*
Shane sensed her hesitation; she didn’t want to tell him. “Tuesday night,” she finally mumbled. Shane took a discreet, calming breath. That was days ago - the night he guest-lectured at the University. “Tuesday?”
“Yes,” she bit her lip, glancing down at where his hand now gently held hers as if it would break. “When I was getting out of my car.”
Shane prayed for patience. The thought that she was injured did not sit well with him. The fact that she had suffered all week was even less appealing. “You didn’t mention it.”
“No, I didn’t.” There was no mistaking the hint of defiance in her tone, telling him quite clearly that she did not feel the need to share everything. It bothered him, and he was somewhat taken aback by the fierce protective urges that seemed to be taking root. At the same time, he sensed that pushing her too hard too soon would be less than beneficial to his interests. After spending the evening with her, that compelling interest had only strengthened.
When he spoke again, it was with less demand and more concern. “Did you get this x-rayed?”
The defiance faded quickly, followed by something almost apologetic. It made those protective urges surge again. “Not yet. I didn’t think it was that bad, really.”
Shane flicked a finger lightly beneath hers, receiving a slight wince in response. He hadn’t meant to hurt her – it was barely a brush – which meant it really was a lot worse than she was letting on.
“Really,” he said, his disbelief apparent. “At the very least you should have this taped.”
“I did. That’s probably why it didn’t bother me much.”
He arched a brow. “It’s not taped now.’
Her lashes lowered, and she averted her eyes. “It didn’t look good with my dress,” she said softly.
He gently lifted her chin and pinned her with his eyes. He hadn’t figured her to be one who would forego common sense for something so esoteric. The answer came a moment later, a softly spoken confession from beneath shuttered eyes. “I wanted to look pretty for you.”
Another click snicked deep within. That she would go to such lengths for him had his heart swelling until it used every available space in his chest. “I’ve never seen a woman look more beautiful than you do tonight. But don’t ever do anything like this for my benefit again,” he chastised gently. “Now will you promise me you will have this taken care of tomorrow, or should we stop at the ER on our way back tonight?”
She blinked away a sheen of moisture. “I’ll go tomorrow,” she promised.
After a few more dances, Shane reluctantly took her home. Lacie allowed him to temporarily bind her hand from the first aid kit he kept in the trunk. He would have preferred to have his brother Michael check it over, but he trusted Lacie to keep her word, and he didn’t want her to have any unpleasant memories of this night. If she had managed to make it through the week with a full schedule, one more night wasn’t unreasonable.
“Did you have a good time tonight?” he asked, opening the door for her.
She didn’t answer him at first. When she did finally speak, she did so as if choosing each word carefully. “If I took every dream I ever had of the perfect romantic date and put them all together, it couldn’t compare to what you’ve given me tonight.”
Shane wondered at the pure pleasure her words gave him. “That’s a yes, then?”
“That’s most definitely a yes. But...”
Shane’s brows drew together. There was a ‘but’? He had planned everything down to the minutest detail, and it had gone off without a hitch. Granted, getting a private balcony table at the Celtic Goddess on such short notice was made easier by the fact that his sister-in-law was the head chef and co-owner, but he thought he’d done pretty well. “But?”
She looked at him shyly from beneath thick lashes. “As wonderful as it was, I just want you to know that it wasn’t because of the restaurant or the food or the music. That was nice and all, but it was wonderful because I was with you.”
Shane felt a fist curl around his heart and squeeze. There went another tumbler as his heart clicked one step closer to completely opening for her.
“So if our next date is hot dogs and beer at a baseball game, you’d be okay with that?” he teased.
“Actually, I would love that,” she laughed. “But just so you know, I’m more of a soft-pretzel kind of girl.”
“I’ll remember that.”
*