by Janice Lynn
“Just no.” She inhaled sharply, squeezed her eyes shut, and pushed at his chest. “Let me go, Daniel. Please, let me go.”
Immediately, he backed away. She looked scared again, like she had in his office.
He didn’t understand her fear. He’d never hurt her in any way. She’d dumped him, not the other way around. Even on the night they’d made love for the first time, he’d done everything he’d been able to to ease her passage into womanhood.
Memories spilled forth, making him long for the past when she’d claimed to love him. Not that her love had been more than a teenager’s passing fancy, but he longed for her looks of hot desire all the same.
That’s when reality hit him full force.
“I’ve tried, Kimberly,” he admitted, all teasing gone from his voice. “For fifteen years, I’ve tried.”
Perhaps the look of desperation that had come over her face prompted him to admit the truth, to tell her things no sane man would admit to his ex-girlfriend.
“I want you.” Saying the words out loud felt right. “As much as I did fifteen years ago. Possibly more. Oddly enough, it doesn’t bother me that I want you.”
Her hands stilled on his chest and she looked torn, tormented.
“What does bother me is how you look at me with fear in your eyes.” Like she was doing right at this moment. “How you act like a frightened rabbit, with me playing the role of the big, bad wolf. Which makes me wonder who put that fear in you.”
Her mouth opened, then closed. Her eyes did the same.
“None. Of. Your. Business.” Each word came out with an emphatic burst of defensiveness, and he knew he’d hit on the truth.
His fists clenched against the wall in synchrony with the squeezing of his heart. He longed to smash in the man’s face who’d hurt her, to give him a dose of his own medicine. Because someone had hurt her. Someone had changed her into a woman afraid of taking chances, probably her ex-husband.
He longed to see the carefree smile she’d so easily worn in the past. Instead, he saw a flurry of dark emotions tightening her lips.
“For the next week, everything about you is my business.”
Her lips didn’t curve into a smile. Not that he’d expected them to. Not yet. But he would make her smile, make her laugh, and in the process he’d get her out of his head forever, because this time it would be him who brought things to an end.
“You can’t just decide something like that, Daniel.” She shook her head in denial. “What was between us ended fifteen years ago.”
“No, it didn’t.” It had smoldered like hot coals, just waiting for the right moment to burst into flames. And not just on his part. She could say what she liked, but he’d seen her looking at him throughout the day, caught the longing in her eyes. The moment was now, and fires raged between them that he refused to ignore. “You feel it, and so do I.”
“Don’t tell me what I feel,” she insisted, warily eyeing a businessman on his way to the restroom, reminding him that they stood in a restaurant hallway.
“Fine,” Daniel said after the man had passed. “I’ll tell you what I feel. I want you.”
“You’ve already said that.”
“You didn’t believe me.”
“I believe you want to take me to bed.” She sounded annoyed.
“And?”
“And that’s a horrible idea, Daniel. My only reason for being here is to learn about the CRT, not to have a fling with you.”
No, having a fling would mean taking a risk, and she didn’t seem to do that anymore.
“It must be difficult, being a mother and trying to fit in dating, too,” he commented, watching her face. “You do date, don’t you, Kimberly?”
She scowled. “Of course I date.”
“Really?” he asked lazily, lowering his lids to half-mast while he eyed her lush lips. Lips he longed to lean forward and kiss, but even more he wanted her to admit she wanted his kiss.
His eyes met hers.
She did want him.
She couldn’t hide the fact that he affected her. That being near him made her aware of her own body.
He’d remind her how good it could be between a man and a woman because he suspected she’d forgotten.
“Tell me, Kimberly,” he gently encouraged. “When’s the last time you went on a date?”
She opened her mouth, no doubt to remind him what wasn’t his business, but he covered her lips, slowly kissing her in a seductive tease.
He’d forgotten how sweet her mouth was, how her lips seared through him straight to his heart.
He didn’t lean in, didn’t press his body to her in case her fear returned, but he wanted her beneath him, their bodies tangled together.
Her mouth met his, allowing him access, an access he could barely resist. Only the thought of where they were, of their lack of privacy, kept him from plunging in and to hell with the consequences.
He pulled back a lock of hair, stared into her glazed eyes.
“Don’t bother denying it or telling me it’s none of my business, because we both know you want me, too, Kimberly. Just as we both know that I’ll be spending the night in your bed before you go home. By fighting the attraction between us, you’re only robbing us both of the pleasure I’d give you.”
“You’re insane,” she breathed against his mouth, but without fear or pulling away. Only hot desire shone in her wide eyes.
He wasn’t clear who moved, but their bodies touched from where her hands rested against his chest to where his groin pressed into her belly.
“Certifiable,” he agreed. Getting involved with Kimberly after she’d done such a number on him all those years ago was foolish. Yet he had a week with her. A week to give her back her smiles, which any fool—specifically him—could see she needed. A week to work her out of his system once and for all.
It was a win-win situation.
Daniel didn’t turn down odds like those.
“Oh, there you two are,” Sage said, her eyes flickering back and forth between them, a knowing look on her flushed face.
“Were we lost?” Daniel didn’t move away from Kimberly, just kept her pressed between the wall and his hard body.
He’d have held her close, kept his hand in the small of her back while guiding her to the table so anyone could see she belonged to him. But by frowning and giving a curt shake of her head, she made her feelings clear. She didn’t want anyone to know what happened between them.
She twisted away and, without another look at him or Sage, headed into the ladies’ room with her shoulders held high and rigid.
She may want him every bit as much as he wanted her, but she wasn’t ready to admit to her feelings.
Then again, he’d never quite believed she hadn’t still wanted him when she’d dumped him for another guy.
Oh, God. Daniel had kissed her.
Oh, what a kiss.
Hot, heavy, sweet, the kind of kiss that made a girl forget she stood in the back hallway of an upscale Boston restaurant.
Kimberly had.
She’d totally forgotten they were dining with a group of colleagues, forgotten they stood in a public restaurant, forgotten they were little more than strangers with a past.
And a son.
She sighed, staring at her reflection in the mirror.
Her makeup was smudged and her lipstick completely rubbed off her kiss-swollen lips. Onto Daniel? She hoped not as that might raise questions with the others.
Her eyes shone brightly, looking large and luminous in her pale face. She pinched her cheeks, hoping to add some color to her skin. Too bad she’d left her purse at the dinner table because she could really use a powder touch-up and lipstick.
The door opened, and Sage entered.
“Hi,” Kimberly said automatically, then winced when her voice squeaked. She was a thirty-two-year-old professional, not a silly schoolgirl. Why was she acting like she got caught with her pants down in the boy’s locker room?
But Sa
ge didn’t comment. Walking up to stand next to Kimberly, she checked her appearance and took a factory-sealed lipstick from her sling purse.
“Here,” she said, handing Kimberly the tube. “This came in one of those freebie gifts I always get when I purchase my wrinkle cream. You need a fresh coat and this is more your color than mine anyway.”
Her face red, Kimberly took the warm coral-colored cylinder, removed the clear plastic, then applied the creamy substance to her lips.
“Thank you,” she said, attempting to hand the container back to her work colleague.
“Keep it. As I said, the color looks better on you than it would on me.” The woman fixed a stray strand of hair, then leaned against the counter and eyed Kimberly. “You’re one of Daniel’s exes?”
One of Daniel’s exes?
She tried not to wince when she realized that described her to a T.
Sure, he’d been much more in her heart, but he’d walked away without looking back.
Well, apparently he’d not forgotten her body. Just look at how quickly he’d moved from her walking back into his life to wanting to take her to bed. Typical man, she supposed, but it hurt to think she’d meant so little.
“He’s watched you all evening, you know?”
She had caught him looking at her several times. Not that he’d looked away when their eyes had met. He’d just given a lazy grin and kept right on staring. Like he wanted her to know he wanted her and he intended to have her.
He’d kissed her in the hallway and she hadn’t wanted him to quit. Not ever.
She’d longed to lean on him and let him hold her, tell her that she’d made the right decisions, and he understood. But as she had no intention of telling him a thing, those desires didn’t make sense.
“He was a year ahead of me in high school,” Kimberly admitted. Denying Sage’s curiosity wouldn’t gain anything. The other woman already knew. Admitting the truth somehow made Kimberly less self-conscious that a business colleague had caught her sandwiched between Daniel and the wall. Less like just another skirt to be chased. “We went out a few times.”
More than a few times, but she didn’t have to tell Sage that her junior year had been devoted to spending every moment possible with Daniel. And they’d been nearly inseparable the summer before she’d started her senior year. The summer before Daniel had left for college in August.
August. The month they’d created Ryan, probably while lying on a blanket near Turkey Run Creek, staring up at the stars and desperate for every together moment they’d been able to squeeze in before they’d be apart for months on end.
He’d come home at Christmas, excited, exhausted, and eager to pick up where they’d left off. Only she’d faced responsibilities no seventeen-year-old should face in the months he’d been away. She’d done what had needed to be done. She’d let Daniel go. Set him free. He’d left, never to return. At least, not to her. The day she’d broken up with him had been the last time she’d seen him. Until today.
“For the record, I’ve never slept with Daniel,” Sage clarified, interrupting Kimberly’s thoughts. “We’ve been friends for several years. Despite my flirting with him, he’s right about Robert.”
What was she supposed to say? Kimberly wondered. That she was glad Sage hadn’t slept with Daniel? She was. The thought of him with another woman hurt. Much better not to have faces to put with the pain.
“I’ve heard about Daniel’s bedroom skills, though.” Sage smiled slyly. “They say he’s amazing.”
“They?” Kimberly couldn’t stop from asking. What had happened to not wanting faces? The less she knew, the better.
“Daniel briefly dated a couple of my girlfriends. One for a few weeks. The other was just a weekend fling on a group holiday to the Caribbean.” Sage took out a compact, powdered her nose, and nonchalantly added, “It was several years back, but they’d still both give their right eye to have Daniel look at them the way he looks at you.”
Kimberly gulped, trying to clear the thickness clogging her throat. “How does he look at me?”
“Like he wants to take you home and gobble you up.” Sage checked her appearance, then offered Kimberly the compact. “Take my advice—let him.”
Let him?
She didn’t sleep around. No matter what her past with him, no matter that they shared a son, no matter that she wanted nothing more than to make love with Daniel, they had no future together. Sleeping with him would be wrong.
Wouldn’t it?
Because it wouldn’t be love.
It would be nothing more than sex.
Awesome, out-of-this-world sex because it was Daniel, but still just sex.
Speaking of sex, after that hot kiss, how was she going to face him and pretend he didn’t matter?
That she didn’t want him every bit as much as he’d said he wanted her?
CHAPTER SIX
DANIEL slid into his chair and ignored Greg’s curious look.
He didn’t have to explain his actions to his friend. Honestly, he couldn’t explain them to himself, much less someone else. He just knew that he wanted Kimberly. Enough that he could set the past aside and enjoy their week together.
One week to get their fill of each other.
His pager buzzed at his side. He lifted it from his waistband, glanced at the number, and sighed.
The hospital.
He called, spoke with the emergency room nurse, and hung up as Sage and Kimberly reappeared from hiding in the ladies’ room.
Sage gave him a look that answered his question of whether or not she’d cornered Kimberly in the restroom. She had, and Kimberly had apparently satisfied her curiosity. Or at least up to a certain degree as he got the impression Kimberly was a private person these days.
No doubt he’d be cornered by Sage at some point in the near future, but not tonight.
“Come on, we’ve got an emergency,” he told Kimberly, standing up, causing her eyes to widen with disbelief.
If he stood close enough to whisper in her ear he’d tell her that it wasn’t that kind of emergency, but he liked how she thought. But she’d sat down across the table and clutched her fork in a way that made him think she’d jab him if he made a sudden movement. He settled for a quick wink that let her know he knew where her mind was and that he liked her thoughts.
“A patient has been admitted through the emergency room and I’m on call. He’s in fluid overload and needs a workup for the CRT. I’m going to talk with the patient and his family and will likely schedule the procedure for the morning.” Daniel gave her an innocent look. “Tonight’s perfect timing for you to get extra training.”
“Okay.” Still eyeing him suspiciously, Kimberly nodded. She scooped her purse off the table and said something to Sage.
“Too bad I’m not on call tonight,” Greg teased, still eyeing Daniel with an odd look. “Of course, I could go for you and you could stay and have dessert.”
“I don’t think so.” Daniel shot his buddy a warning glance.
Greg laughed out loud, which irked Daniel. Sometimes his friend saw too much.
“Sage,” Daniel said. “You okay with dropping Greg off at the hospital so he can pick up his car? Otherwise, the walk might do him good.”
Sage batted her eyelashes at Greg. “I can do that.”
“I’ll see to it Kimberly gets back to her hotel.”
“No problem,” Sage assured him, giving Kimberly a conspiratorial wink. Kimberly’s face flushed bright red.
The two had done some female bonding in the ladies’ room.
Curious as to what had caused the crimson to stain Kimberly’s cheeks, Daniel intended to question her later. Right now he just wanted to get her away from their audience before she became even more resistant to his affection.
He turned to her. “Let’s go.”
Kimberly stood at the foot of the hospital bed where the patient who had been admitted through the emergency room lay. She reminded herself to stay focused on the task at ha
nd and not on the doctor examining the peaked-looking man.
Daniel hadn’t bothered changing into scrubs and still wore the khaki slacks and white shirt he’d had on at the restaurant. He studied the man’s electronic chart and Kimberly studied him while pretending her interest stemmed from professional curiosity.
He’d already reviewed the emergency room doctor’s notations and was now taking note of the vital statistics the nurse had recorded after he’d been transferred to his room.
Evert Reed had been battling congestive heart failure for several years, but had recently started having acute fluid overload which his high-dosed diuretics had failed to prevent.
“Dr. Kelley has you on intravenous furosemide to take the fluid off your lungs,” Daniel explained to the elderly man, who was propped up on two pillows and visibly struggling to breathe despite oxygen being delivered by a nasal cannula.
Two women in their late forties vigilantly observed from chairs along the hospital room wall. Both were the patient’s daughters and introduced themselves as Virginia and Estelle.
Daniel acknowledged them with a nod.
“Your wife?” he asked the man, his voice soft and full of compassion.
Kimberly admired how he looked at the whole picture and was trying to get a feel for the man’s support system as that greatly impacted recovery.
“Our mother died last year,” the older of the two women said when her father looked helplessly at her. Talking required too much energy, and he didn’t have the strength. Perhaps he had trouble talking about his deceased wife.
“Dad lives by himself now,” the younger daughter added, giving her father a concerned glance.
“After he’s released from the hospital he won’t be able to stay alone for about a week,” Daniel advised, looking directly at the women. “When he goes home, I’d recommend an alarm system that he wears around his neck just in case he has problems.”