When Morning Comes (21 page)

As if reading her thoughts, his large hand cupped her hips, bringing her closer to his erection. Her leg lifted to wrap around his hips.

He groaned her name. She moaned his. They broke apart at the same time.

Their breathing labored, she tucked her head between his neck and shoulder, and tried to clear her mind of the sensual haze, fight the need rippling though her to rip off his shirt and feast on his body.

“You make me forget,” he breathed, nibbling on her earlobe.

She tilted her head to give him better access and let her leg slide down. “Same here.”

“If this wasn't important to you…”

He didn't have to continue. He'd stopped for the same reason she had—if they didn't, they'd end up in bed and it would be a long time before he let her out. If only …

She drew in one studying breath after the other until her blood no longer rushed hotly through her veins, until her legs supported her. She stepped back.

He handed her the receipt. She was surprised, and a bit pleased that his hand was as unsteady as hers when she took it and shoved the slip of paper into her pocket.

“Thank you.”

A slow, sexy grin spread across his handsome face. “My pleasure.”

She grinned back. “I better get to work.” With one last lingering look, she went down the hall, away from temptation.

*   *   *

By Friday night, Cade was restless and on edge. The reason had nothing to do with his being in a long line of cars slowly making their way to the waiting valets. He didn't like social events, but that wasn't why he was out of sorts. As difficult as it was for him to admit, let alone accept, he missed Sabrina. He had caught a glimpse of her Tuesday afternoon in the ER, but nothing since.

Apparently, she had finally realized there could never be anything between them. So why couldn't he stop thinking about her winsome smile, the way she melted in his arms, how she blew his mind with a kiss?

Annoyed with himself, Cade stopped in front of the many valets in red vests. A waiting hand opened his door. Climbing out of his car, he thanked the valet, accepted his parking ticket, and joined the other guests climbing the white steps to the hundred-year-old front doors of Hempstead Mansion, a twenty-five-thousand-foot monstrosity of a home.

Bill Hempstead was a billionaire and he shared the wealth he'd made in the dot.com business. He had a heart of gold and a wife who had the misguided thought that every surface needed to have an object on it. The house was an expensive, cluttered mess.

Cade thought of how inviting and restful Sabrina's house was in comparison and snarled. The matronly woman beside him quickly moved through the open door the butler held. Just inside the door were four perky young women, checking names off the guest list.

Bill might have a heart of gold, but he detested moochers and gate crashers. No one got past the front door who wasn't on the guest list, proof that they'd paid the two-thousand-dollar ticket price. At least the food was always good and substantial, the booze the best money could buy.

Once cleared, Cade walked farther into the cathedral-like entryway. Perhaps the diversion would keep the mild headache away that had been plaguing him most of the day. He never got headaches. He resisted the urge to rub his temple and stepped into the great room.

The huge room, done in red and gold, was packed and loud. No one seemed to be paying attention to the woman singing an old Anne Murray song. A horde of waiters in white dinner jackets served food and drinks. Although he hadn't eaten since breakfast, Cade wasn't hungry. If the chief-of-staff, Tony Davenport, hadn't asked him to come, Cade would have sent a check and his regrets. Since Tony left Cade alone, Cade felt it would be in his best interest to attend.

“Dr. Mathis. Dr. Mathis.” Lena Hempstead waved. Wineglass in hand, she hurried toward him, at least as much as the low-cut, skintight red dress would allow.

“Hello, Mrs. Hempstead,” he said.

She placed her hand on his arm and smiled up at him. “I'm glad you could join us again this year. Tony said you'd be here,” she said. “I know you're busy.”

“Texas appreciates what you and Bill have done,” Cade said, and meant it. He might not want to be there, but he could appreciate the Hempsteads' commitment to helping others. Lena might dress a bit provocatively, but she was genuine and she loved her husband. She was good people in Cade's book.

She glanced around with a pleased smile. “I think we're going to reach our goal to build a serenity garden at the entrance of the Lois Hempstead Cancer Center by summer's end. Bill's mother was a strong believer in prayer and meditation.”

Bill's mother had succumbed to cancer several months before. “I never met Mrs. Hempstead, but I heard a great deal about her.”

Lena leaned over. “She didn't like me at first for Bill, said I was all wrong for him. I understood after I had children of my own. You want the best for them. Before we lost her, she loved me like a daughter. There's nothing like a mother's love.”

“Yes,” Cade said. Instead of thinking about himself, he thought of Sabrina and what she had endured at the hands of her birth mother. Rage surged though him.

“You all right?” Lena asked, her eyes going wide.

“Yes,” he said, working to bring his anger under control. “I was just thinking.”

“Well, it's time to relax. There's plenty of food and drinks.” Lena patted him on the arm. “I see someone I need to speak with. Please excuse me.”

As she moved away, Cade glanced at his watch. He'd circulate, give it another fifteen minutes, thirty tops, and then he was going home.

Accepting a glass of wine from a passing waitress he had no intention of drinking, he moved around the edge of the crowd, seeing several doctors and staff members as he did. He spoke, but he kept moving. It didn't bother him that they didn't invite him to join them; he'd always been on the outside looking in. Besides, he wasn't much on small talk.

Halfway around the room, he heard a woman's familiar laughter. The sound went though him like leashed lightning. He jerked around to see Sabrina talking with two men. She wore a fitted black dress with red-and-black ruffles at the hem, her slim back partially bare. She faced away from him, but he knew the happy sound of her laughter, the elegant shape of her body. He was moving before he realized it.

“Good evening.”

Sabrina turned to him, her eyes twinkling. His narrowed. There wasn't a shred of surprise in her beautiful face. Then he recalled he'd mentioned the charity event to her. “Dr. Mathis, I'd like you to meet Jeff Kennedy and Bobby Rush.”

The men barely nodded. He'd be an idiot not to realize they saw him as a threat. Smart.

“Well, gentlemen, it was nice meeting you. I should go. I have a busy day tomorrow,” she said, placing her full glass of wine on the tray of a passing waiter.

“Please stay,” Jeff urged. “I could get you another glass of wine.”

“Would you like a plate?” Bobby asked. “Uncle Bill and Aunt Lena always have great food.”

“Thank you both, but I really must go. Night.” Smiling, she walked off. Cade and the two men were left staring after her.

*   *   *

Sabrina handed her parking ticket to the valet and refused to look back to see if Cade had followed her. She'd almost given up hope that he'd attend the charity function, and then he'd walked in. Her heart had done a crazy jitterbug, the way it always did when first she saw him. Mercy, he was one gorgeous man. In his black tux, he was devastating, his unsmiling face giving him an aloofness that had woman after woman watching him. He didn't seem to notice.

She'd debated on the best way to get his attention, then Mrs. Hempstead had rushed over to greet him. Sabrina hadn't been worried about anything romantic between them. For the Hempsteads, like her parents, obviously had a love that grew stronger with each passing year.

Once the hostess left, Cade began to circulate. Sabrina saw her chance to “accidentally” meet him and made her way across the room to place herself in his path. A few minutes before Cade showed up the two men had approached her and introduced themselves.

“They're complaining that they didn't get your phone number,” Cade said from behind her. He didn't sound pleased with her.
Good.

Was that jealously in his voice? “There's only one man I want to have my phone number,” she said without looking at him.

“Car number two-eighty-eight.”

“That's me. If you'd like to continue this conversation, you know where to find me.” Despite her shaking legs, she got inside her car and drove away.

*   *   *

After debating about going home and finally taking something for his headache and the wisdom of going to Sabrina's house, he'd ended up in Sabrina's driveway. She was the one and only temptation he couldn't resist. Despite everything, she loved life.

He
lived
life, but he wasn't sure he had ever enjoyed it. He'd never had the chance. He couldn't remember having one carefree day. The man his birth mother and her family sent him to live with spouted Bible verses and made Cade's life hell. In college, he had been too busy studying and working. He'd been determined to succeed, to show the old man that he wasn't stupid as he'd told him every day the sun rose, show him that he could make something of himself.

Cade had done that and more.

He and Sabrina had little in common. He hated the woman who gave him away. Sabrina had forgiven her birth mother for scalding her. Her scars were on the outside. His were on the inside. He should just go home. And then what? Opening the car door, he got out and went up the steps to ring the doorbell.

Before the sound ended, Sabrina, still dressed in the provocative black-and-red dress, opened the door. “Hi, Cade. Please come in.”

He stepped over the threshold and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “I'm not sure this is wise.”

“That's debatable.” She closed the door. “Why don't we go out on the patio?” Not waiting for him to answer, she walked away.

Cade got another arousing view of the slim curve of her bare back, the enticing sway of her hips. He hardened with need. Definitely, not a wise idea. The slight headache that had plagued him off and on all day, brutally reared its ugly head again.

She stopped at the sliding glass door. “Coming?”

He was trying his best not to.

“Cade?”

Removing his hands from his pockets, he followed her outside, and realized immediately that he was in trouble. Several flickering candles in brass lanterns of varying heights sat around the grouped seating arrangement in front of the bricked fireplace, casting the patio in undulating shadows. The pool light and water rushing over the waterfall added to the air of seduction.

Sabrina took a seat on the cushioned sofa. “I have Hennessy and tea. Coffee in the kitchen. What would you like?”

“To be able to stop thinking about making love to you,” he answered, not sure if he wanted to frighten her or entice her.

She paused as she reached for a glass. Slowly, her head lifted. “Why?”

“Why?” he repeated. “I think that's obvious.”

She picked up the glass, sipped, then leaned back. “No, it's not. At least not to me. I think the reason is more than just us working together.”

“I don't do relationships,” he told her bluntly.

“Why?”

He shoved his hand over his head, paced. The pounding in his head worsened. “People lie and try to paint sex as anything but a basic human need. My way is more honest.”

“And meaningless.” She placed her glass on the table and stood. “I'll show you out.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “What?”

She stopped mere inches from him. “I might care about you, but I'm not going to be intimate with you or any other man just because you have an urge. The man I give myself to for the first time is going to want me for all the right reasons.”

“The first—” He stared at her. “You can't be— You're beautiful.”

“And scarred.”

He jerked her to him. His black eyes blazed with anger. “Don't say that! There's nothing wrong with you.”

“Neither my one boyfriend in high school or the one in college would agree with you,” she told him. Her voice and body trembled for a second, then firmed. “You're the first man who didn't look at my scars with revulsion. I'll keep searching until I find a man who wants more than sex.”

His hands flexed on her slim arms. Jealousy swept through him. He stared down at her. Her eyes were sad and determined. They made him ache to be what she wanted. She moved him as no other person had ever done. “Sabrina, I don't know how to have a relationship, but neither do I want to walk away from you.”

A small smile curved the corners of her mouth, taking the sadness away. Staring up at him, she slid her arms around his waist. “Then this will be a first for both of us. We can learn together.”

“I don't want to hurt you,” he said, his gut knotting at the thought. “But I don't want to let you go.”

“Then don't. But if you mess up, I'll let you know.”

Cade blinked, then laughed, hugged her slim body to him. “The staff at Texas and most doctors quake in their shoes around me. Not you.”

“That's because I see the man behind the accolades and awards.” Her hands cupped his cheek. “Just like you see me.”

“Sabrina.” He kissed her. He couldn't wait any longer. The taste of her was even more intoxicating than the first time. She felt right in his arms, as if she were made just for him.

His hand stroked the smooth, bare curve of her back, felt her shiver, press closer. His mouth slid along the curve of her jaw. His other hand cupped her breast, felt the nipple harden and push against his palm. He wanted the material gone, wanted his mouth on her bare skin. If he got this hot with a kiss, what would happen when she was naked under him, his body pumping into hers?