Page 16 of Erik's Salvation
“No.”
Another wrong answer. A vein in her neck popped and that finger once again shot into him. If it were a knife, he’d have a hole in his chest by now, and he had a feeling this woman would still be stabbing and yelling.
“You know, I’ve met men like you before.”
He doubted that. “What kind of men would that be?”
“Men who think the world revolves around them. You think the goddamn sun only shines when you wake.”
“I get up before the sun.”
“But you know what?” she asked, ignoring him. “It doesn’t. In fact, the sun wouldn’t care if you didn’t get out of bed all damn day!”
It had been a while since a woman had spoken to him like this. He kind of liked it. “You having a bad day, Angel?”
“Don’t call me that! But if you want to know, yes. I’ve had the day from hell. No one will let me sell their house, my tap keeps leaking, my car took half a dozen tries to start, andnowStanley’s flowers are dying.”
He looked from her house to her beat-up old Honda, then back to her. “Would you like me to look at your water and car?”
Her mouth opened, ready to dish out another series of insults, then snapped shut, as if she’d just heard what he was saying.
She was cute when she was angry. A little unapproachable, but cute.
“I…what?” She shook her head. “No. Don’t get all nice guy on me now.”
“I can be a nice guy and still not want people I don’t know on my land.” He wasn’t saying hewasa nice guy, just that hecouldbe.
She swallowed, and he could almost see the effort she put into speaking with less edge to her voice. “I need to keep my promise to Stanley. Let justoneaspect of my life go right today.”
“You did keep your promise. You kept them alive until I moved in. Now you don’t need to worry about them. I think you should go home, Hannah. It’s getting late.”
Fire bloomed in her eyes. “Argh! I could just—”
She stopped abruptly, the color bleeding from her face as her hand dropped.
Then she rocked on her feet.
Alarm replaced any humor, and he grabbed her arm. “Hey. You okay?”
She pressed both hands to his chest and lowered her head. Three beats of silence passed while she used him to steady herself. Her warmth bled into his skin, changing the rhythm of his heart to something fast and uneven.
Finally, she lifted her head and nodded. “Sorry. I’m okay. I haven’t eaten for a while and my blood sugar’s probably low.”
Type 1 diabetic. It was something he’d read in the information Chandler had dug up. “You need food?”
“I have food. I’ve just been a mess this afternoon and rushed over here without thinking.”
She tried to step away, but he didn’t release her. She was still too pale.
“I’m okay,” she repeated. “I just need to get home and eat something.”
“Let me help you get home.”
She shook her head before he’d even finished. “No.”
His jaw clenched, and reluctantly, he released her arm. He may not like people on his property, but he also didn’t like letting people who were a stone’s throw away from passing out just walk away by themselves.
Her knuckles were white around the watering can as she stepped around him.
