Waiting for You (RightMatch.com Trilogy) (5 page)

Grasping on to one of the protruding sticks, her fingers curled around its rounded top. “This is the brake, the other’s the gas pedal. They’re specially designed to minimize the amount of pressure I have to exert to work both of them.”

“Dana, do you have any feeling in your legs?”

“From the knees up I do.”

He nodded. That was good.
Very
good, for a lot of reasons, the biggest one being that she would be sexually functional.

She drove carefully, but not slow enough to be a nuisance to other motorists. He imagined the notion of a car accident terrified someone without the use of her legs. He bet after the accident that she was terrified much of the time. She was lovely, sweet, sincere and sensitive, and she’d had this horrible thing happen to her. When he finally let in his emotional reaction to her situation, it just about broke his heart.

He cleared his throat. “Do you live in the city?” he asked.

“No. My house and studio are in Fairfield.” A nice suburb twenty minutes from where Joe lived. “We really like it there. And my home was built as wheelchair accessible even before I bought it.”

“We?”

“My partner in the studio, Ruth Cosgrove, lives with me, too.”

“Isn’t that unusual?”

“Not in our case.” They pulled up to a stoplight and she studied him while they waited. “She’s the fan who came backstage that night, Joey.”

What the hell? “Let me get this straight, the woman who caused your accident lives with you?”

“I told you, she wasn’t at fault. It was the hand I was dealt.” When he was still unconvinced, she frowned deeply. “If you can’t accept that Ruth isn’t to blame for my circumstances, we shouldn’t even start dating.”

“Why do I have to agree with you on that?”

“I’d never hurt Ruth by having someone around who resented and blamed her. She did enough of that to herself when the accident happened.”

“I’m sorry, Dana. I’ll think more about it. Maybe I’m being irrational. But know this, I wouldn’t hurt anybody intentionally.”

She went on to tell Joe how Ruth had gone for training in occupational therapy, taken some massage courses and, though she wasn’t certified, she was a damn fine masseuse.

“So she gave up her whole life for you?”

“In some ways, though she’ll tell you it wasn’t a sacrifice. Her husband had died, she hadn’t worked in years, and she had no children. She was at loose ends, so when living with my boyfriend and then my father didn’t work out for me, she suggested we move in together here in Rockland. A few years later, we opened a dance studio. She runs the business side and I teach classes with a demonstrator.”

There wasn’t a whit of bitterness in Dana’s tone. Oh, there probably had been at first, and maybe for a long time after her career had ended. But she was remarkable for having accepted her condition and having an attitude like this.

She was remarkable, period.

And damn, there it was again. That sudden spurt of attraction, of raw desire. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to connect with her physically. His body hummed with the need.

They reached his house and Dana put the car in park next to the curb.

“Shut off the engine for a second,” he said.

“What? Why?”

Impatient now, he reached over and turned the key. He released his arm from the sling, then moved as close as he could get to her. Cradling his hand around her neck, he drew her to him. “Because I wanna do this.”

He lowered his head.

o0o

Dana didn’t see it coming. One minute they were talking and the next, she felt his hard chest against her breasts, his muscles bulge as he took in a deep breath. The gentle brush of his lips back and forth made her dizzy. And long for more. She was the one to edge closer. The scent of him filled her head and his mouth became more insistent. No man, not one, had gotten near enough to kiss her like this in a very long time. And she hadn’t realized until now how much she missed the intimate contact.

After a very long moment, it was he who pulled away. He didn’t let the kiss go on too long but still, it made her hot. She’d almost forgotten the feeling of arousal. The thought made her want to whimper.

His eyes were a midnight blue now, the pupils dilated. “Was that okay?” he asked softly. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“I’d say it was a hell of a lot more than okay.”

He chuckled. “I’ll call you.”

She’d planned to tell him to think hard about dating a woman in a wheelchair, planned to list how their relationship would be different from any other he’d ever had. But she didn’t, choosing to let their time together end on that wonderful note. She wanted to savor the effects of the kiss still humming in her blood.

Dana watched him circle the hood, then stop when he caught sight of a family of ducks waddling out between his house and the next. This happened frequently in Rockland, ducks showing up, trying to make their way to water or woods. The canal was nearby, which must be their destination.

Once the furry little creatures reached the curb, the mother made the descent to the pavement easily, the babies doing more of tumble and roll to get down. They all started to cross the street. Joe must have heard the oncoming car because he bolted out into the road, held up his hand to stop the vehicle and waited for the ducks to waddle to the other side. Even after the car sped by, he stayed where he was, his hands propped on his hips.

The mama duckling had climbed up the far curb onto the sidewalk and the babies tried to follow. As each tackled the five-inch-high step, it fell on its back. The incline was too steep for the babies to make it up. The mother returned to them and simply stood there.

Joe looked back to Dana, who hadn’t even started the engine. He rolled his eyes and she laughed. Bending down, he scooped up one duckling and placed it on the sidewalk, then repeated the process nine more times. Seeing the ducks could follow now, the mama began her trek again.

After a moment, Joe jogged across the street and Dana buzzed the window down. His grin was infectious and she matched it with one of her own. “It’s hell what a man has to do these days.”

“You’re a nice guy, Joe Moretti.”

“Oh, damn. Don’t tell my cop buddies about this. I’ll never live it down.”

“Yeah, they might start calling you Duckie or some such thing.”

He squeezed her arm, tapped the side of the car and stepped back. Dana started the engine and pulled out onto the now duck-less street. She saw him in the mirror, all masculine grace and beauty, watching her as she left. But the image of him and the ducklings was the one that stayed with her all the way home.

o0o

Joe rapped his knuckles on the door to Annie’s house, then opened it and walked inside. She’d insisted Spence’s family enter without waiting for someone to let them in and Joe liked her even more for her inclusion of all of them as family.

Off to the right, Cole was perched at the top of a ladder where he was painting the living room a sand color.

“Hey, buddy, how you doing?” Cole asked.

“Lousy.” Joe motioned to the walls. “How’s the painting going?”

Spence strode down the hallway that led to the kitchen. Deep blue dots speckled his T-shirt. “Be better if Annie stopped trying to help.”

“Why’s that?” Joe asked.

Spence grinned. “Bad enough she wouldn’t let me pay for a service to paint the interior, but she wants
to do her part
.” He shook his head. “For somebody with such common sense in other areas…well, let me just say she’s added hours on to our task. Don’t even ask how she taped the edges of the ceiling, windows and floorboards like she was sending a package to China.”

Once again, Joe was envious of the sappy fondness in Spence’s tone, of the relationship he and Annie had forged. The reason Joe had gone on RightMatch was because he, too, wanted what Spence had in his life and he couldn’t seem to find it in bars. And look where it got him. “Women!”

Scowling, Spence cocked his head. “How’d you get here, anyway?”

“I drove.”

“You’re not supposed to do that for a day or so.”

“No big deal.” Joe scanned the area. “Who’s here?”

“Nobody else. Annie’s over at school getting her classroom ready for September and Hope went with her. I made Alex take a break and go swimming with his friends.” After studying Joe, Spence and Cole exchanged a glance. Then Spence said, “Let’s go outside. I’m ready for a beer.”

Joe grunted his assent.

As soon as they reached the backyard, a dog bolted from his place under a tree and ran over to them. Ah, the infamous Jake, who’d taken a liking to Spence even before Annie had. Spence scratched the mutt’s head, then they all sat down at one of the tables under the gazebo. For a few minutes, they enjoyed their beers.

Cole broke the silence. “How did the lunch go with the dancer?”

“Not so well.”

“How come?” Cole again.

“Turns out she was keeping something of epic proportions from me.” He still couldn’t believe what she’d been hiding. She’d left him two hours ago, and he’d gone immediately online to research her condition. Then he’d been restless from what he’d discovered, from the kiss that had knocked his socks off, and also from being pissed off at her circumstances, so he’d come here. He needed to talk.

“What is it?” Spence asked gently.

“She’s… She
was
a famous dancer in New York. She got hurt on a tour right here in Rockland.”

“How hurt?” Spence asked.

“A girder fell on her backstage, crushing her legs.”

“Oh, my God.” Cole set down his beer squeezed Joe’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”

“How bad is her injury?” The question came from Spence.

“She has a crush injury from the knees down. She’s in a wheelchair.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “She’ll never walk again.”

Spence swore. And his brow furrowed. “I don’t get it, though. You said she owned a dance studio. That she was into all the athletic stuff you are.”

Joe explained how Dana had orchestrated her life so she could live a fairly normal existence and run a business. It was incredibly complicated. And brave.

“Well, good for her,” Cole commented. “She didn’t let a tragedy destroy her. And she’s still connected with dance. She must be a very special woman.”

“She said the accident did destroy her, for a while. Like with me and football. But she got beyond letting it ruin her life.”

Standing, Spence crossed to a plant hanging from the gazebo and pinched off a few dead blossoms. Then he leaned against the railing, facing them. “How disabled is she?”

“She told me specifically that she doesn’t have spinal cord injury. She can feel from the knees up.”

“Not to be indelicate here, but can she have sex, enjoy it?”

“Well, I didn’t ask her point blank, but from what I learned in my EMT classes, and just now online, the answer to that is yes.”

Cole let the knowledge simmer for a bit then asked, “Where are you with all this, Joe?”

“I’m fucking stunned.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “I liked her before we met. She was fun and interesting online. And she got me to talk about myself. But being with her, seeing her in that chair and knowing how tough she had to be to build a new life has made me admire her, too.” Hell, it made him even hotter for her.

“What does she want from
you
?” Spence asked.

“I guess she wanted to come clean about her disability and to see if I still wanted to date her.”

“She should’ve told you before you got involved online.” Spence’s tone was harsh. “And she misled you with her profile.”

Giving Spence an incredulous look, Joe waited for him to make the connection to his own actions with Annie online.

He did. “I know that sounds hypocritical, but because I lied to Annie online doesn’t make what Dana did any more acceptable.” Spence ran a hand through his hair, leaving a few specks of paint in it. “The fact that I tricked Annie almost destroyed our chance together. I was completely wrong.”

“Why
didn’t
Dana tell you outright about her condition?” Cole asked.

“She said she’d decided only to tell her matches about her situation if she wanted to date them. And she thought she should do it in person.”

“She was dishonest and it affected your actions. You like athletic women. That’s on your list of requirements. You belong to that group that gets together all year long to do sports. You play basketball, volleyball, go skiing, and you’re probably into sexual gymnastics we don’t even know about.”

That brought a smile to Joe’s lips, albeit a grim one.

“Be honest,” Spence continued. “If she hadn’t said she was interested in the same sports as you are, liked working out as you do, would you have given her a wink?”

“Probably not.” Verbalizing the answer made him feel worse.

Cole jumped in. “But he did start a relationship with her. Now that it’s happened, he should see if he has something with Dana. Maybe sports and fitness won’t matter so much. He put up with her not wanting to meet for weeks, so he’s definitely interested. Right, Joey?”

Joe thought about the kiss, the scent and taste of her. “Yeah, sure. A lot.”

Spence stared at him solemnly. Finally, he said, “There’s another reason you shouldn’t get together with someone disabled.”

“What?” Cole asked.

Joe zeroed in on Cole. “My dad.”

“The last three years of his life were…hard on everybody.” Spence’s tone softened and he added, “Especially you, Joey.”

Because of his father’s condition, Joe had grown up making sure he minimized any hint of physical frailty in himself. When he’d blown out his knee, ending his football career, he’d almost lost his mind recuperating. And he hated being sidelined because of the gunshot wound.

“But I like her, Spence. Even more after meeting her.”

“There’s a whole slew of women out there you can hook up with. Don’t put yourself through this, Joey,” Spence warned. “You don’t have to. You can avoid all the trouble a relationship with her will cause you.”

“Hold on a second,” Cole said.

Spence turned a warning glare on their younger brother.

“No, I’m gonna say my piece.” Cole faced Joe. “I know you suffered through Joe Sr.’s illness. And I can’t fathom how hard it was for you. But don’t give up on Dana so fast. Happiness doesn’t always come wrapped up in the package you think it’s going to. Look at me and Ellie. I couldn’t be more ecstatic to have a baby in my life, and who would have thought that a year ago?”