You Can't Go Home Again (15 page)

With the spell broken, Dani quickly scooted away from him,
as close to the door as possible. He watched her straighten her skirt, groaning
quietly as he leaned back against the seat. Jace felt every muscle in his body
tense up. He needed to get out of this car. When it finally rolled to a stop in
front of the restaurant, he threw open the door and almost shoved Dani out,
climbing out right behind her. He walked in, going straight to the bar. He needed
a drink.

Jenn’s parents, Bri’s parents and a couple of grandparents
had ridden over in a different limo. When she saw Jace down a finger of scotch,
Jenn’s mom walked over and took the glass away.

“Uh-uh. Alcohol is a blood thinner, and that bandage I put
on is barely holding. Until you get some stitches, you are alcohol free.”

“Ann, please. You can’t be serious.”

“I’m deadly serious. You are not going to bleed all over
this restaurant. So, either go in there and eat, or take one of the limos over
to the hospital. We’ll be here awhile anyway. You can join us afterwards. Jenn
won’t mind.”

Jace looked at her, realized she was serious, and knew there
was no way he could get through this night without liquor. So…he turned to walk
back out to the car. He vaguely heard Ann telling someone to go with him.

When he got in the car he was followed shortly by Dani. This
time he couldn’t stop the groan.

She glanced his way as she sat down as far away from him as
she could politely manage. The driver confirmed that he was to go to the
nearest hospital and then put up the divider, effectively leaving the two
alone.

Dani reached over and turned on the radio, fiddling with the
stations before finally settling on a new country station. Once she was settled
with that she leaned to the minibar, reaching in and pulling out a 7-Up. She
glanced at him, gesturing with her hands, some invitation to drink.

“Not unless there’s a scotch in there.”

Rather than respond verbally, she simply closed the door,
leaned back in her seat and opened her soda. After a few interminable minutes
of silence, Jace couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Is this how it’s going to be, Dani? Really?”

She shrugged and took another sip of her soda, looking
toward the front, away from him.

“No way. No fucking way am I going to sit here and be
ignored! Not by you. There’s too much between us for that!”

She finally turned to look at him, her eyes boring straight
into his. She very calmly answered, “I’m not going to argue with you, Jace. If
you want to sit here and yell at me, then there’s nothing I can do to stop you.
But I won’t fight with you. Not anymore.”

She looked completely calm, composed. As if sitting here
next to him, talking to him was as casual as a stroll in a familiar park. Until
you looked at her eyes.

She’d always been good at masking her expression. Apparently
she’d gotten better. However… “Your eyes still give you away.”

She lifted one eyebrow, a sardonic twist to her lips.
“Really? Well, yours scream out ‘I’m a dumbass.’”

He reached up self-consciously and touched the cut on his
brow. “Saw you talking to Zack. Did he tell you what happened?”

“No, only that you two were in a ring and pads. Apparently,
they didn’t work.”

“Dani… I need to apologize to—”

“No, Jace. You don’t and I don’t want to hear it.”

“No, I really owe you an apology, several of them actua—”

“No!” This time she was emphatic about it. “I don’t want to
talk about this. You’ll apologize, remind me why we used to be friends, and
then I’ll do something, say something and you’ll be pissed again. You’ll just
end up saying something you’ll need to apologize for later. I don’t want to
hear it. I’m getting off that Ferris wheel while I still can. Besides,” she
moved closer to the door as the car rolled to a stop, “we’re here.”

She climbed out before Jace could say another word. He
trailed after her into the hospital.

Once they got him checked in, Jace tried again. Dani got up
to go get coffee, asking if he wanted some as well.

When she returned, he’d realized she wasn’t going to listen.
They sat in silence, watching the news for over an hour while they waited to
see the doctor.

Jace was itchy. He hated hospitals, always had. Hated them
even more after spending more than a month in one. Now, he sat on the bed
wondering why the hell he was here in the first place. His head was fine. So he
was bleeding, so what? Head injuries bled a lot. It wasn’t the first time he’d
split his head open. If he couldn’t move fast enough to avoid Zack’s right
hook, it wouldn’t be the last either.

As soon as the doctor walked in, Jace made sure to voice his
opinion. “I don’t need stitches. You ought to let me go and give this bed to
someone who really needs it.”

The doctor, probably in his early thirties, looked to Dani
with a soft smile. “Your husband seems to think he’s fine. I’m guessing you
think otherwise?”

Dani smiled up at the handsome young doctor. “Not my
husband. My…friend. And this happened earlier today, and he’s still bleeding. I
would say he needs stitches.”

“Aahh.” The doctor’s smile warmed considerably. “Well, I’m
Dr. Victor Johanssen, but you can call me Vic. Let’s take a look and see what
we’ve got here, shall we?” He smiled again at Dani before stepping up to Jace.

Luckily he was looking at Jace’s head, not his eyes,
otherwise he would have run for his life. Jace’s expression was murderous. He
could literally rip this man’s throat out of his neck. He’d been trained to. It
would be quick, and fairly painless…but messy.

When “Vic” stepped back, he turned away from Jace, talking
to Dani again. What the hell was he, some sort of child?

“Well, it definitely needs stitches. In fact, he really
should have come in sooner. I can do them, but since it’s on his face, we
should really call in a plastic surgeon so it doesn’t leave a scar.”

Jace was really tired of being ignored. “Stitch it up, now,
and get me the fuck out of here.”

The doc looked at him, then turned back to Dani. Charm was
his middle name when he asked her, “Well, what do you think? Do you mind if
your…friend…has a scar?”

“I don’t mind if he doesn’t. Go ahead…stitch him up.”

“Thanks for your permission,” Jace said, letting the rancor
soak through his tone.

Dr. Johanssen shrugged. “Okay, then I’ll be right back.”

The doctor left the room, and a minute or so later a nurse
walked in. She was probably in her late fifties, black and big. She was
carrying a needle and looked ready to use it.

“What’s that for?” Jace asked.

“It’s to relax you. It’s a little tough to numb your head
with a local, not enough tissue.”

“So, this is gonna knock me out?”

“No, not really. It’s a mild sedative. You’ll just be very,
very relaxed. And happy. Think of it like a kick-butt cocktail.”

* * * * *

“So, this’ll make him happier? Can you give him two?”

The nurse glanced at Dani, then back to the glaring man on
the bed. “Sorry, sweetie pie. But you grabbed this tiger by the tail, you’re
just gonna have to deal with him.” She looked again at Jace, taking a minute to
study him, head to toe. His dress shirt was loose, having come untucked from
his pants. He’d undone a couple buttons. His green gaze was shooting a
combination of fire and lust toward the woman in the chair. She turned back to
Dani, “But mmm, mmm, child. He sure looks worth it to me.”

It took Dani a moment to process what the nurse meant, but
when she did, she tried to correct her. “Oh, no…we’re not… I mean, he’s not…
Well, it’s not my tail.”

The nurse had just injected him with the shot, so when she
smiled over at Dani, a knowing grin lit her wise eyes. “Well, give that twenty
minutes to kick in and it can be your tail if you want it.”

She chuckled a little at her own joke as she walked out.

When Dani turned to Jace, she found him already lying back
on the bed. She could see the muscles of his body starting to relax, the frown
lines on his face loosening. Apparently they weren’t permanent, just a product
of her presence.

By the time the doctor got back, Jace was awake, but smiling
dopily at the ceiling. Dani laughed, seeing the look on his face. She smiled at
him and reached out to take his hand. When he caught sight of Dr. Johanssen,
his eyes clouded over with anger before closing down into slits.

* * * * *

The doctor went to work right away, talking with Dani the
whole time. Jace struggled with his temper. His thoughts were slow and hazy. He
could see the doctor flirting with Dani…his Dani. He wanted to beat him to a
pulp, kill him for even thinking he could have her. Yet he couldn’t seem to
make his body respond to his thoughts. He couldn’t even form the words to tell
him to get the hell away from her.

When the doctor had finished, putting the last strip of tape
over the bandage, Jace heard him ask Dani to dinner. He was finally angry
enough to make the words form. “No fuckin’ way she’s goin’ out with a smarmy
dickhead like you.”

The stunned expressions on both their faces sent Jace off
into peals of laughter. By the time he stopped laughing, he felt Dani standing
him up, dragging his arm around her neck so she could balance his weight.

Jace loved the smell of her hair. Her head was right below
his nose, so he leaned in, getting a good whiff of her shampoo. He grabbed the
ends in his fingers, tangling them in there and rubbing the silky strands.
“Love you hair. Isss so soff and silky.” He kissed her head.

“I’ll just bet it is. I bet everything feels ‘silky’ right now.
I’m thinkin’ I need one of those shots too.”

* * * * *

As Dani struggled to get him into the car, she realized
there was no way he could go back to the dinner like this. Once she finally got
him poured into a seat, she buckled his seat belt and grabbed her phone to call
Ann.

While she was talking to Ann, explaining the situation, she
was also giving the driver the name of Jace’s bar. At the same time, she was
busy smacking his hand away while he was trying to grab her hair. And her
dress, and her arms.

She moved away from him, until she saw him fall over. Then
she heaved out a sigh, moving back over until she was sitting next to him. She
propped him up and he leaned onto her, resting his head on her shoulder. She
also let him play with her hair. He wouldn’t remember any of it tomorrow
anyway.

The driver dropped them off at the front entrance. When Dani
walked in, she flagged the bouncer down, asking for help to get their boss
upstairs.

“I have never seen the boss get this drunk before. What
y’all been drinkin’?”

“Not drinking, Ryan. He had a shot of something at the
hospital before they stitched him up. He got a fist to the eye earlier.”

As they wrangled him through the door, Ryan asked, “He was
in a fight? Come to think of it, I’ve never seen him fight before, neither.”

“No, no fight. He was sparring with Zack, his buddy.
Apparently they were too enthusiastic.”

They got Jace into his room, tossing him down on the bed.

“Aaahh, well, all right. I’ll let Dave know he needs to lock
up tonight.”

“Thanks, Ryan.”

“’Night, Ryan!” Jace yelled from the bedroom.

Dani locked the door on his apartment and headed over to the
couch. She wasn’t going to leave him here alone—she wasn’t sure he could even
get water if he needed it. She kicked off her shoes and looked around for a
blanket. It was already ten o’clock; no wonder she was so tired.

After almost an hour trying to get comfortable, Dani
realized it wasn’t going to happen in this dress. She got up and tiptoed into
Jace’s room. She was surprised to find the bed empty until she heard the toilet
flush in the bathroom. She turned and tried to run out before he saw her.

“Dani?”

She turned slowly. He was obviously shaking off some of the
effects, but she could still hear the fuzziness in his voice. “Yeah, I didn’t
want to leave you here alone. So I’m going to sleep on the couch. I was, umm,
well… I just wanted to borrow one of your shirts. This dress is not
particularly comfortable for sleeping.”

He walked slowly over to his dresser, opened the drawer and
pulled out a white T-shirt, tossing it to her.

She caught it and stood there. Staring. She knew she was
staring at him, but couldn’t seem to peel her eyes away. He’d undressed
sometime in the last hour. He was standing there, wearing only his boxers. She
couldn’t stop looking at his body. He was tan. The scars she’d seen were soft
silver patches on his otherwise perfect skin. He was all lean muscle, trim and
toned, but bulkier than he’d been at twenty-two. His chest was firm, his
shoulders wide. And his arms were huge. Big and solid, without crossing into
body-builder bulk.

* * * * *

He let her stare. Only fair, since he was doing the same. He
let his gaze trail over her long, silky hair, straight and hanging almost to
her waist. Her shoulders were thin, narrow, but straight and strong. Her arms
were toned and tanned. She had gotten curvier over the years. Either that or
he’d blocked out just how stunning her body really was. Her tiny waist flared
both ways, into soft, rounded hips and lush breasts. Breasts he knew to be
firm. Breasts with dark pink nipples that pouted, begging for his touch.

When he felt the rush of blood to his groin, he quickly
stumbled his way back to the bed. As he climbed under the covers, he saw her
look away, blood heating her cheeks.

“Thanks. For the shirt. I’ll just…”

“Sleep in here? It’ll be more comfortable.” And he needed to
hold her. Whatever else this shot did, he felt like his defenses were crumbled
at his feet. He was too relaxed, too open. He knew that the naked desire was
clear in his face if she even tried to look.