Somewhere in his mind, dimly, he knew his reaction was half-wild. Even Lazarus, who stood barking at them, seemed to feel it. But Gabe was looking through a different window on the world than ever before. He could no longer treat a woman as casually as he once had or take making love, or any of the other good things in life, for granted. Breathing meant more than ever before. Hell, all the simple things he’d barely noticed for more than thirty years suddenly held significant meaning.

  Hannah’s fingers delved into his hair, pulling tight as she made a fist. The abandon he sensed in her as her tongue met and moved with his tempted him to let go of all restraint. She tasted like a bubblegum-flavored snow cone, and she kissed far better than he would have imagined—had he ever allowed himself to imagine kissing the adult Hannah Price. He wanted to suckle the breasts he’d studied at every opportunity through her shirt last night, take her in to his room….

  But he knew she’d do anything to absolve her conscience. And having sex with him was one thing he would never ask.

  * * *

  WHEN GABE PULLED AWAY, Hannah grabbed for the support beam. She felt almost too weak to remain standing on her own power. She also felt robbed. She wanted to draw him back to her, to touch him everywhere, to feel his breath on her skin as his lips moved down her neck…. She didn’t know how much of her response had to do with her need for reassurance that he was going to be okay, but she knew she’d never kissed a man like that before. And yet, she was far from satisfied.

  “I—” She felt compelled to break the awkward silence but didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.”

  “Uncomfortable?” He chuckled humorlessly. “Hannah…”

  “What?”

  “Uncomfortable is definitely not the right word.”

  She was having a difficult time catching her breath, slowing her racing pulse. “What then?”

  “Bottom line, I don’t think it’s smart for you to be out here. You shouldn’t be cooking my meals or doing my windows—”

  “Why not? You’re trading me a chair that would probably cost two thousand dollars in a gallery. I’m coming out way ahead. And the windows…I don’t mind helping out.”

  “But you don’t owe me anything. Do you think I’ve never passed a car by crossing a double line? It was an accident. It could have happened to anyone. Why don’t you understand that?”

  “Maybe I’m here because I want to be, Gabe. With all the women who’ve thrown themselves at you in the past, certainly that shouldn’t come as a surprise.”

  “Bullshit. You’re here because of the accident.”

  Right now, she wasn’t so sure. The accident, his injury…it definitely figured into her emotions. But she was certain there were other issues at play. “I don’t think…It’s not that simple.”

  “Exactly. Nothing’s simple anymore. My emotions are all over the place. One minute I’m mad as hell. The next…” He shoved a hand through his hair. “What if I hadn’t stopped just now?”

  Hearing the challenge in his voice, she met his gaze squarely. “What if?”

  “We’d be inside, in my bed.”

  His comment nearly stole her breath. “Making love?” she said softly.

  His eyes swept over her as though her words brought back the hunger of their kiss. “We sure as hell wouldn’t be sleeping.”

  “Would that be so bad?”

  He gaped at her. “Hannah, you don’t know what you’re getting into. You don’t really know me.”

  Maybe they hadn’t spent much time together. But Hannah’s crush on Gabe after high school had lasted for years. And he’d been on her mind almost every waking moment since the accident. She followed anything anyone ever said about him, prayed for him daily, worried about him constantly. She even remembered cringing for him when she’d learned about Garth and the affair. Somehow he was as much a part of her life as Kenny and Brent. “We grew up in the same small town, went to high school together, kissed at a graduation party twenty years ago. I know your family, many of your friends. I know you better than you think.”

  “I’m getting out of this chair someday, Hannah,” he said. “I’m not looking for a comfy relationship where I can sit back and lick my wounds or let someone else take care of me.”

  “I won’t offer to take care of you. I don’t plan on introducing another man into my family life. There’s too much to consider.”

  From his expression, she couldn’t tell if he was happy about this or not. “You’re making yet another sacrifice for Kenny and Brent?”

  “I’m making a safe, well-informed decision.”

  “Well, while you’re making well-informed decisions, there’s something else you should know,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “My body could fail me. Making love could turn out to be ugly, humiliating, frustrating. You’d be a fool to get involved. And I’d be a fool to let you. Hell,” he said, rubbing his jaw, “I haven’t even touched a woman since the accident. I have no idea what might happen.”

  “That doesn’t scare me, Gabe.” Dimly, she thought it probably would if all she felt for him was regret and pity. But she didn’t want to isolate and identify her other emotions. Falling in love was not an option.

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He seemed about to override all his objections. But then he shook his head. “Stop. You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

  There was a dangerous quality about Gabe after the accident that hadn’t been there before. Despite her brave words and her desire to help him, he made her a little nervous. If she was finally going to sleep with someone, she thought she could probably find a lover with whom she could maintain some objectivity. But no one excited her like Gabe did. The jittery, out-of-control feelings he elicited were part of his allure. “Who are you afraid can’t handle what might happen, Gabe? Me? Or you?”

  The frankness of her question seemed to surprise him. He stared at her for several seconds, then a gleam she wasn’t quite sure she could trust came into his eyes. “That’s it,” he said. “Come here.”

  Oh boy…. Hannah’s heart hammered against her ribs as she stepped forward. At least neither one of them could find a partner more discreet, she told herself. She wouldn’t have to worry about her boys finding out; he wouldn’t have to worry about seeing the details of their encounter splashed on the cover of the latest tabloid.

  They’d have one mutually beneficial romantic encounter out here, where they were isolated. She’d feel young again, like a woman instead of just a mother. And he’d learn what his body could and couldn’t do. Knowledge was power. With knowledge he could adjust and take it from there….

  “Hannah?”

  She didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath until she needed to speak. “What?”

  “Unbutton your blouse.”

  She glanced at Lazarus, who sat expectantly at Gabe’s knee. “Here?”

  He nodded.

  “You don’t think Mike will surprise us again, do you?”

  “It’s Saturday night. He’s with his wife. No one else ever comes up here.”

  “Right.” She swallowed to ease her dry throat. Obviously, he didn’t realize that it had been forever and a day since she’d done anything like this. She needed a dark room and his hands doing all the work, not full daylight with him staring at her as if she was about to unveil the most beautiful thing in the world.

  She tried to unbutton the top button on her blouse, but her hands were shaking too badly to do it as smoothly and enticingly as she wanted. “I guess I’m a little nervous,” she admitted. “I—I have a stretch mark.”

  His eyebrows lifted. “A stretch mark? I’m sitting here in a wheelchair, and you’re worried about a stretch mark?”

  “But you’ve been with so many women, and I’m sure they all looked like models. Actually, they probably were models.”

  “I think you’re beautiful,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what came before. I’m not even the same man.”

  Catching her lip between her teeth, she nodded and started unbuttoning her blouse again. He rolled closer, but he didn’t touch her, and she couldn’t bear to meet his eyes. She was afraid she’d lose her nerve. Maybe it had been a long time for him, too, but he had to know he could have Ashleigh or Michelle or Jessica up here stripping for him instead. They all had perfect figures and knew a lot more about seducing a man than she did. She had to be crazy to be doing this. Especially now, when she was having problems with Kenny and had so many other things on her mind….

  She needed to leave. She pulled her shirt back together and opened her mouth to tell Gabe she’d changed her mind. But he chose that moment to finally touch her. The warmth of his large hands covered hers, steadying them. “Hannah?”

  Blinking rapidly, she stared down into his face. “What?”

  “Relax, okay?” He gently coaxed her to let go, and undid the last button himself.

  She was still considering backing out—until he nudged her blouse open. Then the appreciation she read in his reaction sent a deluge of hormones to her rescue and she couldn’t walk away. She’d never seen a man look at her like this before.

  “Last chance to reconsider,” he murmured. But his hands circled her waist as though he’d hang on to her if she tried to leave.

  By way of answer, she let her blouse fall off and kissed the top of his head. Slipping her arms around his neck, she rested them on his broad shoulders, marveling at how many times she’d longed to do this.

  He responded by rubbing his lips against her bare stomach and sliding his hands slowly up her rib cage.

  He must’ve heard her quick intake of breath when he reached her breasts because he leaned back to give her the most radiant smile she’d ever seen from him. Fleetingly, she wished she could photograph it, capture that very expression, so the memory of this moment would never fade.

  “I don’t want you to have any regrets,” he said, running his fingers lightly, teasingly over the silky fabric of her bra. “You’ll be okay if we do this, right?”

  She was tingling all over. “Is that thing you’re doing with your fingers just to hedge your bets?”

  His grin slanted to one side. “I think of it more as a nonrefundable deposit.”

  “What if I require a bigger deposit than that?” she asked and ran her mouth lightly over his, teasing him by giving him only the very tip of her tongue.

  “I’m negotiable,” he said and caught her mouth more securely, joining them deeply, hungrily.

  She groaned at the sensations he evoked. “You’re talented at this,” she whispered breathlessly.

  “Good thing you know where I live.”

  She might have told him she wouldn’t be coming back, at least for this, but he’d pulled her into his lap and was running his lips down her neck to the swell of her breasts. She couldn’t think of anything except the goose bumps he was leaving in his wake—and peeling off his clothes.

  “Let’s get rid of your shirt,” she said and sat up straighter so he could use both arms to pull it over his head. Lazarus followed the shirt with his eyes as Gabe tossed it carelessly aside, then whined and barked in an encouraging fashion, and Hannah couldn’t help laughing.

  “What?” Gabe murmured.

  “Your dog is watching us.”

  “Don’t let him bother you. If he’s half as turned on as I am, he’s having a good time.”

  She laughed, feeling small in contrast to Gabe’s powerful chest and shoulders. His body was even more beautiful than she’d expected. She kissed his collarbone, ran her fingers over his warm skin. “Nice…”

  He unclasped her bra, and Lazarus gave another encouraging whine as it landed next to Gabe’s shirt. This time Hannah barely noticed. She was too focused on the man who sat back to examine what his hands had revealed.

  A cool wind cascaded over Hannah’s sensitized skin as she waited nervously for his reaction. The daring of being naked in his yard instead of in his house added a certain element of fear to the experience, but it might have been even more erotic to her if she hadn’t been terrified already. Certainly she’d never forget this moment.

  “You look exactly as I imagined,” he finally said with a smile.

  “Imagined, when?” she asked.

  “In your house, in the restaurant, in the truck, and whenever I closed my eyes after I got home last night.”

  Maybe she would have admitted to dreaming about him, too. But he’d already lowered his head to her breast.

  She jumped as his mouth closed over her nipple. “Wow, it really has been a while.”

  He chuckled and tickled her with his tongue. “Some things are worth waiting for,” he said. “I have a feeling this is one of them.”

  Hannah checked his expression to see if he’d just given her a line, but he seemed sincere. At least the mask she hated was gone. If Gabe was shielding himself in any way, she couldn’t feel it. He seemed vulnerable yet trusting, completely open to her for the first time. And she was going to make sure he never regretted it. This was a start for him. If things went well, there was a chance he’d take the next step and the next until he was back to his old self, socializing and dating….

  The thought of him moving on to make love to someone else sent an unexpected stab of pain through Hannah, but she told herself his health and happiness was all that mattered. Gabe Holbrook was never meant to belong to her. He was like a rare, injured bird. Once she nursed him back to health, she’d have to set him free. She didn’t deserve him after what she’d done to him.

  She couldn’t imagine how cold and empty her life was going to seem when he was no longer part of it. He was the sun, the warmth streaming through her blood, the air she was dragging into her lungs…

  Misunderstanding her little shiver, Gabe pulled her to him, chest to chest, and she decided that had to be the best sensation of all. “You’re getting cold. Let’s go in the house.”

  * * *

  GABE HAD TAKEN PLENTY of painkillers right after the accident. He’d even abused them for a few months, when he realized he wasn’t going to bounce back from his injury as quickly as he’d hoped. But he’d never experienced the kind of high he felt when he made love to Hannah. Despite the potential difficulties he’d envisioned, they quickly learned what positions were easiest and most comfortable. Maybe it wasn’t quite as smooth and effortless as when he could use his legs, but he loved looking up at her as she straddled him, watching the emotion on her face.

  Hannah made love with her heart more than she did her body, which changed the experience somehow, made it more meaningful. And although he couldn’t feel much of his legs, the rest of his body compensated by becoming more sensitive to the touch. He could feel every whisper of her hand, lips or tongue on his skin as if he’d taken some sort of nerve-enhancing drug.

  He’d heard Viagra helped some paraplegics. His doctor had tactfully mentioned it at one of his checkups. But Gabe hadn’t been planning on making love to anyone so he’d never ordered any. Fortunately, he’d been able to do what he wanted for Hannah without it—but he was certainly glad he’d bought condoms. They’d needed only one, but their lovemaking had lasted a long time and satisfied them both.

  Watching the sun go down, he ran his fingers along Hannah’s arm as she dozed contentedly next to him in bed. He hated to see the days grow shorter as fall approached. Getting around was more difficult in winter, but he enjoyed the turning of the leaves, the smells associated with the season. For some reason, autumn always evoked fresh hope that maybe, if he worked hard enough through the winter, he’d be back on his feet by spring.

  Hannah shifted, bringing more of her bare back in contact with his chest. The softness of her, the promise of more companionship like he’d known today—maybe that was all he needed. Maybe it was time to be realistic about his chance of a full recovery.

  You’ve been fooling yourself, a voice in his head seemed to whisper. It’s over. The chair is all you’ll know. Better find someone who can tolerate living with half a man. Someone who can deal with having everyone stare at her just because she’s at your side. Someone who can tolerate the whispers about whether or not you can get it up for her. And settle down before you have nothing….

  Blocking out those insidious voices, he covered Hannah with the sheet and slid to the edge of the bed, where he’d left his chair. He’d always been praised for his athletic prowess and wasn’t sure, even at this late date, how to change his own measure of success. He couldn’t even think of getting into a relationship when he had so little of himself to give, could he?

  “Gabe?” Hannah muttered sleepily as he moved toward the door.

  “Go ahead and sleep,” he said. “I’m going to make dinner.”

  “That was great,” she said softly.

  She was talking about their lovemaking. He grinned. It had been great. As a matter of fact, this afternoon they’d created the only memory of the past three years that he wanted to carry with him.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  IT WAS COMPLETELY DARK when Hannah opened her eyes. For a moment, she was so disoriented she couldn’t remember where she was. She wasn’t used to waking up in strange places. Her stomach tensed with apprehension—until she turned her face into her pillow and smelled Gabe. Then she realized she was in his bed and would have smiled and stretched languidly, except that her next thought was for her boys.

  What time was it? She had to get home.

  Scrambling to her feet, she pulled on her underwear and shorts, but her blouse was still on the floor of the workshop. She and Gabe had been in too much of a hurry to bother picking anything up. So, unless she wanted to stride into the front of the house half-naked, she had no choice except to borrow something of his.