Never Say Never, page 9
Sabrina wondered if Malcolm regretted that he didn’t have a family of his own. She was determined to find out later over dinner.
“Thank you.” Sabrina glanced up at Malcolm as she accepted the large bag of popcorn and soda from the clerk. His six-foot-three stature nearly dwarfed her.
Malcolm pulled out a twenty and handed it to the clerk. “Keep the change,” he said, assisting Sabrina by pulling the soda container out of her hand.
“I wish her mother was as equally fond of me,” Malcolm said, leading her by the elbow to the theater.
“Fishing for a compliment?” Sabrina queried.
“Absolutely,” grinned Malcolm.
“And when I have one, you’ll be the first to know,” Sabrina teased, walking in front of him into the movie.
Malcolm chuckled. It was going to be a long night.
When the movie let out two hours later, they were both starved. Luckily, her parents knew the owners of Lady and Sons, who’d graciously agreed to hold a table for them even though they didn’t usually accept reservations. Known for its good food, the restaurant was always crowded on the weekend.
Almost immediately upon their arrival, the waitress sat them in a corner table by the window and handed them their menu.
“We’d like to start off first with a bottle of your best red wine,” Malcolm stated.
“Mmmm, it all looks good,” Sabrina commented as they reviewed their menus. “What are you going to order?” Sabrina focused her copper eyes on Malcolm’s dark ones.
“Are you on the menu?” Malcolm whispered silkily in her ear as he scooted his chair next to hers and stretched his arm across the back of it.
The underlying sensuality of his words captivated Sabrina, catching her off guard. “Hmmm, I don’t believe that I am,” she replied, her voice a little shakier than she would have liked. “I guess chicken and grits will have to do for you,” she said, noting an item on Lady and Son’s menu.
“I suppose so,” he said, sending an irresistibly devastating grin her way, “though I did have something else in mind.” Sabrina wondered about the implication of his words when the waitress returned with a bottle of wine and uncorked it, pouring a generous amount into Malcolm’s and Sabrina’s glasses.
“Are you ready to order?” the waitress asked, pulling out a small notepad and pen.
“Definitely,” Sabrina said.
The waitress left to place their orders, and soon Sabrina and Malcolm were deep in a conversation. She asked him about his past in Boston, from his family life to his schooling to his career as a renowned cardiologist.
He surprised her by answering all of her probing questions. She discovered that his mother lived back in Boston with his stepfather, Walter, and that he’d attended Johns Hopkins for medical school. Something, however, about his explanations bothered Sabrina. When he spoke of his family, his voice was kind of cold and impersonal. She wondered if there were more to his story than he was letting on, and although Malcolm’s tone remained dispassionate, his eyes betrayed him and told a different story entirely.
Sabrina learned more during the one dinner than she had from any of their previous encounters. And it all fascinated her. She was more intrigued with Malcolm than ever. She couldn’t tell if it was his aloofness that piqued her curiosity or if it was something more.
Next thing she knew, she was finding out he had a passion for sports.
“I enjoy the usual ones: basketball, baseball. Playing as well as watching.”
“Me too. I’ll have to get us some tickets to a Braves or Hawks game sometime.”
“That would be great,” Malcolm replied.
The waitress returned and sat the steaming hot plates—steak for Malcolm and pan-seared tilapia over jasmine rice for Sabrina—on the table while Malcolm discussed the renovations on his house on Tybee Island. Sabrina wondered why a bachelor his age would buy a five-bedroom house. He had to be looking for a wife to fill it, whether he knew it or not.
“That’s an awfully big house you’ve got there, Malcolm,” Sabrina commented. “You must want a really big family.”
Malcolm was silent for several long moments and Sabrina wondered if he’d heard her.
He had. It’s just that he’d never really thought about starting a family before. In Boston, he’d never had time for a relationship let alone a wife and kids. “I guess I never considered it,” he replied honestly.
“Really? Well, you have plenty of room out there. And you’re certainly wonderful with Jasmine.”
“I adore Jasmine and maybe one day I’ll have children of my own. I’d like to anyway, when I meet the right lady,” he said, his eyes burning into hers. His fierce gaze caused Sabrina to look away and stare into her wineglass.
Sabrina surmised from the way he was looking at her that he was thinking she might be that choice, which completely frightened her. Malcolm’s intensity scared her at times, so much so that she wasn’t sure how to respond.
So instead, she focused on their delectable dinner, after which they shared a decadent dessert of chocolate mousse cake, which Sabrina had to browbeat the extremely health conscious Malcolm to share with her.
All in all, Sabrina enjoyed her evening tremendously, and afterward, when Malcolm returned her to her parents’ bungalow, she was somewhat reluctant for the evening to end.
“I had a wonderful time,” Sabrina said after Malcolm turned off the ignition.
“So did I, Sabrina. You have no idea what tonight meant to me,” he began. “To socialize with another person after all this time …” His voice trailed off.
She knew it. She was right. He was hurting over some kind of loss. “What is it, Malcolm? You can talk to me. Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you can tell me.”
“I want to Sabrina,” Malcolm replied, “but now is not the right time. We’ve had such a lovely evening; can’t we just leave it at that?”
Sabrina wanted to comfort him, but she was afraid of reaching out to him. Turns out she didn’t have to because he made the first move by twisting her massive curls in his large hands. He brought her face within inches of his and she watched his emotions change from anguish to desire.
His steady gaze traveled a slow leisurely path to her lips and there it stayed, sending a dizzying current racing through Sabrina as she waited for his lips to brush across hers. His breath was warm and moist against her face and the touch of his fingertips against her lips sent all the blood from her toes straight to her head. She was desperate for him to kiss her again, because if he didn’t soon, she was going to go mad with desire.
A light came on in the house.
“Maybe I should let you go inside,” Malcolm said quickly, unbuckling his seatbelt and jumping out of the car.
“Darn!” Sabrina swore and folded her arms across her chest. She knew it had to be her mother. Why can’t she stay out of my business?
In the warm night air, Malcolm took a deep, calming breath and rested his back against the driver’s side door. If that light hadn’t come on, the car would have become steamy in minutes.
When he finally caught his breath, Malcolm opened the Jaguar and helped Sabrina out. As he escorted her to her parents’ front door, the sexual tension between them sizzled.
“Thank you again, Malcolm, for a wonderful evening,” Sabrina said, drawn to his profile against the moonlight.
Malcolm studied her intently, trying to read her expression and find out if she too was reluctant for the night to end. He found what he was looking for when she stared back at him with the same intense longing.
Swiftly, he swept her up in his arms and pressed her snugly against him. A lurch of excitement leapt through her and the air around them crackled. When her soft curves molded into his lean body, Malcolm knew it was time for another taste of Sabrina. Bending his head, he claimed her lips with an urgency that demanded a response. And Sabrina answered it by returning the velvety warmth of his kiss with some passion of her own—passion she’d been holding inside for months, passion that begged for release.
She began by planting feather-light kisses on his chin as she slowly made her way back to his soft, succulent lips. She coaxed open his pliant mouth with her tongue, dipping inside it to explore its soft recesses. As she did this, his hands lightly caressed her shapely contours. When they came to her full, pert B-cup-sized breasts, Malcolm eagerly caressed them with his fingertips, causing the nipples underneath her bra to blossom into ripe buds. Sabrina quivered at his tantalizing kisses and the touch of his hands as they stroked her arms, the small of her back and her buttocks.
When they finally parted, Malcolm was as shaken as she. His breathing was labored. The long-awaited second kiss was even better than the first and had the blood in Malcolm’s brain pounding and hot, flaming desire running through his loins.
Sabrina’s arms stretched and caressed his cheek. “Wow, that was some kiss.”
“And well worth the wait,” Malcolm replied, gazing at her intently. “I’ll call you later.”
They’d tried their best for friendship, Sabrina thought as she watched him drive away, but after tonight, all bets were off.
Chapter 9
A week later on a sunny and nearly ninety-degree Saturday morning, Sabrina and Monique were volunteering at the refreshment stand for the summer camp’s softball team. Their children were playing in the game today, so they’d offered to pitch in. Of course, they had no idea the temperature would spike so high, and they were seriously regretting their generous offer.
“It’s hotter than hell out here,” Monique said, wiping her brow with her bandana. “Why on God’s green earth did we ever agree to this?” She’d much rather be inside sipping on some ice-cold lemonade. The hot baseball uniforms that she and Sabrina were wearing sure weren’t helping either.
“I know, I know,” Sabrina said, trying to stay hydrated. She’d already consumed two bottles of water and was well through her third. “Remind me never to suggest this again. It’s just that this is one of the few things that has made Jasmine happy this summer and I just wanted to show my support.”
“So what’s it like doing grunt work for Felicia? I’ve been dying to hear how it’s going,” Monique said as she prepared a hotdog for yet another parent and his child. “Need anything else?” she asked brusquely. The parent shook his head, handed Monique a five dollar bill and wandered back to the bleachers.
“Fine, I guess,” Sabrina answered as she selected a hot pretzel and cheese for a pint-sized girl who couldn’t be more than six or seven, “if you can call scrubbing floors and cleaning toilets fun. The problem is I let Felicia paint me into a corner about my absence all these years, so I’ve reluctantly agreed to continue helping out. But don’t you worry. I’m going back to school when the new semester starts in August.”
“Aren’t you going to be burning both sides of the candlestick?” Monique turned to face Sabrina. “I can barely work one job at the diner and manage two kids, let alone school and homework too.”
“I know.” Sabrina heard the admonishment in Monique’s tone.
“But a good education will help me make a better life for me and Jazzy and get me out of Parker House.”
Monique stepped back with her hands on her hips. “Are you sure, Sabrina? Because juggling a job, school and Jasmine is hard work. You are not Superwoman, ya know.”
“True …” Sabrina leaned back against the fence. “But I want this so bad, Monique. You just don’t know.”
“Hmmm, and don’t you have something else you want to tell me?”
“Like?” Sabrina smiled.
“You know what. How did your date with dreamy Dr. Winters go?”
“It was marvelous.” Sabrina sighed and looked heavenward.
“Wow, it was that good, huh?” Monique stared at Sabrina’s starry eyes.
“Better,” Sabrina answered. “He’s not only good looking, he’s charming and funny.”
“Sounds like someone’s hooked,” Monique teased, poking her in the arm.
“Oh, no, it’s not like that.” Sabrina squared her shoulders and shook her head in denial. “Malcolm and I just enjoy each other’s company. He’s a good listener.”
“I just bet.” Monique chuckled to herself. Sabrina could believe they were just friends if she wanted, but Monique was not convinced.
They continued watching the game and Sabrina cheered when Jasmine hit the ball clear across the field and slid into home base … that’s until she saw that her daughter wasn’t moving from the ground and the coach was running from the dugout.
Jumping over the counter, Sabrina ran across the field with Monique close behind her.
“Jasmine, Jasmine!” Sabrina yelled as she ran toward home base. Coach Carter, an ex-Marine, was helping Jasmine off the ground. He was touching her arm and checking for broken bones when Sabrina arrived.
Thank God she’s standing, Sabrina thought. “How does that feel?” the coach asked, wiggling Jasmine’s arm to the left and to the right; she screamed in agony. The coach looked over at Sabrina. “Could be broken. We’d better take her to Doc Winters.” He lifted Jasmine into his arms.
At the mention of Malcolm’s name, butterflies swarmed in Sabrina’s stomach. She could still almost feel the touch of his lips on hers as they kissed passionately on the front porch of her parents’ house.
“I’m coming with you,” Sabrina stated emphatically as she rushed toward Coach Carter’s Jeep Cherokee.
“I’m right behind you,” Monique yelled.
Gingerly, the coach helped Jasmine into the backseat as she held her left arm. Jasmine’s face squinted in pain and her face bunched up in a frown when he set her down.
It hurt Sabrina to her very heart to see her child like this. Sabrina climbed in beside her. “It’s going to be okay baby,” she said, lightly hugging Jasmine.
Malcolm glanced down at his watch. Where are the Gibsons? They had missed a follow-up visit at his clinic and now they were late.
He hadn’t spoken with Sabrina in several days. It killed him to not pick up the phone and simply call her so he could hear her sweet melodic voice. But he had to resist the urge. He was trying to give her some space and not overwhelm her.
It surprised him how important she’d become to him. When he moved here, he’d planned on keeping a low profile, but since meeting her, everything had changed.
“Dr. Winters, the Gibsons are here,” Grace said, poking her head inside his office.
“Thank you, Grace. I’ll be there in a moment.”
Malcolm hated what was about to come next, but it had to be done. Knocking on the door, he entered the room and saw the inquisitive looks on the Gibsons’ faces. He wasted no time in informing them that with continued symptoms of a heart attack, he wanted to perform an immediate coronary angiography at Memorial Health’s Heart Institute as soon as it could be scheduled.
Sabrina arrived at Malcolm’s clinic in record time. The coach lifted Jasmine out of his Jeep and headed to the front door. Sabrina met him there, opening it wide for him to enter.
Malcolm had just made arrangements to ensure Mr. Gibson’s angiography would be on the schedule for tomorrow morning and was talking to Nurse Turner at the reception desk when Sabrina and the coach came bursting in carrying Jasmine. Malcolm immediately focused in on Jasmine, who was holding her arm and wincing in pain.
“What happened?” Malcolm asked as the coach approached.
“She was running and she lost her footing as she slid into home base. I think the arm could be broken or at the very least sprained,” Coach Carter replied. “Where should I put her?”
“In here,” Malcolm said, rushing toward Exam Room One. The coach laid Jasmine on the exam table and left the room.
“I’ll be right outside, kiddo.” The coach smiled at Jasmine and gave her a thumbs-up. Sabrina, however, was directly on Malcolm’s heel, following him into the room.
Fifteen minutes later, his initial exam revealed that Jasmine’s arm was not broken, but sprained. But just to be on the safe side, he insisted on taking Jasmine to the hospital for X-rays.
Malcolm slid Jasmine’s arm into a sling. “This should alleviate some of the pain until we see what the X-rays say.”
“See that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Sabrina asked, wiping her daughter’s tear-stained cheeks.
“No,” Jasmine sniffed, holding on to her mother’s arm.
Even though her baseball uniform was muddy and her face was smeared with dirt, Jasmine looked like a crestfallen little angel to Malcolm and it tugged at his heartstrings. Somehow this nine-year old and her mother had slipped under the radar and gotten under his skin.
“Since you’ve been so brave, I have something for you,” Malcolm said, reaching inside his white coat pocket. Instead of handing it to her, Malcolm held it behind his back and teased her. “You have to guess first.”
“What is it? What is it?” Jasmine perked up. She pushed her mother aside and reached for Malcolm’s coat. As Sabrina watched from the sideline, she could see that Malcolm really cared for her daughter and it made her feel really good to know Jasmine had a father figure like him in her life. It was also why she thought so very highly of Malcolm. What woman could resist a man who adored their child?
“It’s a lollipop,” Malcolm said, bending down and extending it to Jasmine.
“Thank you, Dr. Malcolm.” Jasmine gave him a one-armed hug.
Sabrina watched as surprise registered on Malcolm’s face at her daughter’s tiny act of thankfulness. He didn’t seem to know what to do at first, but after several moments, he returned Jasmine’s hug.
