Midnight Kisses Page 4

  On the occasions when Jamie was in good spirits he tried to get her to open up, but she steered the conversation to trivial things. Still, he knew that eventually she’d open up and tell him the truth.

  On Friday, he spent most of the day catching up on his paperwork. In the evening, he had to meet with a group of boys from the local high school, the school Jerome attended. He enjoyed working with these boys. Each of them had been suspended at one time or another from school and had been referred to the Center for counseling. That’s how he’d met Jerome.

  The Center had been built with boys in mind. In fact, the Center was a facility exclusively for boys at risk. Beyond the office area, there were several activity rooms, two workshops for woodwork, art, crafts, electronics and, of course, a gym with a basketball court. It was there he was heading to meet with the boys.

  When he entered, Jerome immediately saw him and nodded in his direction. Daniel returned the greeting and Jerome smiled.

  He called the boys in his direction and headed to one of the miniature bleachers. He immediately gave them the good news. They’d qualified this year to take part in a local basketball tournament. Shouts of excitement greeted his announcement.

  He continued when the noise finally diminished.

  “Basketball practice will begin in a few minutes. I just wanted to talk to you before Coach Bryan arrives. I’m proud of each of you. You’ve worked hard to achieve this. But not only am I proud of this, I just received your mid-term reports from the school.” He paused. “None of you have received a grade below B in any of your classes. That’s cause for celebration. So I promise we’ll have a party for you after the tournament is over.” More cheers and shouts.

  “It looks like Coach Bryan has just walked into the gym. It’s time to get started. Go warm up.”

  The boys headed over to the court. Jerome stopped and turned around and returned in his direction.

  “I spoke to my homeroom teacher today. I got all A’s and a B+. I just wanted to say thanks.”

  “It’s no problem, man. I knew you could do it.”

  “I couldn’t do it without you,” Jerome said. He paused. “We won’t be able to hang this weekend. I have to meet with a group in my class. We have a project we have to work on.”

  “That’s cool. You have to tell me about your trip to D.C.”

  “I’ll call you later.”

  “Cool.” Daniel nodded. “Got to go play some ball.”

  Damn, I’m so proud of him, Daniel thought. He glanced at his watch. He still had some time before he headed to the hospital. He would watch some of the practice before he left. His presence also seemed to give the boys a boost. He knew they looked up to him. That was why he often worked long hours. He’d seen too many boys with potential pulled into a life of violence and pain. He planned to do anything in his power to make sure this didn’t happen to Jerome or any of the other boys here.

  When he finally left the Center, it was with a heart that was soaring. He reached the hospital in record time.

  In the elevator, the stillness of the hospital seemed overwhelming, but he didn’t feel the usual sense of foreboding. He was too happy to allow anything to spoil his high.

  On the fourth floor, one floor before the ward, the elevator stopped and opened, and when Renée stared back at him, he was sure his face showed the same flash of alarm hers did.

  She entered, a tight smile on her face.

  “Daniel,” she acknowledged, her voice distant.

  “Renée,” he replied.

  The door shut behind her, and the elevator went up.

  “So how has it been now that you’re avoiding me?” he asked, directly.

  “Avoiding you?” Her response rushed from her as if she’d anticipated his question.

  “Yeah, avoiding me.”

  “I haven’t been,” she said. “Why would I be avoiding you?”

  “Now that’s an interesting question. I have my suspicions, but I’ll leave them for when we go out this weekend.”

  “This weekend?” Renée gasped. “We’re going out?”

  “Are you going to echo everything I say?”

  He heard a clearing throat before he realized the elevator had stopped and someone was waiting to enter.

  Renée stepped out, turning to greet a tall, handsome man as she exited. “Good afternoon, Dr. Haynes.”

  “Renée, I visited that girl a few hours ago,” he called after her, his eyes focused on Daniel. “I’m a bit concerned about those headaches she’s been having. I’ve scheduled a few tests for this evening.”

  “I saw her a while ago. Daniel’s on his way to see her now.”

  “Daniel?” The man’s brow lifted. His tone chilled the area.

  “Sorry, this is Daniel Buchanan. He’s the man who rescued her. He works at The Hope Center. Daniel, Dr. Roger Haynes.”

  Dr. Haynes stared at Daniel, nodded briefly, his eyes conveying an obvious message.

  She’s mine.

  Daniel found himself amused by the whole situation. He could tell that the man had made little progress with whatever he hoped for with Renée. He could see it in the tensing of the doctor’s body and the distance Renée maintained between the two of them. There was no intimacy there.

  When the doctor finally turned to go, barely acknowledging him, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

  Renée turned to him.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “Oh, I’ll keep that to myself for a while,” he replied, refusing to give in to the desire to tell her what he thought. “But I promise you, I’ll tell you over dinner tomorrow night.”

  “Are you inviting me out to dinner?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry. I should have asked like a gentleman, shouldn’t I?” he replied. The laughter was still there. Then his voice became serious. “Renée, will you go out to dinner with me?”

  This time she smiled. “I’ll think about it, Mr. Buchanan. You have a great evening,” she said, her voice laced with laughter.

  “I will, Ms. Walker. Call me and let me know your decision.”

  With that she turned away.

  What surprised Daniel was the sense of loss he felt. He’d driven her to that. He’d wanted to anger her, to force her away from him. If he were honest, he’d admit the truth to himself, but even that he did not want to say. To venture there would be to admit so many things he didn’t want to admit.

  That he was attracted to Renée Walker was a definite.

  To say that he lusted after her was a definite.

  Surprisingly, how he felt didn’t seem wrong. It felt right, totally right.

  He was looking forward to dinner. He wanted to kiss her again; needed to kiss her again. Maybe then, he’d be able to work her out of his system.

  Daniel turned and headed in the direction of Jamie’s room. He greeted the nurse at the nurses’ station. She smiled, her eyes sparkling with appreciation. He smiled back.

  As he strutted down the dimly lit corridor with its stark white walls, he didn’t notice that he’d started to whistle.

  Yeah, dinner was going to be interesting.

  Two hours later, Renée sat in her office, her annoyance with men evident in her stance. She slammed the empty cup on her desk. She had no idea what was happening to her, but Daniel Buchanan irked her beyond reason. Roger, too, had aggravated her even more. She turned to her best friend.

  “So what are you going to do?” Cheryl asked.

  “Do about what?” she responded. “About him?”

  “Him?

  “The man who has your panties in a bunch,” Cheryl said.

  “There’s no such man.”

  “Not from what I’ve heard. Your boyfriend called me earlier to find out who “that man” was. So there has to be some man to cause Roger to get all flustered.”

  Renée fumed inside. What right did Roger have to call Cheryl? She’d made it clear to him on more than one occasion that she wasn’t interested.

  “Renée? Y
ou have that look in your eyes,” Cheryl observed.

  “What look?” Renée asked.

  “That ‘I think I hate men’ look.”

  “I do? I assure you it’s not that.” She stopped. “But the two of them just really pissed me off.”

  “Even the kindly counselor? I thought you liked him.”

  “Yes, I do. I like him. He is kind of nice.”

  “Nice? How about sexy and heart-pounding. You look at a man like that and all you see is nice? You must be crazy. Remember, I saw him when he went to visit Jamie. If you don’t want him I can take him, but I’m sure he won’t be interested in me. And, of course, Julian would have something to say about that.”

  Renée remained silent for a while.

  “I do like him. And he is sexy in a serious kind of way. I haven’t felt like this about a man in years and then he just turns up and disrupts my life. I’m not sure if I want to be involved with anyone right now.”

  “Maybe that’s exactly what you need. You’ve been alone for too long,” Cheryl stated. “It’s not natural. You can’t continue to allow what happened to you so long ago to deprive you of a healthy relationship. And you’re too focused on your career. Working yourself 24/7 is not going to warm your bed at night.”

  “You can afford to say that. You have never been jilted before. And I know you’ve never had to deal with the men I’ve had to deal with,” Renée added. “You and Julian have been together for almost four years now. I’m sure you’ll soon be talking about marriage.”

  “That proves my point. You can find this, too. Being in love is the most awesome thing.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “Come on, you’re making me depressed with your attitude. You have a sexy man interested in you and you’re playing coy.”

  Cheryl’s cell phone rang. Of course it was one of those sappy love songs. Couldn’t people just use the traditional ring?

  The grin on Cheryl’s face made it obvious that the caller was her dearly beloved. They spoke briefly while Renée concentrated on the work on her desk.

  When she flipped the phone shut she turned to Renée.

  “I’m so sorry but I have to go pick up Julian at work. His car won’t start and he doesn’t want to pay a taxi to drive all the way to my apartment when I can pick him up on the way home.”

  “It’s fine. Go.”

  “You’re going to be all right?” Cheryl asked.

  “I’m going to be fine. There’s a good movie on tonight. And I promised one of the nurses at the hospital that I’d make her a cheesecake for her birthday.”

  “You and your baking. You should own a restaurant instead of working at the hospital. A waste of talent. You’re going to have to invite Mr. Buchanan over the dinner, feed him and spend the rest of the night jumping his bones.”

  “Don’t you have to go pick up Julian?” Renée said, laughing. Cheryl really was outrageous.

  “Okay, okay, run me out of your office. We’ll pick up this conversation another time.”

  With that, she stood, waiting for Renée to stand along with her before she hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

  “You take care of yourself. And go out to dinner with the man. He may be your Mr. Right.”

  That night, Renée sat on the couch in front of the television. Though one of her favorite shows was on she couldn’t focus. Cheryl’s words kept popping into her head.

  Maybe what her friend was saying was true.

  She was tired of being alone, but she also didn’t want to take the risk of being hurt. Everyone saw her as being so strong. But she’d had enough bad experiences with love to last her a lifetime and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back there.

  But she was lonely. Renée missed the heat of a man’s body next to hers. She missed the fun of doing otherwise ordinary stuff together. But most of all, she missed that special communication that comes with being in love.

  Oh, yes, she had been in love before.

  But the day she’d sat outside the church in a limousine waiting for her soon-to-be-husband to arrive, realizing that he wasn’t coming, she’d vowed never to fall in love again.

  Sure, she’d had relationships over the years. A consenting adult, she’d enjoyed sex, but that was it. She’d never experienced the heart-pounding, toe-curling lovemaking that Cheryl kept telling her about, and a part of her wanted it.

  Her phone rang and she picked it up, too lazy to look at the display to see who was calling.

  “Hello.”

  “Renée, Daniel here.”

  Her heart missed a beat.

  “Yes, Daniel,” she replied. “How can I help you?”

  “Jamie would like to talk to you. She said she didn’t see you today.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No, but she says that you’re the only woman she will talk to.”

  “Okay, I’ll go see her first thing in the morning.”

  “Good, which leads me to the second reason I called. Are you still willing to have dinner with me?”

  She hesitated at first, but then replied. “You did eventually ask, didn’t you.” She paused before she spoke again. “Yes, I’ll have dinner with you.”

  “Good, thanks for accepting. Now, why didn’t it go like that the first time around?” he asked.

  “Maybe because the first time you didn’t ask me like a gentleman should,” she replied. “But I’ll overlook that minor infraction. I’m looking forward to dinner.”

  “I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow night, if that’s fine with you?”

  “Yes, that’s fine.”

  “I’ll see you later. And Renée?”

  “Yes.”

  “I have all intentions of kissing you again.”

  With that Daniel put the phone down. Renée experienced the familiar tingle of anticipation and excitement.

  Dinner was going to be interesting.

  Daniel rested the handset on the cradle and chuckled. That would leave her all flustered and bothered for a while.

  Renée had been on his mind all day and his need to be with her was intensifying. He liked the feeling, but he was worried about how quickly it was developing. Just a few days ago, he’d been dealing with the past and here he was obsessed with a woman he had just met. He couldn’t help himself. Her image haunted him and his body burned for her. Maybe, he’d been without a woman for too long. The kiss they’d shared had aroused emotions that he wasn’t sure he wanted to handle. Their coming together was unavoidable.

  And if he had anything to do with it, it’d be sooner than later.

  Chapter 4

  During the night, images of Daniel Buchanan filled Renée’s dreams. Several times she awoke, her body alive with the memory of his kiss.

  She tried to purge his image, but nothing she did worked. Once, she tried counting sheep, but soon they morphed into him, a situation that only served to increase her irritation with him, a man she hardly knew….

  In the stillness of the room, Renée laughed, knowing that her attraction to him hinted at her need for companionship. Yes, she spent most of her time running away from relationships, but none of her mother’s finds or the men of her acquaintance stirred her like Daniel Buchanan did.

  Even though he’d told her, and she knew he was being honest, she couldn’t understand what it would be like to lose someone you loved the way he did. Her memories of her father had faded and even when he’d passed away, she’d been too young to feel anything much.

  His wife and daughter.

  He’d said it so matter-of-factly, but she’d seen the flash of hurt. She reached out and touched him, hoping she’d given him comfort. His only response had been to squeeze her hand.

  Life was so complicated and frustrating. She’d stayed away from men for so long and now she found herself drawn to a man who needed her to comfort him and help him to heal. Well, that was what she was going to do. She’d help him. She wanted to see him really smile. He needed to live again.


  She had looked at him just like she looked at all those cases she’d had to deal with. Just another case, another person to counsel and help. She was going to help him and starting tomorrow would be perfect. She’d keep her eyes off his bulging muscles, and the uncertain smile that flickered briefly in the amber pools of his eyes. She’d never seen a man with eyes that color, but his almost made her drunk with their power.

  An image of her lying under him flashed in her mind’s eye, vivid and bold, and she closed her eyes, the sweetness of arousal washing her body with its heat. Renée reached for the reading lamp on the side table and flicked the switch on. Maybe, a good book would help.

  An hour later, despite her attempt to immerse herself in the latest mystery from her favorite author, the image of Daniel Buchanan still haunted her.

  On Saturday, when Daniel saw Renée, he couldn’t help but be taken aback by her beauty. But he suspected she didn’t care too much about that part of her. Not that she didn’t dress and carry herself well, but she seemed oblivious to her own ability to turn a man’s head.

  Since seeing her, he’d spent Thursday and Friday thinking about her, especially after she’d called to tell him she had an emergency and could not accept his invitation to dinner. He’d even experienced a sense of relief when she’d not been at the hospital when he visited Jamie yesterday.

  Now, he could not help but stare at her as she stood talking to one of the doctors. He could tell she was angry, but struggled to control her composure. He could see determination etched on her face. He watched her, enjoying the way she became so animated when she talked. She used her hands and body to emphasize her point. And then she turned in his direction and something strange and unexpected happened.