Georgia On My Mind (12 page)

She swallowed and forced herself to continue the conversation. “Were you injured, other than your leg?”

“Shrapnel wounds all up and down my right side. That’s how I got the scars on my face. But my leg took the brunt. Totally shattered. Somehow—I have no idea how—I managed to get a tourniquet on it, which is the only reason I didn’t bleed to death.”

“You don’t remember?”

He shook his head. “Not a damned thing. We were just riding along, and then my memory goes dark for about three days.”

As Tess drove down
Extension Street
, Ben pointed to a white house at the bottom of the hill.

“There it is—home sweet home, or at least until Nate sells it and moves on to his next project.”

Tess parked in front of the house but left the car running. Her head spun with questions she burned to ask if only she could have found the words.

“Well, thanks for the ride.”

“So you live with Nathan?”

He smiled, which softened his gruff features and took him from reasonably good-looking straight to dashing. “I had an apartment in town, but I gave it up when I got called up to active duty with the National Guard. After I came home in pieces, my brothers decided I couldn’t live alone until I was getting around better. Nate drew the short straw, but he probably rigged it so he could keep an eye on me.”

The bitter edge to his voice led her to ask, “Don’t you two get along?”

“We used to before we lived together. Now we mostly get on each other’s nerves.”

“I’m sure your cranky disposition is a real joy to live with.”

“You don’t pull any punches, do you, Nurse Tess?”

“What’s the point of pulling punches?”

Ben studied her for a long moment. “If that’s how you like to play it, what do you say we walk down the hill and have a drink?”

“Oh, um, well, I don’t think so. I have to work tomorrow, so I should get home.”

“Just one? I promise to behave like a perfect gentleman.”

“So you’d be pretending, then?”

He laughed.

“Maybe another time.”

“If you decide you don’t like me, you can run away. What am I going to do? Chase you? So you see, you’re safe with me.”

Tess resisted the urge to laugh. When he put forth the effort, he almost achieved human status. In light of the things he had shared with her, the do-gooder in her couldn’t help but recognize the wounded soul that rested just beneath his hard exterior. And despite herself, she was intrigued.

“All right.” She turned off the car—and her racing mind. “One drink.”

While Nathan went to get his pain medication, Georgie didn’t allow herself to think about all the reasons it was a bad idea to be in a bed with him. Rather, she thought about how happy she had been to find him waiting for her when she got home, how sweet it had been—with a badly injured arm, no less—for him to carry her to bed and how he had offered just the right amount of support more than once during that long, difficult evening.

He came back with a prescription bottle and a glass of water, which he offered to share with her.

Georgie took a drink and passed the glass back to him.

After he took a pill, he put the bottle and the glass on the bedside table and reached for her. He held her as if she was the most precious thing in his world, his fingers spooling through her hair, his lips pressed to her forehead. “Tell me,” he said softly.

“What?”

“Everything.”

So she did. From the minute she received the phone call about her mother’s grim diagnosis right up to getting fired earlier and the shock of seeing Gus so bruised and battered. The only thing she left out was how her mother’s diagnosis had affected her and her sister. When she finished, she was surprised to realize she felt better.

“All that in three months?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, no wonder.”

“No wonder what?”

“No wonder why there was no room in your life for another complication. You weren’t kidding.”

And he didn’t even know the biggest reason she had held him at arm’s length. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean to.”

“We aren’t talking about me. We’re talking about you, Georgie. You amaze me.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, you do. You were beating yourself up for not doing enough for Gus today. What about what you’ve been doing for all of them for months—while taking care of your mother, too?”

“I don’t want to be there, though. I hate every bloody minute I have to spend in that smelly, hot place with old men who don’t even
try
to hide that they’re lusting after me. Doesn’t that make me a bad person?”

“No,” he said, laughing softly. “It does not make you a bad person. All your choices were taken away. It’s only natural you’d resent that. Anyone would. And I can’t blame them for lusting after you. They
are
only human after all.”

His words hung heavily in the air for several long, quiet minutes. “Your boyfriend really dumped you over the phone?”

“Yep. In fact, it was the same day I met you. That was one reason why the whole thing with the Dumpster took me right over the edge.”

The hand that had been caressing her hair suddenly went still.

“What?” When he didn’t answer, she turned so she could see him. “Nathan? What’s wrong?”

“So I was like, what, a rebound?”

“No! Not at all.”

He tried to sit up, but she wouldn’t let him.

“My relationship with Doug was over a long time ago. Months ago. I just hadn’t gotten around to officially ending it with him. He beat me to it, and that made me mad more than anything. You were
not
a rebound, Nathan. I swear.” She slid her hand up over his chest to caress his face. “What happened between us had nothing to do with anyone but me and you. Do you believe me?”

“I want to.”

Against her better judgment, Georgie leaned in and touched her lips to his. “I need you to believe me.” She ran her tongue along his bottom lip.

He inhaled a sharp deep breath. “Georgie.”

Her lips hovered just above his. “I need to tell you something, but I don’t want you to think it means, you know, that anything has changed.”

His hands found her hips, held her still. “What?”

“I appreciate you being here tonight and listening to me, but I still don’t have room—”

He captured her lips in a hot, searing kiss that sucked the oxygen right out of her lungs and all rational thought out of her head. His hand cruised up her back and into her hair to anchor her in place.

Georgie fought him. She had things she needed to say to him. “Wait,” she gasped. “Nathan. I need to tell you . . .”

“I’m listening,” he said as he kissed her again.

Her heart pounded, and it took tremendous effort not to give in to the desire that simmered between them whenever she was with him. She managed to free her lips and knew she must have seemed dazed as she looked down at him. Clearing her throat, she forced herself to concentrate. “Remember when you said you’d wanted me for weeks?”

“Uh-huh.” He kept his hand firmly planted in her hair, his fingertips massaging her scalp, his lips cruising over her jaw. “It’s true. I did.”

Georgie trembled. “Well, I um . . .” She took a deep breath. “I did, too.”

His eyebrows knitted with confusion. “Did what?”

A flush of embarrassment and desire started at her breasts and heated her face. “I wanted you, too. For weeks I watched you run by, and I . . . I wanted you like I’ve never wanted another man. Ever. So what happened between us had nothing to do with rebounds. I just . . . I needed you to know that.”

He studied her for a long moment during which Georgie had no idea what he was thinking. “How can you say that and in the same breath tell me you have no room in your life for me?”

“Because—”

“Make room, Georgie. I’m not going anywhere. I like the way I feel when I’m with you. It’s been a really long time since I’ve felt this way, and I can’t just walk away because you don’t have room.” He kissed her. Hard. “Make room.”

Taken aback by his intensity, she said, “I’m going home to
Atlanta
. Soon.”
And I might have to have a double mastectomy like my sister.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but while you were busy trying to get things wrapped up so you could get back to your life in
Atlanta
, you went and got yourself a pretty nice life here. You’ve got an army of people at that center who’d lay down on hot coals for you, you’ve got two good friends living right here in your house, and last but not least, whether you want me or not, you’ve got me. Now I don’t know what you had going for you in
Atlanta
, but since your boyfriend saw fit to dump you over the phone, I can’t imagine it was much better than what’s right in front of you. Here.”

She fell back against the pillow and thought about what he had said. If she allowed herself to acknowledge that he might have a point, it would mean her whole world had once again turned upside down. She wasn’t sure she was ready to let that happen—and it certainly didn’t seem fair to him in light of what could be ahead for her.

“I’m right,” he said. “You know I am.” Propping himself up on his good arm, he looked down at her and leaned in to kiss her lightly. “When he kissed you, did your breath get caught in your throat the way it does when I kiss you?” His hand slid under her skirt to rest on her leg. “Did your skin heat under his hand the way it does under mine?” He caressed her leg. “When he made love to you, did you come over and over again the way you did with me?”

“No,” she whispered. “No.” As she gave herself over to him, Georgie’s eyes fluttered shut. He made love to her with only his words, and yet he was able to penetrate the wall she had put up around herself. He knew the effect he was having on her, so she didn’t try to deny it. Instead she reached for him, molded her lips to his, and sure enough, her breath got stuck in her throat, just the way he said it would.

His kiss was soft, his tongue gentle as he let her set the pace.

Georgie was drowning in him—his scent, the wet, hungry meeting of lips and tongues, his hand on her back holding her close to him, the warm, humid evening, the cadence of crickets drifting in through the open window. She had made love to him many times during that one unforgettable night, but here, in this moment, with just his lips sliding over hers, he touched her more deeply than anyone ever had.

He pulled back, and with one hand still resting on her face, he looked at her for a long time.

“Can I ask you something?” she said.

“Anything you want.”

“Why me? I’m not even nice to you.”

Laughter rippled through him. “Oh, you kill me,” he said, still laughing as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“I’m serious!”

“So am I. You crack me up.”

She pushed him away. “Fine, if you want to be like that.”

“Come on,” he cajoled, reaching for her. “I’m only playing with you.”

“I know why you won’t answer me.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s because you have no idea what you like about me.”

“That’s not true—”

“Oh, wait! I know what it is.”

“I can’t wait to hear this.”

“It’s because I was easy.”

“
Easy?
” He roared with laughter, which only made Georgie madder. “Sweetheart, you’re a lot of things, but easy ain’t one of ’em.”

“I was that one night.”

“So was I.”

She gave him a withering look. “Men aren’t judged by the same standards.”

“No one’s judging you, Georgie, least of all me.” He brushed a hand over her hair. “No matter what happens between us, I’ll never forget the first night I spent with you. Ever.”

“I’ve never done that before,” she confessed.

“Done what?”

Her face grew hot with embarrassment. “On the first date . . . And some of the other stuff, too.”

“It was a special night, for both of us. I hope it was the first of many.”

“Which brings me back to my original question—why me?”

With a devilish grin, he said, “If I had to pick one thing, I’d have to say it was the dimples.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Those are fighting words, Nathan. You have to know that.”

“Luckily, I’m not afraid of you.”

“Maybe you should be.”

“Maybe.”

“I still don’t want to be involved with you.”

His eyes drifted closed. “Okay.”

“Are you going to sleep?”

“I think so.”

“Nathan . . .”

“Might be the pill,” he mumbled as he lifted his arm. “Is it bleeding?”

She raised the sleeve of his T-shirt and gasped. “It is! What should I do?”

“Do you have any Band-Aids?” He never opened his eyes as his breathing settled into a sleepy cadence.

Georgie vaulted off the bed and ran for the bathroom. She returned a minute later with a wet washcloth, gauze, and tape to find him snoring softly. With a deep sigh, she rolled up his sleeve, removed the blood-soaked bandage and gasped at the ugly, oozing wound. She pressed the warm cloth against his arm, all the while enjoying the view. He was so incredibly handsome, even asleep.

When the bleeding had slowed, she wrapped the new gauze around his arm. He never stirred, even when she pulled the tape tight over the bandage. Running her hand over his forehead, she was surprised to realize he had a fever.

The poor guy. He’d had a horrible day, and somehow he’d still had it in him to take care of her. Tess and Cat were right about one thing—men like him didn’t come along every day. She was going to have to be really careful, because it would be far too easy to fall in love with him.

With all she had going on at the moment, the timing couldn’t have been worse. She had always imagined what it would be like when she fell in love. Nowhere in those fantasies had there been breast cancer genes or senior citizens or probate court or a big house to take care of or a life in flux in another city hundreds of miles away.

Even though the time wasn’t right for a serious relationship, maybe she could spend some time with him, have some fun and keep it light. As long as they both understood the score going into it, no one would get hurt, right? She untied his sneakers and pulled them off before she tugged the sheet up and over him. On an impulse, she leaned over and kissed his lips.

He murmured something in his sleep but didn’t wake up.

The house phone rang and Georgie went into her mother’s room to answer it.

“Georgie?” Bill Bradley said.

“Hi, Bill. How’s Gus?” She braced herself for the answer.

“Seems to be the same. The doctors aren’t saying much.”

“I just can’t believe this has happened. Have you heard any more from the police?”

“Roxy said they think his son Roger might’ve gotten into trouble with drug dealers. Apparently, they were looking for money he owes them at his father’s house. The theory is he hid it there when he came to take him to the doctor earlier this week.”

When her legs would have buckled under her, Georgie sat on her mother’s bed. “Has Roger been to the hospital?”

“No one’s heard from him. Gus’s daughter, Dawn, is flying up from
Florida
tonight.”

“Oh, well, at least he’ll have some family with him.”

“He has us,” Bill said firmly.

“Yes, of course he does. Will you let me know if you hear anything else? Even if it’s the middle of the night?”