Longing for Love (21 page)

“Now you can speak from experience.”

“Yes.” She squeezed his hand. “It’s never been like that. Ever.”

“For me, too.”

“So it was different?” Tiffany cringed to herself, knowing she was fishing, but she couldn’t help that she wanted to know more about him. Suddenly, she wanted to know everything.

“Hell, yes, it was different. Right from the beginning, you’ve been different from anyone I’ve ever known.”

While the slight movement of his hips reminded her he was still lodged deep inside her, his words set off a whole other kind of heat in the vicinity of her badly wounded heart.

“How is it different?”

He was quiet for a long moment. “For one thing, you’re not after everything you can get from me, regardless of what it costs me.”

Tiffany tried to understand what he meant. “They took money from you?”

“Worse—they went for my soul.”

“How so?”

After a long pause, he cupped her breast and tweaked her nipple. “I don’t want to talk about that. I’d much rather talk about you and this.” He lightly pinched her nipple between his fingers.

While her body reacted instantly to him as it always did, her heart was disappointed that he was unwilling to share more about his past with her.

She ran her hand up his arm and then back down to link her fingers with his. “If I ever ask for more than you’ve got to give, will you tell me?”

“Baby, you’re not made of that kind of stuff. You stand on your own two feet and take care of yourself. It would never occur to you to expect a man to solve all your problems for you.”

His gruffly spoken words made her heart contract with a painful rush of emotion. “That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“I mean it,” he said, drawing her in tighter against him.

That was when she realized he was once again fully erect and throbbing inside her.

“Hold that thought,” he said with a kiss to her cheek. “I need to get another condom.”

When he would’ve withdrawn from her, she stopped him. “I’m on the pill.”

He went completely still.

“I’ve never been with anyone but Jim, and I had a physical recently. I’m healthy.”

“I have physicals every year for work.”

“In that case…”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Tiffany laughed softly at the amazement she heard in his tone. “That’s what I’m saying.”

“I think my heart just stopped.” He withdrew from her slowly, and when he was finally free, he kissed her shoulder and then her cheek. “Stay there. I’ll be right back.”

Tiffany delighted in watching the flex of his finely sculpted rear as he strode purposefully into the bathroom to dispose of the condom and clean up. She shifted onto her back and stretched her arms and legs, which set off an explosive reaction that rippled from her bottom to her scalp, toes and fingertips and everywhere in between.
 

He returned and stood by the side of the bed, staring down at her. His erection was tall and proud, nearly reaching the indented navel on his muscular belly.

Tiffany couldn’t believe this strong, sexy, gorgeous man had set his sights on her. She held out a hand to him, but as usual, he had his own ideas about how this would go.

“Come here.” He pointed to the edge of the bed.

Tiffany moved carefully until she knelt before him at the edge. She reached out to stroke him and enjoyed the sight of his head thrown back, which exposed the strong column of his throat.

And then his hand was over hers, stopping her. “Lie down.”

She did as he directed and then watched in amazement as he arranged her legs so they were over his shoulders.

“I’ve heard dancers are super limber,” he said as his hands moved seductively over her thighs. “Is that true?”

“You’ll have to find out for yourself.”

His eyes blazed with intensity as he slid his arousal through her slickness.

Remembering the difficult entry the last time had her tensing as she waited to see what he would do.

“Don’t get tense,” he said soothingly. “That only makes it harder.”

“Makes what harder?” she asked with a playful grin that masked her inner turmoil.

“Everything.” Grasping her bottom, he pushed into her one torturous inch at a time. “Stop thinking so much, and just feel. Just feel.” He retreated before surging into her again. “That’s it. Take all of me.” His lips skimmed her inner thigh as he pressed his thumb against her and made her come suddenly and almost violently.

With a wild groan, he clutched her hips and went with her. He released her legs, came down on top of her and held her tight against him. Then he raised his head, looked deep into her eyes and kissed her. “I want my pizza now.”

Since that was the last thing she’d expected him to say, Tiffany burst into laughter.

David stayed late at the clinic to wade through a mountain of charts that had collected in the last week. They desperately needed some additional administrative help, but the clinic barely had the budget to pay him, Victoria and the receptionist they already had. As it was, he was making far less than he would have in the city, but he had everything he needed. Well, almost everything…

Since he’d lost Janey, he’d walked around with a large, painful hole where his heart had once been. Knowing he had only himself to blame for losing her didn’t help much. Pouring himself into his work—that helped. It left him with little time to think about how badly he’d screwed up his entire life. They should’ve had it all. Instead, he was left to think about how he’d had it all and let it slide through his fingers like it meant nothing to him.

Forcing himself to focus, he opened a chart and realized it was Daisy’s. He made some final notes about her treatment and follow-up care. In a city hospital, he would close the chart and move on to the next. On the island, he started to reach for the phone to check on her, but stopped himself, deciding to see her in person on the way home. That was the beauty of small-town medicine. He knew most of his patients personally and went out of his way to spend as much time with each of them as he could.

Every time he tended to an impoverished young family or a lonely shut-in or a battered woman, he liked to think he was paying back the debt he owed for being such a disappointment to the community that once had such faith in him. The people of Gansett had been so proud to send one of their own off to medical school, and then he’d gone and blown it by cheating on Janey McCarthy. He’d found out the hard way that everyone loved Janey and reviled the man who’d hurt her. Saving her baby niece Hailey at birth had gone a long way toward redeeming him with the McCarthy family, but people still treated him differently than they used to.
 

They also blamed him for derailing Janey’s plans to attend veterinary school after college. At the time, he’d thought he was doing the right thing by insisting only one of them attend medical school, reasoning that island practices wouldn’t generate enough income to support them and pay off their school loans. Her parents had violently opposed her decision to forgo veterinary school, and his relationship with his future in-laws had never really recovered from that episode. Now that she was free of him, she was attending veterinary school in Ohio, and everyone was happy—everyone but him.
 

It had probably been a huge mistake to take the job as the island’s doctor when Cal Maitland returned to Texas to tend to his ailing mother. But it had been the job he’d always planned to have after medical school, so he’d snapped up the opportunity when it was offered to him. Now he had a two-year contract that he would honor before he considered other options. Maybe by then people would’ve forgiven his sins.

He let out a harsh laugh. “As if.”

His grumbling stomach reminded him that he’d skipped lunch—again—and that it was getting late. He turned off the office light and gathered up some of the remaining paperwork to finish at home. On the way out, he switched the phones over to the answering service on the mainland that covered for them at night. They had his cell number and would call him if anything came up overnight. He locked the clinic’s main doors and took a moment to appreciate the soft spring evening on the way to the car.
 

As he drove into town to Daisy’s house, he let himself pretend he was driving home to Janey, that she was waiting for him with dinner they’d enjoy together before spending a long, sensuous night in bed. The memories of making love with Janey made him hard and horny. Ironically, he hadn’t had sex since the day she caught him with the oncology nurse he’d foolishly brought home to his apartment, thinking she could take his mind off the Hodgkin’s treatment. In fact, she’d been a momentary distraction that set off a series of events that imploded his life.
 

Sex had been about the last thing on his mind ever since. Until lately… Lately, he’d begun to think he might be ready to start over again with someone else, as daunting a proposition as that might be after spending thirteen years—his entire adult life—with the same woman. He couldn’t imagine ever being in love again like he’d been with Janey, but it would be nice to have someone to spend time with—other than his mother, who loved to fret about how badly he’d messed up his once-promising life.

 
He parallel parked in front of Daisy’s house and noticed a single light in a room downstairs. Hoping he wasn’t disturbing her, he began to regret not calling before he came. With his medical bag in hand, he rapped lightly on the front door and waited several minutes before he heard the shuffle of feet inside.
 

“Who is it?”

“David Lawrence.”

A series of locks disengaged, and the door swung open. Daisy seemed surprised to see him. Her face was bruised and swollen, with one eye completely closed. “What’re you doing here?”

“I wanted to check on you.”

“Really?”

He smiled. “Yes, really.”

“That’s so nice of you. Come in.” She shuffled back to the sofa and sat slowly and painfully.

“Are you all by yourself?”

“My friends were here earlier, but they left a little while ago.”

“Would it be okay if I took a look at your ribs?”

She hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

“Why don’t you stretch out on the sofa and try to get comfortable.”

Watching her painful effort to move her body into position made him hurt for her. “Let me help you.” He gently lifted her legs and helped her recline on the threadbare sofa. By the time he had her settled, she was breathing hard and a light sheen of perspiration had appeared on her forehead. “Is it okay to put on another light?”

“Sure.” She closed her one working eye, as if she could no longer make the effort to keep it open.

Moving carefully, David raised her T-shirt to expose the ribs he’d wrapped the night before. In his bag, he found surgical scissors and cut the tape to expose angry-looking bruises. He looked up to check how she was faring and was distressed to see tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head.
 

“Then what is it?”

“It’s so embarrassing, you know?” Her luminous gray eye swam with new tears when she opened it to look at him. “That the man I supposedly love could’ve done this to me, and I allowed it.”

“You didn’t allow it, Daisy. This was done
to
you. It’s not your fault.”

“I keep telling myself that, but still… I let him back in after the other times. That’s on me.”

“Maybe so, but you can’t be faulted for wanting to give someone you love another chance.”

“It’s nice of you to say that and to come here. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to see how you were doing.” His stomach let out an ungodly growl. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

“Have you had dinner?”

“Not yet, and my stomach is letting me know it’s time.”

“My friends brought a ton of food, but my mouth is too sore to eat anything. My friend Maude makes the most delicious lasagna. You should have some.”

“I couldn’t. They made it for you.” His stomach protested the words with another growl.

“I’d hate for it to go to waste. You’d be doing me a favor, and it’s the least I could do since you were nice enough to check on me.”

David wavered. He was starving and still needed to re-tape her ribs.
 

“Please,” she said softly. “After all you’ve done for me, let me feed you.”

“All right,” he said, smiling.

“Could I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

She hesitated, studying him intently. “Why is it that even when you smile, your eyes are sad?”

Staggered by the question, David stared at her.

“I’m sorry.” She looked down at her hands. “I don’t mean to pry.”

“I’ve made some mistakes,” he said haltingly. The words were out of his mouth before he could think about whether it was wise to share his personal travails with a patient. “You probably know all about them.”