his face in his hands as he inhaled deeply to cool his temper. The others seemed to lose their appetites as well.
Khan was first to stand. âIâll get the check. Catch you guys later. Mr. Rucker.â He nodded a goodbye.
âYeah, Iâm outta here, too. Got some stuff to do.â Cube followed next. âRucker,â he bid.
âGood seeing you again, Rucker.â Winton extended a hand to shake.
âGive us a minute, man,â Brody said when the waiter came to collect dishes. âHave you two slept together?â he asked once the young waiter had walked on.
Therin propped a sneaker-shod foot to the chair Winton had vacated. Bracing a fist to his forehead, the resigned smile he gave was confirmation enough.
âHow was she when you left her?â Brody asked.
A muscle danced along Therinâs jaw as it tightened. âShe was sleeping, woke up before I left. Said she wanted to make me breakfast.â He smiled briefly on the memory.
Brody picked at his bacon. âDid she tell you about her condition before or after youâ¦?â
âBefore.â
âAnd I suppose you figured you couldâ¦keep yourself in check around her?â
âThe hell with you, doc.â Therinâs fist landed on the table. âI didnât jump on her the second I met her. Hell, I didnât even want to risk itââ
âExactly.â Brody straightened in his chair. âMay I speak frankly?â
Therinâs laughter drew a fair amount of attention. âIsnât that what weâve been doing?â
Brody grinned. âKhan was right. What he said about not being able to tell her what to do. Sheâs got a wayâ¦an almost undetectable way of working things in her favor.â
âThat passion of hers?â Brody waited for Therinâs nod. âItâs evident in all she does. All, Mr. Ambassador.â
The muscle began its wicked dance along Therinâs jaw again. âAre you speaking from experience, then?â
âNo. Not mineâothers.â Brody ran his hand across the low afro. âKeyâs last relationship was over three years ago. Things didnât move nearly as fast there as they have with the two of you but they made progress. The first night they slept together, she wound up in the ER.â
Therin went cold beneath his tan hoody.
âHmph. The guy couldâve used time in the ER himselfâhe looked ready to pass out.â Brody smiled. âI think he did when Cube got there.â
âWhat kind of idiot do you think I am? You believe Iâd intentionally overlook the risk and put her in danger?â
Brody leaned forward, clasping his hands against the top of the table. âNo. I donât think that, and neither did her last two acquaintancesâbut it happened.â His voice softened. âWhat Iâm saying is that in spite of best intentions, I donât know a man alive who could take it slow and easy with a woman like that.â
Therinâs words had failed then and he offered no argument.
Brody regarded him for a moment before he stood. âIâd appreciate you not mentioning our chat with Kianti. Sheâd kill us slow if she knew weâd talked to you.â
When silence met his request, Brody sighed and left the table.
The waiter returned to clear the dishes, noticed the harsh look Therin wore and decided to return once the table was vacant.
Therin stared unseeingly past the windows and wondered if it was too late to shut down emotion and back off from Kianti Lawrence. A host of responses filtered his brainâall of them telling him he was already hopelessly beyond the point of no return. He had never opened himself up to such a rush of emotion. In spite of the many women heâd known before, heâd never wanted to open himself up to such emotion. His fate was sealed, he knew it and heâd passed the point of caring.
He felt the phone vibrate in his
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