Shelter for Adeline (14 page)

Adeline blushed. “Stop it. You’re embarrassing me. You’re making me out to be some perfect woman, and I’m so not.”

“We’ll keep practicing on the accepting-a-compliment thing,” he told her with a smile.

She just shook her head at him.

The elevator opened and they got in. No one else was around, so they had it to themselves. Coco sat at Adeline’s feet, tongue out, panting happily.

“Wow, it’s so surreal to be in this elevator,” Crash said, looking around. “I’m so used to this being a place of solemn reflection. I love that you’re letting me see and remember it in a different way. Thank you,” Crash told Adeline seriously. “And I know you’re not perfect, no one is, we’ve had this conversation before. But nothing I’ve seen so far has given me any reason to have any second thoughts about getting to know you better. Your imperfections make you more real.”

“That’s how I feel about you too,” she told him honestly. She looked up at him with huge brown eyes and smiled.

Crash ran his index finger down her cheek tenderly. He couldn’t help but wish the day was going slower. He dreaded saying goodbye to her at the end of the day. Even though he knew in his gut Adeline was meant to be his, he also knew he couldn’t push too fast. Their relationship was moving quickly but he wouldn’t rush her.

They stood together in silence, enjoying each other’s company until the elevator bell rang when they reached the top of the seven hundred and fifty-foot tower.

They stepped out and headed for the hostess stand at the restaurant. “Eat first, then the movie?” Crash asked.

“Sounds good,” Adeline replied with a smile.

“The four-D movie isn’t going to mess with your epilepsy is it?”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine. Thanks for asking and not assuming.”

They approached the entrance to the restaurant hand in hand. “Two for lunch,” Crash told the tall, slender woman behind the hostess’s stand.

She looked at him, then at Adeline and Coco with a frown. “I’m going to have to see your animal’s qualification papers.”

“His papers?” Adeline asked, surprised by the request.

“This is a public restaurant. We have strict health code standards we have to keep. There have been a few instances where patrons have stuck vests on their pets and pretended they were service dogs. Therefore, we have a new policy where we need to see the qualification papers and know what your disability is and how the animal is needed before you’ll be allowed to dine in this establishment.”

“I don’t think you’re allowed to ask for any of that information,” Crash said immediately, pulling Adeline into his side.

“She’s definitely not,” Adeline confirmed and kept her eyes on the woman. “House Bill four eighty-nine states that you can ask me if my dog is required because of a disability and what task he is trained to perform, but that’s it. You aren’t allowed to ask me to show you proof of certification for my dog”

“Look, I understand it’s awkward,” the woman said in a fake concerned tone, “but it’s also awkward for us when other patrons complain about allergies to dogs or when the supposed service animal makes a nuisance of itself. We’re protecting you as well as our other customers.”

“Bring the manager up here, now,” Crash ordered harshly, not giving Adeline a chance to say anything.

“Now, sir, all I need to know—”

“Manager,” he repeated through clenched teeth. “We’re done talking to you.”

The woman let out an aggravated breath, but turned on her heel without another word and headed into the restaurant.

“Dean, we can just go,” Adeline told him, tugging at his arm. “I don’t want to make a fuss. This happens more than you know. I’m actually kinda used to it. Remember when I talked about annoying people? This is a part of that.”

Crash said nothing, merely shook his head. He was so pissed he couldn’t remember the last time he was this angry. But taking it out on Adeline was the last thing he wanted to do. He simply wanted to sit with his girlfriend and have a nice lunch overlooking the city. She’d gone out of her way to try to find someplace special for their second date, and he’d be damned if anyone would keep that from them.

Soon, a middle-age man with a receding hairline and wearing a gray suit jacket, tie, and gray slacks walked toward them, with the hostess at his heels. Neither looked happy.

The man started talking before he even reached them. “I apologize for the inconvenience, sir, ma’am. But we have every right to protect our customers and make sure any animal brought into our establishment is a legitimate service animal.”

Adeline was digging into her purse as the man spoke and when he was done, handed him a small card. It was the size of a business card, maybe a bit bigger, and printed on both sides. She took a deep, calming breath before she spoke. Her voice was firm, and she sounded as though she’d made the speech several times in the past.

“I understand, and it’s reprehensible that people would choose to falsely claim their pets were service animals. But that is not
my
problem. This card explains my rights, and yours. You cannot ask to see my dog’s training papers, nor can you ask what my disability is. But I’ll tell you anyway. I’m not ashamed of it. I have epilepsy. My dog alerts me if I’m about to have a seizure. He gives me the extra ten or twenty minutes I need to get someplace safe before it hits. Without him, I could start convulsing right at the table. If I was eating, I could choke on something and possibly die. I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to do that in your nice establishment.” Adeline paused to let that scenario sink in. When it appeared it had, she continued.

“I am completely responsible for my dog. Not you. Not the state of Texas. Not my dining companion. You can see on the back of the card the law clearly states that you could be fined and I can take you to court if you violate my civil rights. It also states that, by law, an identification card is not required to grant me and my service dog entry to any public place, including restaurants. Now, I’m on a date with a man I’m trying to impress, and you’re seriously making me look like a hard-ass bitch when I was going for feminine and lady-like. I’m hungry because I beat the pants off him in miniature golf this morning and now I’d like to sit and enjoy the view, which is my right, and enjoy a large glass of tea.

“I’m perfectly willing to let bygones be bygones, and do that here in your establishment. But if you still deny me, my dog, and my date entry, we’ll leave without another word and without making a scene. But you
will
be hearing from my lawyer and from reporters from the
Express-News
, News 4, Fox 29, and any other news station I can get to listen to me about how the restaurant at the top of the Tower of the Americas, which holds the annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb and is a large tourist destination, denied me, my service dog, and one of its city’s heroes entry. The man standing next to me is a firefighter here in San Antonio. He’s participated in the 9/11 stair climb for the last three years, honoring his fellow servicemen and women who died on that day. I don’t think it will go over well with the citizens of San Antonio to hear you wouldn’t let us eat lunch…would it?”

There was a moment where no one spoke, but Crash noticed both the hostess and the manager looked a little sick.

A man standing behind them leaned toward Adeline with his hand out and said loudly, “Here’s my card. You want to sue, I’ll happily act as a witness.” He turned to Dean then and said, “And thank you for your service, sir. My mother’s life was saved recently because my father called nine-one-one and the firefighters got to his house within five minutes. They provided CPR to my mom and kept her heart pumping long enough for her to get to the hospital and have heart surgery. So thank you.”

Adeline looked at him, took his card, and dipped her chin regally. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Crash was still pissed, but stuck out his hand, shook the man’s and nodded. “Just doin’ my job, sir.”

“Well, it’s appreciated nonetheless.”

They gave each other manly chin lifts then Crash turned to the manager and the hostess, one eyebrow quirked upwards in a nonverbal question.

Finally, the manager spoke. “Of course. Our mistake. Follow me, please.”

Adeline smiled at him as if she hadn’t just flayed him alive and nodded. She looked up at Dean, her lips tense despite the grin. “Time for lunch.”

Crash moved so his hand was at her back and he pressed against her as he leaned down and whispered, “Fucking perfect, beautiful.”

They didn’t say another word as the manager led them to a table with an amazing view. It was right next to a large window and faced the Alamo Plaza. He left them with a fake smile, saying their server would be right with them.

Crash held out Adeline’s chair as Coco settled under the table, then pulled the chair from the other side and put it right next to hers.

“Um, are you supposed to do that? You’re kinda sitting in the middle of the aisle now, Dean,” Adeline told him.

“Don’t care. And I guarantee they won’t say a fucking thing after you wiped the floor with that asshole manager. I bet he’s in the back right now telling our server to kiss our ass. Hell, our meal’ll probably be free too.”

“Good. Since you won’t let me pay,” Adeline shot back. She was obviously trying to lighten the mood, but Crash could tell she was still bothered by what happened.

He put a hand up to her cheek and forced her to look away from the gorgeous view and to face him. “Talk to me, beautiful.”

The waitress chose that moment to come up to their table and, without letting go of Adeline, he turned to her and told her, “Give us a minute.”

“Yes, sir. Take your time. I’ll be back.” And she disappeared.

“Adeline. What’s wrong?” Crash asked again.

“That happens more than you know,” she said in a soft voice. “I hate it, but it does.”

“And?”

“And I hate that it’s just one more reminder that I’m different. That I have this black cloud hovering over me. That any minute I could start staring into space or have a fucking grand mal seizure. I love my dog, it’s not that, but I wish I could leave him at home like any other normal person. I wish I could go out with a guy and not have to deal with people making me feel like a second-class citizen. I want…” Her voice trailed off.

“You want what? Get it all out, beautiful,” Crash told her patiently. He didn’t like one fucking word that was coming out of her mouth, but she needed to get it all out before he responded.

“I want you to see me for me. Not a patient you have to worry about. Not a woman with a fucked-up brain.
Me
.”

“I see you, Adeline. I see you just fine. You’re the woman who caught my eye the second you walked into that restaurant and you didn’t have to say a word to do it. And trust me, I saw
you
, not your dog. You’re the woman who’s been on my mind every day since we’ve met. You’re the woman whose texts I can’t wait to read when I wake up in the morning and who I can’t wait to talk to before I go to sleep.”

He took one of her hands which had been resting in her lap, and pulled it to his own. He knew he was taking a risk, but he felt like Adeline needed the physical proof that he wasn’t blowing smoke up her ass.

Discretely placing her small hand over his rock-hard cock, he said softly, “And as inappropriate as it is, you’re the woman who just told off a stuffy old manager and a bitch hostess and made me hard as a rock in the process.”

She didn’t pull her hand away, but instead relaxed in his hold, molding her hand around his dick. He could feel the heat of her hand through his jeans, and it only made him harder.

Adeline must’ve felt him twitch under her hand because a smile slowly spread across her face and the darkness receded from her eyes. “You don’t think less of me?”

“I have no idea what you’re even referring to. Think less of you because you told off that cocksucker when he was being discriminatory? Think less of you for having more class in your little finger than the hostess has in her entire fucking body? Think less of you for sticking up for your rights? Fuck no.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Crash smiled at her. He removed his hand from on top of hers and leaned his elbows on the table in front of him. When she didn’t move her hand from his crotch, his smile grew. “I like your hand on me.”

“I like my hand on you too,” she returned, caressing him once more.

The perky waitress reappeared as if out of thin air, but Adeline didn’t jerk her hand back immediately as he thought she would. She smiled up at the woman, and rubbed against his cock twice more before finally sliding it along his thigh to his knee and resting it there.

It was going to be a long lunch; Crash knew his erection wasn’t going to go down anytime soon. Not with a grinning, more sure of herself Adeline sitting next to him, rubbing her thumb against the inside of his leg. He hoped it went on forever.

“
W
ant
to come in and see my house?” Adeline asked Dean nervously.

After the disastrous beginning, lunch had turned out to be wonderful. Their waitress had been extremely attentive, getting refills and making sure they had everything they needed. Adeline enjoyed the looks Dean gave her, as if he really did think her telling off the manager and threatening to sue him was sexy.

And when it came time for the bill to be delivered, their waitress had informed them that lunch was on the house, to apologize for the “misunderstanding” earlier.

Adeline knew it wasn’t a misunderstanding, but she let it go. Lunch had been good, she’d enjoyed seeing Dean relax, liked feeling how she affected him, and loved spending time with him.

They’d watched the short 4D movie and now they were standing on her front porch. Adeline had unlocked the door and was standing beside it nervously. She’d let Coco off his leash and released him from duty. He’d bounded into the house, happy as a clam, and now it was just her and Dean.

He smiled at her and put his hand on the side of her neck. God, she loved it when he did that.

“No.”

“No?” Adeline asked in surprise. That totally wasn’t the answer she was expecting. Especially not after their hot-as-hell kisses and having her hand in his lap. He was more than ready and she had no doubt he could get that way again in a heartbeat.

“Not today,” Dean told her with a grin and an intense look in his eyes. “If I follow you inside your house, I’m gonna want to do more than make out. I’m gonna want to find out if your pussy tastes as sweet as your lips. Then I’m gonna want to find out if you’re as hot on the inside as you are on the outside.”

Adeline could only gape up at him. Did he really just say that?

“Did you really just say that?”

He chuckled. “And that right there is why I’m not coming inside to look at your house. You’re not ready. Beautiful, I refuse to rush this. Us. We have all the time in the world.”

“But…I thought all guys wanted to have sex.”

“Well, I’m not all guys. And let’s be clear here. We’ll have sex, yes, and we’ll fuck, but the first time I take you, we’ll be making love. I want to look into your eyes and see more than just lust there. I’m not saying I’m gonna wait until you have my ring on your finger, or that we have to declare our everlasting love for each other before it happens, but I like you, Adeline. I like everything about you. Even the things you think I’m not supposed to like. I don’t want to fuck this up before we’re solid. Got me?”

“Um…no.”

He chuckled and pulled her into his arms.

Adeline wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek on his chest. She could hear the
lub-lub-lub
of his heart beating strongly. She felt his hands splayed wide on her back, one arm low, his fingers flirting with the edge of her jeans, and the other high, between her shoulder blades.

“I’m not gonna rush this, beautiful,” Dean stated again softly. “I like this feeling of being on edge around you. Of knowing what you’re gonna give me is pure and sweet. The satisfying anticipation of knowing that kisses will lead to me taking off your shirt and paying homage to your sweet tits. Maybe we’ll have a few phone calls where we talk about our fantasies and masturbate for each other. Then the next time we’re together, we’ll take it a bit further, your hands’ll be on my bare chest and I’ll get you off simply by playing with your tits and rubbing you through your pants. Then the next time, maybe you’ll let me do more, and I’ll slip my hand under your panties and feel your wetness against my fingers.”

Adeline gulped, the images his words were bringing forth in her mind making her shift restlessly against him. She felt her nipples scrunch up in tight little buds, wanting his hands and lips on them.

“Then maybe we’ll progress to you giving me a hand job and letting me taste that sweet pussy of yours. I’ll make you explode simply by sucking on your hard little clit and I’ll lose it again merely by watching you come apart in my arms. By the time we get to the point where we both want each other so badly there’s no way we can wait another second, it’ll be so good, so explosive, you won’t have one thought in your head. Not one. You’ll never want to leave my bed. Leaving me to go to work will be torture, because you’ll know it’ll be hours before we can touch each other again. And I’ll feel the same way.”

He took a deep breath and Adeline was afraid to look up at him. Afraid the lust and want would show in her eyes. He’d been a near-perfect gentleman until now, and hearing this sexual side of him notched up the desire in her body to levels she’d never experienced before. She was afraid to move even one inch, lest she spontaneously combust right in his arms.

“So no, I don’t want to come inside. Eventually I’ll see your house, beautiful, just as you’ll see mine. I’ve got another seventy-two-hour shift starting on Tuesday and you’ll be working. But I’ll be free Friday and Saturday. I’m hoping you’ll want to get together Friday night after work, and all day Saturday.”

“Yes,” Adeline said immediately, her voice muffled by his shirt.

“Thank you, beautiful. For not playing hard to get.”

She raised her head at that. “You’re welcome. I’d be an idiot to play hard to get when I know all you have to do is crook your finger and I’d rip my clothes off so fast it’d make your head spin. I like you. I like spending time with you. I feel safe. Cared for.”

“That’s because you are. I’m not gonna say this next thing to piss you off, but I’m taking the chance that it might anyway.”

Adeline narrowed her eyes at him but he didn’t give her a chance to respond before he continued.

“If you’re not already doing it, you need to start keeping track of your seizures. How long they last, how long between when Coco alerts and when they start. Look at the clock and try to remember to look at it when you come back to yourself. Pay attention to what you’re eating and what you’re doing before they happen. Anything you can do to narrow down the triggers can only be helpful to the doc when you go in to discuss surgery and other options.”

Adeline put her cheek back on Dean’s chest. She really didn’t want to discuss this with him.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it…”

Shit, was he a mind reader?

“…but it sounds like you think the surgery is a foregone conclusion. If so, you need to give the doctor all the tools he needs to help make it better. Yeah?”

She nodded. Dean was right. She didn’t like it, but he was right. She’d already started doing just what he’d suggested, but she didn’t tell him that.

“Yeah. And don’t hide that shit from me,” he tacked on.

“What?” She lifted her head at that.

“I don’t like that you’re hiding the fact that you’ve been having seizures from me. Don’t keep doing that. I know you’re having them. Let me be there for you. Let me be your sounding board about them. Let me be there even when I
can’t
be there.”

“I’ve had them my entire life, Dean. They don’t hurt, and I don’t even remember them afterwards. I don’t want you to be my doctor. I like that you’re my boyfriend but I don’t like the way your eyes get all squinty and your eyebrows come down in a frown when you hear about them.”

One side of his mouth quirked up into a half grin. “I can’t promise that hearing about them won’t concern me. You can’t do anything about that. But I’ll do my best to keep my smothering to a minimum. Hell, I’m a paramedic, I might have some insights that your friends or family might not have. All I’m asking is for you not to shut me out. You don’t have to call before or even right after, but please don’t ever lie and say you didn’t have one when you did. When we move in together, I’m gonna get a front row seat to them, so shutting me out now just isn’t rational.”

“When we move in together?” Adeline asked incredulously.

“Yeah.”

“Uh, when is that happening?” she asked a bit snottily. What the hell was he talking about? They’d only been on their second date, but he’d mentally already had sex—no, made love with her—and now they were moving in together? “This whole future relationship you think we’re having is moving too fast for me.”

He did grin then. In fact, he threw back his head and barked out a laugh. When he had himself under control, he looked at her and said, “Right. So, beautiful…you’ll keep track and let me know when you have a seizure.”

Knowing he didn’t answer her question about moving in, at all, but deciding to ignore it for now—hell, the man wouldn’t even step foot in her house because he was enjoying the anticipation of a physical relationship with her—she merely said, “Fine. Yes.”

“Good. Now, let’s make out on your front step and give your neighbors a show before I reluctantly pull away and make myself go home and let you go inside your house and do whatever it is you need to do on a Sunday afternoon.”

Adeline smiled as his head dropped to hers.

* * *

“
L
et me get this straight
,” Alicia said hours later when they were talking on the phone. “You beat him at putt-putt, you had to threaten to sue the manager of the restaurant at the top of the Tower of the Americas, he calmly walked through how your sexual relationship was going to progress and then said that you would be moving in together, you made out on your porch—and he just
left
?”

“Yup,” Adeline confirmed.

“He likes you,” Alicia stated firmly.

Adeline barked out a laugh. “Yeah, I think I got that.”

“No, seriously, sis. I mean, most guys would totally take you up on that offer to come inside your house. Then they’d pressure you to go further sexually than you were comfortable with. That’s
if
they got over the fact that you wiped the floor with them in miniature golf, and
if
they were man enough to stand back and let you fight your own fight with that asshole manager, and
if
they could get over the fact that spending time with you might mean having to deal with you having a seizure at an inopportune time.”

“I know, Alicia.”

“My big sister found herself a good man,” Alicia sniffed.

“Oh good Lord,” Adeline huffed. “We’ve only been out on two dates.”

“Did he call you today after he went home?”

“Yeah. What does that have to do with anything?”

“How long did you talk?”

“I don’t know. An hour or so maybe. Why?”

“So the man you spent all morning and part of the afternoon with called you, and you spoke for another hour…and you don’t think that means anything.”

Adeline was silent. It meant something. It meant a
lot
. She hadn’t expected Dean to call since they’d spent so much time together, but he had. And they’d talked about nothing, but also about her job. He had a lot of good insight and advice for where she should apply to work and what kinds of jobs she should look for. Adeline knew he didn’t like Douglas—hell,
she
didn’t like him—but Dean’s advice was professional and sound and he didn’t pressure her into doing anything rash just because he didn’t like her boss.

“Right,” Alicia stated firmly. “Just do me a favor…”

“What?”

“Don’t elope.”

“Leesh!”

“I’m serious. I want to be matron of honor. I want to stand next to my sister when she pledges to love her man through sickness and health and watch him do the same. Besides, you said his friends were hot…I want to drool over hot firefighters and cops in tuxedos.”

“I’m hanging up now,” Adeline said with a laugh.

“Wait…seriously, sis. He sounds like a good guy. I’m happy for you.”

“It’s only been a couple of dates.”

“All relationships start out that way. And I knew by the end of the first date that I wanted to marry Matt and have his babies. When it’s right, it’s right.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yes, you will. Later.”

“‘Bye.”

“‘Bye, Adeline.”

Adeline hung up the phone and ran her hand over Coco’s head. She felt calm and mellow, and happy. It had been a long time since she’d felt this way. Douglas and her job didn’t seem as stressful and dealing with the seizures didn’t even seem to be that big of a deal at the moment. Hell, even the surgery was looking more and more like it was a good idea. All because of Dean.

She smiled. Big. And sent a short prayer upward.
Please don’t let him turn out to be a douchebag.