MacNamarasLady (6 page)

“Tell him thanks.”

Lucas snorted. “Tell him yourself.”

Missy enjoyed the byplay between the men.
She knew they’d been friends for years, but had no idea how they’d met. She’d
asked Candy once, but her friend had been unusually vague about it. That had
piqued Missy’s curiosity. She hadn’t asked for more details, though, not
wanting to put Candy in an awkward position. However the men had met didn’t
really matter, she supposed.

She’d never been so glad to see her car
before. All she wanted was to get home and crawl into the safety of her own
bed. Missy wasn’t sure if she’d ever feel safe again after tonight. “Are you
sure you’re okay to drive?” Lucas’ question shook her from her dark thoughts.

Turning toward him, she planted a kiss on
his cheek. “I’m fine. But thanks.”

“Let’s go.” T.S. sounded surly, but she
figured he had to be in a lot of pain. He eased into the passenger seat of her
car and pulled on his seat belt.

Lucas waited until she was settled and had
the car started before he closed the door. “Drive safe.”

She waved and nodded. Missy glanced in her
rearview mirror as she pulled away. Lucas watched them until they were out of
sight. Neither she nor T.S. spoke all the way to her apartment. She thought he
might have drifted off to sleep until he spoke. “Can I come up to your place
and call a cab from there?”

“Sure.” As much as she wanted to be alone,
she couldn’t leave a wounded man on the sidewalk or even on the porch while he
waited for a cab. She owed him more than she could ever repay. She parked in
the lot behind the building and led the way inside.

Her hands shook as she unlocked the door.
Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as they walked to the elevator. The door
slid open as soon as she pressed the button and they stepped inside.

The silence thickened around them. Not
uncomfortable. Almost anticipatory.

She kept glancing at T.S. For a man who’d
been stabbed he was surprisingly steady on his feet. She was in worse shape than
he was in that regard. Her legs were like jelly, threatening to give out on her
any second. Of course, her high heels weren’t helping matters.

They got out of the elevator when they hit
the third floor and walked down the corridor to her apartment, the carpet
muffling the sound of their footsteps. The distance had never felt quite so
long before. She had the end unit because it was slightly larger than the other
apartments on the floor. When she tried to put her keys in the lock, they
slipped from her fingers.

Before she could bend down to pick them up,
T.S. was there, scooping them up. He didn’t hand them back to her, but found
the right key and let them in. She stumbled forward and he caught her with his
good arm.

The keys clanged as he tossed them into the
Depression glass bowl on the entry table. The door closed with a solid thunk.
The metal lock slid into place.

Missy swallowed hard as T.S. moved toward
her. She took a step away and her back hit the wall. His eyes were intent on
her face. They were dark amber and practically glowed as he studied her.

She swallowed hard, her heart pounding in
her chest.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he told her.

Good to his word, he eased closer. Missy
wasn’t certain she could handle his kiss. Not now. Not when she was so
emotionally off balance.

Their mouths touched. Their lips barely
grazed one another. It was a soft kiss. One that was an end onto itself, asking
nothing, seeking nothing.

Missy burst into tears.

Chapter Four

T.S. drew Missy into his arms. He’d been
waiting to do it again since he’d seen her in the waiting room, looking so
concerned about him. He kept his arms loose around her, not wanting her to feel
confined. “It’s okay, babe.” He rocked her back and forth in his arms. He hated
to see her like this. Missy was always so strong, so self-assured. But tonight
had shaken that confidence.

She swiped at her eyes. Most of her makeup
was long gone, but she still looked beautiful to him. “I’m sorry.” She sniffed
and offered him a watery smile. “I don’t usually lose it like that.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” he solemnly
promised. She gave a hiccup of laughter and her smile became more real.

As if suddenly realizing she was in his
arms, she tried to take a step back. T.S. kept his arms locked loosely around
her. “Give yourself another minute.” He kept his voice low and soft. She might
not need the hug but he sure as hell did.

When he thought of her walking back to her
car alone from the party he broke out into a cold sweat. What if he hadn’t
decided to wait? What if she’d truly been alone? He didn’t want to contemplate
what might have happened.

He pressed his hand against the small of
her back, easing her forward until her head rested on his shoulder. She gave a
sigh of relief and gave up the fight. Her arms slowly crept around his waist,
hugging him.

In spite of the throbbing in his arm he
felt great. Better than great. Missy was pressed against his body. Her chest
rested against his. Her legs brushed his.

His dick sprang to attention. Oh yeah.
Nothing wrong with that part of his anatomy. He brushed a light kiss against
her temple while he continued to rub his hand up and down her spine. Calming
her. Soothing them both.

She shivered and he frowned. Was she still
chilled? In shock? Missy’s perfume mingled with sweat and a slight tinge of
blood. A not so lovely reminder of their evening.

“You need to get a hot bath. You’re going
to be sore tomorrow.” There might be no lasting injuries, but T.S. knew the
psychological effects would reverberate for a long, long time.

“I will as soon as you’re gone.” She raised
her head, took a deep breath and stepped back. This time he let her go.

He rubbed his hand over his jawline while
he pondered how to tell her about his plans without having her blow her top.
There was no way to do it. “I’m staying.” Blunt and to the point. Just like
him.

“What?” Her eyes widened and she took
another step back, which pissed him off. She should know by now he’d never hurt
her.

“Look, you’ve been through a trauma. A
shock.” He glanced around her apartment for the first time since entering.
There was a fairly comfortable-looking sofa and two chairs in the living room
area. The sofa was a rich, chocolate brown with overstuffed pillows. “I’ll
sleep on the couch, but I’m not leaving you alone.”

“That’s ridiculous.” A spark ignited in her
eyes. T.S. almost smiled at the flash of temper. That was more like his Missy.

He ignored the possessiveness of his words.
He knew she wasn’t his. Not really. Not for keeps. And that was fine by him. He
didn’t do commitment. But he sure as hell wanted right now with her. Beyond
that, he simply wouldn’t feel right about leaving her alone. She might think
she was fine but he knew better.

A trauma like she’d been through would come
back at the most unexpected times. He was very familiar with nightmares and had
plenty of demons of his own.

“It’s not ridiculous.” Feeling slightly
lightheaded, he headed for one of the chairs and sank into it. He took a good
look around Missy’s home. It was just like her. Classy.

A dark wood entertainment center sat across
from the sofa and housed a flat screen television, a stereo and a DVR. A
bookcase in the corner was filled with books and picture frames but it wasn’t
overflowing. Everything looked as though it had a place. A rug in rich tones of
brown, beige and green covered the hardwood floor. The small dining area was
adjacent to the living room. A table and four chairs sat beneath a pewter and
glass chandelier.

He glanced at Missy. She was still standing
just beyond the front door with her coat still on and her purse over her
shoulder. She looked slightly lost and bewildered. He shoved out of the chair
and went to her. “It’s just for one night. You could use the company and, quite
frankly, I could use someone to keep a watch on me.” He hated playing the sympathy
card, but a man did what he had to do.

“Oh. Of course. I didn’t think of that. Of
course you can sleep on the sofa.” She frowned. “Maybe you should take the bed
and I’ll take the sofa.”

He had to close his eyes against the sight
of her when she casually mentioned him taking the bed. It was all too easy for
him to imagine sharing her bed, with her. The sheets would smell like her skin.
Every muscle in his body tightened in anticipation. The pain in his arm was
nothing compared to the throbbing of his cock.

He almost salivated at the thought of her
naked skin pressed against his. After he’d tasted and touched every square inch
of her delectable body, he could lie on his back and let her ride him. She
could be in control of their passion, taking him as deep and as hard as she
wanted.

His erection twitched, becoming more
uncomfortable by the second. Thank God the ugly green top they’d given him at
the hospital covered the front of his pants. He didn’t think Missy was ready to
deal with his raging hard-on just yet.

He heard a light swoosh of fabric and
tensed as her hand touched his good arm. “T.S.?”

He opened his eyes and drank in her concern
like a parched man after forty days in the desert. “I’ll be fine, Missy.
Promise.”

She nodded. “If you say so.” She looked
around as if trying to figure out what she should do next.

“Here, let me get this for you.” He eased
her purse strap down her shoulder and then pulled her coat off, hooking both of
them on a rack near the door.

She was still wearing the sexy blue dress,
but it was torn and stained now. The scratch marks were visible above the
neckline. “What did the doctor say about them?” He motioned to her injuries.

She shrugged and her hands fluttered upward
to cover the marks. “I need to keep them clean but they’re not serious. They’ll
be gone in a week or so.”

Outwardly they might disappear but inwardly
the scars would take much longer to heal. “I’m going to run you a bath.” Not
giving her time to protest, he started down the short hallway and found her
bathroom on the left-hand side.

It was painted a pale green with crisp
white towels waiting on a shelf. The counter was lined with bottles and
lotions. It smelled like Missy. T.S. took a deep breath and smiled. She was
such a girly girl. He liked that about her. She was strong but didn’t sacrifice
her femininity. If anything, she embraced it.

“What are you doing?” There was an edge of
near panic to her voice. He ignored it as he reached down, put the plug in the
drain and turned on the taps. When the temperature was right, he straightened.

“I’m running you a bath.”

Missy felt as though her life was spiraling
out of control. All she’d wanted was to come home, curl up by herself and lick
her wounds. Instead, she’d cried all over T.S., had somehow agreed to let him
stay the night, and now he’d invaded her bathroom.

He cupped her shoulders in his large hands
and leaned down. The heat from his palm seeped through the thin fabric of her
dress, making her realize just how cold she was.

She thought he might kiss her again. She
wasn’t sure how she felt about that possibility. She was still reeling from the
last kiss and that hardly qualified as a real kiss. More of a slight touching
of lips.

“Go get undressed. I’ll watch the bath for
you.” He turned her and gave her a slight push toward her bedroom.

Missy took the reprieve as a chance to
regroup. Hurrying to her room, she shut the door and leaned against it. T.S.
was staying the night.

“Get a grip,” she muttered. He wasn’t
sleeping with her. The man had been stabbed. Had stitches. He just needed
someone to keep an eye on him for the night.

“Missy?” A heavy knock came on the door.
“You okay?”

No, she wasn’t okay, but she wasn’t telling
him that. She also wasn’t ready for him to be in her bedroom. Not now. Maybe
not ever. “I’ll just be a minute.”

She shoved away from the door and began to
strip off her dress. It went straight in the trash. Not only was the rip in a
place that couldn’t easily be repaired, she knew she’d never be able to wear
the dress again. Not with the memories attached to it.

She kicked off her shoes and stripped off
her stockings, tossing them on top of her dress. Her underwear followed. She
wanted no reminders of this night.

Missy’s hands were shaking as she pulled on
her thick terrycloth robe and tightened the belt around her waist. Her bedroom
was her oasis, done exactly as she wanted in shades of green and brown. Usually
it relaxed her after a long day but tonight it seemed cold and empty.

She hurried to the door and yanked it open.
T.S. was propped against the wall across from her. He should have looked
ridiculous in dress pants and a hospital scrub top. Instead, he was dangerous.
Tempting.

His shoulders were huge and his forearms
thickly muscled. Even the white bandage wrapped around his upper left arm couldn’t
detract from his air of danger. If anything it added to it.