The strong palms pulled at her ass until she felt the hard steel of Arie’s belly button ring. That had been a shock the Þ rst time they had made love. Arie seemed too serious to have walked into a piercing studio to get her navel pierced. She had claimed it was a youthful indiscretion, but Cees Þ gured it had been much more than that. Cees moaned, attempting to move away from the stud.
“Does it hurt?” Arie asked.
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Cees shook her head. “No, I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”
“I’ll let you know if it starts to hurt.” Arie’s hands were Þ rm on her ass, and Cees’s head sank into the pillow. She was breathing hard, probably directly in Arie’s ear. The hands on her ass were urging her to move. Her clitoris had swollen, parting her lips and giving the stud easy access. Arie’s Þ ngers were more forceful now, and at some point she had parted Cees’s legs.
“Move your knees up to my side,” she whispered, and without thinking, without concern, Cees did. The position left her open and exposed. When the tips of two of Arie’s Þ ngers entered her, Cees moaned and pressed down on the navel ring.
“Ah, not yet,” Arie said and arched away from her.
Cees shivered but obediently stopped seeking her release.
Arie squeezed her ass, and Cees lifted her head but kept her eyes closed for fear Arie would drive her over the edge. She knew what she would see, what she had seen in the eight months they had been dating—passion, lust, and even love, the last of which Arie had yet to utter, but Cees saw it.
“Cees?”
“I can’t hold it off.”
“I know, sweetheart. Neither of us are very good at that,” Arie said, and Cees opened her eyes to gaze into Arie’s sexy, knowing smile. It was enough to push her toward the Þ rst of many crests.
Arie was right—as much as Cees loved the orgasm, as much as she loved the increase in movement, the release, she hated the end. She hated the slow death and the feel of Arie leaving her body because that would mean that Arie would start to remember whatever it was that left her tense and slightly unreachable.
Cees moaned: a slow, pleading sound that was as much a refusal to come as a wish that she could. Arie drove into her, hands and her wrist slapping into Cees’s ass, and then Cees no longer even wished to hold it off. She arched into the ring and turned her head away from Arie’s ear in case she couldn’t curb the scream that was threatening the back of her throat. Arie’s stomach was
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slippery with her desire, and she was sure it would be more so now her orgasm was long, drawn out, almost painfully slow. She writhed defenseless against it, eyes squeezed shut so tightly that a tear of protest crept out and still Arie thrust and she writhed uncontrollably.
Cees was still breathing hard when her muscles stopped trying to squeeze the circulation from Arie’s Þ ngers. She was too weak to protest when Arie eased from her and urged her onto her stomach. Arie ran her Þ ngertips along her back, easing her into a drowsy half-slumber interrupted by shivering reminders of pleasure that faded too quickly.
v
“Earth to Cees Bannigan.” Laughter knocked Cees from her thoughts, and her face ß ushed with heat at being caught fantasizing about the past. “The Brazilian?”
“What about her?”
Philly, frowned. “Floors are a her? I always thought ß oors and walls were a him. Curtains and frilly things are her.” Cees punched him.
“Ouch.” He rubbed at his shoulder and mock glared at her.
“Well, you’re the one not paying attention,” Philly said, but the grumble was good-natured even though the punch had probably hurt.
“Do you want to put the Brazilian wood in here?”
“You don’t think the house is too rustic for Brazilian wood?”
Cees said just as Miranda walked into the room.
“Can I speak to you in my ofÞ ce when you’re done here, Cees?”
Cees looked up, taking in the neatly pressed khakis and the tucked long-sleeved shirt. Cees knew without smelling it what perfume she would be wearing today, knew from experience what the body beneath the crisp, no-nonsense business casual
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attire felt like. But there was no arousal, not like the memory of those few moments with Arie the night before that already seemed like years ago.
“Sure, of course.” She stood up to follow Miranda out the door.
In the four months Cees and Miranda had been lovers, there were whole hours when Arieanna Simon had not crossed her mind, whole nights when she had not awakened reaching for Arie. She told herself she was moving on just like Lilly had said she ought to, but Lilly would never have understood the emotions that rioted in her every time she awakened in Miranda’s bed.
“Cees?” Philly sounded exasperated. “So no Brazilian?”
“Yeah, let’s go with the Brazilian,” Cees said and smiled, but she could tell by the way Philly returned her smile that it hadn’t been all that convincing.
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CHAPTER SIX
The phone trembled against her temple as she dialed the number to the hospital. “Hi, this is Cees Bannigan. I’m calling to check on Arieanna Simon.”
“Ms. Simon is doing very well today. She got her exercise, and she even ate her lunch. We all got an earful about your unauthorized sleepover.”
“Sorry.” Cees bit her bottom lip.
“S’okay. Wasn’t my shift.” The voice was young, carefree, and hadn’t gained the weariness that Nurse Kerr’s had.
“She having any headaches today?”
“No, none. Like I said, she seems to be Þ ne. She’s in the best mood I’ve seen her in, so she must be feeling better. Why don’t I connect you with Dr. Parrantt? He can answer all of your questions.” It took a few moments for Dr. Parrantt to answer the phone. Despite the nurse’s assurances, Cees still felt a bit fearful while waiting for him.
“Ms. Bannigan, I hear you caused a bit of excitement last night.”
“I’m sorry about that. I only came in for a few moments and then I fell asleep in a chair.”
“No harm done. The rules are archaic. If the nurses don’t mind, no one else should either.”
“I…she had a migraine.”
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“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t mention that when we spoke before.”
Cees swallowed. “So she’s had others?”
“Yes, this was the third.”
“She looked so out of it.”
“There’s no way to know when the migraines will hit, but I can tell you that stress exacerbates them. She just needs time to heal. In fact, that’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.
I think she would do better if you took her home.”
“Home? But she doesn’t remember yet. You can’t just send her home…can you?”
“Ms. Bannigan, I understand how stressful a situation like this can be. Ms. Simon is healing physically. I recommend she start psychotherapy as soon as possible, but being in familiar surroundings might help in the interim.”
“When will you release her?”
“In a few days. We’ll watch her to make sure there’s no relapsing.” As if sensing her apprehension, the doctor asked cautiously, “Is there someone else we should call?” There it was.
Her exit, her way out of the problem of Arieanna Simon.
“No, just me.” Cees pressed her Þ ngers to her forehead. “Can she…I mean, do I need to get someone to stay with her?”
“Her migraines are very painful. However, she can stay a few hours by herself.”
Cees sensed the caution in his voice. “But not all day?”
“I wouldn’t recommend she stay alone for long periods of time unless absolutely necessary. The Þ rst time she had a migraine, she suffered a short blackout. If she’s stand
ing she could hurt herself.”
Cees said good-bye to Dr. Parrantt and hung up the phone.
How in the hell was she going to make sure that Arie had round-the-clock care? She only hesitated a split second before pressing redial. “Hi, may I have Arieanna Simon’s room, please?” The phone was picked up after the Þ rst ring. Cees’s heart rate increased
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upon hearing Arie’s voice, and slowed when she noticed the sadness in it.
“Arie, it’s Cees Bannigan.”
“Hi.”
Cees smiled, thinking that Arie sounded young and shy.
“Um, I’m just calling to see how you’re feeling today.”
“I’m okay.” Cees thought Arie sounded as tired as she felt.
“They made me leave, or I would have come back to check on you.” Cees could have kicked herself for her need to explain. The ensuing silence told her that Arie was probably as uncomfortable as she was. “Did you have any more nightmares after left?”
“No, I couldn’t get back to sleep.”
Join the club, Cees thought. “I’m not surprised. You looked horriÞ ed when you woke up.”
“It wasn’t as bad as it looked.”
“So you remember it?”
Arie hesitated before answering, “No, not really. That’s why I’m assuming it wasn’t that bad. I think I would have remembered a really bad one.”
Cees frowned at nothing. “It was bad enough to cause a migraine.”
“Dr. Parrantt says migraines can be caused by anything from stress to allergies.”
“Great, for all we know, I’m the reason you had the migraine.”
Cees’s bid for levity went unanswered as the phone grew quiet again. “Okay, well I should probably let you go.”
. “I wanted to, thank you, I…” Arie seemed to want to say something else, and Cees felt resentful that she was not alone in her ofÞ ce. “Thanks for, you know, staying.”
“This is the Þ rst time I’ve been thanked for falling asleep on a woman.” Cees stiffened, realizing too late that she had carelessly broached the subject of sexuality. Her heart stuttered at the silence, but when Arie laughed, Cees devoured the sound like food to a famine victim. It’s been so damn long since I’ve
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heard that sound. Cees was still smiling as she listened to Arie’s chuckle when Miranda walked in.
“I just called to tell you that I have a late meeting,” Cees said reluctantly. “But I’ll be there around 6:30. If you need anything, have someone call me and I’ll pick it up on the way.”
Cees thought about shooting Miranda a look to get her out of her ofÞ ce so she could continue her call with Arie in private. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” Cees told herself that she had imagined the sound of regret in Arie’s voice when she said good-bye. She resented having Miranda sitting across from her because she might have kept Arie on the phone longer, perhaps even asked her what was on her mind and why she had sounded so forlorn when she had Þ rst answered the phone.
“I feel cheated. I don’t think I ever got that tone when we spoke by phone.”
“What tone? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ll see you soon,” Miranda said in a deep, almost seductive voice. She was grinning, but Cees thought she saw hurt in her eyes. It disappeared so fast that Cees couldn’t be sure it was ever really there. “Is that why you turned me down for dinner?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did you come in here to accuse me of something?”
“Whoa, don’t get all snappy, I was only kidding.” Miranda opened her folder, her voice curt and formal. “Sorry for sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“Miranda, I didn’t mean anything by that. That was my friend, the one I told you was in the hospital? Actually, she was more than a friend. Things ended badly between us and we never had closure.”
“You still care about her?”
“More than I should,” Cees admitted reluctantly. “But the truth is, she isn’t the reason I broke things off with you.”
Miranda studied Cees’s face. “Damn, I was kind of hoping I had just been dumped for a better catch. Now you’re telling me I was just plain dumped.”
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“Dumped is a pretty strong word.” Cees almost added “for what we had” but realized how cruel that would have sounded.
Miranda’s pride might be a little injured now, but she’d Þ nd someone else to salve her wounds. Cees was sure that when all was said and done, they would continue to be friends.
Miranda’s smile lacked depth. “I know, I just thought you could use a laugh.”
“I could. Thanks.”
“So does she want you back?”
“Miranda, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not rehash this. I’m still pretty sensitive about the whole thing. I just want to make sure she’s going to be okay so that we both can get back to our own lives.”
“What’s keeping you from doing that? I mean, who’s to say you have to be the one to look after her?”
“She doesn’t have any family, and so far, I’m the only friend that’s shown up to the hospital.”
“I don’t get it. What’s in it for you? It sounds like she hurt you pretty badly. Why even put yourself through this?”
It was a valid point, one that Cees had asked herself as recently as a few hours ago, but the honest confusion on Miranda’s face made Cees sad. It seemed to solidify the fact that they were two very different people and that she had been wasting her time in the hopes that she would grow to feel for Miranda as she had for Arie.
“Because I don’t really have anyone either.”
“Would she do the same thing for you?”
“I’d hope so, but I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter. I’m not doing this in the hopes that she would reciprocate. I’m doing it because it’s the right thing to do. How hard is it to be there for someone?”
Miranda raised a brow as if to say “you tell me.” Cees shook her head and Miranda opened her Þ le and pulled out some documents she wanted Cees to look over. Cees nodded at what she hoped to be the appropriate times, but her mind was
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on Miranda’s question. There was a time when she would have given an unequivocal yes to the question would Arie have been there for her. Whether or not their relationship had lasted. Now she wasn’t sure. Now she wondered if she had ever known the real Arie at all.
v
Arie told herself she was sitting near the window for the view and not because she was watching for Cees. She didn’t know what kind of car Cees drove, and even if she did, it was too dark outside her window to recognize the people entering and leaving the hospital.
Arie had spent nearly an hour looking at her face in the small mirror she had been given, but her hands had been more interesting to her. She’d kept remembering how good it had felt to have Cees’s Þ ngers laced with her own, how the feel of Cees’s hands on her had calmed the pain and turmoil in her head. She knew enough to know that she had caused the haunted look on Cees’s face, and she sensed that the smile, the one she saw in the opening credits, was a little less vibrant because of something she did.
Arie’s subconscious had just began tormenting her with doubts about the probability of Cees’s not showing up, when she came bursting through the door of the hospital room looking harried and clutching three magniÞ cent yellow ß owers. She stopped abruptly, her eyes on the neatly made hospital bed. Arie saw a ß ash of disappointment cross Cees’s face.
“You brought me ß owers,” Arieanna said. Cees’s head swung toward her so quickly that Arieanna believed she heard an audible crack.
“I thought you had gone.”
“Where would I go?”
“Home to your place?”
“I just got tired of being
in that bed all the time.” Arie stood
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up and both Cees’s hands went out as if she wanted to help her, but she didn’t move.
“Should you be doing that? Should I help you?”
Arie felt confused and shy as she looked at the outstretched hands, the one holding the ß owers and the empty one. The back of her head complained, but not by much. Her back and hips were screaming, but the look of utter relief on Cees’s face when she stood within inches of her was worth the pain.
“I’m taller than you are,” Arie said. From that damn bed she had been unable to gauge Cees’s height. She’d taken for granted that Cees would be taller than she was, but then, if not for her driver’s license, she wouldn’t even know her own height was Þ ve-foot-nine.
Cees smiled when she said, “Only by an inch or two. I could still carry you if I needed to.”
Arie watched her mouth say those words, but she felt as if they were something else. Something that made her pulse race and her face feel ß ush. She swallowed and wondered if she should ask Cees to help her back to her seat.
“I like ß owers, don’t I?”
Cees looked down at the ß owers in her hand as if she had forgotten them. She thrust out her hand and Arie reached out to take the ß owers. Layered petals formed an orb so perfect that Arie was afraid she would destroy them by taking them.
Arie’s Þ ngertips grazed the edge of Cees’s skin, and she noticed how much paler Cees’s skin looked against her own. She liked it. She also liked the way Cees’s long Þ ngers held on to the ß owers. When Cees Þ nally released the ß owers and put both hands behind her back, Arie immediately buried her nose in the blooms, the perfect pillow.
Remember Tomorrow Page 9