She bit the corner of her lip and smiled. ‘I think you’re a very surprising man.’
‘I meant about this place.’
‘Me too. Bringing Jaxon here was inspired, it’s good therapy. The right therapy for him and I’m impressed you saw that. Hopefully he’ll learn a few things, like tolerance and patience. And that things are never as bad as they seem.’ She peered up at him and beamed. ‘I wish I’d learnt that a long time ago. And that being trounced by a bunch of enthusiastic kids who don’t have an ounce of self-pity is good for the soul.’ She laughed and fixed her hands on her hips. ‘So, I have a few questions.’
Her gaze was piercing. He’d never been one to open his heart, so this was rocky ground. ‘Fire away.’
‘What’s your involvement with Treetops?’
‘I’m on the board, I help raise funds—that kind of thing.’ A vice tightened round his chest. Quarterly meetings were fine, but he hadn’t accounted for the rush of emotion being here. In Tom’s place. It felt weird. Upside down and inside out. His heart had been torn by Tom’s accident and his part in it. But he’d poured everything he had into trying to make things right.
‘But why?’ Dani looked at him, searching his face. She had a dozen or so questions on her lips and he didn’t know where to begin answering them.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Why here, why Treetops? Why not somewhere else? Cancer research, Arthritis New Zealand, cardiac care? Why here?’
‘Because it’s a special place.’
‘I can see that...’ Now she put her hand on his arm. ‘And who is Tom? And why the weird vibe?’
Damn. That clear blue gaze pierced him. She wouldn’t be fobbed off.
He stepped away out of Dani’s reach. ‘Tom was a friend of mine. He had an accident...’ That changed everything.
The reason he couldn’t ever commit. Shouldn’t. Wouldn’t. And latterly the reason he’d chased after his own dreams. He couldn’t help the instinctive fisting of his hands, knew his jaw twitched and his voice thickened. He willed his body to relax. ‘Treetops is Tom’s passion—it also gives him a full-time job and he loves it.’ He’d long ago dealt with the pain of the accident, but dealing with the guilt had taken a lot longer. ‘We help with the running of it.’
‘Who’s we?’ She meandered along, taking in the pictures, oblivious to the storm raging in his chest.
‘Me, Toby—that’s Tom’s brother—and a bunch of friends who wanted to help.’
‘And no one works harder than Zac at raising funds.’ Tom greeted them at the door with a tray of steaming mugs. ‘Tell Dani about your marathon runs. The ocean swims. The mountain climbs.’
Zac shrugged. It wasn’t about the effort, it was about the reward—hard-earned sponsorship that kept Treetops in the black. He owed Tom, owed them all. ‘I do what I can—it’s nothing, really.’
‘It’s everything.’ Tom put a cup into Dani’s hand and directed them both outside towards the gym. ‘Zac uses all of his precious and rare spare time to get cash for this place. We have a trust fund which covers most things, but Zac makes the whole place work.’ He took a long slug of coffee. Zac wanted to shut his old friend up—making him sound like a saint when he was far from it. But Tom just kept on talking. ‘All he ever talked about in med school was being a top sports doctor and rugby, rugby, rugby. Ad nauseum. But he took the safe GP route with a guaranteed income and poured all his time into this. From a distance.’ His eyes locked with Zac’s and he felt the unspoken disappointment. ‘It took heavy pressure from us all to convince him to slow down on the fundraising and follow his own dream.’
Dani watched as Zac turned away, obviously embarrassed. She got the sense that although he loved being the life and soul, he had things so private he didn’t ever want them to see the light of day. ‘Well, it’s great that you can, Zac. Everyone should have a chance to fulfil their dreams.’
And then it occurred to her that Zac needed his job much more than he’d made out. He needed the salary, the promise of more—and he’d need the hefty bonus he’d get if the Jets won. Not for himself, as she’d first believed, but for Treetops. She started to join the dots; his reluctance to protect Jaxon as there’d be too many other things at stake with his job on the line. His desire to please her father.
She’d been correct all along—he had wanted to impress Daddy Danatello, but for the right reasons, not for Paul’s self-serving greedy ones. Too many selfish men had tarnished her ability to judge the good ones.
Tom’s brows rose. ‘Look, I have a funding application deadline. Do you mind if I leave you two to explore on your own?’
‘No worries. We’ll be fine, won’t we, Dani?’ Zac’s warm smile reached into her heart and tugged a little. This new light threw up so many more questions. But she couldn’t ask him—oh, yeah, she wanted to. Like what had happened to Tom? Why did Zac need to pour everything he had into this place? Why was there a weird static between the two guys? They’d obviously had a deep friendship, but the wounds ran deep.
And she didn’t know whether she wanted to probe and get more emotionally invested. The tournament would end and they’d all go back to their separate lives. Little point in allowing herself to get attached to something that would break into tiny pieces leaving her heart bruised.
She followed him into the gym. ‘Oh, by the way, what did Matt say when you turned up this morning?’
Zac gave her a conspiratorial smile; out of the glare of Tom’s intense gaze he seemed to relax. ‘He was fast asleep. So our dirty little secret is safe...’
To her mortification, she giggled, a trait not usually in her repertoire. ‘You’re making it sound a lot worse than it was.’
‘Really? Spending the night with two men isn’t your idea of bad?’ He made it sound almost exciting. And she had to admit that there were many times when she’d wished it had been just her and Zac in that hot hotel bedroom. ‘Jeez, I’d like to see you be really, really wicked.’
Zac’s eyes sparkled as they turned to watch the wheelchair tournament, his voice raised over the loud squeak of tyres on varnish. Jaxon was losing by a long way but the smile he wore told them he didn’t care a jot. Dani was impressed; Zac had nailed exactly what the boy had needed. ‘He’s finally started to loosen up. The fun’s in the playing regardless of ability—surely? Hopefully he’s learnt a hard lesson.’
Zac wheeled up a spare chair and offered it to her. ‘You want to come and play?’
She looked at the concentration and fierce rivalry out there on the court. ‘No way. It looks far too dangerous.’
‘Chicken.’ His mouth hitched up at one corner. ‘Girl.’
‘Aha. Thank you for noticing.’
‘I noticed.’ His gaze locked with hers. Heat flickered between them like the beginnings of a smouldering fire that, with one small breath of oxygen, would blaze out of control. All it would take was one step to close the gap between them. Dani hauled in more air; this attraction to him was getting way out of control. So perhaps they should. Take. One. Step. Perhaps one more mind-blowing kiss would erase this need for him.
God, what was she thinking? Of course that couldn’t happen. But her feet wouldn’t move. However much her brain told her to go, her body craved him.
With what looked like an immense effort his gaze dipped away from her eyes down her body, pausing once at her lips, twice at her breasts. Lower. Her breath hitched. Static jolted through her. Her body hummed with need.
He focused back on her mouth. How could the way he looked at her cause such a riot in her body? The man hadn’t even touched her and her nerve endings were on fire. The noise in the room went hazy. Zoned out. All she could hear was the rasp in his breath.
And then his words. ‘Watching you sleeping in that red satin thing last night. Man, it was the longest night of my life. I wanted to hold you. Touch you. Make love to you. Way I see it, we have to do something. I’m going mad here. I can’t think straight with you around the whole time. All I want to
do is kiss you.’
‘But...we can’t. Not here. Not at the hotel. Not...anywhere.’ Her mouth dried.
He inched closer. Her fingers twitched as she held back from pressing her hand against his face. She looked into his dark eyes and connected on a deeper level than she’d ever connected with anyone before. He wanted her. She wanted him. Basic. Feral. Need.
The charge that had run through her in the lift, with his kiss, his damned list, with his body, hadn’t dimmed like she’d hoped; it had got hotter and brighter. And she couldn’t ignore it any more. ‘No. No. This...has got to stop.’
‘I know. But I don’t want it to.’ He turned to look at the game.
The boys were so engrossed they hadn’t even noticed there were adults in the room. Let alone adults who were on the verge of carnal.
‘Okay.’ She swallowed hard and pressed her hand against her chest instead. Felt her tachycardia pounding against her rib cage. Then she turned to watch the full-on game. ‘I think Jaxon needs some help.’ So do I. ‘Go and play.’
‘I’m gone.’ He looked almost relieved as he jumped into the chair and joined the game, laughing and cajoling, and woefully bad at losing, but giving so much of himself effortlessly. He threw the ball to his teammate, who hit it towards goal.
A cheer—no, a scream—went up. A gut-wrenching scream of pain echoing off the breeze-block walls.
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘QUICK, DANI!’ ZAC’S voice dragged her gaze away from the goal to mid-field. ‘Over here.’
He was on his knees next to an upturned wheelchair, the wheels still spinning in the eerie silence, a boy sprawled on the floor in obvious pain.
Making her way through the wheelchairs she stopped, glad that Zac hadn’t been hurt. Mortified that she cared so much. ‘What happened?’
‘A spectacular crash and then a tip.’
She crouched next to Zac and helped assess the young lad, who looked about fifteen and seriously unimpressed with finding himself on the floor. ‘Hey, are you okay, mate? What’s your name?’
‘Karl.’ His face contorted as he held his wrist.
‘Hi, Karl, I’m Dani. Took a real tumble, eh?’ She tried to make him feel as comfortable as possible as she pressed along the bones of his arm. A bruise had begun to spread over the back of his hand and blood from a graze spilled onto her knee. ‘Sore?’
‘Yeah...I seen you before.’ He groaned. ‘On the telly.’
Oh, no...not the Lady Godiva thing again. ‘Aha.’ She braced herself ready for the lewd comments. Surely this kid was too young to have paid any attention to the furore over four years ago? But the shame always lingered, hung over her like a shadow. Would it never go away?
‘Yep, Dani’s with the Jets,’ Zac cut in. ‘She’s the best physio we’ve ever had.’
‘Too right.’ Her heart restarted, stalled a little at Zac’s affirmation of her skills. But then continued to thump. She didn’t need him to fight her battles, to take a piece of her heart when she’d protected it for so long. But this side of Zac—this private, softer side, which made him even more damned masculine—held her spellbound.
She turned her attention back to the crisis. ‘Let’s have a proper look at this hand. Can you make a fist, Karl?’
His hand flopped in her grip and he shook his head. ‘No.’
‘Oh.’ She watched the boy’s face as she slowly pressed along his ulna, looking for signs of distress or wincing at her touch. ‘Does it hurt too much to try?’
‘No, I just can’t make a fist.’ He shrugged. ‘Paralysed.’
‘Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry. I should have thought....’ She looked over at Zac for help as heat seeped under her skin. He shook his head. Don’t worry.
But she did worry. She should have thought, shouldn’t have said...
Then Karl’s fingers twitched and very slowly his hand fisted.
Big chocolate eyes stared up at her in amazement. The boy smiled. ‘Wow. Would you look at that. It’s a miracle.’
‘What?’ Her brain spun into overdrive trying to work out the ramifications. How could a hand suddenly regain movement? Maybe he’d tweaked something in his spine? Brain? Nerves?
Not wanting to freak the boy out she looked over at Zac. Caught them both smiling.
‘Quit joking around.’ Zac laughed and cuffed the boy’s hair. ‘She’s trying to help.’
‘Sorry. Couldn’t help it. I’m paraplegic, not quad. Duff legs, but the arms are okay. Usually.’ Karl made a tight fist but winced when Zac touched his wrist. For all his bravado the kid was in pain.
‘Great joke, guys. Make it hard for the new girl.’
Next thing she knew Jaxon was at her shoulder. ‘Is he okay?’ His face had turned ashen white. ‘I didn’t mean...I’m sorry...I just thought...’
She turned him away from Karl’s obviously injured arm. ‘Look, mate. It wasn’t your fault. This kind of thing happens. Don’t worry.’
He spun the wheel of the upturned chair. ‘Everything’s going wrong. Whatever I try to do...’
‘Jaxon, don’t take everything to heart. You’ve just got to relax a bit. Mistakes happen.’ His shoulders slumped as he spun the wheel faster and faster.
‘It’s so unfair.’
‘What is?’
‘Life.’ Was he referring to his own injury or theirs?
‘It sure is. And you’ve just got to man-up and face it. You have an injured foot. You’ll be back playing in a couple of weeks. I know this tournament is big for you, but there’ll be more games.’ She indicated the rest of the boys shooting hoops now at the far end of the court. ‘Look at these guys, they have a zillion challenges, but they still want to have fun. You’ve got to take what you can and make the best of it.’ For a young man he seemed to take setbacks very close to heart. ‘Karl will dine out on this story for years. How he had a clash with Jaxon Munro. Take the positives before the negatives eat you up.’
She pushed him towards the others. ‘Now go and role model some decent staunch behaviour. They rely on people like you to raise them up.’ Or was that putting too much pressure on his young shoulders? But it might at least give him something to think about other than himself. When the tournament was done she’d speak to her father about what kind of pastoral care they offered the younger players. What guidance they had for spending their bonuses, saving a bit and taking care of themselves physically and mentally. Something she wished she’d had growing up.
Zac was finishing his assessment when she focused back on him and their other patient. ‘Okay, you’ve got tenderness and swelling here and here. We need to get it checked out thoroughly, find a dressing for that abrasion and an X-ray. We can’t be too careful.’
The boy slumped back against his chair, his machismo gone and now his real emotions shining through. ‘Great, more broken bones. That’d be just a perfect end to my holiday.’
‘Perhaps we could see about getting you a few free tickets to the next game.’ Zac winked at Dani and she nodded back. Excellent idea. Zac certainly knew how to deal with the kids. Knew which buttons to press, when to be stern, when to be fun. When to be just straight-up nice. ‘I know it won’t make up for a fracture, but would it help?’
‘Cool as.’ Karl’s eyes grew wider. ‘In the premier box?’
‘Don’t push your luck.’ He play-punched the boy’s good shoulder. ‘And maybe a few autographs. But first, we have to get you up. On my count. One...two...three...’
In one swift move Zac had the chair upright and Karl sitting in it. ‘All sorted. Lead on, Daniella.’
The way he said her name made her stupid legs go weak, as if the world was shifting slightly on its axis. The heat from her earlier embarrassment morphed into a different kind of heat arrowing through her body with lightning speed.
Waking up with him had been divine, spending time here was one step forward to getting him to open up. But even though he’d shared this wonderful place she could see him still holding back—just a little, enough to flash warning b
ells. Sure, he could do the macho thing, the playboy thing, even the caring thing, but there was still a piece missing. A part of him he kept tucked right away. Something about Tom, about Treetops, made him reticent to share the whole of himself, caused him shadows and pain. Something, Dani sensed, no one would ever be able to completely wipe away from him. Something he didn’t even want her to try to do.
* * *
‘Hey, Dani! Dani! Come in this one? It’s way hot. Forty degrees.’
‘No, I’m good, thanks.’ Dani waved to the group of players relaxing in the largest hot pool. ‘Too hot for me. I’m going over there to cool off.’
She made her way to a smaller private pool and laid out her towel. Then stood on the rock border with warm water lapping at her toes as she looked out at the panoramic vista. Serenity was the only appropriate word. The sky stretched pink and orange above her, melting into the views across the still lake out front. Secluded brush stick fencing and giant flax behind gave a sense of privacy and total quiet, save for the gentle trickle of water over pebbles. It was the first time since the tournament began she’d felt peace within her grasp. Maybe, too, it was because Zac had taken Karl for an X-ray—she could get her crazy thoughts together without his disturbing presence.
She closed her eyes and took a long deep breath. Relax.
Suddenly she sensed a tremor in the air behind her, a whisper of breath. Felt the heat of his hand on the small of her back. The tiny push. ‘Whoop. In we go.’
And there went serenity too. When she surfaced she shook the water from her hair. ‘Zachary Price. Typical. What are you doing back so soon?’
‘We got fast-tracked. Miss me?’
‘No. I was meditating.’
‘On what exactly?’
The fastest way to get you out of my system. And definitely not on the way he was looking at her. Or his naked chest. Or the way his eyelashes glinted with tiny droplets. ‘Shoulder displacement.’
‘Why? It hurts like hell. You planning on doing it sometime soon?’
The Last Doctor She Should Ever Date Page 10