by Lisa Dyson
He raised his hand to knock on the door, surprised when it opened before he made contact. Ashleigh stood like a vision before him in a bubblegum-pink tank top and matching plaid pajama pants. “I wondered how many times you were going to drive around the block.”
CHAPTER NINE
ASHLEIGH STOOD BACK from the door to let Kyle in. Her palms were sweating and her knees were literally knocking. What the hell was she doing?
When he was clear of the door, she shut and locked it, ignoring the warnings blaring in her head.
She shoved everything from her mind and smiled at Kyle. Neither spoke, at least verbally, when she took his hand. He entwined their fingers and gave them a reassuring squeeze before he followed her to the second floor in the dark.
She kept the lights off but lifted the shade on the rear window to allow the moonlight to stream in. She turned to him and their gazes locked. He had always had such intense blue eyes, framed by thick dark lashes that any woman would kill for.
She disengaged their fingers and slowly ran her hands over his chest and across his shoulders, down over his biceps and forearms to again entwine her fingers with his.
How was it that the act of hand-holding could feel so seductively intimate?
Her body melted against his and with their hands still joined, he put his arms around her back and held her close. The top of her head came to his chin and the warmth of his mouth when he pressed his lips to her hair had her eyelids closing. With her cheek against his chest, she listened to the pounding of his rapid heartbeat as it matched her own.
“Are you sure about this?” His voice was so quiet that she wondered if she’d imagined it.
She tilted her head up to look at him, pulling away slightly. He kept a firm grip on her so she couldn’t escape and he repeated the question.
“No,” she answered in amazement. “I’m not sure at all.”
He dislodged her fingers from his and she was able to reach up and slide her arms around his neck, helping ease the sudden tension she’d noticed in his body.
“I’m not sure at all about what we’re doing,” she repeated. “But right now I’m trying very hard not to listen to the voices in my head.”
He exhaled audibly, then framed her face with his palms and, putting on his oh-so-sexy smile, he asked, “You hear voices?”
She chuckled, unable to answer because he’d covered her lips with his. She curved into his body, enjoying the power of knowing that the erection pressing into her midsection was all because of her.
Just as the blazing heat inside her was the product of her undeniable need for him.
“You hear voices.” He’d stopped kissing her, his voice low, close to her ear and definitely amused. “Why did I never know that about you?”
She turned her head to give him a peck on the cheek and then his mouth. “I try to ignore them.” Their kiss deepened and she slid her hands under his T-shirt, caressing his bare back. Such a comfort to fall into their old rhythms, their familiar touches. Even their shared sense of humor was alive and well.
He pulled her hair away from her neck and tasted the skin below her ear. Delicious chills ran up and down her spine, fanning out to the far reaches of her extremities.
“Can I tell you how glad I am—” he moved to her bare shoulder and lightly nipped her skin when he snapped her thin strap with his teeth “—that you’ve chosen—” His mouth slid lower to her collarbone and the exposed area of her breast right above her tank top. “That you’ve chosen right now to ignore those voices.” He licked at her hardened nipple through her clothes.
She groaned and Kyle stopped abruptly.
“What’s wrong?” She was breathless. Don’t stop now, her brain screamed, slightly panicked that he may have changed his mind.
She couldn’t see his expression clearly in the moonlight, but when he finally spoke his voice was raspy. “Do you have any idea how much that sound you make turns me on?” He made quick work of her clothes before bending down to sweep her off the ground and into his arms.
She ran her hand around to the back of his neck, her fingers recalling the feel of his short, silky hair. She fulfilled her insistent need for his mouth by drawing him to her. The cool bed comforter was her single clue that he’d lowered her to the bed. Even though he stripped his clothes off in record time, his body couldn’t move fast enough before finally covering her naked body with his own.
* * *
KYLE DIDN’T KNOW how much later it was when he awoke, one arm over Ashleigh’s bare midsection and the other asleep because it was curled uncomfortably under the pillow they were sharing while they spooned.
Twin beds were not made for more than one person to sleep in.
Or two people to make love on.
His body came to life at the memory and he breathed in the citrusy smell of Ashleigh’s hair that tickled his nose. Not the same shampoo she used to use but arousing all the same.
His fingers itched to touch her skin again, to cup her breasts, tease her nipples until she cried out.
He wanted to taste her, tempt her, desire her until she made him her conquest with her blazing climax. Making love with Ashleigh had been natural, as if they’d come home again. Home to their private, safe world where nothing could touch them.
No need to wake her and make his lascivious thoughts a reality, because she abruptly wiggled her bottom seductively against his hardened erection and her chuckle vibrated deep in her chest.
“Again?” she whispered over her shoulder.
“Again,” he echoed before raining kisses from the side of her neck around to her mouth.
He would make love to her all night if he could. Who knew where their time together would lead? This could be their second chance.
Or merely a reaction to the stress Paula’s early labor had produced.
He couldn’t endure another heartbreaking desertion. Keeping his guard up would be the only way he could survive this time with Ashleigh. Chances were excellent that she would bolt at her first opportunity.
* * *
PAULA HATED HOSPITALS. All the noise, the beeping, the footsteps back and forth through the hallway.
Her grandmother had once told her that back in her day a woman could stay in the hospital for up to ten days when she gave birth. So that’s exactly what her grandmother did in order to get some rest.
Apparently hospitals were more like spa vacations in Grandma’s day.
During the night, there had been a steady stream of people in and out of her room every few hours to check on her. How was she supposed to get the rest everyone kept telling her she needed if someone was always taking her pulse and checking her blood pressure?
How many times had staff members asked if she was experiencing any labor pains or other discomforts? Her answer had consistently been a solid “no.”
Wouldn’t she hit the call button for help if her labor had started again? Come on, people, use your heads.
Paula rested a hand on her abdomen, relieved beyond belief that her child had changed its mind about staying inside her a little longer. The heartbreaking possibilities had been present in her mind from the moment she experienced that first contraction—she’d never been more scared in her life.
The time on her cell phone was 5:39 a.m. Too early to call and check on the boys.
She scooted around until she found a somewhat comfortable position. With an IV in her arm and catheterized so she wouldn’t have to get out of bed to urinate, she had no choice but to lie on her left side or on her back with the head of the bed raised.
She ought to call the nurses’ station to ask for another pillow or two to put between her knees. Her right hip and back had begun to ache, missing the usual support she used at home.
A quiet knock sounded on her doorjamb and the outline of a b
acklit woman materialized. “Sorry to disturb you,” the woman said in a soothing voice as she neared Paula’s bed. Her name tag read Harriet Cummings, Licensed Practical Nurse, and she appeared to be close to retirement age from her short, pale gray hairstyle.
“That’s okay,” Paula told her. “I was already awake.”
Harriet took Paula’s vitals and then recorded the stats by the light of a small penlight. “Was that Dr. Wilson I saw with you last night?”
“Yes, she’s my sister.”
“Really? I didn’t know she had a sister.” Harriet checked the IV bag hanging next to the bed and continued speaking. “Is Dr. Wilson moving back?”
“I doubt it,” Paula answered. “She’s here to help me out with my two boys while my husband’s deployed at sea. She’s working in Richmond now.”
“How nice for her. I’m sure Richmond is glad to have such a fine pediatrician.” Harriet continued before Paula could correct her assumption. “My daughter brought all three of her children to Dr. Wilson and my Sonja raved about how good your sister was with them. Always patient, soft-spoken—never rushing them out the door.”
“Uh-huh.” Perfect Ashleigh strikes again. As always, everything was all about Ashleigh.
“Poor girl had such a difficult time a few years ago,” Harriet said. “It was heartbreaking to watch everything she and that handsome doctor husband of hers went through to have a baby.”
Paula swallowed thickly. What could she say to that? Of course it had been bad, but now Paula was the patient. Couldn’t she get a little sympathy, too?
Harriet continued with her sympathetic discourse. “The miscarriages, the testing, the surgery. She went through it all.” Harriet slowly shook her head. “And all for nothing.”
Paula listened halfheartedly. Even though she hadn’t been there physically for the majority of Ashleigh’s medical procedures because Scott’s assignment back then had been clear across the country, Paula had supported her as much as possible.
Ashleigh had been rightly devastated, but she refused to talk to anyone about other options for achieving motherhood. She became inexplicably angry whenever adoption was mentioned, and Paula to this day couldn’t figure out what that was all about.
“I’m all done here,” Harriet said. “You tell Dr. Wilson that Harriet Cummings asked about her. She’s one brave little girl.”
“I’ll do that,” Paula promised. Brave? Paula wouldn’t have used that word to describe Ashleigh, but now she could see it kind of fit.
Paula’s vision blurred when her eyes filled to overflowing. Knowing how scared she’d been last night about delivering early, she could only imagine what Ashleigh had gone through when she had her miscarriages. Then there had been all those other procedures. She must have felt like a lab rat the way they kept searching for new research initiatives.
“Is there anything you need?” Harriet finally stopped talking about Ashleigh to focus on Paula.
“Another pillow maybe?”
“Why, of course!” Harriet tsked. “I don’t know why they didn’t offer you one when you were brought in.” With that, she disappeared out the door and down the hallway.
Paula’s baby moved inside her as if to comfort her with its presence. She wiped an errant tear from her cheek and ran a loving hand over her abdomen.
Things would be all right as long as Bam-Bam stayed right where he or she was until the time was right.
She reached to turn on the light, squinting until her eyes adjusted. Then she retrieved the list she’d started last night— pajamas, underwear, bathrobe, sundry toiletries, makeup (not that she’d bother with it much).
She added thank-you notes to the list—she might as well make use of her time in the hospital. She flipped to the next page in the notebook. Her growing list of helpers was getting longer by the minute.
There was nothing like a medical emergency to make it clear who your friends were. Some of the people who’d brought meals and offered rides to the boys were barely acquaintances. And she hadn’t had contact with others since before she and Scott moved around the country with the Navy.
Not for the first time, she was deeply grateful for making the decision to come back to Grand Oaks while Scott was deployed. Sure, she had Navy friends, but she and Scott had barely been in Newport News a few weeks before his ship departed. She’d made some casual acquaintances and knew two other wives from their time together in San Diego, but she wouldn’t have had nearly the support system she had in her hometown.
The hardest thing for Paula to grasp, though, was how Ashleigh had stepped up as soon as she heard Paula was on bed rest. And then seeing Ashleigh here at the hospital last night had been a complete shock. To know she’d left her comfort zone to be on this floor when it held no good memories for her was inconceivable to Paula. Even more so now that Paula had begun to understand the devastation Ashleigh had endured.
Then there was the vibe she was sure she picked up on between Ashleigh and Kyle. As if something was going on with the two of them—and not their usual animosity.
How wonderful would it be if they got back together? Or at least if they could get along? Family gatherings could be happy occasions again.
Every once in a while Paula could actually see glimpses of the Ashleigh of old.
Oh, how Paula missed her sister. Would Ashleigh ever fully turn back into the sister Paula remembered?
* * *
ASHLEIGH ROLLED ONTO her back. She was alone.
She sat up abruptly and the sheet fell from her naked body. She looked around, squinting from the sunshine streaming through the window where the moon had shone earlier.
Definitely alone. Her lungs emptied with a whoosh. Kyle had somehow escaped the bedroom without waking her.
She listened carefully to see if she could hear him anywhere in the house. Nothing but the hum of the heat pump fan and the occasional car driving down the street.
No footsteps, no water running, not even his incessant whistling. Nothing.
She fell back onto the pillow. What a relief! Ashleigh wasn’t sure she could have faced him if he’d been right there when she awoke.
She took a moment to consider her actions last night. As the aggressor, she took full responsibility for the outcome. Yes, Kyle had come to the door, but he would have left immediately if she hadn’t pulled him into her lair.
There was nothing to stress about. After all, she was a big girl. Not a girl who had indiscriminate sex, but she and Kyle used to be married, for goodness’ sake. Lots of divorced couples slipped back into old sexual habits at least once, didn’t they?
She swung her legs off the bed and stood. The clock said almost nine. She never slept in that late.
Intent on gathering her strewn clothes, she realized they were neatly folded on the desk chair.
She slipped on her lightweight bathrobe. To be sure she was alone she snuck a peek out the front window. Kyle’s truck was gone. She breathed normally again. Then she retrieved clean clothes and just for good measure, she called downstairs. “Kyle? Are you here?”
No answer.
The pounding in her chest slowed and she padded into the bathroom. In an effort to wash away every last memory of last night, she turned the water on extra hot.
Not that she regretted last night, but she had no intention of repeating that mistake.
Mistake? Yes, she decided, sleeping with Kyle had been a mistake and she didn’t want to give him the wrong idea or any kind of hope for them as a couple. Was that the hint of regret she’d assumed was absent?
Damn.
She turned off the shower and froze in place as the water dripped down her body and into the drain. She despised regret. Not until goose bumps formed did she pull out of her stupor to towel off.
Once she’d moisturized, brushed her teeth and combed ou
t her wet hair, she dressed in jeans and a lightweight, long-sleeved, sapphire-blue top.
Normally, she would have gone into the office for drop-in patients on a Sunday morning. Lucky for her, she’d been able to contact Cammie on the way to the hospital last night to ask if she’d put a note on the office door asking patients to call her answering service with any emergencies.
Ashleigh opened the bathroom door and was surprised to hear voices downstairs. Mark and Ryan. They were talking to Kyle.
He must have brought them home. To use them as a shield?
She was also surprised by the hint of color in her cheeks that wasn’t only from the overly hot shower. She quickly blew her hair dry, leaving it down rather than gathered up in her usual knot.
Before going downstairs, she checked the bedroom once more for signs of her and Kyle’s activities. She made the bed and put everything else in its place—even the lamp they’d knocked over in their haste to be together.
She shoved away the memory. No use thinking about how deliciously sensual Kyle’s mouth could be or how experienced he was at bringing her to climax in many and varied ways. There would be no repeat performance. It had been a one-night reprise of their former life.
She breathed in deeply, hoping to calm her racing heart.
She stood at the top of the staircase. No time like the present. What a stupid saying. If she were smart, she’d pack up and go back to Richmond right now. Paula could manage without her, and so could Kyle and the boys.
If not for being the lone pediatrician in the area, she’d have her suitcase in hand. She didn’t care if a quick exit would have been the coward’s way out.
Kyle probably thought he was quite the stud after she’d slept with him so willingly. Then again, she’d never been one to play hard to get where he was concerned.
Even the first time he asked her out, she’d barely let him get the words out before practically yelling, “Yes, I’ll go to the homecoming dance with you!”
That hadn’t technically been their first date, because they had gone for ice cream two weeks before the dance.