JT lay flat on his back on the weight bench and stared at the gym ceiling. He wasn’t bothered by the rusted beams or exposed pipes, but the clumps of dusty shit that hung like Spanish moss made him finish counting reps with his eyes closed. And the fact that Simon was standing over him. He’d been quizzing him relentlessly for the past five minutes.
His mind waffled between thoughts of Paige and her daughter like it had done for the past forty-eight hours. The fact that she had one, and also that the blue-eyed, fry-eating ball of sunshine had an amputated leg.
JT grabbed the bar again, no idea what set he was on, but knowing he wasn’t done. Up. Down. Up. Down. Until his arms shook and his muscles burned. When he opened his eyes, Simon was staring down at him. “What are you looking at?”
“You. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this pissed off. I’m having this weird Seventh Sign moment. Waiting for your head to spin or Demi Moore to pop up.”
JT continued his workout.
“What happened? You crash and burn with Diner Girl?”
“No.” He’d barely taken off.
“Did you ask her out?”
He slammed the bar down in the rack over his head. “No.” He sat up and wiped his damp hands on a towel. He stood for Simon to start his set and stared at his friend’s legs, knees bent, feet on the floor.
Did Paige’s daughter use a prosthesis? Did she need one? Maybe hers didn’t fit right. Her stump had been uncovered and he hadn’t noticed any signs of irritation, but he’d barely gotten a glance.
Maybe it was broken, or maybe she just wasn’t wearing it at the moment. He could understand that. He didn’t lie around the house in his. The point was he didn’t know, wasn’t even sure it was his business to know.
He wasn’t a doctor or even a prosthetist. He was a biomedical engineer. He designed, he engineered, and he preferred to keep a certain distance, like a surgeon on the other side of the drape. But he’d wrestled with it for over twenty-four hours since leaving the diner and come up with nothing except that he couldn’t walk away from it or from her.
“It’s not your leg, is it?” Simon asked, sitting up. “Your extreme pussiness about the waitress? Because if it is, I’ll have to kick your ass. Again.”
“You haven’t kicked it yet, and no. It’s not.” It’d been eight years since he’d lost his leg, though there’d definitely been a time it had been a problem, and it had taken some getting used to.
Take his prosthesis off? Leave it on? Or maybe hard and fast up against a wall so he didn’t have to deal with it at all, not the wide-eyed gasps or the sudden change of heart. Not the pity or the weird curiosity.
“Well, at least that’s something,” Simon said, pausing to look at him. “You know what I think?”
“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.” They’d been in rehab together after Simon’s time at the VA. Hours of therapy, hours of hanging out when neither man was at his best. They were as close as brothers, maybe closer. And Simon, who was sandwiched between two older and two younger sisters, was more in touch with his feelings and using his words than most.
“You need the love of a good woman,” Simon said. “Don’t you ever want more?”
“Do you think maybe you’re getting caught up in the wedding fever bliss?” JT rolled his eyes and talked the shit back and forth with Simon, but yeah. He wanted more.
But it was that wanting that reminded him his leg was the least of what had been lost that day eight years ago. And it had all been his fault.
“Don’t look now,” Jenny said, “but Mr. Fine is back and he looks hungry.”
“Is this like Mr. Sexy Hair or Mr. Perky Pecs?” Paige moved around her cousin to refill a soda. Tonight had been busier than they expected, with the cooks churning out food and the waitstaff rushing to keep up.
“Better.” Jenny winked.
Paige smiled and shook her head at her cousin. Always on the hunt for a man. Her own limited experience with men didn’t make her eager for more.
“Are you kidding me?” Jenny went on. “You’re not even going to look?”
She finally did out of curiosity and…crap. It was the guy from the other day. The one that made her pulse beat faster. The one she’d thought was about to ask her out even if she could never say yes. Which is why the tingle on the back of her neck and the heat he brought to her cheeks was so disconcerting. She grabbed a rag to wipe around the base of the coffeemaker. “That’s not my table.”
“It is now. He asked for you specifically.”
“What did he say? Exactly.”
“I said, ‘Hey, handsome, what can I get you?’ and he said, ‘Paige.’ Just like that. Paige, all deep and sexy. Told you he was going to ask you out.”
Jenny must have read the look on her face because she added, “You don’t want him, I’m more than happy. I’d go anywhere that man asked.”
Yeah. Anyone would. And he was looking this way. Crap.
She made her way over to Mr. Fine, as he was aptly named, because okay, yes. He was perfectly gorgeous in a casual, slightly rugged, athletic kind of way, even if she tried hard not to notice. His hair was dark and slightly damp, a black T-shirt covered his chest, just hinting at the muscles beneath. Add to that his eyes and a faint shadow covering his strong jaw, and the entire female population was in danger of hyperventilating.
“Hi,” she said, trying her best not to be affected by him. It would be so much better if she actually wasn’t affected by him. “What can I get you?”
“Iced tea.”
“Okay.” See? Just a man. No reason for this to be awkward. Except that he was here and asking for her. “Anything else? The special is meatloaf.”
“No, thanks,” he said, his voice deep and even, his expression serious. “I wanted to talk to you, if you have a minute. About your daughter.”
What could he possibly have to say about Casey?
“About her leg, specifically,” he added.
Well, now things were awkward. Her shoulders stiffened and she took a small step back. “What about it?”
He took a deep breath and blew it out, then angled himself on the booth seat until his right leg was in clear view. His khaki shorts revealed a below-the-knee prosthesis. The socket at the top was shiny black with a silver pylon that disappeared into a running shoe. It was sleek and impressively high-tech looking.
When she pulled her gaze back to his after several beats, she realized her mistake. She knew what it was like on the other side of stares. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said, turning his body back to the table.
“No. It’s not. I just…” She wasn’t sure why it was such a shock. She didn’t know him, though she’d seen him several times. Did he always wear long pants? “I never noticed and…it’s nice. I like it.” Maybe a stupid thing to say about someone’s prosthetic leg, but it was true.
“Thanks,” he said, his expression kind, like her comment wasn’t stupid at all. “Does your daughter have a prosthesis?”
“Yes. She has one, but she doesn’t always wear it. It’s been bothering her lately. It probably just needs an adjustment.”
He sat back against the booth, his eyes on hers, arms crossed over his broad chest. “I work in prosthetics, mostly bionics and artificial intelligence, but I could take a look at it. If you wanted.”
He was back to offer to help Casey? She was still wrapping her mind around the fact that he wore a prosthesis and made prosthetics.
“Order up! Chick fried!”
Somewhere it registered that this was not the first call. “I, um…” She shot a glance at Mac. “I’ll be right back.”
Paige hurried across the diner and behind the counter. She grabbed the plates from the pass, delivered them, then went for his tea on autopilot. Because he’d ordered it, and because she needed a minute.
“Told you he was interested,” Jenny said, sliding up beside her. “So? What’s the deal? Navy SEAL? Pro athlete? Chippendale dancer?”
“No. And he’s still not interested.” Though he was becoming more and more interesting. “He has an amputation almost the same as Casey’s.”
“You’re kidding. I’ve never noticed,” Jenny said, automatically turning her head in his direction. Not that she could see anything from here.
“No. I’m not,” she said, filling his glass. “And he makes prosthetics or something, and he asked if Casey had one and then offered to look at it when I said it was bothering her.” Her mouth dropped at the end of her recitation, and she stared at her cousin like Jenny was the great wizard of Oz. She needed some help here.
Jenny’s eyes bugged. “My God, he’s melting my eyeballs and he wants to be your hero.”
Not a very Oz-like answer.
“If I didn’t love you so much, I’d kill you,” Jenny said. “Go. Your shift ended ten minutes ago.”
Jenny gave her a not-so-gentle nudge in his direction and followed her over. “Hello, hotness. Paige here has to eat before she goes to her next job. Sit,” she said to Paige. “And order something or I’ll do it for you.” She added her familiar disapproving look at Paige’s all-work, no-play schedule.
Paige set his glass on the table, then sat down across from him. “I’m not that hungry,” she told Jenny.
“Brussels sprouts it is.” Jenny pretended to write on her pad.
“Okay. Grilled cheese. To go. I’ll eat it in the car.”
“She’s single by the way,” Jenny added, before leaving them. “I am too, just in case you want to store that info away for another day.”
Paige rolled her eyes at her cousin’s back. “I’m sorry. She’s…”
“Outgoing?” he asked with a lift of his brow and a slow, playful smile that brought a smile of her own.
“I was going to say something else, but she’s also my cousin.”
“Maybe I should have started with this. My name’s Jake. McKinney.” He held out his hand.
“Paige Roberts.” His fingers were warm and strong, and her small hand was swallowed up in his palm. It might have looked like a simple handshake, but when a man who could melt your eyeballs took your hand, stared into your eyes with his own deep brown ones, it felt like a lot more. There was a warm and unexpected quiver deep in her belly.
He let go and she tucked her hand in her lap. “So, you make prosthetics?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t look like a kook, more like a really sexy underwear ad, but this was her daughter they were talking about. “She has an appointment at Shriners Children’s Hospital coming up.”
“That’s three hours away.”
“I know, but it’s free and…” And it was difficult to schedule appointments, miss work. In fact, her next appointment was over a month away. She wasn’t sure what was wrong, but it would be better to get it looked at before Casey started school.
“Here.” Jenny joined them with Casey in her arms, saving her from her own awkwardness. “Little Bit wants to say goodbye. I’m going to clock out. Be right back.”
Casey knelt on the booth next to her and smiled easily at Jake. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Jake returned her friendly smile. “How’s Eric?”
“Good. His name’s not Eric, though. It’s Leon. He changed his mind.”
Jake nodded thoughtfully. “Another strong name.”
Casey leaned across the table between them, going for the sweeteners. “Do you want some sugar? What about a pink one?” Her fingers tightened on the edge of the paper, and she reached for his glass. “Can I put it in for you?”
“Ah…sure.”
At the same time, Paige said no and took the packet from her hands, but Casey was already pulling his drink closer. Distracted by losing her sweeteners, she bobbled the glass and half the contents of liquid and ice spilled out before Jake’s quick reflexes righted it.
“Casey Marie! Shoot! I’m so sorry.”
“Oops. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s okay,” Jake said, already mopping up the mess with napkins.
Paige reached for more napkins, and Casey peered over the side of the table where a thin stream of tea ran over the edge.
“Hey!” Casey exclaimed. “I like your leg.”
“Sit up.” Paige wrapped an arm around Casey, but she’d found something more interesting than her mess.
“Did you see his leg? It’s silver. I have one because mine didn’t growed, but mine doesn’t look like that. What happened to yours?”
“Grow,” Paige corrected, and pulled her back a safe distance.
Casey leaned as far as she could into Jake’s space. “Did yours not grow too?”
“Car accident,” he said evenly.
He didn’t elaborate, not that Casey gave him a chance.
“Can you run fast?”
“Yes.”
“How fast?”
He flicked a quick glance at Paige. “Well…really fast.”
“That’s so good.” She peered over the side again. “It has tea on it now. Is that okay? Because you can’t buy just one shoe, the store won’t let you. Did you know that? I didn’t ask them, but my mom said that.”
Jake’s lips twitched, clearly amused, and her heart knocked against her chest.
Jenny returned with Paige’s to-go box and a new iced tea. “Ready, Freddy? Or should I call you Little Disaster?”
Casey pushed up on the table with her hands and stood easily on one foot. “I’m gonna do Jenny’s hair,” she told Jake.
“I got her leg.” Jenny patted the bag on her shoulder.
“Thanks, and sounds good.” Paige leaned over and kissed her sweet cheek. “Be good. I mean it.”
“I’m always good,” Casey said and waved goodbye to Jake.
“Good is relative,” she muttered, watching her daughter until she was out of sight.
“You should eat.” He gestured toward the white Styrofoam box between them.
“That’s okay. I’ll eat in the car. Jenny’s taking Casey home for a little while. She’s really good with her. It’s just until eleven,” she added, not sure why she felt the need to explain herself.
Jake took a slow drink, watching her over the rim of his glass. Not like her ramble required a response. She shifted nervously under the weight of his attention, deciding her hands were best held tightly on her lap.
“Casey said her leg didn’t grow,” he said.
“No. She was born with fibular hemimelia. Partial absence of her right fibula and an underdeveloped tibia. Her right foot was only partially developed. She had a below-the-knee amputation at five months.”
Paige caught sight of Big Mac out of the corner of her eye. He gave her a wave and pointed to the cow clock on the wall behind the counter. “Damn.”
“You have to go,” Jake said.
“Yeah. Sorry. I have another job. Pete’s Bar and Grille. It’s not too far from here.”
Jake stood. “I’ll walk you out.”
She got her purse from the back and found him waiting for her. He held the door open and they walked around the building toward employee parking. His gait was so smooth beside her she would have never known he wore a prosthesis if he hadn’t told her.
“How’s she done with the prosthesis?” he asked after a moment.
“She’s never been a huge fan, but she’s never really complained, either. She gets around so well without it. She cartwheels, forward rolls. She’s pretty amazing.”
“Sounds like it.”
She glanced up at him, caught the curve of his lips and her mind went blank. So much so that she passed Rhonda, her faded blue hatchback, and had to back them up a few feet. If Jake noticed, he didn’t say anything.
They stood beside each other for a moment. “I’ve tried a thinner sock, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. I haven’t pushed it, but kindergarten starts in a few weeks so…that’s a problem. On top of Casey’s recent decision not to go at all. She’s going to meet her teacher soon so I’m hoping that helps, and…Sorry. I’m just…I’m rambling.”
“I don’t mind. You can ramble.”
“No. I’ll stop. I want to stop.” Shut up, Paige! For the love of God.
He pressed his sexy lips together, maybe so he wouldn’t laugh. “Why don’t I take a look? Just to make sure it’s not the device.”
“Um…That would be really great. Her next appointment isn’t until after school starts.”
“I could come back and look at it here, make minor adjustments if needed, but I could do more in my office if it turns out it needs it. There’s a therapy and testing side that might be fun for her to see.”
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and handed her a business card. Simple with black and white lettering. JT MCKINNEY, EVOLUTION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. It had an address and phone number.
“Thank you. That sounds great. I’d love to see it.” She mentally ran through her schedule, going over her shifts, her class. There was never extra time; adding one thing meant cutting something else. “I could do Monday at—No, Tuesday. I get off at three on Tuesday.”
“That’s fine. I’ll add your name to the gate list.”
“Okay.” She gave him her last name and spelled it, like he wouldn’t know. She was really outdoing herself in the embarrassing-chatter department.
A long moment of silence passed as they stood in the mostly empty parking lot. When was the last time she’d stood in the dark with a man? He was a big man, more than a foot taller than her, with wide shoulders and lean muscle. The faint hum of the streetlights and light traffic didn’t cover the pounding of her heart and it wasn’t from fear.
“Okay, then. I’ll see you next week,” he said.
“Okay.”
He waited while she got in and turned the key. She winced as the engine came to life with a grinding squeal, but she appreciated Rhonda’s effort. He waved and she watched him walk away, heart still pounding and a smile on her face.