Midnight Hero - By Diana Duncan Page 0,2
me say this before I lose my nerve.” She inhaled, shuddered. “I’m sorry, Con. So sorry. We have to break up. It’s over.”
He froze. Impossible. He’d misunderstood, that’s all. It was hard to hear over the roaring in his ears. “What?”
The waitress reappeared, bearing a loaded tray. Bailey’s heart-shaped face crumpled in silent misery while the woman placed steaming plates in front of them. The fine tendrils curling at her temple made Bailey appear delicate. Like one of the china dolls his mom kept in a sturdy, locked cabinet safely out of reach of her four rambunctious sons.
The waitress strolled off, and Con shoved away his breakfast. He couldn’t force a single shred of food past the burning lump in his throat. Not even if someone held a loaded AK-47 to his head. “What did you say?”
Bailey pushed aside her veggie omelet. Apparently she didn’t have an appetite for this, either. “We have to break up. I can’t see you anymore.”
Con’s heart tried to slam out of his rib cage, and he fought to keep his voice level. There had to be a logical explanation for her sudden change of heart. Or was it sudden? Had he misread the situation? “What’s going on? I love you. You love me.”
“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t make this harder than it already is.”
Hurt seared his insides. “If you think I’m going to walk away from you without an explanation, you don’t know me very well. There’s not a snowball’s chance in hell, Bailey.”
“I’ll explain.”
“Damn right you will. You would have let me make love to you last night.”
“Don’t you see? That’s exactly why we have to break up.”
Was she implying that he’d forced her? He swallowed a surge of nausea. No. Her soft lips had parted willingly for his kisses. Her eager hands had sought his body, and her hips had arched as he’d rocked against her. “How is the fact that we’re extremely sexually compatible a problem?”
“I’m not a casual affair girl. I can’t make love to you and go our separate ways. And I can’t fight temptation any longer.”
Did she think he was a jerk who would use her and dump her? Maybe she didn’t know him. Funny, he felt as if he’d known her forever. “I realize that, sweetheart.” He thrust his hand in his pocket, and his fingers clenched on the ring box. “That’s why—”
Panic skittered across her face. “Please, wait, and hear me out. I’ve thought about our relationship, agonized over all the angles. My mother suggested I carefully weigh the pros and cons of staying together.”
The picture morphed into painful focus. Dr. Ellen Chambers hadn’t bothered to hide her icy disapproval of him. The chilly polar opposite of her vibrant daughter, Dr. Chambers was a renowned cardiac surgeon. He could see why. She’d have no problem cutting out hearts. At their first meeting, the austere brunette had cornered him in her kitchen after an uncomfortable dinner filled with too-long silences. In a voice that could have flash-frozen his gonads, she’d told him he wasn’t a good influence on her child.
He’d just as bluntly reminded Dr. Chambers that her daughter was an adult. And what Bailey did with her life, and who she spent time with, was her decision.
Bailey was her own woman, but even the toughest barricade eventually collapsed under relentless pressure. He was in for serious damage containment. He leaned back and crossed his arms. “My brothers have pointed out I’m far from perfect, many times. I’m open to new ideas. Go ahead. Let’s hear all my faults.”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Nothing wrong with me. We’re both good people. We simply aren’t right for each other. I’m not trying to hurt you, just trying to explain. We’re too different. There’s no need to hash out—”
“There’s every need.”
“All right.” She paused. “You’re quick and decisive, I’m deliberate. You kick down doors and nail bad guys to the wall, I sell books and visit sick kids in hospitals.”
“So, we have some differences. Enough differences to clash—in a positive way—and enough similarities to click. We complement one another.”
“We don’t have any similarities.”
“Don’t we?” He smiled at her. “We’re both intense. Both dedicated to our jobs. Loyal to our loved ones. We care about people and their welfare. You educate, enlighten and entertain them, I protect them.” He grew serious, leaned forward. “Most importantly, we love each other.”
She hesitated. “Where do you see us in five years?”
He held her gaze, his thoughts tender. Five years? He