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He picked up his, too, chasing her down until he reached her. “Would you stop? I’ve been calling you for two blocks.”
“Not real quick on the uptake, are you?” she said. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“You have to let me explain.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” she said, though she did finally stop and face him. “And you don’t have to explain, I got it, okay? You were working undercover. I was the easy mark. Of course you’d come after me by any means at your disposal.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Like hell.”
“Just…calm down and let me explain. I did not mean to hurt you, and I definitely never meant to get personally involved with you.”
“You mean that wasn’t in the manual?”
“No, it wasn’t. But I was worried, I felt sure early on that you were caught in something you didn’t know about.” He put a hand on her arm. “I was worried about you.”
She shrugged his hand of. “Sure you were. I’m sure your concern was the reason you asked me out. And your fears that I was being used by my boss to help hide money was the only reason you kissed the lips off my face yesterday.”
He closed his eyes, breathed deeply-as if for control-and tried again. “I lost my detachment where you were concerned.”
Those were the first words he’d said that actually made her pause. Because he’d whispered them hoarsely, as if against his will. Like he didn’t want to admit to the weakness.
And she believed him.
Not that it made a damn bit of difference. “Well, that’s too bad for you then,” she said, lifting her chin, amazed that her voice didn’t even quiver. “Because I never want to see you again.” She began walking again.
“Bridget, I know you’re upset now. But I want to make it up to you. Soon, when you’ve…”
“When I’ve what?” she asked, swinging around again. “When I’ve calmed down? Well, keep dreaming, buddy. Because it’s not going to happen. Ever.”
Dean met her stare, but didn’t try to stop her this time when she turned again to start walking. He did, however, have one more thing to say, low, as if making a vow.
“I’m not giving up.”
“Well, too bad for you,” she snapped back, feeling both proud of herself for being so strong…and sad at having lost something she suspected could have been very special.
“Bridget…”
This time, she didn’t turn around. And she didn’t have to wonder what Izzie would do.
Bridget knew what she wanted to do.
So without a pause, she lifted her hand, flipped him the bird over her shoulder, and kept on walking.
12
IZZIE DIDN’T SEE or hear from Nick for six long days. The longest of her life.
Since she’d walked out of Harry’s office Sunday night, Nick had apparently taken her orders to leave her alone seriously, because that’s exactly what he’d done. He hadn’t tried calling, hadn’t popped in to the bakery, hadn’t even nonchalantly walked by the shop and pretended not to look in at her.
That’s what she’d done, at Santori’s, but she hadn’t seen the man at all.
“Why didn’t you fight for me?” she whispered as she drove to the other side of town Saturday evening on her way to work. “Why did you listen to me and leave me alone?”
Why did you tell him to?
Good question. And Izzie was already forgetting the answer, though it had seemed so important Sunday.
Yes, she was still upset that he’d suddenly gone from an approving coworker to a disapproving lover when it came to her dancing. But maybe they could have worked it out. Maybe he wouldn’t have reacted so badly to watching her on stage.
Maybe…hell, maybe she loved him enough that she could have quit and never regretted it.
But he hadn’t given her the chance.
In the six days since she’d seen him, Izzie was questioning a lot of the choices she’d made. After accusing Nick of living a lie, too, she’d realized that she was tired of living one all the time. So she’d actually begun to share her secret. Only with her sisters and her cousin so far, but it was a start.
And they’d been remarkably supportive. Even Gloria who had, to Izzie’s utter shock, admitted that she’d love to see her perform. Honestly, it felt as if a weight had been lifted, and she’d decided then and there to start thinking of how to work her daytime life into her nighttime one. Slowly…a little at a time. But she might just have to find a way to do it.
Because if Nick ever did come back after her, she wanted to try to find a way to make all the pieces of both their lives fit.
