It Had To Be You (20 page)

His hands gripped her waist. Clenched there.
“Don’t joke about this.”

“
All right.” She covered his mouth with
hers to stop his protests. His body hardened even more, but she
pressed her breasts into him and deepened the kiss. It took only
seconds for his arms to band around her. His mouth softened and he
angled his head. She took the opportunity to open his lips with her
tongue. They explored each other and the sweetness of it, the
bridled passion just waiting to burst out made her melt into him.
He moaned. But eventually he set her away.

“
That better?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Lee, baby, this isn’t
good.”

“
It
is
good. We have to savor
whatever joy we can find in life.”

“
What do you mean? You saved a baby
today.”

“
Right after, there was a bad bus
accident. Several people died in our ER. A child.” She nosed into
his chest, inhaling the male, alive scent of him. “It was
awful.”

His hand curled around her nape. “I’m sorry,
but I still don’t understand. You should be running for the hills
from me.”

“
I ran toward you instead.”

“
Meaning?”

“
I decided on my way here to pick up
the boys that we should try out a relationship between
us.”

He gave an awful laugh. “Well, I sure blew
that out of the fucking water.”

She had to be honest. “You did. We can’t be
together. I know that now—again, I guess—after what happened to you
and the boys’ reaction. I knew it before, but I talked myself into
giving us a shot.”

He swallowed hard. Facing your flaws,
particularly for a strong man like Beck, a leader and a savior had
to be killing him.

“
So why are you here?” He squeezed her
hips. “Like this?”

“
Because I want two days with you. The
kids are gone; I’m off and you’re off. I want this, Beck, even if
it’s all we’ll ever have.”

“
I don’t know, honey. Can you imagine
how much harder it will be afterward?”

She leaned in and whispered, “Well, I’ll be
darned, sugar. All this time, I thought it got softer.”

He laughed and the sound made her smile.
“You’re bewitching, you know that?”

“
Am I?” She cupped his cheeks with her
hands. “Please, Beck, give us this. You and I have seen death, seen
horror, and we still do. Let’s forget about it for two days, be
together and enjoy what we can get out of life today. Afterward,
we’ll be strong.”

He pressed his forehead to hers. “All right.
Just for now.”

Beck blanked his mind as she slid off him and
held out her hand. He refused to think as he took it, stood,
stooped down to pick up her bag and led her into the house. He
locked the glass doors rotely. Without saying anything, fearful
that he’d ruin the moment, or worse, awaken and find her coming
here was a dream, he went before her up the steps to the second
floor and down to his bedroom. Once inside, he turned to her.
Softly brushing his knuckles down her cheek, he whispered, “You are
so lovely. You take my breath away.”

She inhaled sharply. “No one’s ever said that
to me. Thought that about me.”

“
I do, love. I do.” His fingertips
flirted with the strap of the sundress she’d changed into. “This is
nice. I like you in yellow.”

“
Take it off me, Beck.”

“
My pleasure.” He chuckled at his joke.
“Now and for two whole days.” With as much gentleness as he could
summon, he slipped the material from her shoulders. He tugged it
over her breasts, then past her waist until the silky material
puddled on the floor. Beneath it she wore a yellow strapless bra
and, oh, dear Lord in heaven, a matching thong. “Good grief.” He
pressed his body against her.

“
I see someone sprang to attention,
soldier.”

“
Damn right. That’s what you get for
wearing this.” He ran a fingertip along the scalloped top. “Though
I can’t quite see practical Nurse Lela buying it.”

“
I didn’t.” Her face flushed. “Sophia
gave it to me for my last birthday after I confessed I loved sexy
underwear but never get around to getting any.”

“
I love sexy underwear, too. Leave it
on for a while.”

“
Anything for you.”

Damn. Her words made his hands shaky as they
went to the hem of the green T-shirt he wore.

“
No, let me.”

“
Anything,” he repeated. She pulled his
shirt over his head. Stopping briefly to kiss his breastbone, her
hands went for his belt, dispensed of that and his shorts. He wore
navy blue briefs, which were now stretched to their
limits.

By God, if she didn’t kneel in front of him.
“Lee, wait, what…?” But she was already tugging his underwear off.
Soon he sprang free of the material, kicked out of it. Her palms
cupped him. He allowed the massage for about two seconds. Then he
tugged her up.

“
Aw, no fair.”

“
Honey, it’s been a while for me. Um, a
long while.”

Her eyes lit. “For me, too. A very long
while.”

“
Let’s go to the bed.”

She fished some condoms out of her bag and
followed him. He laid down first; she put her knees on the
mattress, then draped herself over him. “Kiss me, Beck, like you
mean it.”

He flipped her over, covered her with his
body and met her mouth with his. He pressed, probed, took. Then he
soothed and started all over again. She squirmed restlessly beneath
him. He felt himself harden even more and worried he couldn’t
prolong their lovemaking; he wanted to savor every minute.

Easing off her and to his side, he captured
her gaze and removed her panties. Reaching around her, he unsnapped
the pretty bra and tugged it away. “You are so incredibly lovely. I
almost can’t stand it.” He cupped the flesh he’d bared, kneaded
her. “Almost.” He ran his hand along her torso, over the silky
skin, raising goose bumps. “I don’t know how you like this,” he
said, feeling momentarily unsure of himself.

“
I’ll love anything we do together.
Don’t wait, Beck. I’m ready. So are you.” More softly, sexily, she
said, “We can take our time later.”

After one more look at her beautiful body, he
snatched a condom from the nightstand and rolled it on. Facing her
again, he poised himself at her entry and slid easily inside. She
was
ready. He lowered his head so their cheeks and chests
touched; her legs went around his waist and he started to move.

Nothing in his whole life had ever felt this
good. She moaned, and he pushed harder, picked up the pace. Only a
few thrusts and she spasmed around him, called out, “Beck…” and
came fast and hard.

His mind blanked at her orgasm; he pushed and
pushed and pushed. Rockets went off in his head. Bright colors
eclipsed everything as he found his own release.

They stayed as they were, hugging even
tighter, breathing each other in. Then he knelt back and looked at
her. “It was—” he couldn’t find the words.

“
Mind-blowing. I knew it would
be.”

He’d known that, too. Doubts about the wisdom
of making love tried to penetrate his consciousness. He fought them
back, lay down and tugged her to his chest. He wouldn’t think about
that for two days. There’d be enough time to face life without her
after this was over.

o0o

Lela awoke in Beck’s bed, alone. Damn. She
wanted to see his face the first thing in the morning, touch his
skin, inhale his scent. After all, she wouldn’t get a chance to
wake up with him after tomorrow. Her throat closed up.

Don’t think about that.

As an army medic and a trauma nurse, she’d
trained herself to focus on the now and blank out the rest. So she
glanced around her. His bedroom was masculine and trendy. She
thought he might not be interested in décor, but he’d done a nice
job with the sand-colored walls, beautiful landscape paintings in
an impressionist mode. Oak dressers were flanked by two
comfortable-looking, nubby, white chairs in the corners, both next
to a stack of books. She wouldn’t have pegged him as a reader,
either. What kind of books did he like?

Spying a bath off the bedroom, she hopped out
of bed to use the facilities, then she wandered around the room. A
copy of a Tom Clancy novel sat on top of the stack of books. Loose
change, a handkerchief and a pocketknife were spread out a dresser.
Next to the door, on the wall, was an eight-by-ten engraved plaque
of the raising of the flag by World War II soldiers at Iwo Jima.
Adjacent to it was a second one of firefighters from 9/11 also
raising a flag.

Because she wasn’t ready to leave the cocoon
of this lovely space yet, she climbed back in bed. Dreamily, she
recalled how he’d touched her last night, how tender and sweet he’d
been until passion claimed them both and things got wild. The
second time had been slower but no less intense.

“
Ah, you’re awake.” He stood in the
doorway holding a tray. The strong scent of coffee and fresh
pastries made its way across the room. “I brought you food. I’m
famished.”

“
Me, too. We forgot to eat.”

“
We had more important things on our
minds.” He set the tray down on the dresser and yanked off his
shirt and pants. He’d gone commando. “That’s better.”

“
No argument from me there.”

Bringing the tray to the nightstand, he
climbed in beside her and kissed her. “Good morning.”

“
Hmm, that it is.” She ran a hand down
his cheek, now darkened and scratchy. Sexy. “Sleep
well?”

“
Better than I have since I got back
from Afghanistan.”

“
I’m glad.”

He nodded to the tray. “What do you want
first?”

“
Coffee.”

“
Black, right?”

“
Yes.” She pointed to the food. “Did
you have all this on hand?”

“
Hardly. There’s a Starbucks right near
here. I stopped for the fruit at a little store.”

Propping herself up higher onto the pillows,
she drank from the cardboard cup he handed her. He mirrored her
position, took her hand in his and they sipped in silence.

After a while, she said, “I want some of the
croissant,” and moved to reach over him.

He batted her hand away, took a croissant off
the plate, buttered it and faced her. Tearing off a small piece, he
put it to her lips. She held his gaze and chewed. He smiled and
took some for himself.

They ate again in silence. She briefly
wondered if they were afraid to talk but pushed the notion away and
simply let him feed her. Flaky bread. Succulent strawberries. Oh,
there was a big fat apple fritter. They consumed that, too.

“
Stop,” she finally said. “Enough
food.” When he adjusted his position, she got a glance at the tray.
“Oh, we forgot the orange juice.”

“
No, we didn’t.” He turned back to her
with the glass in hand. “Now pull that sheet to your waist. I’m
thirsty for juice.” He winked at her. “And you.”

“
Yes, sir,” she said and began to
tingle all over when the cold liquid hit her breast.

o0o

“
This was a great idea,” Lela said,
slipping her hand into his as they walked down Broadway. At nine,
they’d decided on a day of fun in the Big Apple, and since the city
was only an hour away, they’d made it here by eleven. She’d dressed
in a denim skirt and simple, white T-shirt with canvas on her feet
and he’d worn jeans and a short-sleeved, navy shirt.

Beck gazed down at her. The sight of Lela by
his side, after an incredible night—and morning—of sex made him
feel like he could scale mountains. When he remembered their tryst
was only for two days, his heart hurt. “I thought it would be fun
to do something together.”

“
Don’t you love the feel of the city?
The tall buildings, the scents of vendor food, the sheer aliveness
of it.”

“
Yeah, I do.” He leaned into her
because he could. “And it’s the home of my guys.”

“
Your guys?”

“
Yeah, the Bronx Bombers.”

“
Excuse me?”

“
The Yankees, silly.” He stopped dead
in his tracks. “You
have
heard of the Yankees.”

“
Of course. My parents watched the Red
Sox and they played the Yankees.”

“
Uh-huh.”

The sun gleamed off her head, revealing some
strands of blond in the auburn mass. “Besides I know a little bit
about baseball. I saw the play
Take Me Out
on stage here a
few years ago.”

“
Let me guess. It was about
baseball.”

“
Yeah. About a rookie player who came
out gay and the ramifications of his disclosure.”

“
That’s good to hear. We need more
positive views of gay athletes. And soldiers. I fought hard against
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

She smiled up at him and he could feel
approval emanate from her. As they continued to walk, they passed
the ad for a new play starring Kiefer Sutherland and Lela halted
this time. “Oh, I love this actor.”

On a whim, because he wasn’t much of a play
guy, he asked, “Wanna go?”

Her eyes reminded him of Christmas morning.
“Do you mean it?”

“
Sure.” He glanced at his watch. “We
still have time for lunch first.” He scowled. “But I wanted to take
you to a bookstore down here that’s really cool.”