Page 6 of Vengeful Seduction
I’d never again get to hear Theodore’s voice. I’d never feel the touch of his paper-thin hand. I’d never get to look into those eyes that held an impish twinkle until his heart had taken all it could take.
Flowers and plants littered the floor around his casket. At least the people of Portland knew the value of the man, even if his only relative did not. My heart clenched at that thought.
Heartless bastard.
After the funeral was over, I felt drained and exhausted—like someone had sucked all the emotion out of me entirely. The last thing I wanted to do was go have food and drinks with all the other funeral guests. But I found myself going with the small crowd over to the reception area across the hallway.
A patio off the reception room had been set up with the buffet. The sky had cleared, amazingly. The sun was out and fluffy white clouds moved through the sky. It was warm, but not too warm. It felt very nice for an early autumn day.
Maybe I would just leave, I thought as I stood by the buffet table of the catered gathering after the service. I could just leave and no one would be the wiser.
“I’ve been trying to figure it out,” a voice commented. That voice gave me the shivers for just a second. It was so familiar I thought it must be Theodore. But, of course, I knew it wasn’t. Very slowly, I turned around, fighting off the gooseflesh on my arms.
Low, deep, dominant, and very masculine. Theodore’s voice had gotten weaker and quieter as he’d declined, but he’d never lost those qualities. This man had the same ones, only he had energy, strength, and youth behind his words too.
“David.” There wasn’t a trace of doubt in my voice because I felt none. David Black. It had to be. I could tell by the shape of his eyes, and the slightly sardonic tilt to his full lips.
I could tell that my recognition took him aback. He withdrew a little bit from me, and at that moment, I saw some things I hadn’t expected to see.
First off, the man was handsome. I’d only known Theodore when he was old. But the pictures I’d seen of him proved he’d been a handsome man. David had those same glistening, dark-blue eyes, with the same subtle sense of humor in them and in his whole expression. He was tall, at least a good half a foot taller than my five feet seven inches, and his shoulders were broad and strong. His hair was dark and careless, though he was otherwise perfectly put together.
“Excuse me, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.” He gave me a tight smile, and I felt the urge to take a step or two back. There was something almost feral about the man at that moment, despite how sharply he was dressed.
Without words, he asked who I was and what I was doing at his grandfather’s funeral. He must’ve known pretty much everyone else there, since they had been friends of Theodore’s for years and years, from what I’d picked up from the service.
I crossed my arms over my chest, trying not to get defensive. After all, I had nothing to be ashamed of. Of the two of us, he was the one who should feel defensive.
“Kaye James.” I kept my tone cool and a little bit stern. My ‘nurse voice’ as I liked to call it—the one that every good nurse I’d ever met deliberately cultivated. The one that was meant to let patients know that, yes, we were there to help and it would be best if they went along with what we said.
If he was impressed, he didn’t show it. He just arched one of those dark, winged eyebrows of his, a slight smile tugging up the corners of his lips.
“Kaye James,” he repeated my name, and for some reason, that sent the strangest little shivers down my spine. “And how did you know my grandfather?”
Ah! I knew it.
“I was his nurse.” I refused to be charmed by the way he held his hand out to me, offering it in a handshake.
“Well, then. Thank you.” He took my hand in his, and my fingers were dwarfed. He had enormous hands. It was a little intimidating, being around him. He took up a lot of room, and not only physically either.
It was impossible to be around him and not have my attention focused on him. When he walked into a room, I would bet that all eyes would be on him. Not only that, but I’d bet he’d expect that attention, too.
“David Black.” He finally confirmed what I had already known to be true. Our hands were still linked, and I couldn’t help but feel the handshake had gone on a little bit too long.
“Hello, David.” I looked into those dark eyes and once more I could swear I saw a hint of pain in them. “Theodore spoke of you.”
He wasn’t expecting that and his gaze sharpened. He looked at me with much more interest, which confused me. The picture I’d built up of this man was that he was utterly uncaring, but I could already tell that wasn’t the case.
How strange. Why had David ignored that phone call? Or all of the ones before—the ones I knew Theodore had made himself before becoming too weak? I could swear he was deeply grieved and I shook my head slightly.
None of this made any sense.
“Why did you thank me?” I finally broke the silence. It seemed he wasn’t going to be the one to do it. In fact, it seemed he had slipped into a world of his own, barely acknowledging my presence at all.
“For taking care of him.” There was a long silence before he spoke, and for a moment, I actually thought he wouldn’t say anything at all. “Excuse me. I see that people are leaving and I should say goodbye.”
Before I could say anything, he was gone. What was there to say, anyway? My thoughts were far too confused to come up with anything coherent. It was better to just let him go.
I had walked into this room not liking David Black much at all. In less than five minutes, the man had blown that out of the water, though not enough for me to forget entirely how he had treated his own grandfather. But it was enough to confuse me a little.
