Page 44 of Diners, Damsels & Wolves

“What caused it, do you know?”

“No clue. I was so young I don’t remember what the fire marshal said. Something about the gas line, I think. I mean, I was so young when it happened, I don’t even remember my parents. Just the pain, the antiseptic burning my nose, the terrible feeling of the gauze against my skin.”

“I’m so sorry, Clarissa. That must have been very difficult for you, still.”

“Sometimes it is, but it’s hard to miss people you don’t remember.”

Turning from the picture on the wall, she looked at him. His face was full of that unreadable emotion again. Raising his hand, he went to brush his thumb over her cheek. She flinched. He hesitated, hand hovering midair.

“I would never hurt you, Clarissa, I could never. You’re too precious.” Bringing his hand back, he brushed his fingers across her face with deliberately slow movements. “I wish I could go back and take away even a fraction of your suffering. Even if it meant I had to endure it myself tenfold, I’d take it.”

Breath hitching, her heart faltered. She was at a loss of what to say. She’d never heard a declaration like that outside the movies. She didn’t think anyone even talked like that.

Her mind raced and her body started to ache. She had to respond, say something. He was staring at her with his warm gaze, inviting her in with his proximity. She spat out the first word her brain could form.

“Why?”

The intensity melted from his face, and he shook his head. “I wish I could explain it. I wish words could do justice to how exquisite you are, to how beautiful your soul is to me. Then perhaps you would understand my desire, my need, to protect you.”

“I never asked to be protected.”

“You don’t have to ask, and you never need to, that’s the whole point.”

“How do you know I’m deserving of that?”

He moved further into her space. Warmth radiated from his body and his breath tickled her face. Her senses went hazy. The urge to feel him overcame her; to feel every part of him, pressed up against her exposed skin. To bare herself to him, body and soul.

Her body moved involuntarily, her face tilting up toward his, and her back arched. Flexing her fingertips, she longed to reach out to him. He cupped her face and she let out a small gasp.

Leaning into his touch, she watched him.

“I know because I see you.” His voice was husky, his eyes darkening. “I see how much you love your aunt; how hard you work to care for her. I see how you consistently put yourself last, how much pain you’re masking, all to put those you love first.

“If that’s not the sign of a noble and pure heart, I don’t know what is. I also see how doing this, day after day, is wearing you down. Don’t you think it’s time you let someone care for you for a change?”

She choked on her breath. His words overwhelmed her. Leaning closer, she wanted to believe him. She wanted to surrender herself over to his words and his touch.

A knock sounded on the door.

Ten

Clarissa

Shamelessly gawking, she watched in disbelief as Tom unpacked the massive bags of food that were delivered.

First there was the box of chocolate-covered fruits: strawberries, cherries, pineapple, and orange, all neatly arranged in a travel box. Three bottles of sparkling water. Then heaping containers of mashed potatoes, green beans, zucchini, tossed salad, and finally, were those lobster tails?

“Where did you get all of this?” she asked.

“I called in a favor,” he said simply. “A cousin is a chef at Maddison’s Garden Grill.”

She blanched. She’d heard of that restaurant but never went. It was the most expensive place in the neighboring four towns. “How many cousins do you have?” she asked, incensed.

“A lot.” He laughed.

“Let me go see if Rachel’s still asleep, she probably hasn’t eaten much today.”

Rachel had burrowed herself deeper into her blankets, snoring. Clarissa shut the door without trying to wake her. No doubt there would be plenty of food left over for her when she woke.