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"I didn't care," he said, his voice as sure and confident as it always had been. "I always knew it was you. I loved you from the very first day I saw you." He bent down to the hospital bed, brushing his lips against mine. A shock ran through my system, activating that place in my core that had wanted Billy Joe Wootton for so very long. A flood of memory came back to me... his hands on mine... moving slowing over my body and bringing me to heights of pleasure no other man had been able to achieve. He crushed his lips against mine, and I threw my arms around his neck through the dull haze of the morphine.
"Alright, no messing with the patient," came a voice. A doctor appeared in the room. Billy pulled away, keeping my hand in his. The doctor immediately began to work on my foot, using ultrasound to detect any bleeding and showing us X-rays that I barely remembered getting taken. "Looks like this lady has a hairline fracture, and it looks like her tendons never properly healed from an old injury. There's also a slipped bone in her foot, and quite a lot of stress on the toes. Are you a former ballerina, Miss Taylor?" I nodded, biting my lip again. Doctors never liked to deal with professional dancers since we were so likely to power through the pain instead of getting medical help. “We'll get you a boot on this foot,” the doctor continued, “And you'll have to come back for both physical therapy… new cast… all that.”
"Could she do that in Austin?" Billy squeezed my hand. My heart beat fast, my mouth going completely dry.
"I don't see why not. Are you her husband? You two live in Austin? It says here you live in L.A., Miss Taylor." I opened my mouth to respond, my consciousness not quite catching up to what Billy had said.
"Fiancé," he said. "We're moving back to Austin soon."
"Well then, you're the one who needs to make sure she gets physical therapy. And then she'll be able to do whatever she wants in a few months. None of this original injury was taken care of how it should have been."
"Billy," I whispered as the doctor walked off. "I can't go to Austin. My life is here. Besides, doesn't your family live in Dallas?"
"Screw my family. I'll take you back and marry you before they can say any damn thing about it. By the time you're married, you'll be a billionaire. So they won't be able to get worried about you not having any money."
"Billy," I said with a frown, pushing through the strange haziness of the painkillers. "I said eight years ago that it wouldn't work. I'm not going to join a family that doesn't want me."
"What about joining a man who does want you and making your own family?" I gulped, grateful that the doctor had come back into the room. Billy was all I'd wanted for years, and here he was, ready to take me back to Austin and build the life we'd dreamed of so long ago. The nurse brought us the papers to sign out, and Billy helped me into a wheelchair, tenderly brushing my hair back over my neck. He began to push me out to the limo again, winding through the blank, sterile halls.
"You can take me home," I said, trying to keep my voice devoid of emotion. He either ignored me or didn't hear what I'd said.
"There's a ranch outside of Austin I've had my eye on. I'm in a big ass house downtown right now, but that ranch... The house has eight bedrooms, and there's two hundred acres of land. For cattle and horses. And goats... you always wanted to learn how to make goat cheese."
"Billy..." I said. I closed my eyes, seeing that old vision swirl before me.
"It's Joseph now. Or Joe. Billy is my father's name, and I ain't that type of man. I'm the type of man who wants to buy a ranch for the most beautiful woman in the world, the only woman I've wanted for the better part of a decade. And fill that whole damn house with kids. And I'll build you a dance studio right out front so we can teach all those kids how to dance. And you can do whatever kind of lessons you want. We can probably even bring a physical therapist out to the studio to get you all healed up. The ballet might not want you, but I do. You hear me?" He rolled the wheelchair up to the side of the limo and lifted me again, looking me in the eye.
"Billy... Joe, I mean. This is all a little much."
"Well, you were always a little much, Anita. Let's be a little much together." I stifled a laugh. He kissed me again, as if trying to absorb that laughter in his body. That shock ran through me again, and my body began to remember just how much I'd always wanted him... and how good those strong, rough hands could make me feel. He set me down in the limo, brushing my long skirt to the side so that the fabric didn't get caught on the bulky boot. His lips parted from mine, and he moved into the seat next to mine, bringing me close to his body and putting his arm around me. "Just tell me you'll consider it."
"I'll consider it," I said, sighing. Something about the faint buzz of morphine and the darkness overtaking the city had brought the romance back to me. I would never have guessed that this would all happen so quickly. My head swam with the thought of it. Before Billy Joe could say another word, I gave Donny the driver my address and told him to hightail it. I couldn't leave my foster pets for the night, no matter how fabulous this cowboy billionaire's hotel was. And I was betting it certainly was.
"You takin' me to your digs, Nita Lee? Do I get to see the fabulous Los Angeles home of the famous dancer and millionaire matchmaker?"
"Sure," I said. "You can even stay for five or ten minutes."
"Hell, that's no way to treat an old friend." He drew me closer into him, making my body ache with need. It had been so long since a man had touched me. And eight years since it was the man I loved had taken me and made me scream with pleasure. Donny drove up into the hills, turning around a corner.
"That's my tiny little house." I smiled at the look of the stucco. One dog and one cat were sitting at the front window, probably wondering where my car had been for the last few hours. "You can drop me here, and we can talk after you get back to Austin."
"If you think for one second I'm letting an injured woman stay by herself overnight, you've got another think coming. Donny, you can go back to the rooms, and you can have my suite if you want." Joe tossed Donny a set of keys.
"No, Billy... I mean, Joe. I want to be alone. I have a lot to think about..." I let my voice trail off, fully aware that Billy Joe Wootton intended to stay at my place for the night. I hoped he liked animals as much as he used to. Without another word, he opened the car door and hoisted me out. In all the times he'd lifted me in the past several hours, he hadn't even made a sound. I wasn't exactly a lightweight ballerina anymore -- my curves had filled in over time. But it seemed that Billy Joe was just as strong as he ever was. And just as prone to sweep a girl off her feet. He placed me gently in the wheelchair and pushed me up to the house.
"I don't want to hear another word about it. You can make me sleep on your little porch there if you want. But I just found you... and I'm not about to leave you."
"Eleni texted me and told me she would come."
"Tell her that no pregnant woman needs to be looking after a woman who needs help walking around. Y'all would be fallin' all over each other in no time flat. And I ain't got time to take another trip to that fancy L.A. hospital."
"I told her you'd probably be staying anyway." I smiled. I didn't want my sister to be here trying to lift me up any more than Billy Joe did. But still, there was that little problem of the man in my house who was shamelessly flirting with me... and maybe trying to propose. At the very least he was getting me to consider leaving my home and moving to a ranch in Austin. I sighed and handed Joe the key.
"Wait a second before you open--" Before I could finish my sentence, Billy Joe had opened the door, and two of my dogs were on him, jumping up and making whining noises. The one-eyed cat named Katie joined in, purring and circling Joe's leg.
"I guess this here's the welcome committee. Y'all go on and scoot for a second. Your mama's got a little hurt here, and we gotta get her on inside." Joe leaned down and scratched the retired greyhound behind her ears. The pug ran in circles, vying for the handsome cowboy's attention too.
"Looks like they already got a crush on you, Billy. I mean,
Joe. I can't quite wrap my head around this new name of yours." He pushed me up into the house, easily lifting the wheelchair into the house.
"Sorry about the mess... and the animals." He wheeled me over to my bedroom, not saying a word. Another cat joined me on the bed, nuzzling my hand and purring softly.
"It's all you, Anita. And it's exactly what I've been waiting for. Now tell me you'll think about coming back with me to Austin. It's all I've ever wanted... at least since I met you, anyway."
"I told you I'd think about it. But it can't happen right away..." I clicked on a light and looked into Joe's eyes, taking in his serious expression. He lifted me onto the bed, sending a jolt straight to my center. Any time he touched me, I was hyperaware of my skin, my flesh... and how much it wanted this man.
"Why can't it happen right away? What's tyin' you here, my Carolina girl?" I blushed, and he sat down next to me. He raked his fingers through his close-cropped brown hair and gave me the smile that I'd fallen in love with. That smile could light up a room, and it brought every memory of that summer back to me. My heart beat hard in my chest, sending chills through my entire body. He brought a hand to my cheek and traced his fingers down over my neck. The chills flooded through my body, my skin turning to gooseflesh.
"My sister... my friend. The agency." I looked to the side, avoiding those cornflower blue eyes. They seemed to stare into my soul, breaking me apart.
"That ain't you. That ain't what you said you wanted."
"I'm a different person than I was back then. I lost all those dreams a long time ago."
"You can build them again with me. Move into the house, work with me... make us some beautiful babies. I had dreams of you where you were pregnant, glowing and beautiful."
"I don't even know if I can have kids. What if I can't? My mama had problems..."
"Your sister is older than you, right? No reason to worry. Besides, we'll adopt six or seven of 'em if you can't. Just as long as it's you and me... we're family, Nita. I always knew we were. I spent years looking for you, and somehow we walked into the same room. And there you were, just as beautiful as the day I left you. I should never have gotten on that plane." He tipped my face towards his, kissing me as gently as he had before. But this time his lips lingered on mine, communicating the desire he'd held inside for so long. He kissed me hungrily, searching my lips with an aching need. The desire took over my body, making that tiny pinprick of desire expand. Warmth spread through my thighs, tongues of fire leaping through me, making each cell in my body explode with need.
"I should have... I should have kept in touch with you. I should have done something. I don't know what I should have done."
"And right now, I should be goin' out to your couch while you get some sleep. That ankle's gotta heal before you do anything else." He cleared his throat and pulled away from me.
"Stay," I said simply. "Stay with me tonight, and we'll decide everything in the morning."
"Are you sure, Nita Lee?" He kissed me again, his lips sweet and tender. But I could sense the strength behind them.
"I'm sure," I said, pulling him to me. "My ankle doesn't even hurt that much when you're here with me." Even though I wasn’t sure, I knew there wasn’t any choice but to give in. We had both been waiting so long, and this is what we truly needed.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Are you sure you want to do this, Nita? I know I've been doggin' you ever since I got here... but I don't want you to do nothin' you'll regret."
"I won't regret it. I've been waiting too. I don't know how we'll work it all out. But... I want to be with you too. At least right now."
I didn't know if we would be leaving together for Austin the next day. Hell, it seemed that I *couldn't leave my life in Los Angeles. But my entire body and brain felt like they might explode, leaving me in a thousand pieces, if I couldn't be with Billy Joe that very instant. My heart beat hard in my chest, sending fire through my veins.
He took me into his arms, gently pulling my body onto his lap. He crushed his lips against mine, hungrier and more insistent than he had been only a few minutes ago. The anxiety rushed through me. We'd left each other with broken hearts so long ago... And now we were rushing into this all again. But here we were. I was undone, completely helpless in his arms. He traced his fingers over the neckline of my dress, his fingertips brushing against the sensitive flesh of my breasts. He put his hands on each of my arms, lightly brushing against my skin.
"Anita Lee, the most beautiful woman I've ever known. Who knew you were holed up in California? You don't belong in this city. Yours is the kind of beauty that belongs in nature, the kind of body that needs to move in the sunshine and open fields." I laughed, shivering slightly as he moved his hands down to my waist and kissed me again.
"You're too much of a poet for your own good, Joe. What if I'm not the woman you knew? What if I've changed so much and lost so many of my dreams that I don't make you happy anymore?" A prickling heat rose behind my eyes. How could one moment make me feel so excited... so happy... and yet, so afraid?
"Ain't possible," he said, kissing my cheek and moving his lips down my neck. He spoke no more and moved his lips over the fabric of my dress, taking one nipple into his mouth through the gauzy fabric of my dress and bra. I gasped, holding him closer as he moved his mouth to the other breast. He teased my other nipple, and shocks of pleasure ran through my body, hitting every nerve ending in my body. It seemed then that I remembered what this man was capable of... how he made me become putty in his hands. Tenderly, he lifted my skirt up around my waist, taking hold of my hips and squeezing gently. "You're still perfect, and I'm gonna have you... just like when we were young. Hell, just seeing you makes me feel twenty-one all over again."
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come. Slowly, Billy Joe hooked his thumbs into the waistline of my panties, pulling them down to my knees with agonizing slowness. He grasped the lacy fabric and pulled them down to the floor, carefully pulling them over the clunky boot I'd gotten from the emergency room.
"You okay? I'll be careful of your... very sexy contraption right there." I laughed and nodded.
"I think it'll be just fine." Billy Joe kissed my lips and brought his hands to my legs, spreading them open for his touch. His fingertips traveled over my skin, exploring every inch of my thighs. I gasped as chills ran through my body. He spread my legs open further, and a rush of cool air hit my pussy, nearly making me rise from his lap with desire and anticipation. He chuckled, moving his fingers closer to the silken folds so that I could almost feel the heat of his skin.
"You always liked being teased, Nita. You still do?" I grinned and took his hand in mine, guiding his fingers to my clit. He groaned deeply, and I could feel him getting hard, his cock growing against the back of my thigh.
"I don't like being teased anymore. That's just one thing that's changed."
"I think I can live with that," he said, flicking his fingers over my clit. A burning ache filled my body, and I cried out, pushing his fingers inside of me. He thrust his fingers deeper inside, slow and steady. Throwing my head back, I dropped my hand away from his, my body going limp. Billy Joe pressed his thumb down against my clit, moving it in gentle circles as he continued to pump his fingers inside my pussy. My body shook with pleasure, focused on that place where he filled me. That place that had been empty for so long. He looked into my eyes, showing me the hunger he held inside. Gently, he lowered me down onto the bed and knelt before me. I groaned, knowing what was next. My body responded with the muscle memory that knew Billy Joe completely, and I moved to the edge of the bed, wrapping my good leg over his back. I sat up and pulled my dress off over my head, laughing as I threw it behind me. I felt Joe's hot breath against the flesh of my pussy, making me crazy with desire. Almost instinctively, I arched my back against the bed, my toes curling with a deep, aching need.
"I thought you didn't like to be teased," he said, his breath hot against my soft folds.
