A Time for Us - By Amy Knupp Page 0,66

bait and stood in front of the fireplace with her back to him. She heard him lower himself to one of the chairs behind her, letting out a frustrated breath as he did.

“Rachel...”

She held her still-cold hands above the faux fire and waited.

“Obviously, last night was a mistake.”

“Obviously,” she mocked. His word choice had her hackles raised in a millisecond, and for a moment, she chose to defer the focus from her guilt to her lousy self-esteem. “Why else would someone be with the geeky sister?”

Before she could react, he was by her side, in her space, turning her toward him with gentle force.

“Geeky sister? Really? That’s what you’re going to come up with?” He stared into her eyes, his full of angry fire.

“I’m not ‘coming up with’ anything. It’s ancient history, Cale. Just check the pictures if you need proof.” She pointed to the yearly photos hanging on the wall above the stairs.

“Let’s get a couple things straight, first off. I don’t see you as geeky by any stretch of the imagination. You’re smart as hell, yes. Damn good at saving lives. And pretty and sexy.”

“I’m not—”

“Save it, Rachel. This is me. Not some guy who doesn’t know you.” His features softened from anger to a determined intensity. “I was with you because I like who you are. I care about you. You get to me like a woman is supposed to get to a man.”

Rachel swallowed, unable to come up with a reply to that. Affected by his words even though she didn’t want to be. She was such an easy mark where he was concerned.

With great effort, she sacrificed the glorious heat and stepped away from him, easily reminding herself of the bigger issue here.

“I care about you,” he said in a voice that was barely there. “That never would have happened if I didn’t. But it can’t happen again.”

Rachel gritted her teeth together and nodded. “Obviously.”

He took a few steps in the opposite direction, chin raised, gaze pointed to the ceiling. “I still love Noelle. I probably always will. I don’t know. I do know that what we did felt like betraying her.”

That awful B word had been taunting her all night, and just like that, her control shattered again. Her eyes teared up, her throat closed and the physical ache in her chest nearly leveled her. “I know,” she whispered, not looking at him.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry,” she managed to say before she was overcome by the awful, suffocating emotions. She bit her lower lip till it bled in an attempt not to cry yet again. The stupid tears fell anyway. God, she was so sick of tears. “It’s my fault. Everything is my fault.” She swallowed a sob and straightened. “She died because of me, Cale.”

He frowned and narrowed his eyes at her, then tilted his head in question. “What are you talking about, Rachel?”

She wished with all her heart she hadn’t said that last bit, and yet she needed to tell him. Needed to tell someone before the guilt burned her to nothing. And on some level, she knew telling him would make it easier for him to walk away from her.

Leveling a stare at him as she tried to get control of herself enough to speak coherently, she felt every amplified, accusing heartbeat in her temples. She lowered her gaze, swallowed down the taste of bile.

“When I tell you what I have to tell you, you won’t be able to stand looking at me,” she began, her voice coming out extraordinarily even, if hollow.

She dared a glance at him and saw he was staring at her intently. Doubtfully.

“Trust me,” she assured him.

“Try me.”

Rachel’s heart raced as she pondered her options. Escape was the preferable one. God, if she could run away, she would never have to face this, face him.... But she’d still have to face herself.

She took three steps to the right to put space between them then turned and faced him. “The night Noelle died...”

He started to move toward her again and she gave a single insistent shake of her head to stop him.

“We fought,” she said.

She saw him nod out of the corner of her eye. “Siblings do that.”

“I was home for a few days because I’d gotten lucky on the residency schedule and finally succumbed to my mom’s and sister’s pleas to visit, but I had so much reading to catch up on, it was ridiculous. Typical, but ridiculous.” She took a fortifying breath.

“I was sitting on the