Time for Love , The McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 9 by Marie Force Page A

anything ?”
    “Nope. Go away. Come back tomorrow.”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah. See you then.”
    After Victoria walked down the long hallway and through the double doors, David went into his office and closed the door. He sat next to Daisy, watching her sleep for a minute before he took a big chance and leaned in to kiss her awake.
    Her eyes opened slowly and brightened at the sight of him. “Hey. How’s Marion?”
    “Fine, other than her feet, which will be sore for a few days.”
    “That’s a relief.”
    “I saw Blaine when he was leaving, and he said you were really great with her. Thanks for that.”
    “She’s a sweet lady. Her confusion and disorientation are so sad.”
    He nodded in agreement but didn’t want to talk about Marion anymore. He wanted to talk about her, about them. For days now, he’d been rehearsing what he would say to her the next time they were together, but now that the moment was upon him, words escaped him.
    She saved him by sliding her fingers lightly over his face. “I missed you.”
    He turned his face into her hand, kissing her palm. “I missed you, too.”
    “Kinda funny, huh?”
    “What is?”
    “That I missed you so much when I’ve only known you for a few weeks.”
    “It’s not funny. It’s sweet. It’s nice to be missed.”
    Their eyes met, and he couldn’t look away. The inner calm and serenity he always experienced in her presence soothed him as it usually did. But underneath that now was a hum of awareness and desire that had him leaning in for another kiss, this one more lingering.  
    “Did I mention how beautiful you look?”
    “I don’t think you did,” she said with a smile that lit up her eyes.
    He liked it when she smiled. He liked that he’d given her reason to, until he remembered all the things he needed to tell her, which made him ache with regret over his past mistakes. “We need to talk.”
    “So talk. Tell me what you think I need to know, and we’ll figure it out.”
    He ached even more at the thought of never again seeing the special glimmer in her eyes that she seemed to save for him. But continuing to put it off wouldn’t change anything, so he took a deep breath and forced himself to meet her earnest gaze. “You know I was with Janey McCarthy for a long time. Thirteen years.”
    She nodded.
    “We were engaged for the last two years we were together while I was finishing my residency in Boston.” He looked away from her and out the window behind the sofa, focusing on the bushes that grew along the side of the building. He’d give everything he had, everything he’d ever have, not to have to say these next words. But knowing so much was riding on Daisy’s reaction to hearing them, he made himself look at her as he said them. “I cheated on her.”
    She blinked once and then again. Otherwise her expression never changed. “Oh.”
    “I made a very bad mistake during a particularly stressful time in my life that I’ve regretted every day since.” Over the hammering of his heart and the dryness in his mouth, he forced himself to continue. “The worst part… She… Janey… She came to Boston to surprise me on our anniversary and… and she saw me. In our bed with someone else.”
    Daisy closed her eyes and exhaled.  
    “I’ll understand completely if, after hearing this, you decide that spending time with me isn’t something you want to do.” As he said the words, he wished with every fiber of his being that he was a better man, one who was worthy of her.
    She kept her eyes closed and the fingers of her right hand pressed to her lips. He wondered if she was trying not to cry.
    “Daisy?”
    She opened eyes that were swimming with tears.
    The tears slayed and shamed him.  
    She blinked them back and managed to contain them. “You said it was a particularly stressful time. Was that because of the residency?”
    “Not entirely. I’d been feeling pretty crappy for a couple of months. I had a sore throat that wouldn’t quit and