Ever After

  “You don’t sleep very well with them,” Hallie said. “If it weren’t for sleeping kisses, you would have fallen out of bed the first night I was here.”

  Jamie’s eyes widened. “Sleeping kisses?”

  “At two A.M. every morning I’m at your bedside trying to get you settled. The only thing that works are kisses and hugs. And sometimes sleeping with you like I’m your favorite stuffed toy. You’re like a toddler. Except for—” She couldn’t keep up her bravado. Reaching out, she put her hand on his chest, on the ridges and dips of the scars. Some of them were burns. “I could have helped you,” she whispered.

  “I know that now, but I didn’t then.” He touched her earlobe. “You’re so beautiful, but I’m so…so repulsive. My cousins are perfect and I’m—”

  “More interesting!” Hallie said. “They are perfect. They haven’t a mark on their flawless bodies, but you…You’ve done something for other people and for your country. You…” She was fighting tears. “You’re more of a man than they will ever be.”

  When Jamie held his arms out to her, there were tears in his eyes and she went to him. For a moment he held her as he had before, as friends, and her mind was on what he’d been through.

  But as they stood there, bodies entwined, Hallie became aware that at some point Jamie’s towel had fallen off. And he was ready for her. She could feel the hardness of him through the thin fabric of her shorts. It looked like some parts of him weren’t damaged!

  When she pulled away, she meant to make a joke. But the look in his eyes erased all thoughts of humor. It had been a long time since she’d had a boyfriend and Jamie Taggert was a very desirable man.

  For a moment his eyes searched hers and she knew that “yes” was written in them.

  Bending his head, he kissed her, but only for a second. He drew back and looked at her in shock. “I remember!” he said. “I remember the taste of your kisses.”

  She started to smile, but Jamie’s passion took over. Within seconds, she was bare from the waist down and her shirt was open.

  Never before had she experienced such desire, such energy and excitement. He moved her out of sight of the window, pressed her back against the wall, and pulled her leg up to his hip. She wrapped it around him.

  He entered her with a force that she’d never felt before, and she gave a sigh. “Ooooooh.” It seemed that every part of Jamie’s body was big.

  “Did I hurt you?” He sounded alarmed.

  “Oh, yeah,” she said, her head back against the wall, her eyes closed. “I might not survive.”

  He gave a low chuckle. “Me neither.” He put his mouth on her neck.

  Hard, deep thrusts sent chills of pleasure through her body. Desire—need—flooded her. He picked up her other leg so she was fully clasping his hips as he thrust into her again and again.

  All thought, all sense of being a human, seemed to leave Hallie as she gave herself over to this man. Mind, body, soul became feelings, sensations.

  With her upper back against the wall and her legs around him, she lifted her arms. The leverage made his thrusts even deeper.

  When the end came, waves of pleasure and release went through her. She went from being a tower of strength to her body collapsing. If Jamie hadn’t held on to her, she would have fallen, but his arms went around her and pulled her against his bare chest.

  He took the few steps to the old couch and stretched out on it, his braced leg extended and touching the floor, with Hallie on top of him.

  She still had on her bra and shirt but was nude from the waist down. As they lay there, his hand caressed her lower half, enjoying her curves.

  As for Hallie, it took her a while to recover. She was floating in a delicious haze of sensations, and she couldn’t seem to return to the world.

  “All right?” he whispered.

  “Yes.” His chest was so very warm. It wasn’t smooth, but she could feel the strong contours of it. She ran her hand over his ribs and down to his side, over the thick scars there.

  Very slowly, she remembered where she was—and who she was. She had just broken a rule of her profession about sleeping with a client.

  She didn’t want to, but she made herself get off his big, warm body and sit on the edge of the couch, her back still touching him. There was a pillow on the floor and she pulled it onto her lap, then started to button her shirt—which was a useless endeavor as most of the buttons had been torn off. She saw one glistening on the floor by the wall where they’d just—She took a breath. There were things that had to be said and she dreaded his response.

  “This can’t happen again,” she said softly. “We aren’t—”

  “Going steady?” he said cheerfully.

  She looked at him in surprise. In her experience, when you told men there wouldn’t be any more—even if it was mutual—they got angry. But Jamie was smiling at her. He was stretched out on the couch, one big, muscular arm behind his head, and he had a little smile on his handsome face.

  She couldn’t help a bit of a frown. “You agree?”

  “I understand,” he said. “You don’t think there is any future for us, and I’m your patient. And besides, you have a guy from back home coming to visit any day. You don’t want any complications.”

  “Right,” she said. That was exactly what was in her mind, so why was it so very annoying when he said it?

  “I have a question,” Jamie said. “Did you finagle me into moving into the upstairs bedroom so you wouldn’t have to wander around in the dark? Because of my nightmares, that is?”

  “That’s right.”

  “You made up the lie about being scared of the beautiful Tea Ladies just to save yourself the trek?”

  Her frown left her and a smile began. “Yes, I did. I flat out told a going-to-hell lie, and my toes thank me for it. Actually, my whole body thanks me, since I spent the first night on the couch. I nearly froze!”

  A look of such softness came to Jamie’s face that she almost bent forward and kissed him.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Hand me the towel, will you? Unless you want to have some more friendship sex.”

  She knew what he meant, that he was ready again—and she didn’t dare look or she just might climb back on top of him.

  For a few moments their eyes locked and Hallie felt herself weaken. Even as she knew she shouldn’t, she leaned toward him, her eyes beginning to close.

  But abruptly, Jamie sat up, causing Hallie to nearly slide off the couch. His strong arm caught her as he moved out from behind her. She fell back against the couch and watched him walk across the room in all his naked glory. So there were a few indentations, she thought. Well, maybe more than a few, but they didn’t take away from his beauty.

  He wrapped the towel around his waist, then turned back to hand her her garments.

  Hallie still hadn’t moved. What just happened didn’t seem to have affected him at all but it certainly had her. But then hadn’t she always thought he was just a playboy who jetted around the world? Maybe he was used to this kind of thing. But today she’d found out he’d been a man who’d served his country and had nearly died from it. The two images didn’t seem to go together. Who was the real Jamie Taggert?

  “I’m going upstairs to put on some clothes,” he said. “I don’t like the kids to see me like this. You still want to work on me on your table?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “I’ll meet you at the gym in an hour.”

  Before Hallie could reply, he went through the door to the kitchen and closed it behind him.

  After she was dressed, she looked about the empty tea room. What an understanding man Jamie was! she thought. They’d been caught up in the moment and had sex. It was, of course, understandable, born out of a combination of emotions. For one thing, she’d just discovered what he’d kept secret, then she’d seen the evidence of his severe injuries, and they’d had an argument. Anger always got the blood flowing, didn’t it?

  All in all, it made sense.
Any two healthy young people, with him wearing only a towel—which had slipped to the floor, no less—would have done what they did. It was natural. If it had been Jamie’s cousin Raine, it would probably have happened.

  Even as she thought that, she knew it wasn’t true. She’d wanted Jamie from the day she’d looked out a window and seen him.

  So it had happened and now it was done with. And as Jamie had said, Braden was coming in a few days, then they would…Who knew?

  But if everything was all right, why did she feel like she wanted to yell at James Michael Taggert? Bawl him out? How could he just leave that way? He’d acted as though nothing had happened. He’d even spoken of turning her over to Braden.

  Didn’t their making love mean anything to him?! “Men!” she said aloud, then went into the kitchen. She closed the door behind her just a little bit too hard. No windows broke, but they certainly did rattle.

  Upstairs, Jamie felt as well as heard the door slam with the force of a storm, and for the first time since he got out of the hospital, he didn’t jump. Instead, he smiled. His worry had been her reaction to his body, but now that that was settled, there were no more obstacles. At least none that mattered. A blond Montgomery lookalike didn’t even count.

  Still smiling, he got into the shower. He wanted to be very clean for the coming massage.

  Chapter Twelve

  When Hallie got to the gym, Jamie was already on the massage table, face down, only a skimpy towel covering part of him. The sight of him put her mind back on her work and she was once again a professional. She began to run her hands over his back, assessing the scars and thinking how she was going to work on him.

  “How did this…?” She didn’t complete her question.

  But he knew what she was asking. “Humvee exploded. One leg and my head and shoulders fell under my buddy’s body or they would have been sliced and diced too.”

  “And your friend?”

  “Didn’t make it.”

  “Is Valery…?”

  “The best of us. I couldn’t go to her funeral, but later I talked to her husband and—”

  “Shhhh,” Hallie said. His body had begun to tighten, the muscles pulling into themselves. “No more talking. Breathe like I showed you and try to clear your mind. Think of a happy place.”

  “That tea room comes to mind.”

  She was glad he couldn’t see her smile. “Think of something more peaceful. Maybe a childhood place with grass and sunshine.”

  When he started to relax, she knew he was falling into someplace far away. “There’s a house with a porch,” he whispered.

  She began to work on him. “Just be calm.”

  She knew enough about anatomy to imagine what had caused his injuries and what had been done to repair the damage. That he hadn’t bled to death was a miracle. The medical care must have been extraordinary.

  There were places on his body that weren’t fully healed and she managed to work around them, gently coaxing his muscles to release. Other areas were thick and hard with scar tissue and she wished she could have worked on him from the beginning, right after he was hurt. She might have been able to loosen the skin and kept it from welting.

  But she thought Jamie wouldn’t have allowed that then. She reminded herself that he was so stubborn, it was only by accident that she was working on him now.

  She spent over an hour working on his back before she felt she’d done all she could. Her arms were aching, but she wasn’t about to stop.

  “Turn over,” she said, and did what she could to help him. The brace made his movements awkward.

  “Thank you,” he said, his eyes closed.

  She knew what he meant, as she was beginning to feel the tension leave him.

  As she unfastened his brace and began to work on his injured leg, she had an idea that the story he’d told of his knee injury was a sugarcoated version. Had he panicked at some sound and forgotten he was on skis? Dived for cover and landed on his knee?

  His eyes were closed and she wasn’t going to ask him.

  She refastened the brace and started on his other leg, noting his injuries and working with them.

  When she felt him beginning to sleep, she knew her treatment was starting to work. His face was relaxing. He was falling asleep without the use of any pills! That she had accomplished this made her feel as though she’d just climbed a mountain.

  When she finally finished, she’d been working on him for nearly two hours. She was weak, shaky even, from exertion. It had been a very long morning. She’d jumped out of bed very early, then had the trauma of finding out about Jamie, then…then…

  Smiling, she ran her hand over his cheek. If anyone deserved rest, it was this wounded soldier.

  Stepping back, she put her hands on her lower back and stretched. She’d like to go to the house, but she didn’t dare leave him alone. His big body filled the table. If he had one of his nightmares, he’d roll off and hit the ground.

  She looked around for someone to watch him, but there was no one in the garden. Yesterday Ian said the family was going to a beach so that’s probably where they were. She was about to pull up a chair when the red gate opened and in walked a man she’d never seen before. He looked older, with gray at his temples, and he was built like a bigger version of Jamie. The word “bull” came to mind. Obviously, he was one of the Taggerts.

  He saw her right away, as though he was looking for her. Smiling, she motioned for him to come over.

  When he got closer, he asked in a deep rumble of a voice, “Need some help?”

  “Could you please watch Jamie while I go inside?” she said in a whisper. “Let him sleep and don’t do anything to wake him. If he starts, uh, dreaming, do something nice, like sing him a lullaby. But whatever you do, do not let him fall off this table.”

  The man was looking at her oddly, as though he was trying to figure her out.

  Hallie was walking backward toward the house. “But you probably know all this, don’t you?”

  “Not all of it,” he said. “Go. I’ll take care of him.”

  She was reluctant to leave. “You can’t step away for even a minute. When he starts thrashing about, he’s fast and he’s strong.”

  “I won’t let him fall. I promise,” the man said and for the first time, he smiled. “Now go before he wakes up and wants you to give him a mani-pedi.”

  Laughing, Hallie turned and ran to the house.

  “Dad,” Jamie said when he woke up. His father was sitting on one of the wooden chairs and reading a newspaper. Jamie realized a blanket was covering him and he was still on top of the massage table. “I think I dozed off.”

  “For over an hour,” his father said. “Half the family’s been over here to gawk at you. I almost couldn’t keep Cory from climbing on you.”

  Jamie ran his hand over his face. “Did I…?”

  Kane knew his son was referring to the nightmares. “It was a mild one. This girl Hallie seems to be good for you.” Kane was watching his son, trying hard not to let the fear show in his eyes. He’d nearly lost his son in a war, and since Jamie had returned, every day Kane worried that Jamie’s grief and guilt and all that he’d been through would overwhelm him. Kane had read too much about the suicide of young soldiers to dismiss the possibility.

  “She is,” Jamie said, but didn’t elaborate.

  But Kane saw the way his son’s face softened, the way he was looking around to see if she was there. When Jamie tried to sit up, Kane had to resist the urge to help him. And when the blanket fell away, he couldn’t repress a wince at the sight of his son’s scarred body. This isn’t what you envisioned for your child when you diapered him and held your hands out for his first step.

  Jamie saw the grimace and pulled the blanket up to cover himself.

  “You want to tell me about her?”

  “No,” Jamie said. “Not yet.” He kept looking around the garden.

  “She took a nap,” Kane said. “Your mother went up to check on her and
she was stretched across the bed asleep. I have a favor to ask of you.”

  “About what?” Jamie asked, his voice cautious.

  “Take care of your aunt Jilly tonight. We’re all going out to dinner and I think it might overwhelm her. We arranged that you and Hallie would have her and Uncle Kit over for dinner. Something quiet.”

  They both knew Kane was lying. A full family dinner, probably in some restaurant where they’d reserved every table, would be too much for Jamie. Kids screaming and running around, adults laughing, glad to see one another, would be as loud as a battlefield.

  “Sounds good,” Jamie said, but he didn’t meet his father’s eyes. “When’s the groom going to get here?”

  “As soon as he can. Speaking of grooms, Graydon’s wedding is tomorrow morning. Some of the kids are setting up a screen in Kingsley House. You want to go there or have a setup put in here?”

  Jamie had to look away and swallow a few times before he answered. He knew that his family meant well. Their constant, never-ending care and concern for him were based on love. He knew that and appreciated it. However, the last few days with Hallie, being yelled at, being told to do things, had been the best he’d felt since he was pulled out of the wreckage of an armored vehicle.

  “Put in a set here,” he said at last.

  “Todd said—”

  “Don’t send him,” Jamie said quickly.

  Kane’s eyes widened. Since they were born, the twins had been inseparable. The only argument they’d ever had was when Jamie said he was going to serve his country. Todd had gone berserk, shouting at his brother, saying that he was a fool and that he could be killed. It had taken three Montgomerys and a Taggert to hold Todd down, while Jamie just stood there, unbending in his resolve. “Todd will want to see the wedding with you.”