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A half hour later she no longer found any
cause to giggle. Had he stood her up? She checked her phone. No messages. Maybe
she should call him? No, that would sound whiny. “John, I’m downtown waiting
for you, are you going to bother showing up?” And that sounded bitchy. Had he
planned this all along? Call her up, set up a date to dump her and then get
cold feet and not show up? She thought him more of a man than that but
cowardice came in many forms. Her stomach growled. Damn. And she really had her
heart set on barbecued ribs too.

Making a decision, she got out of the car,
locked it and slammed it harder than she meant to. She could damn well eat
without him. They did take-out here. She’d place her order, get her food and go
home. Where she belonged.

He pulled up just as she exited with her
order. John saw her heading to her car and beeped his horn gently to catch her
attention. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of his car horn didn’t think along
the same lines he did and the horn blared out, the brashness startling even
him. She jumped and scooted around to the other side of her vehicle, putting it
between the noise and her body. He swore. “Idiot. You know better.”

He didn’t even turn off the engine before
he was out of the car with his hands out and open. “Lauren, it’s me. I’m sorry
I’m late, I got stuck in traffic and—”

She straightened, plastered a smile on her
face and took a deep breath before stepping carefully around the front of her
car. He could see her shaking and felt guilty.

“I waited until I was too hungry to wait
any more. I caved to the torture of sitting here smelling it.”

“Don’t blame you. I’d have given in too.”

They looked at one another and John
realized he’d have to make the first step. He was, after all, the one who’d
been late. “Would you mind eating that inside? We could still get a table.”

“You still want to have a date?”

John looked at her, puzzled. “Why wouldn’t
I?”

Her guard remained up. “Just making sure.”

Coming to her, he took the take-out package
from her hands and gave her a light kiss. “I would very much like to go inside
and eat dinner with you.”

Her smile came tenuously, but it came.
“It’s a deal.”

She got a table for them while he waited in
line and ordered. By the time he got his drink and joined her, all traces of
their rough beginning seemed erased and they started with the light banter he
so enjoyed from her. He explained about the dead cell phone and the accident on
the bypass and she forgave him. They spoke of their day, Lauren telling stories
about the people who’d come to the garage sale and John talked about the
information he’d found researching the Civil War’s impact on the Rochester
area. But then something caught her attention and that haunted look came back
into her eyes. He turned to see what she looked at. A man wearing a military
cap sat in a wheelchair in line. As the man turned, John saw he’d lost both
legs.

“Lauren, it…”

She waved her hand. “Nothing worth talking
about. Now, I believe you were telling me something about how sexy hardware
stores are?”

John let her steer the subject away from
herself again, but knew the time of reckoning drew closer. If he wanted a
fling, he wouldn’t care. He’d have wonderful, kinky, glorious sex with her and
be done with it.

But he did want more. He liked her. Peeling
away her layers intrigued him because the more he peeled, the more he found to
like. She loved kids, had a talent with nursing and had a sister. John assumed
there was a brother-in-law to go with the sister since there was also a nephew
and a niece, but Lauren hadn’t mentioned him other than to say his name was
Dave.

Lauren pushed her tray away and sat back,
two ribs left on her plate. “That’s it for me, I’m done.”

“Want to take them home?”

“Sure, although I see my two ribs are the
only ones left.” She gestured to his empty plate.

“Told you I like my barbecue.”

Lauren boxed up the remains of her dinner.
“This’ll be a nice lunch for me tomorrow.”

Out in the parking lot, John slid his arm
around her as they maneuvered through the now-full lot.

“Lauren, I don’t want this evening to end
yet.”

She looked up at him, the sun’s last rays
making him glow like a knight in golden armor. “I don’t want it to end yet
either, John.” Her eyes twinkled. Not only had he not broken up with her, he
wanted to see more of her. How much more? Feeling daring, she put out her chin
and challenged him. “As I recall, you once promised to tie me up and make love
to me all night long.”

John stepped closer. “Promises must be
kept.”

Lauren turned her face up toward him in
challenge. “Yes, they must.”

“Get in the car and drive. Follow me home.”

“Your command is my wish.”

Chapter Seven

They pulled up to a modest,
one-and-a-half-story house, the Cape Cod design giving it a very all-American
family look. Lauren’s smile deepened to think that he might actually tie her
down in a house with such a wholesome façade.

But wasn’t that indicative of her as well?
Her own passions burned deep behind the professional face she presented to the
world. Her grin turned wry as she realized she no longer practiced her profession.
Too many ghosts, too much hurt. She gave herself a mental shake and instead
smiled up at him as they walked to the front door.

“Last chance to back out,” he warned her as
they went along the curved path to the front door. Low bushes and flowers grew
beside the walkway, but the fact registered only dimly in her mind.

“No backing out here. I’m holding you to
your word.”

Lauren hadn’t lied when she told him
earlier that she counted on his tying her up and making love to her. She didn’t
lie now. Didn’t matter that she’d never engaged in that kind of kinky sex.
Didn’t matter that she’d never really given it a thought before. He’d planted
the idea in her mind and she hadn’t been able to get the image out of her head
since. It tantalized and teased her with stray thoughts of fear that, instead
of paralyzing her, made her tingle in a very delicious way. Oh yeah. She very
definitely wanted John McAllen to be a man of his word.

Lauren let him lead her into his small
house, part of her wanting to confess everything in her life to him, part of
her wary out of habit. A tiny vestibule separated outside from inside, opening
into a narrow hallway. John left her in the small area while he switched on a
table lamp to his left. The tastefully appointed living room was done up in
shades of forest green. A dark patterned area rug set the trim colors for the
room with its tan and burgundy. The couch and easy chair matched—solid, forest
green fabrics—and picked up the dark green in the narrow stripes of the drapes.
A wide-screen TV on the far wall boasted an array of electronics beneath it and
Lauren recognized several game consoles among them. He pushed a button and soft
jazz wafted through the room.

A wide opening led to the dining room—she
could just see the edge of the table from where she stood. Along the short
corridor she stood in lay the kitchen, the light over the stove giving off its
fluorescent glow. Beside her were two steps to a landing, then the stairway
turned to run along the outside wall of the house to the second floor. Other
than the living room rug and the one she stood on in the vestibule, the floors
were bare and showed off the house’s original hardwood planking. From somewhere
came the light scent of a pine forest.

“This house fits you. I can see your hand
all over it.”

“Thank you, although I have to admit, my
sister helped pick out the furnishings.”

“Not a man to match colors?” she teased.

“Can’t match patterns,” he corrected. “The
colors are easy to see. But she laments that I think plaids and stripes go
perfectly fine together.”

“Oh dear!” Lauren laughed. “I’m grateful
your sister stepped in then!”

John came to her side and his very nearness
made her stomach flutter. He towered over her, forcing her to look up. Did he
know he made her feel petite and diminutive? His fingers caressed her cheek and
she knew he did. She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek on his hand.

John knew there was an elephant in the room
and he decided to tackle the topic head on. Before he could take her the way he
wanted, there needed to be total trust between them. There were a few issues
they needed to get out of the way.

He leaned in as if to kiss her, but
murmured instead, “So you’re getting over the fact that I had several tours in
the Marines?”

She stiffened and John waited. Taking a
deep breath, she glanced at him and nodded. “I’m getting there.”

John couldn’t be deterred. Leading her into
the living room, he sat on the couch, waiting until she sat demurely beside
him. “You were in the service too. And I saw you with the band. Why the
reluctance with dating a military man?”

She shook her head. “I’m… I was trying to
put all that behind me. I’ve had enough of the military for a while.”

“So naturally you sing in a bar with a band
and bring your nephew to a Civil War reenactment. Because you’ve had enough of
the military.”

“Actually, the Civil War thing was an
accident. Beth’s a good friend and we decided to take the kids and get away for
the day. Ian wanted to go to the museum because it’s one of his favorite
places. I didn’t know about the reenactment until we got there, but,” she
paused to shrug, “Ian enjoyed it.”

“I’m glad you were there.” When she didn’t
say anything, he added, “So is Chuck.”

“Chuck? Oh, your friend with the broken
leg.”

“You make a good nurse.”

“That’s behind me now.” Her voice went flat
as if there would be no more discussion of this topic.

All his careful peeling only brought him to
a layer made of brick. He needed a change in tactics. Sledgehammers brought
down walls but tended to break things in the process. He sensed she wanted to
talk to him but habit kept the wall in place. Perhaps all Lauren needed was a
little nudge?

Lauren sat erect, unsure what John wanted
from her. She’d come here to get laid after days of deliberation, and here he
sat, bringing up his military service. Hadn’t he gotten it yet? She wasn’t
ready to share her past with him.

Or was she? Looking around the comfortable
room, she felt again that warm, safe, protected feeling creep over her. John
wouldn’t make fun of her—hadn’t he proved that already? Although her defenses
rose again out of habit and fear, she felt torn between wanting to fling
herself into the safety of his arms and wanting to take the easy way out and
run.

As if he could read the warring emotions,
John simply watched her a moment then took her hand in his. “Tell me.”

Lauren looked at him, seeing not pity but
safety in his look. Her shoulders slumped. She liked him. A lot. She might even
have fallen in love with him. He might be the one to run away once he realized
how deep her memories scarred her. Yet she had to take the risk. Any man worth
having would be a man who could accept her for all her faults.

“I was an Army nurse—career Army. Ever
since I was little and watched
M*A*S*H
on television with my parents,
that’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to be like Hot Lips Houlihan and run my own
field hospital. My parents, however, did everything in their power to steer me
in a different direction. They didn’t want a soldier’s life for their little
girl. They wanted me to be like my sister and find a nice man to marry and
settle down. At eighteen I wasn’t strong enough to go against them, so I went
to college and got a degree in chemistry instead.”

“That must’ve been difficult for you.”

Lauren shook her head and smiled. “Not
really. I was in with all the nursing students and, unbeknownst to my parents,
I took all my ‘extra’ courses in the heavier nursing subjects. I graduated only
a few courses away from getting my RN.”

“At one point you said you went to two
different colleges.”

“Actually one college and one university. I
graduated from Nazareth, magna cum laude, with no job. I didn’t tell my parents
I didn’t have a job because I wasn’t looking for one, I told them there just
wasn’t much call for chemists at the moment and that I’d like to go on and get
my master’s in the meantime.”

“They bought that?”

Lauren shrugged. “Not really. I finally
broke down and told them I really wanted to be a nurse and that I wasn’t that
far from getting the degree I really wanted. They weren’t happy, mostly because
they don’t see nursing as prestigious as being a chemist, but I finally got
them to agree to allow me to live at home with minimal rent while I went
through the University of Rochester’s program, graduating with a master of
science…in nursing.”

John’s thumb traced over the back of her
hand as he held it, giving her a warm feeling of security.