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“I’m not going upstairs.”
“I don’t remember asking you to.”
She couldn’t help smiling at that. Leaning back in the soft cushions, she looked at him over the rim of her wineglass. In the firelight, he looked breathtakingly handsome. A thought flitted through her mind, seduced her. Why not? She could follow him upstairs, climb into his big bed, and let him make love to her. For a glorious while she could forget. Women did that kind of thing all the time.
“What are you thinking about?”
She was sure he could read her mind. A man like him knew every nuance of desire on a woman’s face. She felt her cheeks grow warm. “I was thinking about kissing you, actually.”
He leaned toward her. His breath smelled slightly of scotch. “And?”
“As my sister pointed out, I’m not your kind of woman.”
He drew back. “Believe me, Julia, your sister has no idea what kind of woman I want.”
She heard the edge in his voice and saw something in his eyes that surprised her. “I’ve been wrong about you,” she said, more to herself than to him.
“You certainly jumped to a lot of conclusions.”
She smiled at that. “Hazard of the trade. I tend to think I know people.”
“So you’re an expert on relationships, huh?”
She laughed ruefully. “Hardly.”
“Let me guess: you’re a one-man woman. A hearts and flowers romantic.”
“Now who’s jumping to conclusions?”
“Am I wrong?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know how romantic I am, but I only know one way to love.”
“How’s that?”
“All the way.”
A frown creased his forehead. “That’s dangerous.”
“Says the rock climber. When you climb, you risk your life. When I love, I risk my heart. All or nothing. I’m sure it sounds stupid to you.”
“It doesn’t sound stupid,” he said in a voice so soft it sent shivers down her spine. “You have that same passion for your work; I can tell.”
“Yes,” she said, surprised by the observation. “That’s why today was so hard.”
For a long moment they stared at each other. Max seemed to be looking for something in her eyes, or seeing something he didn’t understand. Finally he said, “When I worked in L.A., we used to get gang shootings almost every night. One bleeding, dying kid after another. The first few I stayed with long after my shift was over and then talked to their brothers and sisters, trying to make them understand how their lives would unfold if they didn’t change. By the end of the first year I quit giving them the speech and I quit standing by the bedsides all night. I couldn’t save them all.”
Their gazes locked. She felt as if she were falling into the endless sky of his eyes. “On good days, I know that. Today was not a good day. Or a good year, actually.”
“Tomorrow will be better.” He reached for her, pushed a thin strand of hair from her eyes.
It would have taken nothing to kiss him then; just a slight movement toward him. “You’re good at it,” she said shakily, drawing back.
“What?”
“Seducing women.”
“I’m not seducing you.”
