by McCoy, SJ
“Whoa.” Dan appeared at her side. “You shouldn't get up so fast.”
“It's late. Where's Scot? I need to make sure he does his homework, and gets his bag ready, and....”
Dan put an arm around her shoulders. “Slow down, Miss. It's all taken care of.”
She looked at him in disbelief.
“Seriously. We went through his schedule and made sure he has everything he needs for tomorrow. He did his math homework, no problem. Then I think we did okay with his history.”
Missy continued to stare at him. “You? You helped him get it all done?”
Dan lowered his eyes. “Yeah. I tried. I think we got it all covered.”
“Oh, thank you, hon! You really are turning out to be my hero.” She watched his smile spread as he slowly raised his eyes to meet hers.
“I just wanted to help out. He and I are both supposed to be pretty smart. We managed to figure it out between us.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “Thanks, Dan!”
He hugged her to him and she nestled close, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. The living room door opened and Scot stared at them. Dan made to let go of her, but Missy clung on to him.
“Are you guys...like....” Scot's eyes bored into her, then he looked at Dan and back at her. “Like getting together?”
Missy smiled. She didn't like to hide anything from him, certainly not this, though none of them knew what 'this' was yet. She wrinkled her nose. “We're thinking about it.” She smiled at Dan. “We're testing out hugs first, to see how they go. “What would you say if we were to go on a date?”
Scot grinned and punched the air. “Yes! I'd say yes!” He looked at Dan “And I'd say, what took you so long?”
Dan laughed. “Timing is everything, champ.”
“Then I hope it's time now,” said Scot.
Missy smiled. “It's time for bed now, young man. That's what it's time for.”
He pulled a face at her, but didn't argue.
“Have you got everything ready for morning?”
He grinned. “Yeah. Dan helped.” He came to the sofa and put one arm around Missy, the other around Dan. “Group hug, guys!”
Missy hugged back, enjoying the feel of two very different arms around her.
Scot stood back and grinned at Dan. “I think you need to sleep in Mom's room in case she gets dizzy in the night.”
She saw a touch of pink color Dan's cheeks. Bless him. “Scot!” She frowned at him.
“Well! If you need to pee in the night and you fall down again, you need someone there.” He tried to look serious, but he was laughing.
She smiled. “I'm fine now. Go on. Off to bed with you.” She kissed his cheek. “Love you, sunbeam. G'night”
“Love you, Mom. G'night, Dan,”
“G'night, champ. See you in the morning.”
Once Scot had gone, Dan put his arms around her again. “So, how am I doing in these hug tests?”
“You pass with flying colors.”
He grinned. “That's good to know.”
A big yawn came out before Missy could stop it. “Sorry.”
“No problem. You need sleep and if you're anemic, you need the oxygen too.”
She looked at him questioningly.
“I was reading about it while you were asleep. I won't bore you with what I learned, but tomorrow I'm going to get you some iron pills, and some suitable groceries.”
She had to laugh. Only Dan could seriously call groceries 'suitable'. “Now this I have to see. Do you even know where the grocery store is?”
He shrugged and gave her his gorgeous smile. “I'm a smart guy, and besides that's what GPS is for. Right now though, you need more sleep. Think you can make it up the stairs?”
She probably could, but she didn't want to. She wanted him to hold her again. She looked into his eyes. “Take me?”
He scooped her up off the sofa and smiled at her. “You know, until today I always thought it was kind of cheesy when guys picked women up and carried them around.”
She looped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder. “And now?”
He held her closer to his chest. “Now I get it.” He grinned. “I really get it.” He climbed the stairs easily and took her into her room where he gently placed her on the bed. “Are you going to be okay?” He asked.
“I do feel better.”
“Good. I'll say goodnight then. I'll sleep in the guest room, so knock on the wall if you need me.”
She held her arms up to him. “Stay with me ’til I go to sleep?”
He looked back over his shoulder. “What about Scot?”
She didn't want him to go yet. “He rarely comes out of his room at night. He wouldn't mind anyway. You're only taking care of me.”
He bit his lip. Poor guy. She was probably being cruel, asking him to lie in bed with her when there was nothing they could do about it, but she couldn't help it. She just wanted to feel him close as she went to sleep. He made her feel better. He made everything feel better.
“Okay. But I'm going to wait in the guest room. Tap on the wall when you're in bed.” His eyes twinkled. “And make sure you've got the covers up to your chin before I come back in here, okay?”
“Okay.”
By the time Missy had brushed her teeth and got undressed, she was exhausted. She crawled into bed naked. She'd thought she should find something to put on, but didn't have the strength. She tapped on the wall and smiled when Dan tapped back. He slowly opened the door.
“Are you decent?”
“Yep. All covered up.”
He came in and closed the door behind him. Tired as she was, her body came alive as he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled his shoes off. He lay down face-to-face with her and smiled his gorgeous smile. She reached an arm out of the covers to stroke his face, loving the feel of his stubbly beard under her fingers. His eyes were like pools of melted chocolate, achingly beautiful. She ached for him. She had thought her body had forgotten what desire was, but it remembered alright. He covered her hand with his.
“Now that's not fair. You're supposed to stay covered up. I can see naked shoulder and you have no idea what you are doing to me.”
“Tell me?” She needed to hear that he wanted her.
“I'll show you.” He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them. Then he touched them to the pulse in his throat, it was beating wildly. “You're doing this,” he murmured. He drew her hand to his chest, to feel his heart hammering. He took her hand lower still and placed it over the front of his pants. She could feel the heat of his erection. He was hard as a rock, quite a big rock too! “This. This is what you're doing to me, beautiful. It's what you always do to me. Have done since the first time I saw you. And now you want me to lie here and watch you go to sleep? Okay, I'll watch you. It will almost kill me to watch and not touch, but it's what you want, so it's what I'll do. I'm showing you what your body does to my body, but I want you to understand something else, too. Miss, who you are, the woman you are has the same effect on who I am, the man I am. I want to know you, learn you, explore you. You make me a better man.” He smiled and pressed her hand against the bulge in his pants, “You make a me bigger man, and all of that is before we get to anything physical. You're turning me upside down and inside out, Miss. Please, for now, hurry up and go to sleep. So I can go back to wanting to take care of you, and stop wanting to do less honorable things to you.”
Missy felt tears prick behind her eyes. How could he be so incredibly sweet and so incredibly sexy all at the same time? “You're turning me upside down and inside out too, hero. I want you. Right now I want nothing more than to get you under these covers with me and start exploring those less honorable things.” She stroked him through his pants and watched him close his eyes and let out a deep breath. She reluctantly withdrew her hand. “Soon, Dan. Soon you'll be a single man and hopefully by then I'll have the strength to misbehave with you.”
His eyes flew o
pen. “I am a single man! I called Olivia while you were sleeping. She was giving me all kinds of grief, Miss. I told her. We're done.”
“Oh.” Missy was filled with a rush of emotions. He was single? Then they could? She struggled to free her arms from the covers and wrapped them around his neck. “Then what are we waiting for?”
He pulled back. “We're waiting for you to be well.” She pressed herself against him through the covers, but he shook his head. “You're not going to seduce me now. It wouldn't be right. We can wait ’til you're feeling up to it.
She wrinkled her nose at him. “More excuses? I'm starting to think you don't want me.” He caught her hand and brought it back down to the front of his pants.
“There's your proof that that's not true.” He gave her a mischievous grin. “It's just that you'll need all your strength. You will be worn out by the time I'm done with you.” She caught her breath as he ran his fingertips down her bare arm. There was nothing shy or sweet about the way he was looking at her now. Her insides melted. “Please go to sleep before I have to show you what I'm talking about?”
She nodded. “Kiss goodnight?” She asked hopefully. She'd been longing to kiss him, to feel his lips on hers.
He shook his head sadly. “We both know it wouldn't end with a kiss. Go to sleep, Miss, please? You need the rest.”
“Okay then.”
She turned over and pressed her back against him. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer. How was she supposed to go to sleep when she could feel his hard-on pushing at her through the covers? When she could feel his warm breath on her neck? Impossible as it seemed, she could feel her eyelids starting to droop.
***
Dan sat in the kitchen, nursing his second cup of coffee. Missy had still been asleep when he came downstairs. He'd hardly slept, just lain there holding her close all night, fighting the urge to get out of his clothes and under the covers with her. He'd known that if he did, there would only be one outcome. He wanted so badly to make love to her. Had wanted her for months. At first he'd thought it was just a fantasy, a physical attraction, albeit stronger than any he'd known before. But as he'd gotten to know her, spent more time with her whenever he came to see Scot, his feelings had grown stronger, and deeper. He knew now he wanted to make love with the woman, not just have sex with her body. He'd waited this long. He knew now that it would happen, and sooner rather than later. The obstacles to their being together were being dismantled one by one. Olivia was out of the picture. Scot knew the score and was happy about it. They'd both vowed to not let it affect him. Now, if she could get this anemia addressed, get herself back to full strength, there'd be nothing to stop them. He shook his head at the ever-present pressure in his pants. That part of him didn't understand the logic or the reason in waiting. It had one desire, and in the early morning hours, it had almost convinced him that he really shouldn't wait any longer. That was when he'd had to get up and come downstairs.
He'd worked on his laptop for a while. Now he was a little concerned about what time Scot would need to be up, and if he should wake him—or Missy. He fixed himself a fresh coffee and sipped it, trying to decide what to do. The decision was made for him when he heard what could only be Scot coming down the stairs. The kitchen door flew open.
“Mom, Mom, I....” Scot froze when he saw it was Dan and not his mom sitting there. He hung his head. “Morning,” he mumbled.
Dan was a little surprised by the sudden change in him. Then he noticed the front of Scot's pajamas appeared to be soaked. Ah! How to handle this without making it worse for the kid? “Morning, champ.” He rubbed his eyes. “I'm nearly awake. How about you?”
“Yeah.” Scot was still looking at the floor.
“Do you have coffee?”
“Orange juice,” he mumbled.
Dan got up and poured him a glass of juice. “What about breakfast?”
“No thanks. I have to.... Is Mom awake?”
“Not yet. What do you need, bud?”
Scot lifted his head just enough so that Dan could see his eyes. His brows knit together. “I....” He lowered his gaze again and stood there, clutching his glass in both hands.
Poor little guy. Like so many of the things Scot went through, Dan remembered how this felt too. “Listen, bud. When I used to do it, Jack would make me go take a shower while he stripped the bed and put the sheets and jammies in the washer. You think we should try that?”
Scot looked up at him. “You used to pee in bed too?”
“Yup, sure did.” Dan nodded solemnly. “Sometimes I would do it when I wasn't even asleep.”
“You did?”
“Yup. You know how the real world fades away when you're coding? Sometimes I'd be so into what I was writing that I wouldn't notice that I needed to pee—or even that I had peed! I think it's the way our minds work. We get so involved with the interesting stuff, we don't always pay as much attention as we should to the everyday stuff.”
Scot nodded. “I used to do it when I was awake too. I don't anymore though.”
“Me neither,” said Dan with a smile. “What do you think, you want to go shower while I strip the bed?”
Scot smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Dan.”
“No worries, champ. We smart guys have to stick together right? Not everyone else gets us, do they?”
He held his fist out and Scot bumped his own against it. He followed the kid upstairs into his bedroom. “Throw your jammies out to me before you get in the shower and I'll stick them in the washer with the sheets. And be quick so we can have some breakfast.”
***
Missy came out of Dr. Morgan's office and smiled at Dan, who sat in the waiting room looking uncomfortable, surrounded as he was by gossiping women and coughing kids. He jumped up when he saw her and followed her to the door.
“So what did he say?”
“That you and Michael are right. I need some good food and some iron pills.”
Dan raised an eyebrow and gave her a knowing look. “And some rest?”
“Yeah, that too.”
“So what caused it? Did he know?”
“Umm, a couple of things. It's kind of hereditary. My mom was always on iron pills.”
“What else?”
Missy wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him.
“What, Miss?” He looked so concerned it would be easier to tell him than to leave him worrying it was something serious.
“Heavy blood loss.”
He looked horrified. “Heavy blood loss? How? When?”
Oh, the poor clueless man! She couldn't help but laugh. “Dan, you're supposed to be a smart guy. If I tell you that the answer to when is a few days every month, I think you can probably figure out the how!”
“Ah.” He gave her a shamefaced grin. “I didn't think of that. Sorry.”
She laughed. “Not a problem. It makes it easier for me to ask you to take me to the pharmacy.”
He held up a hand. “No need to tell me anything more. I don't understand, but I don't need to.”
She smiled. Hopefully, at some point he might be interested to know that Dr Morgan had put her on the pill. Not for the sake of any sex life she might be hoping for, but in an attempt to help with the anemia by moderating her period. “Okay, I shall say no more.”
“Thank you.” He opened the passenger door of the minivan for her. Before she got in, she reached up and kissed his cheek.
“No, Dan. Thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you this weekend.” She sat in the van. “Or this morning, getting Scotty ready and off to school. Getting me here. You've done so much. Thank you.”
“I'm glad I was here. Very glad.”
While he went around to the driver's side, she knew that, as much as she loved having him around, she needed him to leave soon so she could go to work. It would be a struggle. She still felt exhausted, but she still had five cabins to clean today. Once he climbed in she said, “I know that you've stayed longer than you meant to already. Do
you want to call Smoke and I'll drop you at the airport?”
He looked across at her and cocked his head to one side. “You really think I'm that clueless?”
She was shocked. “What do you mean?”
He rolled his eyes. “You think you're going to get rid of me and then head up to the resort and start cleaning cabins, don't you?”
She didn't say anything. She hadn't realized she was so transparent, and she hated to admit that she had indeed been trying to get rid of him. Yes, he was wonderful, she loved being around him, but her priorities had to revolve around making ends meet, not spending time with a gorgeous man.
“Not going to admit it?” he asked. He didn't look angry, she wasn't sure what the look on his face meant.
She let out a big sigh. “Okay, I admit it. Don't think it's because I want you to leave though. I really don't. It's because I have to work. I need the money. I have to do this to pay the bills. I know it's not something that occurs to the rest of you, but it's a huge factor in my life, Dan.”
“That's not fair, Miss. You know where I come from. I know all about struggling to get by.”
She did know that. He and Jack had grown up dirt poor with an abusive alcoholic for a father. She nodded. “Yeah, but it's not a factor for you anymore is it, Mr. Tech Genius? You've made boatloads of money with your software. It's not like you have to go out and scrub other people's toilets so you can feed your kid, is it?” Oops! She hadn't meant to bite his head off. It wasn't his fault. His gaze softened as he looked at her.
“You don't have to either. Please. At least for this week, stay home. Rest. Get better?”