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“So you didn’t come here for JJ then?” She challenged him with an angry glare.
“Of course I came for JJ. But I’d have been stupid not to want to see you, too.”
Raina crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. Say what you’ve come to say.”
Nolan looked around the busy foyer full of parents and family members of the performers all milling about. “Can we step outside for a bit of privacy?”
* * *
He held his breath, waiting for Raina’s reply, and felt a surge of relief when she gave him a brief nod and headed toward the main doors. They found a spot outside under the portico where they wouldn’t be in the way of people coming into the hall. She still had her arms crossed and her eyes kept flicking this way and that, as if she was on the lookout for someone.
“Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate it.”
“Just get to the point, Nolan. What is it that you’re so determined to tell me?”
While she still sounded as if she was madder at him than a wet hen, he could see she was barely holding herself together. Lines of strain pulled around her mouth and eyes and she looked exhausted.
“I’ve quit Samson Oil,” he started, thinking he may as well get to the point from the beginning. She definitely wasn’t in a mood to mess around. “I thought a lot about what you said and you were right. It made me look at myself with fresh eyes and I didn’t like what I saw anymore.”
Raina didn’t respond, so he continued.
“I’ve decided to move back to Royal, to rejoin my father’s practice. I know I can do good there and while I feel that I did a lot of good with Samson Oil, I also hurt a lot of people, too. Especially you. I’m sorry for that, Raina. It was never my intention to cause you any harm either directly or indirectly. Nor could I just stand aside and let my boss potentially harm people like you anymore.”
Raina shifted from one foot to the other and rubbed her upper arms with her hands. It was clear she’d heard about all she was prepared to listen to.
“Why is this any of my business, Nolan? What makes you think I care where you live or what you do?”
The hurt was there, loud and clear in every word she spoke even though she’d kept her tone even.
“I’d like to think it’s your business because before I messed everything up, you started to have feelings for me.” At her sound of protest he continued. “The way I have feelings for you. Hear me out, please. Raina, I think I’m falling in love with you. Yes, I know it’s sudden and that we barely know one another but from the first moment I laid eyes on you I knew you were someone special. Someone who had been missing in my life. Please, give me another chance. Give us another chance.”
He waited for her response for what felt like forever, even though he logically knew it could only have been a minute or so. Her face had changed, become unreadable even to someone like him who was used to studying every nuance of expression for answers. Finally, she took in a breath and spoke.
“I can’t make a decision about something like that here and now.”
He took solace in the fact that it wasn’t a direct no.
“I accept that. Look, right now it’s enough that you’re prepared to think about it.”
“I need to get inside. They’ll be starting soon.”
She pushed past him and he let her go. It would probably be too much to expect her to sit with him. Nolan watched her go in the front doors and started, more slowly, to follow. He didn’t care if he stood at the back of the hall for the duration of the pageant, but he would be there for JJ. As he made his way to the door, he saw a shadow detach itself from the bushes near the road. Nolan watched as the man walked toward the parking area. There was something about the shape and size of the man, and the way he moved, that was vaguely familiar. In a rush, Nolan remembered the person he’d seen on the road near Raina’s house.
Every sense in his body went on full alert. He followed the man to the lot where he saw the guy draw to a halt by Raina’s car.
“Can I help you?” he called out and was surprised when the guy wheeled around to face him rather than run away.
The man’s face might once have been handsome, Nolan thought, but the dissipation wrought by hard living, no doubt compounded by too much alcohol judging by the smell coming from him right now, had left its mark.
“I know you,” the man said. “Seen you sniffing around Raina’s place. She’s a fine piece of ass, isn’t she?”
