Page 6 of The Voices are Back

“Her heart rate is through the roof,” Aodhan said after a while. “One thirty just lying here.”

“Another one of her deals,” I heard Theresa say. “She has some sort of irregular heart rate or something. There’s a name for it. But it causes her heart to overreact to certain stimuli.”

I opened my eyes, and my breath caught.

Gray eyes filled with so much emotion stared back at me.

Aodhan was an anomaly. He had gray eyes the color of smoke, full, dark lashes, auburn-red hair, and dark-red beard stubble. He was the very definition of “tall, dark and handsome.”

When he was younger, he was breathtaking.

Him in his thirties? My God, he was debilitating.

I blinked at him, trying to get my eyes into focus.

“You’ve changed,” he said softly, running his fingers along my hair by my ear.

I had. A lot.

“She had a breast reduction last year,” Theresa offered up, even though Aodhan hadn’t asked. “She’s much happier now.”

I felt my face flame.

Dammit, Theresa!

It was as if she was trying to embarrass me or something!

“Interesting,” he said. “Can you sit up?”

My face was a mask of flames as I tried to sit up myself. He ignored the “trying to do it myself” part and sat me up, using the side of his solid, muscular chest to help prop me up.

I breathed deep at the change in position, thankful that this particular episode was over. Now if I could only get rid of Aodhan…

“I see you’re still doing that passing out thing,” he said.

I sighed, unable to look him in the eyes.

That was always the painful part.

Looking at him and knowing that we didn’t have the same relationship anymore. Knowing that I didn’t have him to rely on, or call, in case of emergency.

It was always a kick in the proverbial heart to know I was all alone in this world.

And I certainly wouldn’t try to get to know anyone better, knowing that they’d have so much to deal with when it came to me.

“Yeah,” I grumbled, looking at my hands. I’d broken a nail on my way down. “I’m doing it a lot. Once every three to four days if I’m lucky. Less if I can catch it before I get started. Keep the stress levels down. Today was a combination of things.”

Not that I would be telling him that him being in my coffee shop had been one of the triggers. He didn’t need that on his conscience.

“You’re passing out that much?” he asked, sounding horrified.

I shrugged. It was just part of my life at this point.

“Yeah,” I confirmed, getting my bearings.

Instead of saying anything more about my afflictions, he chose to change the subject to an even more uncomfortable one.

“Your hair is different, too,” he said, his fingers going to the soft curls around my ears and smoothing them away from my face once again. “What happened to you?”

---