Reflecting On Wishes (The Wishes Series) (15 page)

“Do you even realize how damn beautiful you are, Angel? You take my breath away.” Dakota stroked her jaw briefly, wanting to kiss her as she
looked at him with her sultry cat-eyes, wide and trusting. He was afraid if he did; it would be too much, too soon, and would cause her to draw away from him. Instead, he scooped her up with one arm under her knees and the other cradling her back, keeping her tight to his chest. She gave a little gasp and wrapped her arm around the back of his neck and braced her other hand on his chest. He felt tiny pricks of her nails digging into his right pec and a low groan slipped out. Desire and tension was so thick between them, he considered taking her into the house and straight to her bedroom so he could do all the things he’d been aching to do to her again. Not that it would be incredibly romantic since her bed was still covered in plastic and her room smelled like paint. But he had a feeling the place wouldn’t matter when they came together. It would be like a spark to dry tinder, an imminent explosion of heat. 

“Are we going in the water or are you going to stand here holding me and looking like you want…” her voice trailed off and she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down.

“Oh I
want
! I want very much…” He gave her a whisper of a kiss to the corner of her mouth and grinned. “Hold on, baby.” He jumped into the deep end as soon as she took a deep breath and pinched her nose. The cool water rushed over their heads but he sprung up quickly to the surface with water sluicing off them. He loved hearing her laugh like she did when they surfaced. She wiped her face and let her head fall back, her hair skimming the water as he held her. The smile she wore was worth all the heartache he’d suffered when they had been apart. In that moment he knew everything would work out. He just needed to give her time to heal and support her however he could. Her competitive nature showed even as they swam laps, challenging him, goading him even, when she smoothly passed him by. Being in the pool had granted her more freedom over her body and movement. The joy it gave her lit up her face and lightened her mood. In his line of work he saw that time and time again. The loss of mobility was hard to deal with, moments like this, being able to float and move freely in water, was its own kind of healing.

He found out quickly what a playful water nymph she was. The splashing match she started when she swam away from him turned in
to a dunking session that she ended up winning. It was the joy on her face and the girlish giggles caused from making him come up sputtering, that had him going under easily just so he could hear her laugh again. When he got tired of swallowing water he caught her and searched for ticklish spots to keep her laughing. Once she was pressed chest to chest with him and she wound her arms around his neck, he forgot to breathe for a moment.

Then she kissed him.

Her fingers were rubbing the back of his neck while her mouth made itself at home against his with a tender kiss. He held her against him, savoring the sweet assault. He was a man starved for the taste of the purest honey, tracing his tongue over her lips, delving between them to drink of her gift. Never had a woman touched him so deeply that he didn’t want to know where she began and he ended.

Unfortunately, he found that out all too quickly when the patio door slid open and Vito called out. “I’m home, Angel.” He gave Dakota a nod, “Good to see you still here, Dakota. Looks like you guys made great progress in her room. Appreciate that, son.”

Angel jerked away from Dakota so fast she flailed a bit until she got control. A blush crept up her cheeks as she looked up at her father. “Hi, Papá. Dakota was just helping me, um, exercise.”

Dakota choked out a laugh and shook his head. “I’ll finish up the paint job tomorrow, Vito. Anything else you
need just let me know.”

“Uh huh, looked like you were getting some sort of exercise…” Vito directed towards his daughter, unable to stop smiling.

“I was going to ask you where to get one of those lifts for the pool, Dakota, but it looks like you got her covered.” This time Vito laughed at his own joke and turned to go back inside.

“Papá!” Angel wailed with embarrassment, which only made her father laugh louder with Dakota joining in.

“I’m going to take a shower and go have hot wings and beer with the guys if you kids don’t mind.”

“Have fun, Vito. I was planning on coercing Angel into having dinner with me anyways.” Dakota swam over to her and tickled her sides again, laughing when she shrieked and splashed him with water.

“When were you going to inform me of these plans of yours, big guy?”

“I figured once your stomach started rumbling it would be easier to talk you into coming to my place so I can make you dinner.”

She eyed him warily. He could tell by the look on her face she was undecided.

“It’s on
ly a dinner invitation, Angel, nothing more, unless you want to browse my DVD collection and pick out a flick to watch afterwards.” He brushed her hair off of her forehead and kissed her on her temple. “I want to be with you. Spend time together…just the two of us. You know, like we did before.”

***

She froze as if ice encased her body from head to toe. If this had happened a few short months ago, Angel would have jumped at the chance to spend an evening alone with Dakota. But as things were now, it wouldn’t be fair to either of them. After all, she was planning on moving away as soon as she got the call. She should have never started kissing him again. But his lips…god his lips were so sexy and soft. And damn could he kiss. But it would only lead to breaking her heart, and maybe even his, if she let him any closer. Getting even more attached to him would make it harder for her to leave. No, she couldn’t go there. This flirtation or whatever it was had to stop now. Angel let her walls slam down, effectively shutting him out and shielding her expression.

“No, Dakota. I can’t go. Thanks, but no.” Like he said, he wanted things like they were before. As in, before she wrecked and lost not only her career, but her life as she knew it. Things were different now. There was no denying that. She wasn’t the woman she
used to be. Angel turned from him and swam to the steps in the shallow end, sitting on the top step. Shit. What did she do now? Ask him to help her to her chair or call out for her dad? No, she couldn’t do that. He said he was going to take a shower before going out with his friends. She was pissed at herself for falling for Dakota’s charm and letting her heart and hormones lead the way. Why in the hell did she kiss him? It only made her want what she couldn’t have, and remind her vividly how incomplete she felt about her body now.

“I don’t understand, Angel. We get along great. There’s obvious attraction between us. Why do you keep pushing me away?” He joined her on the steps, sitting at the bottom one and running his hand along her calf muscle.

Too bad she couldn’t feel it, like she could before. In her imagination she could feel the tingle of how his strong hands had run over her body that first night in the hotel room. It seemed like eons ago that she felt like a normal woman, all parts of her in working order. Now she was not…
this
was not working.

She braced the palms of her hands on the concrete and pulled her body back, dragging her legs completely out of the water. Away from his touch that she wanted to feel so badly that tears were threatening to shame her by spilling forth.

Get away!

She had to get away from him now before she embarrassed herself further. Dakota must have noticed the deer in headlights look she knew was on her face because he exited the pool and got their towels, waiting silently for her to dry off and tuck her towel around her body. When he crouched down and gathered her in his arms she couldn’t help but feel appreciative that he wasn’t pushing her
but at the same time she felt like a jerk for letting her emotions ruin what had been a fun time together.

H
is demeanor was stoic, distant, yet gentle. Words failed her. She was afraid to say anything and make things worse. She knew that continuing to push him away hurt him. Especially after the kisses they had just shared. Her moment of weakness and feeling whole and normal in the buoyancy of the pool, made her let her guard down and allow him in close to her again. By doing that, she hurt him—
again.

Dakota forfeited putting her in her chair and carried her to her bedroom. “Do you want to take a bath and wash off the chlorine before you get dressed, Angel?”

He was making it worse. Even though she hurt him he was still being his sweet and caring self. Angel nodded her head, unable to look him in the eye. “Yes, thank you, Dakota.”

They sounded so formal now, aloof and distant.

“I’ll get the plastic off your bed and dresser while you’re in the tub.” He sat her on the toilet and reached to plug the tub for her and turn the faucet on, squirting in a dollop of her favorite bubble bath under the flow of hot water. “What do you want to wear and I’ll get it out for you.”

His voice was monotone, devoid of emotion. Dakota proved to be just as good as she was at putting up walls to shield himself from being hurt further. It broke her heart knowing she was the cause. “My t-shirts are in the top drawer, shorts are in the second.” Her voice was merely a whisper now. Tears were nearly to her breaking point and she really needed him to leave the room
, but he hadn’t brought her chair in yet and she needed it to get in the tub. Her frustration was mounting. Would she ever stopped being pissed off about needing help now? She knew in her heart there were so many people that had it worse than her. She knew she should be grateful for being alive and for what mobility she did have. But in this moment she wanted to scream and cry because she couldn’t even take a damn bath without her chair in the bathroom with her. Just as the first tears laid wet tracks down her cheeks, Dakota came back in the bathroom pushing her chair and positioning it where she needed it to be to get from where she was sitting on the toilet to the tub. Once he turned the water off and moved out of the way she saw what he brought her. The seat of her chair had her t-shirt, shorts and undergarments sitting on it with a pink rose he must have picked from the rose bush out back.

That was all she could take. Angel covered her face with her hands and sobbed. She didn’t deserve this man that cared so much. She pushed and pushed, t
rying to get him to leave her alone but here he was. He knew she needed space when they were out at the pool so he’d gotten her towel then carried her in. He knew she wouldn’t want to go to bed without taking a bath and washing the chlorine out of her hair and off her skin. He ran her water and even put bubble bath in it and got her clothes and chair because he knew she needed it to take care of her business. He cared enough that he brought her a flower even though she was pushing him away again. And now, he knelt down in front of her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her together when she felt like she was falling apart. His arms were warm and strong around her, his hands massaging her back as she buried her face against the crook of his neck and bawled until she was spent, holding him tight.

Dakota kissed the top of her head and laid his head on her shoulder, gently rocking her until her breaths came in hiccups and she had no more tears left. That was when she realized her shoulder was wet. Angel lifted her head and touched her fingers under his chin so he looked at her. Tears had wet his thick eyelashes and traveled down his cheeks where he had cried with her. Even in her heartbreak he hadn’t left her alone. This big, strong man had cried
silently with her while remaining her rock. Angel cupped his face in her hands as she stared into his big brown eyes. Never had she expected him to still care so intensely for her.

“Take your bath, sweetheart, before the water gets cold.” Dakota brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping the last of her tears. “I’ll hang out ‘til you’re done in case you want to talk or just hang out for a while.” He took her hand that still held his cheek and kissed the palm, sending warmth through her.

“Thank you,” came out barely above a whisper. Her throat was raw from crying and she felt such a surge of emotion she didn’t know what else to do or say. When he walked out and shut the door she breathed a sigh of relief. A little time to herself to soak in the tub full of warm, citrus scented water was exactly what she needed. There were decisions to make and she couldn’t keep putting it off or ignoring it.

Chapter 12

Dakota rolled up the plastic that had protected Angel’s bed while they worked on her room. It still smelled strongly of paint, but the windows were open and the ceiling fan was going so there wasn’t much more that he could do. What he really wanted was to pack up her stuff and take her home with him so he could take care of her. Of course, if he mentioned that at this point, she would think he was insane and probably kick him out. He had to take it slow, keep his feelings in check so he didn’t scare her off. When he saw the tears flowing down her cheeks his heart broke for her. The protective
side of him needed to try to fix things for her, just as the strong side of her needed to be independent and take care of herself. They were quite the pair, both stubborn and hardheaded.

The sound of the water draining in the tub flooded his mind with the image of Angel’s smooth skin with water dripping off it. How many nights had he relived the shower they had taken together just a few months ago?
Way too many.
The picture of him taking her against the shower wall with her slender legs wrapping his waist caused his body to react with a rush of heat and throbbing between his legs. He was really messed up, thinking like that at a time like this. Disgusted with himself, he paced up and down the hallway, trying to ignore the noises coming from the bathroom. The lift had come up and she must have taken a towel off the rack to dry with. It was quiet for a bit. He figured she was dressing and probably combing her hair because the hair dryer clicked on next. His cell phone rang, startling him out of his reverie. Sliding the green bar on the screen to answer it, he smiled when he greeted his little sister.