But they fit together.”
“What happened to them?”
“Car accident. The morning I graduated from college. I was supposed to pick them up from the airport but I was too hungover. My father rented a car and just before they turned on to campus, a tractor trailer smashed into them, killing them on impact.”
“Christian...”
His story took her breath away. He told it so matter-of-factly, as if he was reciting the weather, but she could tell by the tightening of his features that he was deeply hurt.
She dropped the washcloth and took his face in her hands. “You know that wasn’t your fault.” She searched his face for an answer. “Don’t you?”
“I was selfish.”
“You were twenty-one.” She kissed his long nose.
“Georgia,” he said, his voice sounding choked, “don’t kiss me.”
She slid her lips across his face and down to his jawline, where she left behind a half dozen soft kisses. “Why not?”
“You know why.” His injured hand had found its way under her scrubs again and she feel could his burned fingers stroking across her lower back. The sensation of his rough fingers against her smooth skin sent goose bumps up her body. She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted to feel that sensation all over.
And when a little moan escaped her lips she realized that she was doing it again. She was getting too close. She was taking things too far. “Okay.” She stood up. “I won’t do it again.”
He looked at her almost helplessly for a moment before he shut his eyes.
She picked up the washcloth and continued to wash his chest. They didn’t speak anymore after that. She just concentrated on washing him, clearing the soap off his body, washing down the hard planes of his stomach.
She was so in tune with what she was doing that she didn’t realize that this was the longest time she had ever spent bathing a patient. She didn’t realize the effect it had on him until he grabbed her hand.
“Stop,” he groaned.
“What?”
He didn’t have to answer because she saw it. The blanket had tented. His erection was so big she was lost for words.
Heat climbed her up neck. Her hand twitched and she had to order herself not to touch the blanket, to pull it down and reveal the things that caused her so much fascination.
Her eyes shot to his face. He still had her hand in a vise grip. She could tell he was mortified, but she wasn’t. She felt... She didn’t know how to put it in words.
“Don’t be embarrassed, honey. It’s a natural reaction. This happens to a lot of nurses. It’s never happened to me, but I must say I’m quite flattered.”
He opened his eyes and scowled at her. “This is not funny, Georgia.”
“I know. What do you want me to do?”
“Leave.”
“Leave?” She was hurt by his request.
“Yes. Go.” He let go of her hand.
“Okay. Let me put back on your gown.”
“Please, Georgia. Just go.”
She didn’t say another word or give him another look. She just left the room.
CHAPTER 9
Christian didn’t get any sleep that night after Georgia left. It was impossible. What the hell was she doing kissing him like that? Touching him like that? Making it nearly impossible for him to behave himself. She had no idea how close he was
to hauling her off her feet and pulling her on top of him. No woman had ever touched him like that before. No woman had ever wanted to.
She was no practiced seductress. In fact, everything she did was sweetly innocent in a way, and it made him want her more. It made him crave her. What the hell was he going to do? He could barely look at her now without wanting her. How was he going to be her friend now that he knew what her hands felt like on his body? He should ignore her. Pretend like he was sleeping when she came in. But he knew he couldn’t do that. She was the only thing he looked forward to, the only thing that made his stay in the hospital bearable.
“Sir, you in here?”
Tobias appeared in his doorway, his hands on the wall, his eyes bandaged.
“Where else would I be?”
The boy’s face broke out into a grin. “You mind if I stumble my way in?”
“Get your ass in, soldier, and sit down.”
“Did you miss me?”
“No. Where were you?” he asked when Tobias sat down.
“Got that surgery I told you about.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I figured what’s the worst that could happen? I was already blind.”
“So the surgery didn’t take.” Christian couldn’t keep the disappointment out of his voice for the boy. He had his whole life of ahead of him, and it didn’t seem fair that he couldn’t experience everything it had to offer.
“Not the way they wanted it to. But when they take these things off my eyes I can see some. It’s blurry as shit, but I can see light and I even can see color.”
“That’s good. I’m happy for you, Tobias.”
“Thank you, sir.” He was silent for a moment. “And I’m sorry for getting all bitchy on you. I didn’t mean to. It’s just... You know.”
He did know. Life had thrown them both for a loop. “Don’t worry about it. But you do realize that if I wasn’t laid up in this bed I would have stomped your ass into the ground.”
“Yes, sir.” He saluted with a grin. “So what’s new with you? Are you any closer to getting out of here?”
“I haven’t heard yet. Nobody will give me an answer. But I’m getting damn sick of being here.”
“I’m past sick of being here. The doctor told me I might be getting out of here soon....” Tobias turned his face away from Christian. He didn’t sound happy about finally getting some sort of life back.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. It’s just, what the hell am I going to do when I get out of here?”
“According to Georgia, anything you want.”
“Miss Georgia.” He smiled. “I wish I could take her with me when I go.”
“You’re not the only one.”
“You’ve got a crush on her, too?”
“I don’t,” he said truthfully. He didn’t. What he felt for her couldn’t be classified as a crush.
“What does she look like? I’ve got this picture of her in my head. Sort of a mix of the good witch from the Wizard of Oz and Audrey Hepburn.”
“What do you know about Audrey Hepburn? You’re barely out of diapers.”
“My sister’s got a big black-and-white poster of her in her bedroom. I saw her every day until I went to basic training. Am I close? What does Nurse Williams look like?”
“She’s pretty,” he began, unsure about how to describe her. “She’s got honey-colored skin and dark reddish-brown hair that she always wears in a bun. Her eyes are big and light brown and you can tell how smart she is just by looking into them. And her nose...” He smiled to himself. “It’s little and cute and she has a half dozen freckles sprinkled across it. And her skin is...” He stopped talking realizing that he sounded like a complete jackass.
“Yeah, but what’s her ass look like?”
Christian threw his head back and laughed. He had forgotten what was important to a nineteen-year-old.
* * *
“What’s the matter, Georgia?” Mrs. Sheppard asked her as soon as she walked through the door. “You don’t look very happy this morning.”
“I’m fine,” she lied, plastering a smile on her face. “I just had a rough shift last night. All I need is a little bit of sleep.”
Mrs. Sheppard frowned at her. “I’m guessing you’re not going to let me keep this baby so you can get more than two hours of uninterrupted sleep.”
Georgia genuinely smiled at Mrs. Sheppard this time. “You know I won’t.” She draped her arms around the older woman. “But I will allow you to give me a hug.”
“I can do that, you sweet girl.” She squeezed Georgia and smoothed her hair. “You miss your mama. Don’t you?”
“I do. Some days more than others.”
“Why can’t you call her? I’m a mama and I know that there is very little that my daughter could do that would make me not want to hear from her.”
Georgia wanted to call her mother. She wanted to hear her voice so badly some days she ached. But she couldn’t pick up the phone. She didn’t even think about it. Her father controlled everything, including her mother. He would never allow his wife to speak to his outcast daughter. Even though she wanted to. Even though, according to Carolina, Georgia’s absence hurt her.
“My mother isn’t available for me to speak to.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. You can talk to me if you want to. I’ll do my best to be a good stand-in.”
Georgia pulled out of the embrace and stared at Mrs. Sheppard for a moment. She wanted to confide in somebody, to talk about her weird mixed-up feelings because holding them inside her for so long had made her feel as though she was going to burst. But what could she say about Christian? He was her secret best friend.
“There’s a marine at work,” she said in a rush.
“Oh?” Mrs. Sheppard sat down on the couch and patted the cushion beside her. “Sit down and tell me about him.”
Georgia nodded and picked up her baby before joining her on the sofa. “I like him. Not like. I like my other patients, but in a different way. He’s my friend.” She looked up at Mrs. Sheppard helplessly. “I’m not supposed to be friends with my patients.”
“Well, maybe not all of them, but I think it’s okay if you have a friend, especially if that friend is a handsome marine.”
“Oh, Christian’s not handsome. He’s too huge to be handsome. He’s six inches shy of seven feet tall and he even scowls in his sleep, but there’s something about him. He’s lonely, I think. His parents died. He’s got no other family. Only one person comes to visit him. He needs me to be his friend.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, Georgia. Why do you seem so upset?”
“I think he might not want me to be his friend anymore. He sent me away last night.”
“Oh, honey.” She patted Georgia’s hand. “That’s a man just acting like a man. They have no idea what they need. It’s a woman’s job to tell them. My Wade was just like that. Didn’t know what was wrong with him until I told him. Now, with your friend, try to give him a little space. Ignore him a little bit. If I know men, and I do, he’ll be calling you back in no time.”
Georgia left Mrs. Sheppard’s apartment thinking about her advice. She hadn’t told her the whole story, but she couldn’t have revealed it all to the nice older woman. Especially how she was beginning to feel about Christian. She had embarrassed him, and instead of playing coy she wanted to apologize to him.
Maybe she should give him some space. She knew that every time she was near him their relationship was becoming less of a friendship and more of something she wasn’t prepared to handle.
He was going to leave soon. It was just a matter of time before he walked out of her life.
She went to work that night, and instead of following her normal routine she saw Christian early, right in the middle of
the rest of her patients. He couldn’t keep the surprise off his face, but she ignored it.
“How are you feeling tonight, Lieutenant?”
He blinked at her.
“The physical therapist told me that he worked you hard this morning. You’ll probably fall right asleep tonight.”
“Georgia.”
She could feel his eyes searching her face, but she wouldn’t look at him. She still felt guilty about last night. She’d upset him. He was her only friend and she had upset him all because she was too fascinated with him to know when to take a step back. She never knew her place with him. She was always the one crossing the line. She was always the one who couldn’t keep her hands to herself. He had been polite about it. He had always been kind to her. He always made her feel safe.
“Can I get you something? Another blanket? Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Stop scowling, Christian.” She touched his brow. It was the only touch she would permit herself to have. “You’re going to give yourself a headache.”
She left after that.
* * *
Christian waited until 1:31 a.m. to call Georgia. He was so mad at her he couldn’t see straight. How the hell could she walk in and out of his room as though nothing had ever happened? As if he was any other patient?
“What’s the matter, Christian? Are you in pain?”
“Come here,” he barked at her, as if she was one of his soldiers.
Her eyes widened for a moment, but she obeyed him. He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to meet her.
“What the hell are you trying to pull?”
“Lie back down, you idiot,” she said without heat, but she wouldn’t look at him. Just like earlier that evening. That bothered him more than anything else.
“I can take a lot of people not being able to look me in the face, but I don’t think I can take it from you.”
Her eyes snapped up to his. “I’m sorry, Christian.”
Shit. He was one of those men who never fell for women’s games. He didn’t care about tears or pouty lips or hurt feelings, but all that went out the window when he looked at her. She had the biggest, saddest brown eyes. As though somebody had run over her pet.
Jericho (A Redemption Novel) Page 9