Carol's Image (5 page)

Tom, stunned that the angelic beauty ran out on him, stared numbly toward the closed elevator door. Jake, walking over, clapped him on the back.

“Losin’ your touch, man?” he asked Tom.

“Damned if I know. God, she was gorgeous, wasn’t she?”

“So what are you doin’ still standin’ here, dumbass. Go find her.”

Snapping out of his trance, he ran for the stairs next to the elevator. Racing down the four flights of stairs, he pounded out of the ER into the parking lot looking all around.

His angel was short, but her blonde hair made it easy to find her in the crowded parking lot. Seeing her weave through cars, he took off running again. “Miss, miss,” he called.

She turned around as she reached her car, one hand already on the door handle. Emotions flitted across her face. Surprise, fear, irritation.

“Is there something I can do for you?” she asked, attempting to be polite.

He stopped several feet away, knowing that his size could be intimidating. “I’m sorry, miss. I think I offended you upstairs, and I never meant for that to happen. I wanted to offer my thanks for the way you spoke to James when he came in and for being so kind to his wife.”

Visibly relaxing, she replied, “You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad he is going to be all right. Were you friends?”

“Yeah, we were on a case together. It went bad and well, you saw the aftermath.”

“Did you get the person responsible?” she asked.

Surprised that she asked, he answered, “Yeah, Jake took him down.” Seeing her questioning look, explained further, “He arrested him.”

“Oh,” was all she could think to say. Looking down, she could feel the blushing begin again.

“I hate to keep callin’ you miss. What’s your name?” he asked.

Looking up sharply, she asked, “Why do you want to know?”

“You want the truth, darlin’?”

She just nodded, keeping her gaze on him.

“Because I want to know the name of the woman I’m gonna take out to dinner.”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You want to ask me to dinner? Why?”

Not used to this reaction, he faltered. Most women he approached were already flirting back or had already propositioned him.

“Well,” he replied, running his hand through his hair in frustration, trying to figure out what to say next. He lifted his gaze back to her face. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And I already know you’re special.”
Do I tell her I recognize her from the accident? Fuck, then she will think this is a gratitude date.
“I wanna have a chance to get to know you.” Looking down at her face, he cocked his head to the side, grinning. “Is that so bad? The idea of havin’ dinner with me?”

Shyly looking down, she was quiet for a moment. Realizing he had never had to wait for a woman’s answer, he began to get nervous.
Please say yes, angel. Don’t shut me out.

She raised her face to peer into his eyes. Blue eyes met blue eyes. His gaze never wavered.
He’s telling the truth
. “I work the graveyard shift, so dinner is kind of out.”

Noticing that she wasn’t turning him down completely, he quickly pushed his advantage. “Well, how about a quick breakfast. At the diner just down the street. You’ll feel better if you get some good food in you.”

Sucking her lips in as she thought over his proposal, she looked back into his eyes. Nodding slowly, she agreed as she reached out her tiny hand toward him. “Okay. I can do breakfast. And my name is Carol.”

Taking her small hand into his much larger one, he gently shook it. “Pleased to meet you, Carol. I’m Tom.”

She turned to get into her car. Tom, still holding her hand, held her back. Raising her hand to his lips, he gently kissed her knuckles. Then he assisted her into the car, shutting the door.

Driving the short distance to the diner, she wondered what she was doing.
What does he want with me? I haven’t been to the diner in a long time. What’s on the menu? I don’t even know him. This is a mistake.
She pulled into a parking space before the tangle of thoughts running through her mind had a chance to convince her to turn around and drive straight home.

Meeting a few minutes later at the diner, Tom held the door open for her. The waitress behind the counter waved them toward a booth, and they slid in facing each other. His long legs reached under the table, touching along the side of her much smaller ones. Normally wanting to distance herself, she found that she liked the contact. Glancing up at his face, she caught his smile and found it was easy to return it.

Breakfast at the diner was a noisy affair, with townspeople coming in and out, greeting each other, catching up on each other’s lives. Tom discovered it was hard to talk during breakfast in the busy diner and craved a chance to be with her alone. Looking over at Carol, he noticed her eating slowly and deliberately, as though afraid of eating too quickly.
Hmm, maybe she is trying to prolong this meal to spend time with me.

After a few more minutes Carol pushed her plate away, and as the waitress walked by, she called for their check.

Tom’s eyes darted over to her face, confused by her hurry, when half of her breakfast was still on her plate.
Damn, guess she’s not trying to prolong the meal after all!

“What’s your hurry, Carol?” he asked, trying to keep the pouting out of his voice.

She looked up in surprised, realizing that she had asked for the check when he still had more to eat. Blushing, she rushed to explain. “I’m sooo sorry. I’m so used to eating by myself and grabbing the waitress whenever I can.” Shyly she looked back down at the food left on her plate.

“Did you not like the food?” he asked gently, still looking for some clue to her behavior.

Shooting her eyes back to his, she admitted, “Oh, I love the food here! It was just a long shift and I really need to get to bed.”

Feeling foolish for forgetting that she had just come off of a night shift, Tom grabbed the check that the waitress just laid down on the table. Pushing his plate away he stood, reached for her hand and assisted her as she slid across the booth to stand. He didn’t let go of her hand as they wound their way through the crowded diner.

She couldn’t remember the last time a man held her hand like that. Craving his touch, she kept her hand firmly in his, only letting go when he paid the cashier. Not sure what to do then, she let her hand hesitantly drop to her side.

Without skipping a beat, he clasped her hand in his again as they exited the diner. Walking to her car she couldn’t help but notice how right it felt to hold his hand. It was so much larger than hers. It had so much power in its grip. But that power felt…comforting, not overbearing. Concentrating on the feeling of their entwined fingers, she was surprised when he pulled her to a stop.

Looking up, she realized that they were already at her car. Blushing, she laughed nervously. “I guess I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“You seemed lost in thought. I hated to interrupt,” he admitted. “What were you thinkin’ on so hard?”
Come on. This is where you tell me that you want to see me again. That you had a great time with me and you’ve changed your mind about dinner.

Shaking her head gently, she just replied, “Oh, nothing of importance.” Not knowing what else to say, she nervously said, “Thank you for breakfast. It was nice to eat before heading home.”

A strange, warm feeling washed over Tom.
She’s gonna make me work for this.
This thought was followed by the realization that he liked that.

“When can I see you again? I still want to take you to dinner.”

She realized that she wanted that more than she had wanted anything in a long time.
I want to see him. I want to talk to him. I want him to hold my hand again.
“Well, during the week, my life is basically sleep during the day, take a run in the park in the afternoon, then I go to work at night.” Shrugging her shoulders, she admitted, “Not much of a life, but it’s mine.”

“What do you do when you are off work?” he asked, surprised at how curious and possessive he felt.

“Usually I clean the apartment, read, run errands.”

He looked down at the stunning beauty in front of him, honesty pouring off of her.
No bar hopping? No clubbing? No dancing till dawn?

“When are you off next?”

Smiling that he still seemed interested, she replied, “I work three more night shifts and then I am off Thursday and Friday.”

“I’ll pick you up on Thursday at six o’clock.”

Sucking in her lips as she nodded her agreement, she said, “I live at the apartments near Cherry Grove Park. Number three-seventeen. I’ll see you then.”

Kissing her hand again as he assisted her into her car, he watched her as she pulled out of the parking space.
Oh, you’ll see me before then, angel.

Driving away Carol looked into her rear view mirror, seeing him standing in the parking lot staring after her.
Could he possibly be interested in me?
Smiling, she drove home, thinking of the Vikings in her romance novels.
Maybe, just maybe, there is a little truth to them after all
.

Tom stood in the parking lot, watching her drive away, still feeling the jolt from kissing her hand.
That girl is going to be mine.

T
hat afternoon, Carol awoke refreshed from her long sleep. Stretching her body, working the kinks out from her long shift and then sleep, she felt the guilt of eating so much at breakfast.
A run. That will make me feel better and work some calories off. Not too many. Just a few.

Minutes later she left her apartment, jogging toward the running path of the park next to her building. She began her stretching, sitting on the grass in the warm sun. Loving the feeling of the sun on her face, she leaned back, soaking it in. Her hair, pulled into a ponytail, hung down her back. Never worrying about her appearance when running, her baggy shorts and top were worn for comfort. Standing and finishing her stretching, she began down the trail.

Tom sat in his truck across the street, watching her disappear into the trees, knowing he would catch a glimpse of her again as she came out near the pond.
God, I feel like a stalker.
All he knew was that he just wanted to see her again. Looking down at his own running apparel, he wondered what she would think when she saw him.
Excited to see him. Or scared of the creepy stalker.

Never one to hold back, he jumped out of his truck and started jogging down the trail.

After a couple of minutes, she could hear the sounds of a runner behind her. Moving over to the right side of the trail so that the next runner could pass easily, she was startled when they pulled up beside her keeping pace. Looking over quickly, she stumbled as she recognized Tom.

Reaching his arm out to steady her, he smiled down at her face hoping she was as glad to see him as he was to be back in her presence.

“Tom,” she exclaimed, confusion evident on her face. “What are you doing here?”

They continued to jog as he pondered his answer for just a moment. Deciding that she wouldn’t appreciate a pithy response, he stuck to honesty. “I just wanted to see you again as soon as possible. This just seemed like a good way to spend some time with you. Plus I need the exercise.” He noticed the smile that barely turned up the corners of her mouth as she stared straight ahead while they ran.

After several laps around the pond and through the woods in the park he began to see that thankfully she was slowing. He knew he was in excellent shape, but the pace they were keeping was beginning to wear on him. “You ready to rest a bit?” he asked hopefully, wanting to sit for a while and talk before she had to get ready for work.

A look of concern glimmered in her eyes as she looked at her watch. “I usually run a little more.”

“Angel, you’re in great shape and you don’t wanna overdo it.”

Glancing up at his face, searching for sincerity, she focused instead on the way his biceps were bulging under his t-shirt. And the t-shirt. The sweat had the thin cotton material plastered to his sculpted chest and abs. As her eyes slid downwards she couldn’t help but focus on his tree-trunk thighs as he pounded the jogging trail. Fighting the urge to reach out and touch all of that masculine perfection she just turned back to the trail, more determined than ever to keep running.

“Angel, slow down,” Tom pleaded, noticing the perspiration and redness on her face.

Shaking her head, she just mumbled, “Ate too much at breakfast. Don’t want to get fat.”

This is about breakfast? She thinks she needs to run off her breakfast? What the fuck? This girl is gorgeous and has no clue.

Slowing down his pace, he gently pulled on her arm until she slowed her pace down as well. Afraid of making her skittish, he pretended to limp a little. “Sorry, my calf is sore.”

Immediately contrite, she slowed to a stop. Her nurse’s training had her leaning down to wrap her delicate hands around his lower leg. “I’m so sorry! You should have stopped a long time ago.”

He loved the feel of her hands on his leg. He had only pretended to have a leg cramp to get her to slow down, but quickly realized that the feel of her touch sent sparks through him just as it did when he had the accident. Looking down at the top of her halo of yellow hair, he hated to stop her ministrations but knew he had to discontinue the charade.

Gently taking her by the arms he pulled her to a standing position just in front of him. Bodies almost touching, she rested her hands on his waist while his fingers stroked her shoulders. Blue eyes gazing at blue eyes. He found himself drawn to her like a magnet, leaning down as she rose on her tiptoes, moving her lips closer to his.

“Whoa, move off the trail you two!” came a shout from two teenage boys rounding the path as they ran by.

Startled out of her trance Carol jumped back, embarrassment crossing her beautiful face.

Damn! What fucked up timing!
Tom started to move forward, but she quickly stepped back again.