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“I regained a little of my wounded pride the next night, when—”
“When you displayed incredible stamina.” Her droll tone made him smile at first, then he laughed when she added, “I’m glad I could do my part helping you set a personal bedroom record.”
“I wasn’t shooting for a record, Ms. Edwards,” he teased back, “but I’m always up for a challenge.”
She pounded his arm with her closed fist, but lightly. “You are so bad.”
He kissed her nose before continuing his story. “Then I had another seizure at the worst possible moment. Again, if logic was the only ball in play, I should have expected it—the doctors had told me the meds’ time frame, and six days just weren’t enough. But I was ashamed I still wasn’t in control of my body, so I hid it from the world. And I especially wanted to hide it from you that night.”
“Because you wanted me to see you as the white knight riding to my rescue, taking me where I’d be safe. Got it.”
He winced. “Ouch.”
“I don’t mean it that way.” She buried her face against his sweater, and the rest of her words were muffled.
“What did you say?”
She lifted her head. “I said I never needed a white knight before, but it sure felt nice having one when I did.”
He couldn’t look away from the bright intensity of her blue eyes. “Is that how you see me?”
“Sometimes.”
“What am I when I’m not a white knight?”
“Well, sometimes you’re a hot stud.”
If he’d been drinking something, he would have choked. As it was, he spluttered with laughter. But something about the mischievous expression on her face stoked his male ego...which needed stoking after his earlier confession about what he saw as his weakness. “Thanks for the compliment... I think.”
“It is a compliment...as if you needed one after all the times I...we...” Her cheeks were tinted with a hint of pink.
“So what am I when I’m not a white knight or a hot stud?” He was trying to keep it light, but God help him, he needed to know.
Her eyes softened. “You’re a man I admire tremendously. A gentleman with a strict moral code, who believes passionately in right and wrong and who’s willing to fight the good fight even when he knows he might not win...this time. A man who doesn’t give up, though. Who never surrenders. Not perfect, but you try.”
His heart swelled with love...the love Carly had professed she didn’t want. He wanted to say something in response, but the only words that came to mind were the words he was forbidden to say. He brushed her hair gently away from her face, tucking it behind one ear. “Thank you,” he said, clearing his throat as he finally found the words that hit the right light note. “That means a lot coming from you.”
Her lips turned up in a faint smile, but her eyes were vulnerable when she asked, “So how do you see me?”
A darling, he wanted to say. The only woman I want from now until eternity. But he couldn’t say those things. He could only think them. “Tiger shark,” he said at last. “But that’s a compliment—you never give up, either. You’re smart. Very smart. And ethical. Stubborn as hell...but not too proud to admit your mistakes. A true lady.” His voice dropped a notch. “With a body I can’t stop thinking about.”
The vulnerability in her eyes vanished, and she drawled in that soft Virginia accent she used when she wanted to tease him, “Well, at least you didn’t list that last thing first.”
* * *
“I’m going with you,” Carly told Shane on Sunday, after lunch. “And that is that.”
“Not in this lifetime,” he responded, his jaw clenched so tight it ached.
“I’m not letting you make yourself a target without me.”
He caught her arms with his hands and shook her. “This is not happening,” he said harshly. “The only reason I’m making myself a target is to catch this guy before he can kill you. That means you stay here!”
Her face was as determined as he felt. “I know why you’re doing this, and I’m not trying to stop you. I want to, but I won’t. But you’re not taking this risk without backup.”
