anything else—self-control, common sense or his ability to put things in perspective and think logically.
Right now, the only thought that consumed his mind was that his body still craved hers.
Rubbing a frustrated hand down his face, he moved from the window. The house was quiet, and he would be the first to admit he missed the sound of Caden and his saxophone, which his brother would play at all hours of the night. It had never been a disturbing sound to him, even while they were growing up. He’d always felt and known that Caden’s music was a way of calming his soul. His brother needed the music.
Just like he felt a need for Shana.
While inside of her, he had felt the passion radiating from her soft core. A core he wanted to explore again and again. He knew this weekend and whatever decision she made would be the turning point in how they would handle things. But like he’d told her, he couldn’t make a promise he knew he wouldn’t be capable of keeping.
Although he knew he should give her space to decide the outcome of their fate, he was fearful of doing that, knowing she would probably make the wrong decision. He needed to talk to her, find out why she was determined not to let anything develop between them. To hell with her policy.
And as he headed back toward the bathroom, he knew he had his own decisions to make.
* * *
The moment Caden walked out on stage in front of a packed house at Columbia University’s huge auditorium, he felt her. She was there, somewhere in the audience. For a moment, he almost stumbled as he fought the anger and irritation that began escalating through his body.
Why was she here? He had been home in Virginia for over three weeks, and their paths had crossed more than once. They hadn’t had much to say to each other then, so why was she here? Refusing to let the unanswered question get to him, he stepped into place and within minutes had begun playing his sax.
The music flowed from within him, and he closed his eyes as he felt the melody pour through his body and ease some of his tension. He exulted in his music’s ability to calm him, to place him at that moment on a higher plane and for a moment to suppress his irritation under a haze of indifference. That’s what he needed to get through tonight.
He flowed into the evening, belting out one number after the next, and it was only when he was about to do his last number that he saw her. How he managed to do that in a packed house of several thousand people he wasn’t sure. All he knew was their gazes connected the moment he lifted the sax to his lips. He couldn’t close his eyes again the way he normally did while performing. Instead he kept his gaze locked on hers as he played. He put everything he had into it, and the band behind him followed his lead.
At the end, he got a standing ovation, and he wondered if she would be coming to the private party later given for the performers. Typically, it was invitation-only, but that hadn’t stopped her before, he thought, remembering that last time a few years ago.
He finally broke eye contact with her when everyone bowed for their last time. When he glanced back up at the spot where Shiloh had been sitting just moments ago, he saw she was gone.
Chapter Eighteen
One twenty-three North Pinewood Drive.
There was no doubt in Ben Bradford’s mind that he was at the right house. Mona had said it was a white stucco single-story patio home that sat at the end of a brick road on a spacious lot. It was a nice house with gardens of flowering marigolds and zinnias adorning the windows. She had a perfectly manicured lawn with lush green grass that sloped into a small pond.
She’d mentioned that most of her neighbors were other professors who worked at the university. He couldn’t imagine having your coworkers as your neighbors. He liked the guys who’d been on the force with him while living in Boston, but he hadn’t wanted to look at their faces from sunup to sundown. When he left the precinct and went home, his main focus had been on his daughters. Ben’s girls.
Like he’d told Shana the other day, he was proud of them. They were strong, college-educated, hardworking