Hot Single Docs Collection. Lynne Marshall
Читать онлайн книгу.
laughed and he basked in the musical sound for a moment.
“I’ve missed you, Molly,” he said softly. “You have no idea how much.”
Her laughter died away and she looked down as if she felt guilty. “I know, because I missed you, too.”
Her words gave him a flash of hope. Maybe he hadn’t totally ruined things between them after all? He tried to think of a way to help her understand. “Look, Molly, I know I’m not very good at being in a relationship, and I’m sure I’ve already made tons of mistakes, but I’d like you to give me another chance. I think, no, I’m sure I can do better.”
She glanced up at him, surprise reflected on her features. “Dan, you haven’t made any big mistakes, not really. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have overreacted.”
“You didn’t overreact, you had every right to be upset.” When she’d mentioned how the jerk who’d left her had two sons and had used her as a surrogate mother, he’d been extremely angry. And desperate to prove he wasn’t doing the same thing. “I care about you, Molly. But I’m not sure how to show you. It’s been a long time …” He stopped, unwilling to admit how ignorant he really was.
What did he know about love? He hadn’t ever experienced it before. Not until Molly.
Stunned, he felt his heart squeeze in his chest. Was he really falling in love with Molly?
“Oh, Dan,” she murmured, but then stopped whatever she’d been about to say when Josh came wheeling over.
“Daddy! Craig has two prizes and Amy is crying because she doesn’t have one.”
“Figures,” he muttered. When the sound of Amy crying grew louder, he broke into a jog. “Don’t leave yet, I’ll be right back,” he called over his shoulder, resenting Craig for being a brat and for interrupting his conversation with Molly.
A conversation he had every intention of finishing before he let her slip away.
Thankfully, he needn’t have worried. Molly didn’t leave. In fact, she stayed, helping him serve twenty kids pizza, punch, cake and ice cream.
When it came time for Josh to open his presents, Dan watched with pride as his son did so with glee, tearing into one package after another. And when Craig tried to grab the remote control to Josh’s new truck, he swiftly intervened, snatching it away and handing it back to Josh. “I think the birthday boy should be the first one to try it, don’t you?” he asked through gritted teeth.
Craig went back to sulking, but Dan didn’t care. And when the parents of the kids started to arrive, he wanted to weep with relief. Even Stephanie Albert was a welcome sight if nothing more than to get Craig out of his hair.
“Did you have fun, sweetie-pie?” Stephanie asked, ruffling her son’s hair.
“Our team didn’t win and he wouldn’t let me play with the remote-control car,” Craig said, shooting Dan a dark look.
If the kid thought he was going to apologize, he was wrong. “Thanks for coming,” he said cheerfully. “And don’t forget your prize.”
Craig snatched the mini pinball machine he’d won and stalked off, with his mother trailing behind.
“Good riddance,” Molly muttered.
“You have that right,” he said with heartfelt relief.
More parents streamed in and soon everyone was gone. As the wheelchairs had been picked up earlier, the cleanup job didn’t take long.
Dan stared at the stack of presents Josh had accumulated. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to fit all this in the trunk of my car, along with Josh’s wheelchair,” he muttered. But he’d rather cut off his arm than ask Molly for help, even though he wanted to finish their conversation more than he wanted to breathe.
“I’ll help you. Between the two of us we’ll get the car packed up, no problem,” Molly said.
“Only if you’re sure,” he said, looking down into her bright green eyes. “There’s no scorecard, Molly. If you want to go home, we’ll handle it. You and I can always talk later.”
Her tremulous smile tugged at his heart. “I know you can handle anything, but I’d like to help, if you’ll have me.”
Have her? Little did she know he wasn’t about to let her go without a fight.
MOLLY WAS IN AWE OF HOW well Dan had handled the wheelchair football game, along with the subsequent meal for Josh’s party, especially the not-so-nice kids like Craig Albert. Scary how much that kid was like his mother.
Just thinking of the way Dan had stared at her in horror when she’d mentioned Stephanie Albert made her feel warm and gooey inside. Clearly, he wasn’t attracted to the woman, not even one little bit. And he wanted a second chance.
With her.
And, heaven help her, she wanted that, too.
She let out a little sigh of relief when Dan pulled into the parking garage beneath his fancy high-rise apartment building. “You don’t have to carry those,” he protested, when she gathered a bunch of Josh’s presents into her arms. “I can make a few trips.”
The way he was falling over himself trying not to take advantage of her made her smile. “Dan, it’s fine. No scorecard, remember?” she chided lightly.
He grimaced and pulled Josh’s wheelchair out, before loading up on gifts and leading the way to the elevator. Josh wheeled himself alongside, with his remote-controlled truck sitting on his lap, as if he wasn’t about to be parted from the gift. She’d noticed that one was from Dan, and she silently approved of his choice. Perfect for now, with Josh being wheelchair bound, yet something he could still use once he was walking again.
Once inside Dan’s home, they stacked the gifts in the corner of Josh’s room.
“You realize you need to write thank-you notes for these,” she said to Josh.
He wrinkled his nose, his face falling in dismay. “I do?”
“Yes. You do.” She fought a grin as Dan sighed heavily at the news. “I’m sure your dad can get them to your teacher, who can hand them out to the kids at school.”
“We’ll work on them tomorrow, Josh,” Dan assured him. “The sooner we get them done, the better.”
“That’s probably best.” She glanced around, and noticed that Josh was bending over in his wheelchair, trying to massage his calf muscles. “What’s wrong?”
“My legs are sore,” Josh admitted.
“Really?” Dan scowled a bit and knelt beside his son’s wheelchair to feel his legs. “That’s strange because we didn’t play the ball game very long this morning. I would think your arms would be sore after the game of wheelchair football, not your legs.”
“Actually, using a wheelchair does exercise the core muscles along with the upper arms,” she felt compelled to point out. “But even with that, it’s possible Josh was unconsciously tightening his leg muscles while he played, especially when he was making those sharp turns on the field.” She turned toward Josh. “You’d better let me massage them for you.”
Dan looked relieved and nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind, that would be great.”
“Of course I don’t mind.” She helped Josh get settled on his bed while Dan brought in the bottle of lotion she’d used last time. “Do you have a heating pad?” she asked. “Heat helps to relax tense muscles, too.”
“I’m not sure, I’ll check.”
As Dan went in search