Clint tried to ignore the ache around his heart. “Yea. Let’s leave it at that.”
As they approached a small store, he put on his brakes.
“Am I getting out here?”
The only answer he gave was to mumble, “I need something to drink.”
Once he’d gone, she laid her head back and whooshed out a breath of air. “Yes, thank you, Clint. I’m parched. A cold drink would be nice.” Jensen didn’t know which storm unnerved her worse – the tornado, or the emotional rollercoaster of being with this handsome man who made no secret how much he despised her.
She only wished she felt the same way. “Give me strength.”
The three-word prayer wasn’t offered in jest. Jensen didn’t really blame Clint for his anger. He’d truly felt something for her and in his mind, she’d cruelly used him – which was true in a way. He didn’t know her situation. He didn’t know she had feelings for him. They weren’t feelings she could ever act on again, but that didn’t make them any less real. “Why are you torturing yourself?” This is an impossible situation. Even if he could forgive her for what she’d done, they could never be together. The previous reasons she’d given him were trivial compared to the one that now loomed over her every waking moment.
Reaching for her purse, Jensen took a moment to check her face and put on some lip gloss. Her face still looked the same. Her eyes were the same color. To anyone who passed her on the street or visited her in the office – she appeared the same as always. As long as she kept others at arm’s length, they’d never know her secret.
Someday things would change. Her confidence would return. She’d come to terms with her loss. Maybe one day she’d be able to be intimate with a man without these debilitating doubts and crippling inhibitions – but not Clint. Never Clint.
Nevertheless, she needed to get her act together. If she could get through the next little while, then Clint would go on his way and she could get back to the business of healing.
The sound of him opening the truck door drew Jensen’s attention. “Here.” He handed her a large slushy drink. “This is cherry. The other is cola. Which would you rather?”
His offering surprised her. “Thank you. Cherry is good.”
Seeing the light appear in her eyes, Clint bit back a ‘you’re welcome’. Even pleasantries seemed inappropriate at the moment. “If you need to go to the bathroom, you should’ve already gone.”
When he kept sitting there, Jensen realized he was giving her the opportunity – albeit grumpily. “I’m fine. You can leave.”
“Good.” After placing his drink in the console, he fired up the truck and they continued their journey in silence.
Just because they weren’t speaking, didn’t mean Clint wasn’t thinking. He couldn’t believe this. First, a car runs him over in a rainy crosswalk – and there she is. Second, it’s raining cats and dogs and she cuts in front of him for a parking place and they end up in bed together. Now for a third time, a damn tornado blows her smack-dab into his path. What could be next? Could this all be coincidence? Or was someone trying to tell him something? “Well, if you are trying to tell me something – you’re making a damn fine mess of it.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“You said something – I heard you.”
“I was talking to myself.”
“You know what that’s a sign of,” she muttered, knowing full well she was guilty of the same thing.
“It’s a sign I don’t want to talk to you.”
“So be it,” she sighed.
“So be it?” he echoed. “Have you taken up witchcraft?”
“You’d better hope I haven’t.”
“Huh. Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me now. You put a spell on me.”
This made Jensen laugh. “Right. That’s what’s wrong with you.” Tired of their byplay, she reached up to flip on the radio. “How about some music?”
Lightning fast, he covered her hand with his where it rested on the tuning knob. “I don’t want any music.”
“Clint…” She didn’t immediately pull her hand away. His touch gave her the oddest sense of exhilaration. Like she’d plugged into an energy source or walked in front of a cool vent on a blistering hot day. “Don’t.”
“Damn.” He jerked his hand from hers as if she burned him. “Don’t what? Touch you? Don’t worry.”