“I imagine you can spare five minutes to have a cold drink and avoid hurting Kate’s feelings.”
“Fine. It’s a quicker trip home through the back anyway.” She turned and started down the hall at a brisk pace. She wanted to be away from him. When he found out about his mother, she would do what she could for him. But for now she had her own pain to cope with.
“How’s the patient?”
“She could dance a jig if she wanted to. There’s not a thing wrong with her.” She pushed through the door and stood stubbornly while he got out a pitcher of golden-yellow lemonade swimming with mint and pulp. When her mouth watered, she swallowed resolutely. “How’s your hand?”
“It’s all right. I don’t really notice it.”
“I might as well look at it while I’m here.” She set her bag down on the breakfast table. “The sutures should have been removed a couple of days ago.”
“You were leaving.”
“It’ll save you a trip out to see me.”
He stopped pouring her lemonade and looked at her. The sun was streaming through the window at her back, licking light over her hair. Her eyes were a dark, stormy green that made his loins tighten.
“All right.” He carried her glass to the table and sat down.
Despite the heat, her hands were cool. Despite her anger, they were gentle. She saw no swelling or puffiness, no sign of infection. The edges of the wound had fused neatly. He would barely have a scar, she decided, and opened her bag for her suture scissors.
“This won’t take long.”
“Just don’t put any new holes in me.”
She clipped the first suture, tugged it free with tweezers. “Since we both live on this island, and it’s likely we’ll be running into each other on a regular basis for the rest of our lives, perhaps you’d do me the courtesy of clearing the air.”
“It’s clear enough, Kirby.”
“For you, apparently. But not for me.” She clipped, tugged. “I want to know why you turned away from me. Why you decided to end things between us the way you did.”
“Because they’d gone farther than I’d intended them to. Neither one of us thought it would work. I just decided to back off first, that’s all.”
“Oh, I see. You dumped me before I could dump you.”
“More or less.” He wished he couldn’t smell her. He wished she’d had the decency not to rub that damned peach-scented lotion all over her skin to torment him. “I’d see it more as just a matter of simplifying.”
“And you like things simple, don’t you? You like things your way, in your time and at your pace.”
Her voice was mild, and though he wasn’t sure he could trust it, particularly when she had a sharp implement in her hand, he nodded. “That’s true enough. You’re the same, but your way, your time, and your pace are different from mine.”
“I can’t argue with that. You prefer a malleable woman, a delicate woman. One who sits patiently and waits for your move and your whim. That certainly doesn’t describe me.”
“No, it doesn’t. And the fact is I wasn’t looking for a woman—or a relationship, whatever you choose to call it. You came after me, and you’re beautiful. I got tired of pretending I didn’t want you.”
“That’s fair. And the sex was good for both of us, so there shouldn’t be any complaints.” She removed the last suture. “All done.” She lifted her eyes to his. “All done, Brian. The scar will fade. Before long, you won’t even remember you were hurt. Now that the air’s all clear, I’ll be on my way.”
He remained where he was when she rose. “I appreciate it.”
“Don’t give it a thought,” she said with a voice like frosted roses. “I won’t.” She left by the back, quietly and deliberately closing the screen behind her.
She didn’t start to run until she was into the shelter of the trees.
“Well, that was fun.” Brian picked up Kirby’s untouched lemonade and downed it in several long gulps. It hit his tortured stomach like acid.
He’d done the right thing, hadn’t he? For himself and probably for her. He’d kept things from stringing out, getting too deep and complicated. All he’d done was nick her pride, and she had plenty of it to spare. Pride and class and brains and a tidy little body with the energy of a nuclear warhead.
Christ, she was a hell of a woman.
