I wasn’t all that impressed: he lives upstairs – it’s not like he has to drive through snow. Likely sensing that I wasn’t getting the gravity of his statement, Kravitz continued, “He works out every day of the week from 5 AM to 6 AM. He didn’t want to bother you while you were sleeping, so he drove across town to hit a gym this morning, rather than using the one he’s got upstairs after you woke up. He called me last night to ask if I’d come over here to make sure you were okay while he ran errands.”
Defensively, I said, “I never asked him to do either of those things.”
“Don’t you see? You are the first person he has let into his life that he has allowed to vary his routine. It’s a huge step.”
“Or a colossal inconvenience.”
“You asked about the changes in Dave. You want to know how that happened?”
“Yes.”
“It happened because he wanted something more. He wanted to fit in. It was my daughter who first showed him how to use a washing machine. She was six.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Dave wants to be like everyone else, but when he was growing up, no one took the time to show him how to be like everyone else.”
“He’s changed a lot from the guy I remember. He seems a lot more confident when he talks.”
Kravitz was excited, “I know. That was all Emily. He had only been at our house a couple days when the two of them were at the table in the kitchen, and she was telling him about a project she had for school. A couple minutes into the conversation she reached over and pinched his arm, then told him, ‘It’s rude and disrespectful not to look at someone when they’re talking to you. Are you disrespecting me?’ My mouth about hit the table when I heard her say it, but Dave looked her square in the eye and told her, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know.’”
I didn’t know what to say. Mr. Kravitz relayed several stories of how Emily corrected Dave on things that most people do naturally. “Call her Little Miss Manners when you meet her.”
I drained what was left of my coffee. After setting the mug in the sink, I turned back to Mr. Kravitz. “I like him.” He didn’t respond. Everything he told me made me want to be around Dave more. Dave was complicated, but I felt like I knew him a little better. I wanted him to know I wasn’t planning to cut bait. “I care about him. I don’t want him to get hurt any more than you do.”
He nodded. He returned to the Chrysler without another word, when I asked, “Hey, when’s he coming back?”
Kravitz grinned, “Within the hour. You better get showered. He’s taking today off to spend with you.” A smile formed on my lips. After everything Mr. Kravitz had said about routines and the fact that Dave had never not worked, I didn’t know what to say. He must have picked up on my surprise because he answered anyway when I hadn’t posed a question, “So you’ll want to use positive reinforcement with him. If you want him to be more spontaneous, you’ve got to be ready to react when he tries. Go!”
I took the steps two at a time, leaving Mr. Kravitz to his own devices in the garage. I had learned far more than I expected to this morning. I was glad Dave and I had the history we did, but that was only a small element of who he was now. He may be compulsive about some things, but he wanted to spend the day with me. I wondered what we might do. If he left it to me, I’d vote for a quick trip to Mt Crescent Ski area. It was in Honey Creek, Iowa, but that was close and would be fun. If Dave didn’t know how to ski, they had a great tube run that would be great for laughs, too. All of my ski gear was in my garage. I was sure I would be able to get into that even if my house was still off limits.
I thought of other activities as I bounded into the shower in case Dave didn’t want to spend the day in the snow. When the steamy water washed over me, I thought of finding Mark last night and the fact that I had kept it from Dave. Not intentionally, but I made up my mind to tell him about it as soon as he got back today.
Chapter 22
Dave stood in the kitchenette as I emerged from the bathroom. He wore a mischievous grin. Unable not to smile back at the silly look on his face, I asked, “What’s so funny?”
“I picked something up for you while I was out.”
“A mocha latte?” I asked hopefully.
“I can make you one if you want, but no.” He handed me a black sharpie marker. “In case you wanted to cover up my ink.”
I shook my head, still loving that my name might as well have been written in block letters over his heart. “No, thanks.” Tossing the marker onto the little kitchen table, “It sucks that it’s not summertime. I’d make you go all over town with your shirt off today.”
Dave closed the distance between us as his lips leaned down close to my ear, “I’d do it right now if you wanted me to.”
He pulled my wet hair off of my shoulder, then kissed the tender skin below my ear as his teeth grazed my ear lobe and shivers rocketed through my body. His hands slid under my t-shirt caressing the small of my back as tingles erupted under his touch. My hands did the same thing to him, sliding over his smooth skin as his lips found mine. My body began pressing against his as heat rocked me to my core.
A satisfied moan escaped him as I deepened our kiss. I gripped his shirt, much the same as I had last night, but he didn’t try to stop me as I lifted the material over his head and tossed his shirt to the floor. My hands greedily took in his exposed flesh as his breath grew shallow.
Electricity erupted between us as I pulled my shirt off and tossed it next to his on the floor. Dave’s eyes took me in as he murmured reverently, “You are beautiful.” His lips slowly skimmed the arch of my neck, down my shoulder, and continued moving lower.
A tool clanged against metal downstairs and onto the floor as the sound reverberated around the quiet building. My breath hitched as I remembered we weren’t alone, “Kravitz is downstairs.”
Dave’s lips returned to my ear, “Shhh, it’s just you and me.” My heart pumped wildly in my chest trying to convince my mind it hadn’t heard anything. He whispered, “I want you.” His groin pressed into me, as his hands slid under my thighs and lifted them up so my legs were wrapped around him.
My pulse pounded hard, its drumming was all I could hear, beating a loud rhythm drowning out everything else. Dave took choppy steps toward the bed, easily carrying me as I clung to him. We needed to slow down, but my body refused to listen to my mind. A hunger grew inside me that would be satisfied with nothing short of the friction of his body against mine.
Dave eased me onto the bed, the weight of his enormous frame pressing against me. Our chests were bare as his skin coerced me into an unfamiliar bliss. A sigh of pleasure escaped me which made Dave’s eyes light up, “I love that sound. I want to make that sound come from you over and over again.”
Light tingles had morphed into an outrageous desire. I pressed my lips to his ear as my teeth grazed his ear lobe, much as he had done to me only minutes before. A pained whisper answered my wordless invitation, “Don’t do that, Candy, unless you’re ready to shed some more clothes.”
My fingers slid just under the waistband of his jeans as I watched his eyelids grow heavy while a lustful expression shone on his face. He held my hands in place before I could make a move to make good on his warning. His eyes snapped open as they looked directly into mine, “You want to do this?”
Without hesitating, “Yes.”
He rolled over pulling me on top of him. Sliding my hair to the side, I nuzzled into the crook of his neck feeling every inch of his bare chest against mine. His voice was low, as if he were arguing with himself, “This is too fast.”
I chuckled at him, “Too fast? It took you four years to make your move.”
“Six,” he confessed with a grin. Both his hands cradled either side of my face. His callouses were rough against my jaw, while his dark brown eyes stared directly into mine. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for until he warned, “I’m not up for a fling.”
Had I heard him say the same words last night, I
would have been wounded, but after speaking to Kravitz, I knew Dave wasn’t rejecting me. He was proposing much more. I turned my head, kissing one of the hands that had been holding my face, “I wasn’t offering one.”
Confusion shone on his beautiful face. I could get lost in his eyes if I weren’t careful. He cleared his throat and asked, “What are you offering?”
“Popcorn, backrubs and the remote.”
My answer did nothing to remove the confused expression he wore, so I elaborated. “I love going to the movies and eating buttery popcorn. After a full day of leaning over cars, your back must kill you – so a backrub might be something to look forward to. As long as you don’t choose sports every time we sit in front of the television, I’ll let you pick what you want to watch at least half the time.”
Dave still wasn’t making the connection, so I drew it out for him, “You are who I want to sit next to while I’m eating my popcorn. I’m volunteering a backrub every evening if you want it because I seriously like the way your muscles feel under my touch. I promise not to make you watch chick-flicks every time we hang out in front of the television. That’s the best offer I can make right now.”
“You don’t have to be my girlfriend because you’re in fear for your life. You can stay here as long as you want. No strings.”
“I’m not here because I don’t have anywhere else to go.” That was debatable. “I’m here because I want to be with you. You’ve changed a lot since we were friends in school. I liked you back then, but I. . . really like who you have become.”
Another tool clanged against metal downstairs, as if Kravitz were reminding us that he was still here. The bell on the front door of the lobby sounded. I asked, “Do you need to see who that is?”
Dave shook his head, “Kravitz can take care of it.” He pressed his lips hard against mine. When he pulled away, he looked thrilled. “So, you want to go find a latte?”
“You just said the magic words.”
I began to ease off of him to retrieve our shirts when I remembered what I had been agonizing about before he distracted me. “Wait. I need to tell you something.” Dave’s eyes searched mine, still sexy in a playful way. “Last night, before I came back to your apartment, I drove by Bank Shot.”
He grinned, “We can find a pool table today if you want. I’m not bad.” He made a motion with his hands like he was taking a shot with an invisible pool cue.
I rolled my eyes at his offer. Pool hadn’t been a game for me in a long time: it was more of a part-time job with Libby. “No. I mean, maybe another time. When I was there. . .” my voice trailed off. I didn’t know how he would take it, but he needed to know I’d seen his brother. “Mark was in the parking lot.”
“What?!” he roared. He stood up quickly from the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did you talk to him? Where is he?”
Hurt registered on his face, and I knew anything I shared with him could only make that look intensify. “I talked to him. I told him I knew you.”
“You did?” The hurt change to hopefulness as his eyes held mine. “What did he say?”
“He thought you were dead. I had trouble getting him to believe me at first. He wants to see you, but said he had to take care of some things first.”
Dave looked at me with a wild gaze. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this last night?” He walked over to where our shirts were lying on the floor and grabbed his angrily, pulling it hard over his head and shoving his arms through the holes.
“He made me promise not to tell you I’d seen him. I was going to tell you anyway, I swear I was. When I got here, we started talking, the candles were lit, I got lost in the mood, and I just didn’t think about it.”
“You saw my brother. I told you I’ve been looking for him forever. You didn’t think I’d want to know that you saw him?”
Biting my lower lip, I waffled about how much to tell him. I didn’t know how accurate Tony’s information had been, but Mark had done nothing to dispel anything Tony had said when he choked me and shoved me to the ground, then threatened to run me down with his car. Tentatively I answered, “I think he might be involved in some bad stuff.”
My accusation hung in the air. Dave watched me, waiting for me to clarify. When I didn’t respond right away, he asked, “Bad stuff?”
I picked up my shirt off the floor, put it back on and took a seat on the sofa. I told Dave everything Tony had said, about my trip to talk to Officer Brown, and how I’d threatened to go to the media if the charges against him weren’t dropped, then everything that had happened in the Bank Shot parking lot.
When I was done speaking, Dave sat beside me with a blank look. I offered, “Tony says he didn’t know what Mark was involved in, and it’s not like I trust Tony. He could have been wrong.”
Dave’s voice was hollow. “He didn’t want to see me?”
“He did. I’m sure he did. But whatever he’s involved in, maybe he didn’t want to drag you into it. He said he’ll find you after he takes care of a few things.”
Dave stood, his face emotionless, “I need to go.”
I grabbed my purse and stood up, “Okay.”
He shook his head at me. His voice sounded distant, “Sorry. I need to go somewhere by myself for a while. I don’t know when I’ll be back.” Without so much as a glance in my direction, he disappeared down the steps. Whoever had walked into the lobby was talking to Kravitz.
I heard Mr. Kravitz say, “Dave, you got time to look at a Camaro?”
Dave didn’t answer him, but I heard the bell on the door clang from Dave’s departure. A few seconds later his truck started up outside. Peering through the window, I watched Dave drive away. Muffled voices spoke in the lobby for a minute or so, then the bell on the door sounded again as the customer departed.
Kravitz yelled from the bottom of the steps, “What happened? What’s wrong with Dave?”
I felt awful. Why hadn’t I told Dave last night? I knew how badly he wanted to see Mark. It should have been the first thing I said when I arrived last night. The hurt on Dave’s face wasn’t just because of what Mark had said, the hurt was there because I hadn’t told him right away. I scanned the little apartment. My backpack lay up against the wall outside the bathroom door. I threw it over my shoulder, went downstairs and grabbed my coat off the hook at the bottom of the steps. How had I screwed this up so royally?
Chapter 23
Friday night I returned to Dave’s garage. It didn’t look like there was a light on anywhere in the place. I couldn’t see the flicker of a television from any of the second floor windows. His garage doors didn’t have any windows to peep through, so there was no way to see if his truck was inside.
He hadn’t called or texted me all day. A little neurotically, I had checked my phone every five minutes all day long until I had almost killed my battery. Libby was still unconscious, but her doctor said the swelling had gone down. They planned to wake her up tomorrow if her condition continued to improve. Larry and I sat in the waiting room together for hours this afternoon. It was difficult trying to make conversation. The only thing we had in common was Libby, and as much as I didn’t want to, I started to remember why he had never been one of my favorite people. Before I could get seriously annoyed with him and say something I’d regret, I stood up to go visit Libby.
Donning the visitor scrubs again, I stood by Libby’s body. Her face was pale. The stuffed turtle still peeked out from behind the curtain on her table. I was pleased no one from the staff had stashed it away. “So this is your last night, Sleeping Beauty. Doc says tomorrow’s the day.” I reached down and squeezed her hand – it felt cool. I slid her hand under the covers, then did the same thing with her other hand. Her hair on the side of her head that hadn’t been shaved laid against her cheek. Reaching into my purse I pulled out a clip and pulled her hair out of her face for her. “I haven’t found him yet – the guy who did this to you. I saw that freaky Teddy last night. The cops almost got him.”
I stared at h
er, hoping to see some indication that she had heard me. “Dave Brewer has a brother. Remember when we were at Bank Shot and thought we saw Dave? It wasn’t. That was his brother Mark. They’re hard to tell apart.” Still nothing. “I kissed him. Well, technically I kissed both of them. I don’t think kissing Mark counts, because I thought it was Dave at the time. I know what you’re thinking, but Dave is different. He’s not shy or awkward anymore – he’s sexy.” Conspiratorially I added, “I spent the night with him the last two nights.” My cheeks flushed, “It was G-rated both nights, well, maybe PG, but I don’t think it’ll be that way for long.”
I pulled a chair over and sat down next to her bed. Even though I had placed her hand under the blanket, I put mine over the lump where I knew her hand was. “He has a tattoo. He tried to hide it from me because he worried I would think it was creepy. It’s a tattoo of a heart holding a candy cane.” I checked again to see any reaction – nothing. “Can you believe it? It sort of made me want to melt. He told me he’s had a crush on me since high school.” I couldn’t make the goofy grin on my face subside even if I tried. “I can’t wait for you to see it.”
The weight of my last sentence settled heavy on my heart as my grin disappeared. What if the doctors tried to wake her up tomorrow and she wouldn’t wake up? What if she woke up and didn’t know who I was? What if her brain were damaged and when she woke up she was no longer Libby?
“You have to wake up tomorrow.” Sorrow choked me, “Don’t. . .you can’t. . .just wake up, okay? No matter what else happens, wake up tomorrow. I promise I’ll do whatever you need me to do.” I slid my hand under the blanket and locked my pinky finger with hers. “Pinky swear. If you need someone to take care of you, I’ll do it. Just wake up. I need you.”
His Frozen Heart Page 22