“You didn’t choose to be taken.” He pushed all other thoughts aside. “You didn’t want to be put into the position to save yourself and give the people ya love like family a fightin’ chance. And the fact that you’re feelin’ anything but vindication right now? Well, that just means ya have a heart. A big, brave, beautiful heart. And I couldn’t be any prouder of you than I am.”
A fresh tear slipped down her wounded cheek. He gently caught it with his thumb and brushed it away.
“I’d take it from ya if I could,” he swore vehemently. “All the grief. All the fear. I’d carry it so you don’t have to.”
“You have, Hew,” she declared with a determined dip of her chin. “I couldn’t have gotten through all these months without you.”
Her full, lower lip trembled, and it took everything he had not to duck his head and pull it into his mouth. Soothe its motion. Instead, he leaned in until their noses touched.
Her breath smelled of her minty toothpaste. Her skin smelled of her fruity body wash. And her hair smelled of her flowery shampoo.
“Why does life have to be so hard?” She sniffed pitifully.
The smallness of her voice had every protective instinct inside him roaring and beating its chest Tarzan style.
He pushed back so he could see her face when he told her, “It’s a rule. What? Don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t the one who made it up.”
She laughed, just as he’d meant her to. But it sounded brittle, like glass breaking.
“Sorry about earlier,” she whispered, immediately sobering.
Everything inside him stilled.
Except for his heart.
That beat against the cage of his ribs like it was doing its level best to escape his chest.
“What d’ya mean?” he asked carefully.
Her mouth flattened. “Come on, Hew. Don’t play dumb.”
“I am dumb,” he insisted. “Most times I just go around playin’ smart.”
She scrambled off his lap, and he had to fist his hands to keep from pulling her back. After she flounced into the chair, adjusting her robe over her silky thighs, she turned a sullen frown on him.
Snatching the lobstah off her pillow, she worried its claws before finally saying, “I took advantage of your friendship, and I shouldn’t have. I don’t know what I was thinking. You’ve made it very clear where you and I stand.”
He shook his head. Then nodded. Then asked, “I have?”
“On many occasions,” she emphasized. “I finally caught a clue.” She tapped her temple. “Even though I was a little slow on the uptake.”
He nodded again. In fact, he couldn’t seem to quit nodding. It was like his body’s attempt to comprehend what they were talking about because his brain had completely given up on the task.
“So earlier I…” She shrugged and shook her head. “Earlier, I was an idiot. And I apologize.”
“Right.” Nodding. Nodding. Nodding some more. “And what, exactly, are ya apologizin’ for?”
She thrust out her chin at an angle. “You’re going to make me come right out and say it, aren’t you?”
Still nodding. “You’re goin’ to have to. ’Cause I’m lost.”
“I’m apologizing for kissing your neck.” She waved a vague hand at the neck in question, and he felt his lungs collapse. “I know you don’t like me like that.”
Now he couldn’t stop blinking.
He thought maybe the nodding was better. At least he was contributing to the conversation that way.
“I don’t?” he finally managed to ask.
