Your Desire (18 page)

He stepped forward, blocking the exit she’d frantically started to plan.

“And I’m awfully glad I can, because now I see you.” Lifting his hand, he reached out then pulled back. “You’re beautiful.”

Was he nervous? With
her
?

Heat infused her cheeks as blood rushed back into her face. She quickly looked at the toes of her slippers peeking out from the hem of her dress. “I’m not, but it’s very nice of you to say so.”

There was no hesitance now. With a tender touch, he tilted her head back so their eyes met. She saw a frown where a moment ago had been a smile.

“Please don’t argue with me on this. I didn’t come here for an argument.” His voice was even better than she remembered. Deep and low, it caressed her.

“Why did you come here?” she whispered.

The doors opened and the people who had been filling the hall poured into the room. Frank glanced up then took her arm, leading her to the other side of the table. “You’re here,” he said, placing her behind a chair very close to the microphone. “And since you saw me moving the place cards, you know it’s no coincidence that I’m here.” Standing behind the chair next to hers, he flashed her a smile that made her heart stop.

Her surprise increased when Mary moved to stand on her other side. She giggled at Allison’s shock. “We managed to surprise you this time, didn’t we?”

“What is going on here, Mary?” She croaked the question. In a fit of nerves, her fingers clutched the back of the chair and tension sent spears of pain shooting from her lower back down her leg.

“You’ll see.” Mary leaned forward. “Mr. Hughes, have you met Allison Hayes?”

Frank grinned at Allison then at Mary. “Yes, I have. Thank you for rescheduling this event, Mrs. Simpson. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss being part of the celebration.”

“Mary, I’m not happy about…”

Mary tapped her wineglass with a knife, effectively quieting the room. Frank pulled Allison’s chair out as Mary slipped behind them and went to the microphone.

“Let me start by saying thank you so much for coming back to
Lexington tonight. An unfortunate set of events prevented us from the presentation in April, but I think all will go well tonight. Just in case, does anyone have the numbers for the fire department, EMT and police?” Laughter flowed through the audience. “We’re not taking any chances this time, finishing business before we enjoy dinner.” She waited a moment until everyone’s attention was focused on her again. “Now, the last time we met, our guest of honor disappeared on us.” Mary shot Allison a stern look. “Not her fault, though, because she didn’t know she was the guest of honor. As it turned out, it was a good thing she left us early because some fool man had crashed through her fence and needed all kinds of care.”

Frank reached under the table cloth and grasped Allison’s hand.

“And men say women don’t know how to drive.” Good natured laughter again filtered through the room. “Naturally, our Allison generously did all she could, even taking the man home when he refused to stay in the hospital. Such is her nature, and the reason we’re all here.” The room burst into applause.

Allison’s head began to ache and her back worsened.

“As it turned out, our presenter that night had an emergency of his own, in the form of an eight and a half pound baby boy.” Mary waited for a smattering of talk to die down. “Tonight we are very honored to play host to the founder and CEO of one of the largest electronics firms in
America. What’s not so well known is that he’s also the founder of Helping Hands. Please welcome Mr. Nicholas Hughes.” She stepped back from the microphone, clapping her hands and beaming at Frank.

He squeezed Allison’s hand before letting go and standing to acknowledge the recognition. When he moved to the microphone, Mary returned to her chair, ignoring Allison’s perplexed look.

“Thank you, Mrs. Simpson. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m very pleased to be here tonight. In fact, I knew Martin Johnson had rescheduled this presentation and I
insisted
on coming here to do the honors. And I’ll tell you why.” He looked squarely at Allison. “I wanted to see such a special person with my own eyes.”

Tears threatened her. Frank continued talking but she hardly heard a word. With astonishment, she determined that she was being honored, but for what she wasn’t quite sure. The things Frank mentioned about her didn’t seem so extraordinary.
Do they give awards for simply living your life?
Apparently so.

Somehow she stood and accepted a check for ten thousand dollars and the plaque Frank produced. She managed a weak, “I don’t know what to say. Thank you,” before he escorted her the few steps back to the table. She stared in amazement as the people she’d known for years stood to honor her.

Grasping the plaque to her like a support line, she smiled through her tears at her former classmates and friends. These were the very people among whom she’d felt like such an oddity only a couple of months earlier. Now, she didn’t know how to feel.

Finally, thankfully, they sat and dinner was served. Her meal was interrupted so much by people stopping to read the tribute on the rosewood plaque and to chat, she finally gave up and pushed her plate away.

Frank, ignoring blatant flirtations from some of the women, never left her side, touching her shoulder as he stood to greet person after person, leaning slightly to rub arms as he encouraged her to eat a little more, lightly caressing her neck as they enjoyed coffee and conversation after dinner.

When a decent amount of time had passed and people started to leave, Frank whispered that if she was ready he’d escort her home. She nodded, and he left to have their cars brought around.

After fiercely hugging Mary, Allison gave her a mock glare. “You and I
will
have a discussion about this, Mary Simpson.” She smiled. “What a wonderful friend you are. Thank you. I’m overwhelmed.”

“You deserve this and more. I’m so glad Jeff Waters read about the Helping Hands foundation. When he mentioned it at a meeting last year as something we should investigate, there was only one person’s name that came to everyone’s lips. You should
see
the letters we got about you. You’ve touched a lot of lives for one so young.” Mary fluffed her hair and batted her eyelashes in a mock flirt. “I added that last bit because we’re the same age.”

Allison laughed.

Mary dropped her voice. “Allie, have you met Nicholas Hughes before tonight? He seems awfully familiar with you.”

She felt herself blush. “We did meet once. I had no idea who he was.”

“Well, he likes you. A lot, if the way he acted tonight is any indication.” She pursed her lips and quirked her brows. “Isn’t he a little out of our league?”

For the first time since seeing Frank standing in the
Laurel
Room
, Allison felt her stress disappear. She laughed. “Nope.
We
may be out of
his
.” Holding up the check and grinning, she added, “Maybe he’s after me for my money. I’ll let you know.” With a flounce of flowing, rustling skirts, she spun and hurried out to find Frank.

CHAPTER SIX

“I hope you’re not too tired. I really need to talk to you.” He parked behind her Jeep then moved beside her at the foot of her porch steps. Just being there, breathing her scent, feeling her warmth as well as her strength in the arm he lightly held, sent a paroxysm of lust through him. Funny, that. Probably because he’d fallen for her sight unseen, it was the non-visual cues that were jetting his libido into overdrive. Not that he wasn’t pleased with everything he saw, too. Allison was a beautiful woman.

“No, I’m not too tired. Would you like some coffee?”

No. I want you.
“Sure, that would be fine.”

Great conversation, Hughes. It’s a wonder she’s not tripping all over herself to get to you.
The minute he’d seen her that evening his heart rose to his throat and jammed there. Only years of negotiating had allowed him to appear in charge when in fact he was ready to chew his nails. He wasn’t a man given to nervousness, certainly not over women. But then he’d never wanted anyone before like he wanted Allison.

No one had ever occupied his thoughts and dreams as she had. If the blindness had cleared up sooner, he’d have been back for her long before now, but he couldn’t talk himself into coming before he was healed. It wouldn’t be fair, he’d told himself for weeks, to ask her to accept him as anything less than perfect—or as perfect as he could be. As it was, the stress of wanting her probably exacerbated the condition, which continued to keep him away. Circular logic in a comedy of errors directed by Fate.

Into the second month, he’d been ready to do anything, even beg her to accept him, regardless of his being blind. When he realized he wanted her that much, he knew he’d been a fool to wait so long. Panicked she might have forgotten him, he tried to think of a way to come back into her life without seeming pathetic and needy. Then he heard the award had been rescheduled. Assuming the role of presenter, he’d called Mary Simpson to set the whole thing up then prepared himself to face Allison once more, still blind but more in love than a man had a right to be. Amazingly, the next week his sight had returned.

Which wouldn’t count for shit if he found now that he was in a one-sided relationship, a possibility causing him a great deal of worry.

Tossing his jacket over the back of a kitchen chair, he pulled his tie loose and unbuttoned the collar button. He turned a chair around and straddled it, crossing his arms on the back. She bustled around in what he could see was a modern farm kitchen—open, large, and very efficiently laid out—looking at anything but him, and making that wonderful swishing sound with every movement.

“I love that dress,” he said, closing his eyes to concentrate on the sound. To his surprise, he couldn’t pinpoint her location in the room, even hearing her. “But for some reason, I can’t keep up with you like I could before.”

“That’s because you don’t need to anymore. You can use your eyes to see what you want.”

Opening his eyes, he was happy to see her regarding him. “Yes, I sure can, can’t I?”

She blushed under his gaze.

“This is the fourth or fifth time tonight you’ve blushed. Did you embarrass this easily when I was here a couple of months ago?”

Laughing, she finished pouring water into the pot. “No, I don’t think so. You couldn’t see me, so it was easier to say and do things without feeling judged.” She pushed the On button to start the brew cycle. “Plus, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. That gives a person even more freedom.”

“Why didn’t you think you’d see me again?” Tilting his head, he rested his chin on his arms.

“Well, you were here for a specific reason and when that ended, our purpose in being together ended, too. Then there’s the matter of our coming from two different worlds.” She smiled. “Lastly, you’d made sure the fence was fixed, so there was no need for me to contact you about it.”

“That fence again,” he said with a feigned growl.

“If you’d left it broken, I would have had to call and threaten all kinds of legal action until you fixed it. I could have found out how you were then.” She removed a carton of cream from the refrigerator, then put it and the sugar bowl on the counter near two ceramic cups. “My uncle and cousin were most impressed with the work, and that you would do so much to make up for what was obviously an accident. I appreciated it, too.” She leaned against the counter. “I’m glad you got the NASA contract. I’m sure you were happy.”

He wanted to get past her polite tone, needed her to remember the fire they’d had before. Even the emotion that resulted from the shock of seeing him at the country club would be preferable to this guest treatment.

“I was, yes. How did you know we got it?”

She looked away, acting like she was checking the progress of the coffee maker. “Oh, I must have seen it in the paper.”

Something wasn’t right. Why wouldn’t she look at him? He played a hunch. “The
Washington
paper?”

“Hmm, might have been.” Reaching out to jiggle the pot she frowned. “What’s taking this thing so long?”

“You read the
Washington
paper to find out about me, didn’t you?”

Facing him, her chin set in a stubborn pose, she said, “I suppose I did. I was interested, knowing you and all.”

Ah! She hadn’t forgotten about him, not for a minute. He could feel it. But he wanted to hear her say it. “I’m very glad you were curious about me. Why didn’t you call?”

She snorted. “Let me ask the same of you.”

He tried to meet her eyes, but she turned toward the damn coffee pot again. Couldn’t she tell he didn’t give a rat’s ass about coffee? “I
couldn’t
call you, not until…”

“Thanks for all the flowers, by the way. They weren’t necessary.” Changing the subject when he was trying to get personal could be good or bad. His heart began a steadily increasing thump.

He stood and walked across the room, bracing his hands on the counter and bracketing her with his arms. Her rich, brown eyes darkened with his closeness and her breath hitched. The satiny smoothness of the dress brushed his skin as she tried to edge away, but he stepped forward, making her space as much his as he could.

“They
were
necessary. If I’d been able to write the notes myself, they would have said what I felt, what was in my heart, not the impersonal things I’m sure my admin felt obliged to write.” If ever there was a time for nerves of steel, this was it. He grasped the counter tighter to keep her from knowing how unsteady his hands were.

“I couldn’t tell her to spell out that you were never out of my mind, that every night I went to sleep thinking of how you felt in my arms. How much I missed
having
you in my arms.” He leaned down to kiss her, a brief touch of lips. “Until I knew if you felt the same I was too afraid to say those things. And until I could see, I didn’t have the courage to come and find out if you felt the same.”

Were those tears in her eyes? Oh, God! The worst had happened. He’d gotten up the nerve to tell her his feelings and she was so upset she was crying.

“It’s okay, Allison. Don’t feel embarrassed. I guess I know now what I came to find out.” He started to pull away.

“Wait!”

He studied her, hoping he hid the fear that she would confirm in words what she’d shown silently with her tears. He didn’t want to listen to her explain why there was no need for him to hang around.

She pushed out of his arms, and walked away. “Frank, I didn’t hear a word from you. Flowers from your secretary and phone calls from your assistant, but nothing from you, for two months. How could you do that and then come here expecting me to fall into your arms?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Allison.” Coming up behind her, he took a breath to formulate exactly what to say. “I was stubborn, I guess. I wanted you with everything in me, but I couldn’t bear to ask you to accept me handicapped.” He saw her stiffen and placed his hands on her shoulders, then lightly ran them down her arms, catching her hands and wrapping them at her waist. “I knew you would, you see, because by then I knew who you are and that you love lost causes. I couldn’t stand the thought that you would come to me simply because you wanted to help.

“That was at the beginning. I thought when we were on equal footing, then I’d call and ask you to see me again. I couldn’t do it before then, don’t you see? To hear your voice and not be able to tell you how I felt, what I wanted, would have been awful.”

He heard her sigh, felt her muscles relax. “I’d just decided that being without you was worse than having my stupid pride, when I found out about the ceremony. I was determined to be here tonight come hell or high water, blind or not, and find out how you feel about me, with all my imperfections. Then the contract came through and my eyesight returned all in the same jumbled mess. I’m so sorry I hurt you. Can you forgive me?”

She fell back against his chest, leaning into him. “So you came here tonight to find out how I feel about you?”

“Yes.” Should he say it first or wait for her? He loved her, damn it, but what if she didn’t love him?

“I can’t believe you’re saying these things to me.”

For the second time in minutes his heart sank. She didn’t feel as he did, struck by a wild emotion that had knocked him off his feet. It had all been on his part.

“Love at first sight is a fairy tale, a romantic myth that never happens to anyone, really. So how did it happen to us?”

For a moment, what she’d said didn’t penetrate the fog in his brain. “You mean you
do
feel something for me?” Despair turned to elation in milliseconds. He wanted to shout, dance, tell the world that this amazing, wonderful woman loved him, even with his weaknesses and flaws. He was the luckiest man alive. Suddenly he couldn’t stop smiling.

“Something? Much more than ‘something.’ I can’t believe you feel anything for
me
. I mean…” Turning in his arms she closed her eyes, seeming to reach for the right words. “Being without you taught me a few things about myself. Things that I need to change in my life. But I’m not sure those changes can involve us.”

The smile disappeared. “What are you talking about?” His tone was sharp, but he couldn’t stand any more of this roller coaster of emotion. “I love you, Allison.” To hell with waiting for her to say it. It was time to put his cards on the table.

Opening her eyes, she reached up to touch his face. “You only like perfection, Frank, you said so. And I’m the one who’s handicapped, as you can now see.”

Taking her hand to his lips he kissed her palm. “Why would you say that? When I turned around after hearing that beautiful, wonderful noise this dress makes, I couldn’t believe my eyes. That your physical beauty would match the person I already knew you to be seemed too much to hope for. Allison, there isn’t anything about you that isn’t perfect.”

“Not true. I’m not pretty, I know that. But I have scars, I—I limp. There’s nothing graceful about me. You don’t know me, not really.”

“Scars, a limp? What are they compared to who you are? And I know a great deal more about you than you might think. My foundation doesn’t hand out money without pretty thoroughly investigating the prospect. Stupid me, before I came here the last time I hadn’t looked at the plaque and didn’t know who it was going to. David had to tell me who you were. When I got home I had Martin fill me in on everything he’d discovered. I know about the accident, Allison.”

She flinched.

He pulled her closer, tucking her head against his heart. “We got letter after letter explaining how horrible the fall was, how you almost died, then how the surgeries left you scarred, physically but a bit emotionally, too. Funny, I never noticed a limp when I was here before and we walked side by side. If I hadn’t been looking, I wouldn’t have noticed it tonight. That’s because like most people, I’ll bet, I was looking at your beautiful face. How your eyes sparkle with warmth and life.”

She shook her head against his shirt.

“Yes! You don’t know how many people told us what an example you were, of your courage through everything, how you made friends and shared, always, with those who had less than you. We heard from people at the battered women’s shelter and the literacy group—do you have any idea how many people could even write their letters to us because of help you gave them?—and from shut-ins who look forward to your visit and conversation even more than the hot lunches you bring. Don’t even get me started on your colleagues from the hospital and former patients.

“But I didn’t need any of that to know I already loved you. In the one night we were together, you taught me I could let go. That sometimes it’s okay not to be in control, that I could trust myself to someone else and not be weakened. You don’t know what a relief it was. You had pain and needs that night and yet you were willing to do everything for me, to give me strength to lean on. Do you have any idea how important that was?”

Again she shook her head.

“When I got home my staff closed around me like a phalanx. I would never have asked for help, but they must have sensed that I was changed somehow and they closed ranks around me. That never would have happened before my night with you. You changed my life, all because you gave me your trust and accepted mine. I love you.”

“Are you sure your feelings aren’t coming just from the sex, Frank? Or from misplaced feelings for your nurse? That happens, you know.” Tears streamed down her face.

He wiped them off with hands that no longer trembled with nervousness. “Very sure.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

He crushed her against him, certain he felt tears in his eyes, now. “Do you think the town is going to hate me for taking you away? Because I want to marry you, but I have to live a little closer to business.”

“I think they’ll understand,” she answered with a short laugh.

“Good.” He took her lips in another gentle kiss and let it grow as she pressed into him. His tongue traced the seam of her mouth and she opened to him. He loved that her tongue immediately touched his.

He dropped his arm to her side, smoothing his hand on the fabric covering her thigh. “Is your leg bothering you?” he asked in a voice hoarse with longing.