Love Beyond the Curve (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (7 page)

“You look as gorgeous from behind as you do from the front,” he complimented her while he ran his fingertips over her round yet firm bottom.

Charlotte blushed as she felt the heat of his gaze flare when she turned around.

“Would you continue to undress for me?” He kissed the inside of her wrist, arching a questioning brow, waiting for her response.

“I’ve come this far, but are you sure you don’t want to just leave the rest to your imagination? I know I’m not your usual type of girl, Jackson. I’m sure it’s better in your head.” Charlotte tucked her hair behind one ear, shyly looking away.

“Shut up, Hamilton. Maybe I’ve just now discovered ‘my type’ of girl. Put your leg up here,” he ordered, and she found herself helpless to refuse him. He pulled her stocking down over her knee and off her foot, tossing it aside. She placed her other leg up for him to follow the same action. Next, she turned around and presented her back to him. She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled, gaining courage through his words of praise. “If you want it off, you take it off.”

Never one to back away from a challenge, he reached up and popped open the hooks of her bra with his one free hand. She turned around and shook her head at him.

“Never before have the words ‘time for the big reveal’ been more appropriate.” She pulled the bra away from her body and tossed it over her shoulder, bringing her hands down to rest on her hips.

“Well?” She held her posture correctly and turned from side to side, letting him drink in the sight of her full figure.

Reed covered his mouth with his hand for a moment and reached out to trace the outline of an areola with a rough fingertip. His touch created a sensation that caused her nipple to pucker to attention. He looked up into her eyes, and a broad smile broke out across his face. “I think I may have hit the fucking jackpot.” He pulled her to him and buried his face in her large, firm breasts. He then began to kiss and suck at them greedily. Charlotte wrapped her arms around his head and held him, reveling in the pleasure his mouth was giving her. He tried to reach up with the other hand, causing him to wince with pain from the broken ribs on his right side. Charlotte pulled back and went into nurse mode again. “I think you’ve had enough. You are in pain. I don’t know how I let you talk me into this.”

She grabbed her dress and pulled it back up over her shoulders and began buttoning it.

“I’m a tough guy. I can handle it. Just give me another pill, and
I
will tell you when I’ve had enough!” Reed ran his fingers through his tousled dark hair, feeling frustrated at the quick removal of the objects of his desire.

Charlotte finished gathering her things and walked to the door. She paused when she heard his pleading voice.

“Please come here, Charlotte. Charlotte…Charlotte, come here.”

She sat up with a start, only to find it had all been a dream, but Reed
was
calling for her to come to him.

Chapter Thirteen

“I’m right here, Reed. I’m getting you some more pain medicine. Hang in there.” Charlotte came to him and poured a fresh glass of water for him to drink.

“What time is it? Have you been here all night?” Reed tried to lift himself up to swallow the pills she offered him with the water.

“It is about six in the morning, and yes, I’ve been here since you got here. You know I couldn’t resist a chance to use my nursing skills when I saw your predicament. How bad is it?” She pulled the sheet back from his injured leg to check on the swelling.

Reed quickly snatched it back in place, seemingly becoming very modest. “Whoa! Wait a minute. What are you doing? I’m barely dressed.”

Charlotte put a hand over her mouth to cover a chuckle. “Reed, I apologize. It’s just that I’ve been doing the ice pack treatments all night and checking to make sure the swelling didn’t get out of hand, and…well, I was thinking like a nurse. You were out of it, and I did what I had to do to try to make today more bearable for you. You’ve been in excruciating pain. The drugs from the ER were all that got you through the worst of it. I gave you medicine through the night, trying to make sure you were as comfortable as possible. If I overstepped my bounds, I did it unintentionally, I assure you.”

“No, no…it’s fine. I appreciate you doing it for me. It shocked me. Go ahead and take a look.” He flipped back the sheet for her to check his leg.

She stepped up and looked it over closely, noting there was no strange discoloration of the skin, nor swelling. She turned and placed her cool hand on his forehead, then held his wrist to check his pulse.

“Well, am I going to make it?” He gave her a crooked smile.

“If you rest, stay off that leg for at least the next week, I’d say yes. Can you take a deep breath? You’ve got two broken ribs on your right side, remember?” She watched him slowly inhale a single deep breath.

“Yeah, it’s all coming back to me.” He winced as he exhaled just as slowly.

“You could have really gotten hurt a lot worse if you hadn’t jumped and rolled when you did, according to Joe and Tyler.”

“Yes, I know. Listen, thank you for staying with me. I know I am better for it. You haven’t slept all night, have you?”

“Do I look that bad? I guess my hair is a bit wild by now,” she said as she pulled at a handful of dark locks and looked at it sideways.

“The wild look actually becomes you, Hamilton. You should wear your hair down more often. It was down that night at the club. I hardly recognized you. If Candace hadn’t pointed you out, I may not have realized it was you. You can dance, Hamilton.” He smiled as he leaned back against the pillows, propping an arm behind his head, which only emphasized his bulging biceps.

“I don’t know that I can dance, but I can have fun. Dancing is a favorite pastime for me. I actually do dance videos for exercise on Fridays. It’s my way of rewarding myself for doing more disciplined exercise during the week. It’s my little date with myself, I guess.” She laughed as she walked over and slipped her feet back into her shoes.

She was twisting her hair into a knot to try to tame it when Reed shocked her by saying, “You wouldn’t by chance belly dance on some of those Friday dance nights, would you?”

“What makes you say that?” She picked up the empty glasses on the nightstand without looking him in the face.

“If I answer that, you might think I am some kind of Peeping Tom.” He smirked slyly, cocking one eyebrow.

“Are you?” She stopped at the door and looked back over her shoulder at him.

“No, but I may
become
one now that I know it’s a Friday-night ritual.”

“Well, now that I know I’ll have an audience, I may have to start changing what night I pull out those dance DVDs.” Charlotte chuckled as she walked on out the door.

“Then I guess I’ll have to stake out your place until I figure it out,” Reed yelled back at her, trying not to give her the last word on the subject. He closed his eyes and thought again about the night he happened to be sitting on his back porch smoking when her shadow in the French doors caught his eye. He had actually taken a cold shower that night to try to erase the effect that sensual dance had had on him. If he thought much more about it now, he’d have to do the same thing again. That could prove embarrassing with her flipping back covers without warning. Maybe it wouldn’t be embarrassing at all. Maybe she would just go down on him right then and there. Hell, he would love her to do just that while still wearing that nurses’ uniform. He hadn’t been in so much pain that he hadn’t noticed the top button was unfastened, revealing an alluring glimpse of cleavage. And when her arms were over her head as she twisted her hair into a knot, the outline of just how buxom she really was made him stop and stare. He really had to get his mind on something else, because lately he found most of his thoughts were ending up being about Charlotte.

Chapter Fourteen

Charlotte and Reed had agreed that she would come back and forth to check on him, bringing him meals until he could hobble around on his own with the help of crutches. She hung out with him most of Saturday to be sure he was able to manage but made herself scarce that evening when she thought Candace should be arriving.

Charlotte was taking a pan of brownies out of the oven when her phone rang. It was eleven, and the ID showed that it was Reed. Charlotte was immediately on alert and answered, “Reed? Are you all right?”

“No, I’m not. I’m lonesome, Hamilton. I know you are a night owl, so could you come over and keep me company for a while? I’m not sleepy, and there is nothing on TV.” He tried to sound as pathetic as he could in order to persuade her to pop on over.

“Wow, Jackson, you really know how to make a girl feel special. Well, as soon as my guy friend leaves, I’ll be right over. Bye.” She laughed out loud to herself and went back to cut the brownies to take with her.

Reed, on the other hand, frowned as he snapped shut his cell phone. He worked himself up out of the recliner where he had taken refuge and swung himself on his crutches over to the kitchen window. He cracked the shutters to see whose vehicle was out there. Who was at Charlotte’s house at eleven on a Saturday night? He didn’t see any vehicles, so he just watched a few minutes to see if he could see anybody come out. The door opened, and Charlotte stepped out with a plate of something in her hand. There wasn’t anybody over there after all. He turned and was heading back to his recliner when she opened the door and came right on into the house.

“I come bearing gifts of brownies and ice cream.” She walked into the kitchen to prepare two bowls of the rich dessert.

“Did your ‘guy friend’ leave already?” Reed hobbled over to his recliner, trying to act as if he were merely making conversation.

Charlotte, now very familiar with his kitchen, opened a cabinet and took out two bowls to make her version of Brownie Delights. She placed a brownie in each bowl and topped it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. She grabbed a couple of spoons out of a drawer and headed into the den. “Yeah, I told him I had to come over here and kick your ass in a serious game of gin. Here, eat this to charge yourself up. It’s going to be a long night. I know about a million card games I am guaranteed to win, so get started with the sugar rush.”

Reed took the dessert from her and scooped up a big bite. He closed his eyes and savored the rich chocolate flavor.

He opened his eyes and gave Charlotte what appeared to be a look of sheer bliss. “This is sinfully good. Hamilton, one thing is for sure, you know your way around the kitchen.”

Charlotte nodded and held her arms open and looked down at her poochy stomach and said flatly, “Obviously.”

“Charlotte, you know that’s not what I meant.” He nailed her with a stern look, letting her know he didn’t like what she had said about herself.

“I know, Reed. It’s just a reflex reaction to say something like that, because you think that is what other people have flashing through their thoughts. Let’s not talk about me. How are you feeling tonight? Did Candace come over?” Charlotte asked him the question in an effort to change the subject as she took another bite of her brownie.

“No, she went to a party that we were supposed to attend tonight. It was a big deal at the Country Club. Black Tie. Thank God I messed up my leg and didn’t have to go.” He gave a look of thanks heavenward, seemingly glad to have missed the event, even under the circumstances.

“But she did? Without you?” Charlotte placed her empty bowl on the coffee table and proceeded to stretch out on the sofa, folding her hands across her middle. She was barefooted and wearing red plaid drawstring pants with a black T-shirt that fit her rather snugly, meeting Reed’s approval. She had her long hair up in a Pebbles-style ponytail, from which loose tendrils hung around her entire head. She was gorgeous.

“Yes, she went with her parents. I’m sure she’ll find plenty of suitable admirers to dance with her,” he said, setting his dish on the floor beside his chair.

Charlotte hopped up and took her dish and his to the kitchen, returning with two tall glasses of milk. She handed one to Reed and then sat back down on the sofa.

“How did you know I was wishing for a glass of milk?” He downed several gulps of the cold liquid, smiling at her when he finished.

“Who doesn’t want a glass of milk after brownies?” She polished off her own glass and resumed her position on the comfy sofa.

“Right. Why aren’t you out dancing with someone tonight?” Reed pushed back his chair to fully recline. He seemed to be settling down to ask a lot of questions about her.

“What? And have to get dressed and miss an evening eating brownies with my crippled friend? No way.” She laughed heartily, winking at him.

“I’m glad you came over. I actually felt kind of jealous when you said you had to get rid of your guy friend.” Reed confessed his feelings as he looked down at his propped leg.

“Have you ever seen anyone at my place? Where do you think I would have found him? I work mostly with other women, and all of my patients are under the age of sixteen, usually twelve. You are hilarious, Jackson.” She threw a pillow at his head.

He blocked it with his arm and yelled at her in defense. “Hey! What was that for? I
was
jealous.”