more than anybody else does. And I’m not afraid of you.”
“Sure you are.”
He wasn’t. He was afraid of himself because looking at her made him want to kill for her, die for her, protect her and conquer her heart, her body and her mind. The stark realization that what he felt was love, not lust, hit him hard. Trying to reign in his emotions was like biting bullets right now.
“If you’re not afraid of me why won’t you look at me sometimes? After you put the cream and oil on my back you never hold eye contact with me. It’s like you can’t stomach it…me.”
He growled and took steps forward while making her step backwards. Once she was backed up against the corner of the island he placed his hands on the counter and lowered his head to look directly into her upturned eyes.
“I am not disgusted by you. I’m a man, Sheila. I’m a man who has touched your body, heard your voice, listened to your words, and couldn’t get enough. But I’m being a gentleman here and that takes work.”
“I care for you, so what’s the big deal?”
“You’re coming out of something that hit you hard and you’re not ready for it. It takes time to heal, but you can’t just fall for me because…”
“Because you rescued me? Yeah…that’s not even why I fell for you.”
“Sure it is.”
“No, it’s not. I will admit having you take care of me with such care means everything to me, but…yes, I feel safe with you. Yes, I felt safe the moment you put me in your arms and protected me. Yes, I think it let me open my heart faster because I knew you were a good man. Your job ended when you got me out. You didn’t have to ride to the hospital with me. You didn’t have to stay in the room with me. You could have left before they even started the exam, but you stayed. So yeah, maybe all of that has something to do with me realizing you’re a good man. But my feelings for you aren’t locked in some savior theory. You saved my life, yeah, I’ll give you that. But don’t tramp on my intelligence. My heart doesn’t rule my mind and my mind is telling me that you’re the best man to come into my life on this level ever. My mind is telling me you’re hot as all shades of heaven and hell and I want you. Maybe that sounds sick because of what I’ve gone through…but maybe going through that circle of hell finally made me realize that life is too short to keep your heart so heavily guarded. When you decide that too come talk to me.”
She pushed past him and he let her. The words that came out of her mouth had him both flabbergasted and set straight all at the same time. He had put his own pseudo science diagnosis on the vibes he felt coming off her. He could tell she was feeling a certain kind of way, but he had assumed it was because she had some sort of hero worship thing going on. He had assumed wrong. If they had met under different circumstances he still would have gone for her, and from her words he was starting to realize she still would have gone for him too. But what were the odds they would have met? It was rare that he got up to Scottsdale; it wasn’t a city he felt the need to visit and living so far away he didn’t feel the need to waste the gas going either. While he did get out sometimes he wasn’t chomping at the bits for places to go hang out at. The heights had some stuff, just down the road in the opposite direction had something, and if he felt the need to venture out farther than that he could hit up Gilbert, or even Coolidge without wiping out his tank. And if he needed farther than either of those places he could always take a shorter drive to Tucson. Yeah, they wouldn’t have met at all because there wasn’t much here that would make a Scottsdalian feel the need to come visit unless they wanted a rustic western dinner experience at the nearly upscale meets desert cowboy feel establishment in the Heights.
She had walked away from him for the first time. Usually she was trying to stay
“Sure you are.”
He wasn’t. He was afraid of himself because looking at her made him want to kill for her, die for her, protect her and conquer her heart, her body and her mind. The stark realization that what he felt was love, not lust, hit him hard. Trying to reign in his emotions was like biting bullets right now.
“If you’re not afraid of me why won’t you look at me sometimes? After you put the cream and oil on my back you never hold eye contact with me. It’s like you can’t stomach it…me.”
He growled and took steps forward while making her step backwards. Once she was backed up against the corner of the island he placed his hands on the counter and lowered his head to look directly into her upturned eyes.
“I am not disgusted by you. I’m a man, Sheila. I’m a man who has touched your body, heard your voice, listened to your words, and couldn’t get enough. But I’m being a gentleman here and that takes work.”
“I care for you, so what’s the big deal?”
“You’re coming out of something that hit you hard and you’re not ready for it. It takes time to heal, but you can’t just fall for me because…”
“Because you rescued me? Yeah…that’s not even why I fell for you.”
“Sure it is.”
“No, it’s not. I will admit having you take care of me with such care means everything to me, but…yes, I feel safe with you. Yes, I felt safe the moment you put me in your arms and protected me. Yes, I think it let me open my heart faster because I knew you were a good man. Your job ended when you got me out. You didn’t have to ride to the hospital with me. You didn’t have to stay in the room with me. You could have left before they even started the exam, but you stayed. So yeah, maybe all of that has something to do with me realizing you’re a good man. But my feelings for you aren’t locked in some savior theory. You saved my life, yeah, I’ll give you that. But don’t tramp on my intelligence. My heart doesn’t rule my mind and my mind is telling me that you’re the best man to come into my life on this level ever. My mind is telling me you’re hot as all shades of heaven and hell and I want you. Maybe that sounds sick because of what I’ve gone through…but maybe going through that circle of hell finally made me realize that life is too short to keep your heart so heavily guarded. When you decide that too come talk to me.”
She pushed past him and he let her. The words that came out of her mouth had him both flabbergasted and set straight all at the same time. He had put his own pseudo science diagnosis on the vibes he felt coming off her. He could tell she was feeling a certain kind of way, but he had assumed it was because she had some sort of hero worship thing going on. He had assumed wrong. If they had met under different circumstances he still would have gone for her, and from her words he was starting to realize she still would have gone for him too. But what were the odds they would have met? It was rare that he got up to Scottsdale; it wasn’t a city he felt the need to visit and living so far away he didn’t feel the need to waste the gas going either. While he did get out sometimes he wasn’t chomping at the bits for places to go hang out at. The heights had some stuff, just down the road in the opposite direction had something, and if he felt the need to venture out farther than that he could hit up Gilbert, or even Coolidge without wiping out his tank. And if he needed farther than either of those places he could always take a shorter drive to Tucson. Yeah, they wouldn’t have met at all because there wasn’t much here that would make a Scottsdalian feel the need to come visit unless they wanted a rustic western dinner experience at the nearly upscale meets desert cowboy feel establishment in the Heights.
She had walked away from him for the first time. Usually she was trying to stay
Similar Books
