Page 5 of Beyond Reach

He reached to take her luggage from her hand, his fingers brushing hers. It was all she could do not to spring away like a frightened animal. What the heck was this? Why was she so starkly aware of him? It wasn’t love—maybe desire? That was understandable, and resisting desire should be simple.

“I told her there’s no way I can let you come home alone and so late,” he explained. “We have to make sure you get to your hotel safely. Plus, this is a big deal, right? Coming home for the first time in so long?”

He started toward his car but looked back at her when he spoke. She forgot how to walk. Garner was like that, intuitive. It was the kind of thing few men locked onto but women got it.

“Yes, it’s hard.”

She climbed into the car while he packed her luggage into the trunk. With the few minutes she had until he joined her, she gathered her thoughts and emotions. So many memories flooded her head, all because he was near. Garner Driscoll, she had paired her name with his many times, imagining herself as his wife.

Back at the beginning when she left town, she consoled herself with the idea that they probably wouldn’t have gotten married anyway. With her being so young at the time, they might have broken up in a few months and she might have fallen in love with someone else.

Yeah, right. I might have.

Garner climbed into the car bringing his masculine heady scent with him. She couldn’t identify the scent, only that it teased and tantalized her senses. “Are you hungry? We can stop somewhere to get you something to eat. Or you can order room service.”

“I’m not hungry. Truth is, I’ve been feeling ill on the plane, and I’m not doing all that great now.”

He touched her forehead. “I thought you looked pale. Tell me your symptoms.”

She brushed his hand away. “I’m fine. Just tired. Don’t play doctor on me.”

He chuckled, unoffended. “Sorry. Force of habit.”

“Yeah, I don’t know why you didn’t become a doctor with your knowledge and interests.”

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, and then started the car. “You know I didn’t go into medicine?”

She should have bitten her tongue. “Marcella was telling me you became a substance abuse counselor. She updated me a lot on what’s been going on in town and about the people I grew up with.”

He nodded. “Makes sense. Yeah, much to my dad’s disappointment—and my brothers—I dropped medicine and majored in psychology.”

“What made you do that?” She settled back in her seat and shut her eyes to listen to him. Her head was still spinning, and her stomach rocked with each bump they hit in the road.

“I had a friend who got into drugs. He went downhill fast.”

She heard his fingers squeak on the leather covering the steering wheel. The sound told her he had a hard time talking about his friend.

“I’m sorry. Did he get himself together eventually?”

“No.”

“Oh, Garner, I’m so sorry.” She sat up. Impulse made her touch his arm. To her surprise, he flinched. She drew away as quickly as possible and muttered another apology.

For a little while, they rode in silence. She tried to concentrate on the lights reflecting on the glass and beyond it the darkness stretching along the highway.

“I didn’t mean to respond like that,” he muttered.

Her fingers curled into the seat beneath her. “Like what?”

“My friend eventually died from an overdose.”

So they were going to ignore conversation regarding his physical reaction to her. Good. She wasn’t ready to talk about it, if ever. She could do this. She could get through the week just fine. Then it was back home to her apartment and her job.

Garner continued to talk about his work. “I began to think I could have done more for my friend if I understood how. After he died, I switched majors.”

“Wow. And do you like it? Counseling people for substance abuse?”

“I do.”

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