Chapter 23
The next cookout? June felt her heart gallop. So he did plan on seeing her more than just tonight. After the fake boyfriend fiasco, she feared she had put a damper on their friendship. Apparently, her fears were unfounded.
“I can do that. Though you said they happen infrequently, so that gives me time to learn more recipes.”
“I think I’ll have to try them before my friends get to sample them. Make sure they work.” He gave her a cheeky grin.
“Or I’ll just give you the good samples and leave your friends with the bad.”
“Ooh, diabolical. My friends would be upset about that.”
“Jack would cry about the injustice.” The man didn’t have a serious bone in his body. Everything seemed to be a joke to him. Maybe it was a coping mechanism from what had happened to him.
Out of all Rob’s friends, Jack’s wounds seemed to be mildest. He wasn’t missing any limbs.
He had scarring on the side of his face.
His injuries could be more concealed, and she hadn’t wanted to press by asking about them.
Some people could be sensitive about them, and Jack was conceited enough to be.
“You seem to know a lot of Jack’s personality in the short amount of time you’ve known him,” Rob mentioned casually as he washed the dishes.
“We text a lot.” She hoped that wasn’t a problem that she was talking to Jack so much.
He was a nice guy. She always laughed at the outrageous things he would send her.
Some were dirty, but mostly it was silly stuff.
He always asked her about her day. It was odd texting a man so much.
The only other person she had done that with was her brother.
“I know. He makes sure to tell me at work.”
“So you work with Jack as well as you’re friends?” She didn’t know that.
Rob’s body tensed, and he seemed to freeze before relaxing. “Yeah, we do volunteer work with the VA from time to time.”
“Is he a contactor like yourself?”
“He is.”
“Oh, is that how you met him?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that how all of you met?” This was the most he had ever told her about work or the guys.
Even when she’d asked Jack and Carson about it, they didn’t say much.
They were as secretive about their work as Liam was.
If they weren’t all medically discharged and from different branches, she would think they were all Deltas.
“No, some met through the clinic you work at and go to the VA.”
“That’s kind of how me and the girls met.
Casey, I met through school, and she dragged me to a bar after graduation.
Sue and Karla were already PTs and hanging out with some co-workers.
Casey was being very loud about the fact we had just graduated, so they invited us to their table, and we’ve all been friends ever since. ”
“I’d like to meet these friends of yours. You’ve mentioned them a lot.”
First, more hangouts with his friends and now meeting her friends…this was not something she had accounted for. Hoped, yes. Thought it would work, no. “They’d like that. I’ve been telling them about our lessons, and they want to meet you too.”
“We’ll have to plan a dinner or something. Or just another cookout so everyone could meet.”
Casey would think she’d died and gone to heaven. “If that’s the case, I’d warn your single friends about Casey. She is always looking for her next conquest.”
“Duly noted.” June shifted from side to side, trying to alleviate the pressure from the sockets as they finished the dishes.
She had been standing in them longer than normal, so the limp was swelling and getting uncomfortable.
She needed to take it off but wanted to wait until Rob left, but they weren’t making that possible.
“I need to sit down for a minute,” June said when they were done, heading for the living room and plopping down on the overstuffed chair. She groaned in pain and relief at finally getting off of her feet. She flipped up her skirt to reach for the lock on her socket.
“Here, allow me.” Rob came over and sat down on the coffee table in front of her, his legs braced on either side of hers. He slowly reached forward and unlocked her left leg and slid it off, setting it next to him.
The skin was red and slightly swollen. She should have left her legs off after her shower to give them a break, but she didn’t want their dinner to be had while she was in a wheelchair.
The first time June had seen Rob, she had been in a wheelchair.
She didn’t ever want him to see her like that again.
Not that he would remember her like that.
June was well accustomed to her legs by now, but she had never had anyone help her take them off before besides Dr. Shane.
It felt both intimate and strange. Rob peeled off the socks and lining and set the other leg on the floor on the other side of him before he started rubbing the muscle of her left leg.
“Oh…” June fell back against the cushion, and she forgot all about her reservations. The man had deadly hands. She felt like putty. He could do this any time, and she wouldn’t complain.
“Good?” Rob chuckled though she was sure he knew exactly how it felt.
“As if you have to ask,” she mumbled as her eyes fell closed. He continued massaging her muscle around where the pin sat and up along where her socket had rested all day.
“You are officially hired as my masseuse.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” he mumbled softly. So softly, she almost hadn’t heard it.
June cracked her eyes open, wanting to see if he was being serious or not.
He’d stopped massaging her thigh and was staring at her.
She could see heat radiating in his gaze.
A look that mirrored her own. One she normally kept hidden from him because she didn’t think the feeling was reciprocated.
It was now. His hands flexed against her thigh.
His body was tight, like a coiled tiger about to strike.
Suddenly, the look was gone, and he retracted his hands. “I’m sorry,” he said, looking away from her.
Words no woman wanted to hear when moments before, the man of her dreams had been looking at her like that and touching her. “Why?” Why had he said that? Because they were friends? Why?
“I shouldn’t have touched you like that.” He almost looked ashamed that he had.
“Because we’re friends?” She was having trouble understanding. Friendships could change and grow. He had seemed to want to touch her. The massage hadn’t been sexual, but the look in his eyes had hinted at it. He was now giving her mixed signals.
“Because of Jack,” he remarked, finally looking her in the eye.
June blinked at the statement, trying to understand what he was saying. His friend Jack? “What about him?” What did Jack have to do with Rob touching her? Maybe contemplating doing more, at least she hoped.
“Aren’t you interested in Jack?” His head cocked to the side; his eyes were dazed with a look of bewilderment on his face.
“Not as anything more than a friend. He’s nice and all, but I’m not interested in him for more than friendship.” Not like her and Rob could be. Like she hoped they would be. “No offense, he’s a bit of a playboy.” June was interested in a relationship, not scratching an itch.
Rob’s shoulders drooped as if they had carried a large weight that was suddenly gone. “Good.”
That was good? “Why is that?” she asked breathlessly, scarcely able to breathe in fear of wanting.
She didn’t move as Rob leaned forward, their faces only a hairsbreadth apart.
Surely this wasn’t real. She had closed her eyes and accidentally fallen asleep from his ministrations, and now she was dreaming of Rob about to kiss her.
His hot breath fanned her face, smelling of Italian seasoning and all male. “Because this would have been awkward,” he said before lowering his head and kissing her. It was not a tentative, exploring kiss, but a no holds barred, take no prisoners kiss. As if he meant to possess her.
So many emotions flitted through June’s head, it almost made her as dizzy as Rob’s kiss was. Happiness, trepidation, fear, confusion—they swirled through her mind like a tornado.
Rob’s tongue thrust between her lips, dueling with her own, and she forgot everything including her own name.
She would question why things had changed later. Right now, she was going to savor her dream coming true.
June groaned against his mouth as her hands skated through his hair and pulled him close while he kept control of the kiss. She didn’t mind him in control. June was far from experienced in any of this. She’d learn from him.
Rob suddenly pulled back as quickly as he’d swooped in and rested his head against hers. They were both panting heavily. She kept her grip on his head, and her eyes remained closed. “I swear to god, if you apologize, I’m going to beat you with my leg,” she warned.
Rob chuckled at her not so idle threat. “I’m not going to apologize.”
“Are you going to stop?” That would get him a beating as well.
Rob shook his head. “Not unless you say to.”
Not a chance in hell. June lifted her face and sealed her lips over his, becoming the aggressor. She didn’t have much experience in this, but Rob didn’t seem to complain. His hands were back on her thighs, tightening and flexing against her, but not painfully.
She wanted him to touch her all over. She wanted to feel him skin to skin, but there was something she had to do before things went too far.
It was her turn to pull back.
“What is it?” Rob asked, sounding breathless. She was glad he was just as affected as she was. “Too fast?”
“No, but before we go too far, I wanted to warn you about something.”
She felt him tense under her hands. “What’s that?”
“I’m a virgin. If that’s a problem, you better tell me now.” Not that she would go out and find someone to lose it to, but some guys were off put by a woman’s virginity as if it were some scary thing.
June waited in silence for his decision. Her body was wound up tighter than a bow string. He’d either accept it or walk away. The latter she didn’t want to contemplate.
“I can deal with that,” he finally said.
June’s entire body sagged, and she pulled him back in for a kiss. “Good,” she mumbled against his lips.
“Let’s take this to the bedroom.”
“I need to put my leg on first.” Admitting something like that would normally embarrass her, but Rob understood.
“No,” he stated and scooped her up in his arms as she was leaning forward.
“Rob!” she squeaked and wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him like a monkey dangling on a branch.
“I have you,” he assured her.
“I’m not used to someone carrying me.” At least not anymore. She used to have to be carried to her wheelchair, but that was over five years now.
“Well, I’m not just someone, and you need to leave your socket off and give your thighs a chance to recoup.”
He was right, of course. Her legs pained her and were swollen enough she would have a tough time getting her leg on later.
She had been pushing herself a lot lately between her schedule and training.
But to end up in Rob’s arms like this, and them making love, it was all worth it; she’d do it all again if she had to make the choice.
His grip was firm and steady as he walked them down the hallway.
“At the end of the hall,” she directed as her grip loosened.
Rob carried her to the bed and set her down on the side edge. She scooted back on her hands and shifted with her butt. This was how she got into bed every night, so it was a familiar routine.
The thing not routine was the six-and-a-half-foot-tall man standing right in front of her. In a few moments, he would see her naked, and she would see all of him. June looked up at him and gulped. This was really happening.
“We can stop here,” he offered. His face was unreadable, but she knew he would respect whatever decision she made.
June shook her head. “I don’t want to stop.”
“Or we can do other things. Work up to sex.”
Now that the heat of the moment had cooled a bit, June could think more clearly. “Why now, Rob? What changed from us just being friends to being here? You’ve never looked at me the way you are right now before. I didn’t think you liked me like that. That you wanted me like this.”
June didn’t want this to be a one-off pity fuck or because it was the heat of the moment. She wanted it to mean something to him because it meant everything to her.
A pained look came across Rob’s face. “I was blind, June. I’m ashamed to admit it took the cookout to see what was right in front of me.”
“And what is that?” she scarcely mumbled out; she couldn’t breathe. She was afraid to hope her dreams were about to come true.
A smile crossed his face that made her stomach flutter.
“A beautiful woman with the biggest heart in the world. You take care of so many people and think nothing of yourself. You hum Christmas songs all the time. You have a smile that lights up an entire room, and I’m an idiot for never really noticing it, but now I have. ”
A tear leaked down June’s face that she didn’t try to hide. He saw her as no one ever had before.
Rob’s smile fell. “That wasn’t supposed to make you sad.”
“It doesn’t,” she assured him. “The opposite in fact. I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you in the clinic that first day.
Doing lessons with you was a dream come true of being able to spend time with you.
” It was too early to tell him she loved him.
“I feared you’d only ever see me as a friend, no matter how I tried to dress or act or even win you over with my cooking. ”
“You definitely did at that.” Rob squatted down so they were more at face level and reached forward to cup the side of her face. “But even if you were a terrible cook, I’d still want you. Now enough talking. I plan to do something else with my mouth.”
“Like what?” she asked eagerly. June had watched lots of naughty videos and read plenty of romance novels. She had an idea of what he was talking about. Her sex clenched in anticipation, hoping it was what she was thinking it was.
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he said, giving her a wolfish grin. Like the big bad wolf had caught Red Riding Hood and was about to feast on her.
June’s body hummed with excitement. She certainly hoped her wolf would do some feasting.