Taming Natasha by Nora Roberts Page A

since he…Well.”
    â€œHe was only joking.” Wanting to put Terry at ease again, she squeezed his hand. “What about you? Do you have a girl back in Michigan?”
    â€œNo. There’s nobody. Nobody at all.” He turned his hand over, gripping hers.
    Oh, my God. As realization hit, Natasha felt her mouth drop open. Only a fool would have missed it, she thought as she stared into Terry’s adoring, myopic eyes. A fool, she added, who was so tied up with her own problems that she missed what was happening under her nose. She was going to have to be careful, Natasha decided. Very careful.
    â€œTerry,” she began. “You’re very sweet—”
    That was all it took to make his hand shake. Coffee spilled downhis shirt. Moving quickly, Natasha shifted chairs so that she was beside him. Snatching paper napkins from the dispenser, she began to blot the stain.
    â€œIt’s a good thing they never serve it hot in this place. If you soak this in cold water right away, you should be all right.”
    Overcome, Terry grabbed both of her hands. Her head was bent close, and the scent of her hair was making him dizzy. “I love you,” he blurted, and took aim with his mouth; his glasses slid down his nose.
    Natasha felt his lips hit her cheekbone, cold and trembly. Because her heart went out to him, she decided that being careful wasn’t the right approach. Firmness was called for, quickly.
    â€œNo, you don’t.” Her voice was brisk, she pulled back far enough to dab at the spill on the table.
    â€œI don’t?” Her response threw him off. It was nothing like any of the fantasies he’d woven. There was the one where he’d saved her from a runaway truck. And another where he’d played the song he was writing for her and she had collapsed in a passionate, weeping puddle into his arms. His imagination hadn’t stretched far enough to see her wiping up coffee and calmly telling him he wasn’t in love at all.
    â€œYes, I do.” He snatched at her hand again.
    â€œThat’s ridiculous,” she said, and smiled to take the sting out of the words. “You like me, and I like you, too.”
    â€œNo, it’s more than that. I—”
    â€œAll right. Why do you love me?”
    â€œBecause you’re beautiful,” he managed, losing his grip as he stared into her face again. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
    â€œAnd that’s enough?” Disengaging her hand from his, she linked her fingers to rest her chin on them. “What if I told you I was a thief—or that I liked to run down small, furry animals with my car? MaybeI’ve been married three times and have murdered all my husbands in their sleep.”
    â€œTash—”
    She laughed, but resisted the temptation to pet his cheek. “I mean, you don’t know me enough to love me. If you did, what I looked like wouldn’t matter.”
    â€œBut—but I think about you all the time.”
    â€œBecause you’ve told yourself it would be nice to be in love with me.” He looked so forlorn that she took a chance and laid one hand upon his. “I’m very flattered.”
    â€œDoes this mean you won’t go out with me?”
    â€œI’m out with you now.” She pushed her cup of coffee in front of him. “As friends,” she said before the light could dawn again in his eyes. “I’m too old to be anything but your friend.”
    â€œNo, you’re not.”
    â€œOh, yes.” Suddenly she felt a hundred. “Yes, I am.”
    â€œYou think I’m stupid,” he muttered. In place of confused excitement came a crushing wave of humiliation. He could feel his cheeks sting with it.
    â€œNo, I don’t.” Her voice softened, and she reached once more for his hands. “Terry, listen—”
    Before she could stop him, he pushed back his chair.