Page 7 of Saving Texas

“I would have thought you were the type of man to be able to take a hint.”

“I was just wondering,” he paused, and his eyes turned vulnerable for just a second, “what I did to get you so angry with me. You’re acting as prickly as a porcupine.”

I sighed deeply. “I’m not angry with you Allen, truly. I just don’t understand this sudden interest in talking to me. We knew each other for what? Ten days? It was forever ago.”

He moved closer, and it took everything in me not to pull away.

“Don’t you feel it?” he asked, his voice low and deep. “The attraction between us? It’s burning as strong now as it did seventeen years ago.”

He took two steps until he was standing close enough that I could feel the heat of his body. I noticed that his nose had a tiny little bend in it now, like someone had broken it since the last time I saw him. The imperfection did nothing to draw from his attractiveness.

When I didn’t answer he continued, “When I saw you in that ER, when our eyes met, it was like all the years had fallen away. I realized two things in that moment. One, you were just as beautiful as I remembered. And two, I somehow never got over you.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I replied, but my voice was soft and breathy, lacking in conviction.

I’d felt the same, and I hadn’t been able to get him out of my mind in the days since he’d once again saved me from getting choked.

One large hand moved up towards my face, moving slowly like I was a feral cat he’d found in his daddy’s barn. When I didn’t pull away, Allen cupped my cheek and stared into my eyes. It took everything in me not to lean into the comfort of his warm palm.

“Is it ridiculous?” he asked softly.

I nodded, then shook my head. My emotions were a jumble right now and I couldn’t figure out how I felt or what I should say.

“I’ve never been one for fate,” he continued. “But I can’t help but think it can’t be a coincidence that we’ve found each other again after all these years, and in the same place we first met.”

When I continued to just stare at him, those expressive brown eyes darkened and he leaned forward, pressing his lips against mine. My body jolted with the contact even as my mind called out joyfully, “Yes! This!”

I stood stiffly as Allen teased my lips with his, then slid his tongue along the seam of my mouth, demanding entrance. I should push him away. Should stop this. But instead, I gave into temptation and parted my lips to meet his questing tongue, feeling alive for the first time in as long as I could remember.

My hands slid around his waist of their own volition, moving underneath his suit coat to grip his back. Allen tunneled his fingers through my hair, turning my head slightly so he could take the kiss deeper. He took a step forward, or maybe I did, but somehow our bodies were plastered together as the kiss went on.

As if we’d planned it, we both pulled back slowly, eyes meeting across the short distance separating our bodies. I felt dazed.

“You taste just as sweet as I remember.”

The words were like a bucket of cold water over the head.

“I’m not the sweet, naïve girl you used to know,” I told him regretfully.

He needed to know that whatever fantasy he had about me, it wasn’t true.

“You were twenty-seven then,” he reminded me. “Hardly a girl.”

I shook my head. “I’m not the same person I was at twenty-seven. I’ve grown up a lot since then.”

Grown hard, you mean, the voice in my head supplied unhelpfully.

He shrugged. “And I’m not the man I was at twenty-five either. We’ve both lived a lot of years and seen a lot of things since then. Yet the connection between us is just as strong as it was all those years ago. That’s not something that comes along every day. Don’t you think that makes it worth exploring?”

Allen

I couldn’t explain why I was pushing Clara so hard when she was obviously reluctant to spend time with me. I’d never been one of those guys who thought no meant maybe; my mama had taught me to respect women more than that. I guess the problem was that what I saw in Clara’s eyes didn’t match her words. Or maybe it was that she seemed to have such a wall around her now, I couldn’t resist tearing it down a bit to see if the woman I remembered was on the other side.

Unbeknownst to her, I had two good friends who worked for Clara, one of whom was her admin assistant, Adie. I’d been friends with her older brother in high school, and presently her current boyfriend worked at the station with me. One of my old Army buddies, an x-ray technician, was also working with Clara.

I’d shamelessly pumped both of my friends for information on their boss. They’d both described a stern but fair boss who had no time for anything other than work. Apparently she’d already reprimanded a couple of staff for what she called “shenanigans” after they’d organized a wheelchair race during a dead period at the ER. Ironic really since she’d done similar things when she was a young doctor. Back then she’d always been up for some fun, or a prank.

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