Page 19 of The Survivor
She would’ve saidthank youif it weren’t so damn obvious that there was abutcoming.
“And—I’m attracted to you.”
She blinked in surprise. “You are?”
“Were you not here for that kiss?” he grumbled.
A small laugh slid out of her throat. “Were you not here for what happenedafterthe kiss? Your bumbling apology and that spiel about taking advantage of me?”
A flicker of amusement filled his gaze, but it faded fast. “Look, I won’t deny the attraction, but—” and there it was “—I also won’t act on it again.” He slowly unclenched his fists and let his hands dangle at his side. Master of control.
She lifted a curious brow. “Why not?”
“Because I’m in the middle of a case.”
“Isn’t that your job, to work cases?”
“Yeah.”
He was looking at her like she was a complete idiot, so she tried to rephrase. “I mean, you must work a lot of cases a year, probably one after the other, right?”
Blake’s eyes grew wary. “Yes.”
“So if you don’t get romantically involved with anyone while you’re on a case, and if you’re always on a case, then whendoyou get romantically involved?”
He offered a faint smile. “Is that some kind of riddle?”
“It’s a valid question,” she said in her defense. “When do you make time for your personal life?”
“I don’t,” he said simply.
“You don’t?” she echoed, dubious.
He cast what looked like a self-deprecating smile her way. “I don’t do relationships well,” he admitted in a gruff voice. “Actually, I don’t do them at all. Not anymore.”
“What happened to make you decide that?”
“I lost the woman I was going to marry.”
Since she hadn’t really been expecting an answer, his candor thoroughly surprised her.
Before she could open her mouth to press for more details, Blake reassumed his professional demeanor. “It’s late. You should get some sleep.”
“I’m not tir—”
“Listen, Sam, I don’t agree with your decision to see Elaine again. But if you feel you need to, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that you are kept safe.” He offered a brisk nod. “Good night.”
Disbelief poured into her like a gush of water. She watched in stunned silence as Blake disappeared into the darkened hallway.
What on earth had just happened? One second he was kissing her, the next he was apologizing, and then he was gone. Just like that.
She sagged back against the counter, listening to the troubling sound of Blake’s footsteps ascending the stairs. Her mouth still throbbed from his kiss and every muscle in her body was taut, coiled with anticipation that was obviously going to be left unsatisfied.
Why had he kissed her? Why had he stopped? And why had he told her about losing the woman he’d loved when it was clearly something he didn’t like to talk about?
Rubbing her forehead, she tried to push the questions from her mind, knowing that, like her desire, they wouldn’t be satisfied. And maybe that was for the best. Maybe she didn’t want to know about Blake’s lost love, or why he didn’t feel he could get involved again. Maybe what she really needed to do was take his lead and focus on the only thing that mattered right now: catching the madman who’d attacked her and putting an end to his reign of terror.
And maybe—though this was a pretty big maybe—she might actually be able to go to bed without lying awake all night thinking about Blake’s kiss.
