Midnight Kiss (8 page)

Paddy’s heated Irish oaths filled the room.

“It’s a real shame you never taught me Gaelic.”

“You’d be blushing if I did, lass.” He crossed his arms and demanded, “I want the rogue caught.”

She busied herself fluffing his pillow and straightening the top of his bureau. “I’m sure Doc Clayborne is doing the best he can.”

“What’s taking him so long?” He smacked his frail, weak legs. “Even with these useless things I could have cracked this case by now.”

Autumn noticed his stubborn look. “Don’t even think about it.”

He innocently asked, “About what?”

“You know perfectly well what! If I find out you’re putting your nose where it doesn’t belong, I’ll move you out of here.”

“Doc says I can’t go back home.”

“I know that. But there’s an all-male home in Rawlings.”

Paddy thundered. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me.”

“Oh, lass.” Paddy mumbled sadly. “You would really put this old tired man in prison where he can’t get even a glimpse of a shapely ankle to carry with him to the grave?”

Autumn knew a sham when she heard one. “Yes, I would. And if I hear you’re not behaving, I’ll even make sure you have male nurses.”

Paddy crossed his arms and tried to stare down his granddaughter. He failed. “Your coldheartedness has to come from the Flannery blood running through your veins. An O’Neil would never threaten such a dire fate.”

She gently pushed back a wisp of white hair that had fallen across his brow. “It’s only because I do love you and don’t want to see you get hurt that I’m bringing it up, Paddy.”

A heavy groan sounded as he opened his arms and embraced Autumn. “I know, love.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “You’re just like your grandmother. She always used to try to scare me with untold horrors too.”

“What was the worst?”

“Sleeping on the couch,” Paddy answered with a chuckle.

Autumn laughed and shook her head. She stood up and straightened the plaid lap blanket covering Paddy’s legs. “I see we both knew your weakest point.”

“I might be old and feeble, but I’m not pushing up daisies yet.”

“Face it, Paddy, the good Lord just isn’t ready for the ruckus you would cause on the other side of those pearly gates.” She glanced at her watch. “I have to go, but first I want your word you won’t try anything foolish.”

“Have I ever done anything foolish?” Seeing her look of amusement, he hastily said, “Don’t answer that.”

“Paddy . . .”

He crossed his fingers under the lap blanket. “Okay, I won’t do anything.”

Autumn tilted her head and studied her grandfather, not sure if she should believe him or not. Knowing she couldn’t do anything about it right then, she allowed the subject to be dropped. “Behave yourself and I’ll see you this weekend.”

Autumn studied Thane’s enthralled expression as he watched Bela Lugosi claim another victim. She had probably seen
Dracula
half a dozen times, and it was more fascinating to see someone watch it for the first time than to view the movie itself. She could tell when the good parts started by the way Thane sat up straighter and inched forward on the couch. Right before the poor victim bit the dust, Thane’s hand stopped in midair as it reached for another handful of popcorn.

She glanced around the living room and bit back a sigh. The room was bathed in shadowy darkness, with the only light coming from the television. She was sitting mere inches from a handsome, healthy male who was more interested in some movie made before either one of them was born than in the intriguing possibilities the night held. Last night’s good-night kiss had been hot, wild, and entirely too short. She had never considered herself a highly passionate person until Thane took her in his arms. Something magical and rare happened whenever he touched her. The feeling was so fleeting and intangible that it begged to be explored. With an impish smile she decided to tempt the fates.

She lightly brushed the toe of her sock against his leg as she moved closer. Thane threw her a glance before turning back to the movie.

Autumn shifted toward him, tucking her feet under her and leaning against him.

Thane’s arm absently came out and hugged her to his side. “It’s okay. It’s only a movie.”

She ducked her head and hid a smile.
He thinks I’m scared of vampires.
During the next gruesome scene she squirmed closer and enjoyed the feeling of his arm tightening protectively around her. The next scene earned her a fleeting kiss on top of the head as she buried her face against his chest.

Autumn was debating whether climbing onto his lap would seem a little extreme for the scene in which they pulled out the wooden stake and mallet, when Thane finally caught on.

Thane glanced down at the woman in his arm pressed to his side like flypaper and frowned. Something wasn’t right. The previous night she had gleefully described in gory detail every scene that was about to happen in the movie. Tonight she appeared bored with Lon Chaney’s werewolf and disinterested in the blood-sucking count. So why the scared-little-girl routine all of a sudden?

A wicked grin lit up his face as the answer dawned on him. Autumn wasn’t scared; she was snuggling under false pretenses, the sneak. He gently cupped her face and pressed it against his chest. “Don’t look!”

Autumn squirmed as a button dug into her cheek and air became scarce.

In a sudden movement Thane plucked her off the couch and deposited her surprised body on his lap, while keeping her face buried in his shirt collar. “This movie is sick, Autumn. We can’t show it at the home.”

She tried to lift her face to see what was happening.

Thane kept his hand on the back of her head. He suppressed a chuckle as her lips moved against his neck to try to mutter something. “Autumn, why didn’t you tell me there was nudity in this film?”

Nudity!
She brought up both hands and tried to push against his chest. What was he watching? There was no nudity in
Dracula
.

Thane groaned and raised his eyes toward the ceiling as her bottom wiggled. “Geez, look at the size of them. I hope she doesn’t catch a chest cold. It could kill her.”

Autumn felt his arms tighten around her like steel bands. Her hands slipped upward around his neck.

A moan caught in the back of his throat as Autumn’s chest flattened against him. The jig was up, in more ways than one. Any second now Autumn would be feeling exactly what was up, considering she was sitting on it. “Look, isn’t that our Darlene Freeman? I didn’t realize she was an actress before she went into her other profession.”

A throbbing vein snaking down his neck pounded under her mouth. She ran the tip of her tongue over it and felt him shiver. His hand fell away from the back of her head and leisurely caressed her back. Every resident of Maple Leaf could be streaking his or her way across the silver screen and she wouldn’t have cared. Thane Clayborne was turning into putty beneath her mouth.

The gentle grazing of her teeth broke his control. He shifted positions and stretched out across the couch with her beneath him. His gaze turned tender as he looked down into her face.

Autumn settled naturally under his body. She watched as his hand started to reach out to caress her cheek, only to jerk back. Without breaking eye contact she slowly pulled the hand between them. “What do you see, Thane, when you look at this hand?”

Thane glanced at his large scarred hand being cradled by Autumn’s small smooth one. “Scars.”

She held the hand up and ran her thumb over a faded scar. “I see a hero,” she said sadly. “I see a man who risked his life to save a child. You should be proud. Not many people possess such courage, Thane.”

If he hadn’t been searching for the right words to tell her what he really thought, he would have heard the sadness and shame in her voice. His gaze followed her thumb as it stroked the longest scar. The faded marks didn’t bother him. He knew he was lucky to have as much movement and control in his hand as he did. Scars were as natural to a surgeon as screaming babies were to a pediatrician. Three major reconstruction operations and months of intense therapy had given him a normal hand, if he discounted the scars. He didn’t want a normal hand; he wanted his gifted, talented hand back.

Autumn frowned as Thane sat up, pulling her with him. “Thane?”

He slumped his shoulders, rested his forearms on his knees, and stared at the floor. “I lied. I stopped seeing the scars two years ago.”

“What do you see?”

“Failure.” His voice broke. “My failure.”

Autumn studied his bent head. “I don’t understand.”

He stood up and turned the volume on the television all the way down. Without looking at Autumn he walked over to the large picture window and stared off into the peaceful darkness. “The other night at dinner I told you about how I loved to bandage up people.”

“You mentioned people, dogs, and inflatable dummies.”

Thane turned and saw her anxious, lovely face in the flickering glare of the television. Why was this woman so easy to talk to? “By the time I was twelve, I knew exactly what I wanted to be, an orthopedic surgeon.” The faint sound of her indrawn breath seemed to echo across the room. “Out of over a thousand students I ranked number one in my high school graduating class. I was with the cream of the crop in medical school. My internship was labeled brilliant. I was the youngest orthopedic surgeon ever to head the entire department at Shenandoah General.” His voice was low and filled with anguish as he turned back to the darkness. “I had it all.”

Autumn allowed Thane a few moments of silence. “Until a five-year-old boy stepped in front of a speeding car.”

“In that split second everything I had ever worked for was beyond my reach.” He watched her reflection in the dark glass. She seemed to be on the verge of saying something a couple of times, but something held her back. Her hair was a mass of curls begging to be tamed. The gold blouse she wore hung to midthigh over a pair of black stretch pants, and a pair of gold socks kept her toes warm. She looked young, innocent, and entirely too inexperienced to understand his feelings of failure.

“Knowing the outcome, if you could go back in time, would you still pull the child to safety?”

Thane was surprised by her question. Everyone who had been around years before and knew of his loss had made the usual comments:
The Lord works in mysterious ways. Fate has a better purpose for you.
And the worst:
Some things weren’t meant to be.
No one but Autumn had the guts to ask the ultimate question: Would he do it again? His mind wanted to scream,
No, I wouldn’t do it again.
He’d let the boy take his chances against the bone-crushing metal. Maybe someone else would have played hero and saved the boy, even though he knew no one else had been within reach. His heart knew the answer the moment Autumn voiced the question. “Yes.”

“Did you say something?”

Thane cleared his throat. “I said, yes, knowing everything that would happen, I would still save the boy.”

Autumn froze. Where was the brass band and fireworks? No choir of singing angels appeared. No cupids. No arrows. She stared at Thane’s reflection in the window and knew. She was in love. How had that happened? They were entirely wrong for each other. He was a hero, and the strength and conviction in his voice when he had admitted he would do it all over again sent a shiver down her back. He meant it. Afraid, she pushed her confused feelings toward Thane behind a thick door in her mind and slammed it shut.
Still playing the coward, O’Neil? Your ancestors must be rolling in their graves.
Collecting her thoughts, she asked, “Who did you fail?”

“My parents, professors, doctors, the residents at Maple Leaf, and you.”

“Me?”

“Don’t you get it yet? He saw the reflection of her head shaking. “Geriatrics wasn’t my first choice, Autumn. If it wasn’t for the accident, I would never have set foot in Maple Leaf.” He turned and faced her. “I’m sorry, Autumn, but given a free choice, I wouldn’t have been Paddy’s doctor.”

“But you were given a free choice. I asked you if you would do it all over again and you said yes.” She watched his brow wrinkle in confusion. “You can’t have it both ways, Thane.” She rose, slowly made her way across the room, and stood directly in front of him. She reached for his hand and tenderly pressed a kiss in the middle of his palm. “Did your parents disown you after the accident?”

Heat throbbed where her lips had touched. “No.”

Her tongue flicked over the back of his fingers. “Did your schools demand their diplomas back?”

Thane swallowed hard. “No.”

A playful nip at the base of his thumb caused his hand to tremble. “Did the American Medical Association demand your stethoscope back?”

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “No.”

“I haven’t noticed the residents of Maple Leaf dropping like flies, so I would have to presume you’re doing your job.” She brought his hand up and rubbed it against her cheek.

“Has anyone ever told you you have a way with words, Ms. O’Neil?”

“It runs in the family. I take after Paddy.” Her breath grew ragged as his thumb caressed her lower lip. “You didn’t fail anyone, Thane. Only your own expectations.”

“You don’t mind a second-choice doctor treating Paddy?”

“No, as long as it is a second-choice doctor and not a second-class one.”

“I have never been second-class.”

“You’ve always been first-class all the way, haven’t you?”

Thane was concentrating on her freckles. “Hmmm . . .”

“So what are you doing standing here with a middle-class Irish lass from Brooklyn?”

Thane lowered his head and gently brushed her mouth with his. “Kissing her.” His tongue swept across her lower lip. “It runs in my family.”

Autumn leaned in closer. “What does?”

“Kissing first-class women.” He captured her sigh with his mouth.

Warm, luscious sensations tingled from her every nerve ending as he deepened the kiss. Her hands clung to Thane’s back as his tongue swept into the depths of her mouth. The incredible feeling she was trying to define and understand rolled through her like thunder. It started low and intense and grew as it rumbled across the very fiber of her soul.