Anywhere you want to plant it on me. It’s a natural sleeping pill, didn’t you know?”
She grinned and tugged his hair playfully. “Get out of here, Taylor! You’re that same bad boy I’ve always known. With your usual bag of tricks.”
Dan released her hand. “And you love me because of that. I know you do, Cait Moore.”
Her smile slipped a lot, her eyes growing somber. She squeezed his hand. “Yes, you’ve always been the good bad boy in my life. You make me laugh when no one else can. And you make me smile.”
“And I’ll keep doing it,” Dan promised, easing his hand from hers even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. “Give me a kiss once a day so I don’t turn into a frog, and I’ll keep you smiling and laughing.”
“What a deal!” Cait chortled, stepping away. She lifted her hand. “Sleep tight, Dan. Dream sweet dreams, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”
“I don’t want to turn into a frog, Cait,” he called as she walked toward the door. As his voice carried down the row of other beds, he noticed how her cheeks reddened and she was suddenly shy. Cait shook her head, gave him one last warm look goodbye and left.
* * *
Dan’s heart leaped when he saw Cait enter the ward at 1800 hours the next evening. He’d just eaten with the rest of the patients in his ward, and most of them were settling down to watch the TV at the other end of the long, rectangular room. Cait arrived wearing a dark green T-shirt with cap sleeves, loose white trousers and sandals. She carried a Monopoly board under her arm and a flowery decorated bag over her other shoulder. Her hair was caught up in a ponytail this time, long and swinging behind her. Dan’s heart took off and so did his lower body.
“I swore I was going to get a Monopoly game in with you this week,” she said, pulling the tray over and placing the board on it. She smiled and looked him over. “You got a haircut.”
“Like it?” He’d badgered the nurse until they sent a woman up to cut his hair late this morning.
“Well, it sure is a change from the surfer-dude look.”
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s just different. I’m so used to seeing you with your hair down to your shoulders, Dan. You know, fitting in over in Afghanistan or when you were surfing.” She brought the tray over and positioned it so that as he sat up, it was close enough to reach but allowed her to sit on the edge of the mattress opposite him.
“You mean I’ve lost my drop-dead good looks?” Dan wriggled his eyebrows. “I no longer entice you?”
Cait laughed. “I can rely on you to lift my spirits.” She placed the money along her side of the board, put the pieces on the board as well as the dice. “And you just look, well, more handsome.”
Pleasantly surprised, he said, “You’ll be proud of me. I shaved myself today. I survived my time with the electric razor.”
“You look very much like a suntanned model who could pose for a men’s health magazine.”
“Even with my leg strung up?”
“Yes,” she swore solemnly, trying not to smile. She gestured to the items on the board. “Choose your piece.”
Dan looked at the shiny gold metal pieces. “I like cars—I’ll take this one.” Cait’s cheerful mask slipped for a moment. Instantly, he knew she was grieving for Ben. His heart contracted with pain for her. “How about you,” and he nudged her hand, “what’s your choice?”
There was nothing he could do to assuage her grief. Hell, he’d cried over losing Ben last night. She had to be in pain over the loss of her brother. Cait’s eyes were suspiciously bright and he wondered if she’d cried recently. Dan wanted to do something...anything...to comfort her. But he couldn’t do much in his present state.
“Ohhh,” Cait murmured. “I think I’m gonna take the french fries. I intend to be the top mogul here by the time this game is over.”
“Detroit will beat you out,” he promised, waving the car in her direction. He grinned, his heart lifting. Every time Cait looked into his eyes, Dan swore he felt yearning coming from her. She was close enough that he could smell her and she smelled so good. She’d always worn a local perfume that sent him into a crazed mode of need. The scent was subtle and combined with her feminine fragrance.
She rallied. “Have the guys in here told you I’m a mogul who wins nearly every game I play with them?”
“Yeah, Bradford was telling me this morning when I got my hair cut that you were a ruthless Boardwalk titan.”
She rubbed her slender hands together, grinned and said, “Oh, yes, I am.”
“He said you’re the Queen of Monopoly on this ward.”
“That I am.” Cait gave him a playful look. “And now, country boy from Texas, you’re in my sights.”
How he wanted to reach out, slide his hand around her slender neck, draw her forward a little, meet her halfway across that tray and kiss her senseless. Dan knew he could. He was a skilled lover with plenty of practice. “What’s the perfume you’re wearing, Cait?”
“What? Oh.” She suddenly smiled and touched the nape of her neck. “Pikake. Why?”
“It smells really good on you,” he said. A blush colored her cheeks.
“I’ve worn this same perfume forever. You know that.”
He shrugged. “Well, maybe I’m older now and appreciate it in new and better ways.”
This time, Dan didn’t tease. He was dead serious and leveled a look at her that made it clear that he wanted her heart, body and soul. Her eyes widened and she blinked once, as if in shock for a moment over that very realization. And then she recovered, flushed redly and nervously touched her ponytail. “I—well, it’s called Arabian jasmine. Remember? I told you a long time ago when you first smelled it and liked it? The story behind it?”
He nodded, moving the piece slowly around in his hand, fantasizing it was Cait’s skin he was grazing. “Yes, in the nineteenth century, Princess Ka’iulana of Hawaii loved it.” It had a spicy note to it and made Dan’s body hum with need.
“I don’t think you forget anything,” she accused, nodding.
“Not when it comes to you, Cait. No, not a thing.” Dan knew he was on dangerous ground because she seemed shaken by his sudden seriousness. He was rarely somber with Cait, always the jokester and prankster in her life instead. She suddenly lost her cheerfulness and sighed, the metal piece between her fingers.
“W-when the Army sent two officers to my parents’ home...and then my mom called me later...” She blinked and touched her brow. “Dan, I was so afraid you’d died, too. I asked Mom about it, and she said she didn’t know. Only Ben was dead from what the officers said. I was so panicked about it, I called Joyce to ask if she’d been notified of your death...”
Grimly, he reached out and captured her hand beneath the tray. “I’m too damned mean to die. I was born and raised
