Page 15 of Risk of a Lifetime
He flicked the foot rests down and stepped behind the handles as she raised her feet into place. What was that about one step starting the rest of your life? Not today. Their life together was over. This was nothing more than a momentary inconvenience that she could handle. After all, she’d sent the divorce papers. He’d signed them. This was nothing.
She bit the inside corner of her mouth. Nothing…except for that one little problem she hadn’t told him about.
Sadie held the door open as he pushed the wheelchair into the hallway. “See you later.”
“Bye, mama.” She folded her hands nice and neat in her lap as she slumped back in the chair.
“Get ready for the ride of your life.” He walked faster, pushing a smooth, slow curve from side to side. Not enough to give her pain, but enough to give her spice. That’s what he used to call doing anything just outside the line of propriety.
Marcy grabbed one arm rest, then the other. “JB what are you doing?”
“Are you in pain?”
“No.”
“Then hold on and enjoy the ride.” The wheels on the chair spun faster when he broadened his stride, increasing the pace.
Volunteers hugged the wall. Dr. Crowley stepped back into a room. The janitor buffing the floor spun in a circle with his machine. The automatic doors slid open a second before he careened through them and onto the sidewalk in front of the hospital. He stopped at the edge of the curb, right next to his truck, and flipped the wheelchair brakes in place.
“You’re crazy, JB Bradley.” She looked up at him with feistiness. “Down right crazy.”
“Learned everything I know from you, sugar.” He rested his hand on her shoulder.
“Stop calling me sugar.” She jerked around and stabbed him with her back-off stare.
He backed off. Grinned.
That had probably been a mistake. Now he’d do it just to spite her. She might as well face the fact she’d screwed up on a lot of levels. But all she had to do right now was make it through the next few days. Keep her mouth shut, and stay away from anyone in town who knew her secret. Because if JB found out, he’d be livid.
She sucked in her breath and eased out of the wheelchair. How was she ever going to spend even one night alone in that house with him without slipping up?
Chapter Five
After the days spent recuperating in the hospital and at home, Marcy’s insides still felt jumbled from the surgery. Plus the incision hurt more than she wanted to admit, even though she’d always been a quick healer. Really, she’d have been fine at home by herself, but JB had insisted she might need help. The doctor agreed. Her mother agreed. And even her sister agreed.
Four against one, she hadn’t stood a chance of being alone, but she’d laid out her ground rules the moment the two of them walked in the house. JB had his room. She had hers. Yes, he could cook meals for her. Yes, he could do the laundry. Yes, he could pick up her medicine and groceries and even help her straighten her clothes. But helping her bathe or tucking her in bed at night was off-limits.
He’d agreed. Hadn’t stopped him from looking sexy as hell in a tight, black, muscle T-shirt as he brought her a bowl of soup. Nothing unusual, just what he used to wear. Then her senses had perked up real fast to his clean, male scent every morning. And the thought of him in the shower had stripped her composure to its limit.
But her tipping point had been yesterday afternoon as she’d watched him clean her car. Damn. She’d never realized how many positions a person had to use to reach all that pesky dirt. Of course, he’d caught her looking, grinned, then turned around and ignored her as he finished the car. She knew, because she hadn’t been able to tear herself away from the window.
This had to end before she ripped her clothes off and said “take me now.” Or before she made a slip up and confessed everything she’d made her sister promise not to reveal. Which would be worse, she wasn’t sure. Of course, not once had he looked at her like a man even the least bit interested in taking up where they left off. Good. She wasn’t, either. She wanted him out of Crayton for good.
Evidently, her talk with him last night had finally convinced him that cabin fever was setting in, and she needed to get out before her pleasant attitude got the better of her. He’d laughed. Said he’d think on it. This morning, he’d relented, and now here they were parked in front of her counseling office.
She winced as JB lifted her down from his truck. Even the mere feel of his hands around her waist made her core quiver with what-ifs. Anticipation. No…no need for anticipation. What-ifs weren’t going to happen…not now…not ever again. She had her own life now, and as soon as she got everything straightened out, she might just take up the dinner offer from the high school math teacher in the next town over. He’d been asking her out for the past six months, and truth be told, he wasn’t half bad—for someone who didn’t like fishing, hunting, or anything that involved being in the sun.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into bringing you to your office.” JB placed her on her feet like a fragile piece of crystal. “You get one hour. No more. Then I’m taking you home where you still ought to be.”
“Two.”
His expression said he wasn’t happy, but he’d give her two hours.
After allowing him to open the front door and carry her briefcase, she brushed past him, knowing full well he could have given her more space in the doorway. The room smelled musty, felt close, and for an instant, she realized this outing might not have been the best idea. But she’d e-mailed her clients to let them know they could reach her at the office today. So, like it or not, she’d stay.
He wandered from the front room to her consultation area to a small private office in the rear. He looked in the direction of the turquoise sofa and quirked the side of his mouth. “See you’ve still got that same squeaky make-out spot.”
She didn’t favor him with a reply, but a bitterly cold Valentine’s Day with the two of them making enough heat on that sofa to start a fire flooded her memory. That had been the first of many afternoon memories. She felt herself smile, then flattened it out. “Are you satisfied there’s no one here? I’m not a child, you know. You seem to forget I took care of myself for the past few years.”
