A Needful Heart (2 page)

Matt dwarfed the molded plastic chair he sat
on. His ball-capped head was bent over his folded hands, and he was
running his thumbs over themselves. Gina could understand why
Delores had called him a lumberjack. The red and black plaid shirt
strained across his broad shoulders.

The waiting room was crowded, but there was a
cushion of several empty chairs around him, as if the people
waiting felt the antagonism that rolled off of him.

She glanced back to Delores. “Has he been
here all this time?”

The older woman smiled as she looked across
the room. “He took George home, then came back to wait for you.
He’s been here about two hours.”

“Thanks, Delores.”

Gina shook her head in wonder. Why had he
done that? Surely it wasn’t guilt for knocking her down. It wasn’t
his fault she hadn’t looked where she was going. She headed across
the room.

Matt looked up at her approach, and Gina was
sure she saw relief cross his heavy features.

“Matt, you didn’t have to come back. I’m
fine. Delores is going to call me a cab, and I’m heading home.”

Her neck craned as he stood up in front of
her. Jeez! She’d never looked up at him from this perspective
before. She’d always just kind of dodged around him in the hallway
at work, or spoken to him through the reception window. Now that he
stood in front of her this way, she realized exactly how big he
was. He was easily a foot taller than her. And his chest! There was
no way she could ever wrap her arms around him. Matt was a
carpenter, but Gina knew he also laid brick. Surely the brick was
responsible for all the rounded muscles. Her glance flicked down
over his trim waist, heavy thighs, and the bulge at the apex of
those thighs.

Gina was surprised when a tingle of
attraction danced down her spine. Matt Calvin had a pretty awesome
bod. She dragged her eyes back up to his face and realized he
wasn’t bad looking there, either, though not normally the type of
guy who appealed to her. A little too grim, and controlled, and
definitely too unapproachable. A brown beard lightly shadowed his
jaw, and Gina tried to remember if she’d ever seen him clean
shaven. She didn’t think she had.

Overall, an aura of intimidation rolled off
him. The dragon tattoo wrapped around his right forearm and
disappeared under the rolled cuff of the flannel. She wondered how
high it went. He’d been coming into the office for a long time, but
she didn’t know a lot about him. She didn’t think she’d ever seen
him smile. Though she’d felt him watch her. A lot. Everybody at the
office seemed leery of him, but she didn’t know if there was a
reason for that reserve or if they just reacted to the emotion they
probably sensed inside him. He was so quiet when he brought George
in. Never in the way. Actually, he’d seemed embarrassed when George
requested he stand outside the exam room rather than wait in the
waiting room. But the old man was a little shaky on his feet, and
more than once Gina had watched Matt save him from a fall.

Looking at him now, Gina totally understood
why the old man would be so secure in those strong arms. Matt
didn’t intimidate her, really. With little provocation, she herself
could probably burrow into his embrace. Especially now, as weary as
she was.

“Don’t worry about the cab. I’ll drive you
home.” His face was implacable, but his gaze flared with some
emotion.

Gina eyed him. “Ok, Matt, I’ll let you drive
me home. Actually,” she said with a tired sigh, “I would love for
you to take me home.”

Her acquiescence eased the tight lines around
his eyes, and Gina noticed they were a pretty light grayish-green.
The sawdust covered cap usually shaded his face, and Gina couldn’t
specifically remember noticing his eyes before.

Hmmm.

Towering over her, Matt guided her out of the
hospital and to his truck, parked just a few spaces away. Gina had
to use the running board to get up inside the big vehicle, and she
automatically reached for the safety handle with her right hand, in
spite of the sling she wore. Pain sliced through her arm and up
into her shoulder, stealing her breath. Matt’s big hands gripped
her waist and guided her into the seat. For several long seconds,
they lingered there, before finally pulling away. She shivered with
reaction. She’d almost fallen again.

Gina forced a smile to her lips. “Thank
you.”

His head tipped forward until the bill shaded
his face. “No problem,” he mumbled. Slamming the door, he circled
the front of the truck.

Gina cradled her bulky arm to her chest and
leaned back against the seat. For as big as it was, the truck rode
surprisingly smooth. Gina felt her eyelids drifting down. She was
so tired. Forcing herself up, she focused ahead deliberately. She
needed to tell Matt how to get to her house.

“If you turn left at Alber…,” she told him
firmly, before relaxing her posture for just a moment.

Matt couldn’t help but smile as he looked at
the sleeping woman beside him. She had literally fallen asleep in
the middle of the sentence. Not that he needed directions to her
house. He knew exactly where it was, less than five blocks from his
own. He’d known where it was the first week after he’d seen her at
the fair. One of the men working for him at the time had asked her
out, but the date had gone sour. Matt’s impression of Gina had gone
up at the rebuff. The man had been slime.

He braced her shoulder with his hand as he
turned right. He couldn’t help but feel how small she was. And
fragile.

And breakable.

Guilt ate at him. He should have been able to
catch her when she’d fallen. Hell, he’d been right there.

Memories of his own mother in the same
position had dogged him for hours. The only difference was, Matt’s
father had deliberately shoved her down. And Matt had been too
small to catch her, even though he had been close enough. She’d
left not long after that.

Matt shoved the memories aside and focused on
the drive to Gina’s house. As he pulled into the gravel driveway of
the little two-story cottage, she mumbled something under her
breath, but stayed asleep. Matt turned off the ignition, slid out
and slammed his door deliberately. She never roused. Circling to
her side, he opened the door. She had melted into a boneless heap
in the seat and her head rested on her purse in the middle. Her
broken wrist was cradled to her chest. Matt thought she looked
incredibly appealing, lying there all soft and unguarded.

He squeezed her shoulder. She never
moved.

“Gina.”

He shook her. Still no response. Matt debated
for several seconds before he finally dug her overloaded keychain
out of her purse. He needed to get her into the house. His legs
brushed top-heavy flowers as he walked by and took the few porch
steps two at a time.

Unlocking the door, he peeked inside long
enough to ascertain there was a couch in the living room he could
lay her on, then returned to the truck. Gina hardly roused as he
turned her over and lifted her in his arms, her head to the left
and her feet to the right. She mumbled, and he almost thought he
heard her say his name. Matt’s steps faltered a bit as she wrapped
her tiny fist into his shirt and nestled her face into his chest.
Need roared through him at the innocent contact, and he couldn’t
help but squeeze her to him. What a tempting creature she was. He
was actually holding her in his arms, something he’d dreamt about
for so long. Unable to deny himself, his steps slowed as he
ascended the stairs.

As he maneuvered them through the doorway, he
took care not to bump her head or feet. Gina sighed as he laid her
on the tan couch, sinking into the cushions. Matt pulled the afghan
from the back of the couch over her, tucked her in, and settled
into an upholstered chair opposite the couch. Maybe he would just
wait for her to wake up. He could watch her as she slept and
imagine for a heartbeat of time that he belonged there, with
her.

Gina woke to pain in her arm and something
tantalizing her nose. Blinking, she was surprised to see she was in
her own house, lying on the couch. The hassock to the chair was
wedged up against the front. Tossing the afghan away, she sat up.
She didn’t remember moving the stool over or covering herself with
the blanket. Those pills had really knocked her out. The pain in
her arm was manageable though.

She swung her legs to the floor and stood,
then headed toward the kitchen. Who on earth was cooking?

She was prepared to see Laurie from a couple
houses down or maybe Madison from work. She certainly wasn’t
prepared to see Matt Calvin standing at her stove, stirring what
appeared to be soup.

“Matt?”

Red soup splattered on the white smooth-top
stove when he jerked around. “Gina! I didn’t know you were up.” He
dropped the spoon to the counter and moved toward her. “Are you
feeling okay? Do you need anything?”

Gina smiled at the big man’s concern. “No,
I’m fine. A little achy, but I think that’s just the pain pills
wearing off. Those little suckers work good. I don’t remember
anything after giving you directions to the house.”

Matt ducked his head and brushed at a spot on
his nose. “Well, you kinda didn’t even get through the directions
before you passed out.”

Gina stared at him, dumfounded. “What?”

He nodded once at her wide-eyed stare. “You
passed out right in the middle of a sentence. I had an idea where
you lived, though. I found your keys in your purse and brought you
in.”

“You carried me in? Oh. My. God. You carried
me in the house.”

Gina felt the blush start at the tips of her
toes and move to the top of her head. How humiliating! No, she
wasn’t fat, but she was certainly no lightweight either. Curvy was
a better description. “Matt, I’m so sorry. No man should have to do
that.”

His pale eyes met hers for a long, intense
moment before they slid away. “I enjoyed it actually."

Once again that energizing tingle washed
through her. Had he just hit on her? Big, scary, tattooed Matt?
Kind of? It was a hell of a change from this afternoon when he
couldn’t even talk to her.

She was distracted when he placed a bowl of
tomato soup in front of her, followed by a perfectly grilled
cheese. Gina didn’t even realize she was hungry until the smell
reached her nose and her tummy growled.

“Thank you,” she sighed.

Matt turned away before she could see his
face. She reached for the spoon with her left hand, but fumbled the
thing. It plopped into the soup with a splash.

“Damn it!” she gasped as soup landed on her
scrubs top. Right arm cradled to her stomach, she breathed deeply
for several long seconds. When she looked up, Matt had knelt beside
her chair. His dark brows were furrowed in concern. Gina shook her
head and smiled ruefully.

“This is going to take a while to get used
to, I guess.”

Nodding his head, he pushed to his feet. Gina
was fascinated by the play of muscles in his tree-trunk sized
thighs. He had to have done some serious lifting for them to be
that massive.

With her left hand, she took a bite of the
buttery, gooey sandwich. It melted in her mouth. Matt stood at the
counter, his back to her. “This is wonderful, Matt. Thank you so
much.”

He turned to acknowledge her thanks, and Gina
was surprised to see him eating from the counter.

“Oh, sit down, please. Why are you standing
to eat? I won’t bite, I promise.”

Matt regarded her for several long moments
before he turned with his plate to sit across from her. He settled
gingerly in the wooden Captain’s chair, and Gina wondered if
finding one sturdy enough was a problem. He was a huge man,
barrel-chested and brawny. Sometimes he deliberately intimidated
people, she thought, so that he wouldn’t have to talk to them. But
that size was what made Gina feel safe. He had a bowl of soup as
well, and a single sandwich. Surely it took more than that to fill
him up?

“Was George okay today?” she asked.

Matt nodded his head. “He was fine. Blood
work was fine. As ornery as ever.”

Gina smiled and shook her head. “You know,
that man actually pinched my butt the last time you brought him in.
And cackled about it.”

“That sounds like him. He’s always been like
that.”

Gina took another bite of sandwich. “How long
have you known him?”

Matt looked off in the distance for a few
moments, thinking. “Hmmm, at least twenty-five years or so. He was
a drinking buddy of my father’s. After Rick died, George helped me
out.”

Gina thought it was curious that Matt
referred to his father by his first name. If what she had heard was
correct, it was understandable there was a distance. One of the
girls at the office had gone to school with Matt, and she
remembered many times when he’d come in with bruises darkening his
face. Paula remembered he’d dropped out when he was sixteen, but
she didn’t know what had happened to him after that.

“When did your father die?” she asked.

He looked at her from underneath the bill of
his cap, and it was pretty obvious this was not something he wanted
to talk about. But he answered.

“Ten years ago. Got drunk off his ass and
plowed head-on into a tree. Killed him instantly.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Matt waved a rough hand in the air. “Don’t
be. It was a relief.”

Gina could only gape in surprise as he stood
and gathered their dirty dishes to take to the dishwasher. Things
must have been really bad to cause that kind of resentment. She
just couldn’t imagine the life he must have had to make him almost
happy that his father was gone. Her family was the heart-stone of
her life.

She groaned as she thought of her mother. If
she didn’t do damage control, and quick, Mom would be down here in
a split second to take care of her. And as much as she loved her
family, she treasured the independence she had gained when she’d
moved away.