“Please, Jenny. I…” He swiped a hand through his hair. “Just two friends having a cup of coffee, okay?”
My stupid heart sank to my stomach at hearing him describe us as just two friends, even though I was the one who’d left him with no more than a cowardly note. He put his hand on my shoulder. My body responded to his touch like one of Pavlov’s dogs. I squeezed my legs together, willing the aching need to go away.
I guess I took too long to answer because he captured my hand. “We’ll walk. Easier than moving our cars.”
Five minutes later we were seated at a corner table, an iced coffee in front of me, a hot coffee for Dylan. He’d held my hand all the way over, which confused me. Holding hands had always felt like an intimate act between a man and a woman. Why was he touching me? I wished he’d just go away. Being with him again, even if only to talk, was messing with my head.
My hungry gaze roamed over him. The man was mouthwateringly sexy wearing his cop uniform—beige cargo pants, a dark brown Henley shirt, a brown leather bomber jacket, and the gun holster on his hip.
Handsome, dangerous, and not mine.
40
~ Dylan ~
What was I about? It was obvious Jenny was uncomfortable, but leaving me with nothing but a note hadn’t set well. Yeah, I knew her plans and why she had to go, but there was more to it than that. I’d thought long and hard about it, and the only thing I could come up with for her sneaking out the way she had was that her feelings for me scared her. I could understand that. What I felt for her for sure scared me.
Maybe it wasn’t fair to push her to admit there was more between us than friends with benefits, but I needed to know. If she’d only ask me, I’d wait for her however long it took to get the travel bug out of her system, to keep the promise she’d made to her sister. I’d always been a one-woman man, and Jenny was the woman I wanted. If that meant waiting for her, so be it.
“I wasn’t expecting to run into you at the hospital.” Yeah, I was stalling, not sure what to say.
She stirred the whipped cream into her iced coffee. “How’s Sean?”
“Getting better every day. He’ll have months of physical therapy ahead, but he’ll be okay.”
“It was nice of you to visit him.”
She still wasn’t looking at me, which bugged the hell out of me. “Actually I came to see his parents to let them know that we charged Stephanie with a DUI.” That got her attention, and she lifted her eyes to mine. I could drown in those damn green eyes.
“I can’t say I’m surprised, but maybe it will be a wake-up call.”
“Her father hopes so.” Her gaze returned to her coffee, which she’d barely touched. I still didn’t know what I wanted to say, but I better spit something out because she was on the edge of her seat, ready to bolt.
“How have you been, Jenny?”
“Peachy. I’ve been just peachy.”
I frowned. What had I done? She was the one who left me a fucking note. “I’m clueless here, Red. Couldn’t you have talked to me instead of leaving a note?” I hadn’t meant to say that, but now that it was out, I let the question hang in the air.
“Obviously, that was fine with you since you haven’t once tried to call me.”
Now it was my fault? I studied her face, saw the confusion and regret swirling in her eyes and realized that she had an internal battle going on. She did feel something for me, and as for me, I wanted her more than my next breath.
“Ask me to stay, Dylan,” she said, her gaze on the straw she poked around in her iced coffee.
I almost did. But how long would it be before she resented me for not only stealing her dream but for forcing her to break a deathbed promise? I did the only thing I could for her. “No, I won’t do that, even though I’m tempted. If you don’t go, you’ll regret it. Then there’s the promise you made to your sister. You have to go, but I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.”
“You’re not.” Her shoulders slumped. “Truthfully I didn’t mean to say that.”
By all appearances, she was having second thoughts, and I had the feeling it would be easy to talk her out of it, which I think she wanted me to do. It wasn’t my decision to make. She had to choose between me and a deathbed promise.
“Do you need a ride to the airport?” I hoped she said no. The last thing I wanted to do was watch her get on a plane.
“No, my parents are taking me.” She stood.
“Can I have a good-bye hug?” She walked into my arms when I held them out, and Christ, I didn’t want to ever let her go. At hearing her sniffle, I put my hand on the back of her neck, closing my eyes as I leaned my chin on her head.
“Hush, Jenny Girl,” I said, stroking her hair when a sob broke free from her. “This time next month, you’ll be standing on a warm beach somewhere while the rest of us here are cursing the snow. Just be smart and careful, okay?” The world was a scary place these days, and I clamped down on my protective instincts before I begged her not to take off for foreign places by herself.
