“A little. I was thinking I might head down to the ER and get it x-rayed later.”
Craig looked as though he was about to protest, then thought better of it. “Alright. Shelly and I will drive you over.”
“No.” Lacie shook her head. “I don’t want Shelly in an ER. It will scare her. And I already have a ride lined up.”
“Is it Callaghan?” Craig hissed with enough vehemence that Lacie took a step back.
“No,” she said, eyeing him warily. “Corinne is going with me. We were going to do some shopping afterward.”
Craig visibly relaxed.
“What is it you’ve got against him, anyway?” Lacie recalled Corinne’s hypothesis that Craig was the reason so few men actually asked her out. He was intimidating. She hoped Shane Callaghan would not be deterred, then dismissed that thought entirely. As gentle as he had been with her, she had sensed something dangerous lurking beneath the surface. Shane certainly didn’t give the impression of a man who scared easily.
“He’s sniffing around you, that’s what,” Craig said decisively, casting a quick glance into the living room where Shelly was happily coloring in front of the television. “What do you see in him anyway?”
“Honestly, Craig, I don’t pry into your sex life.” Lacie moved away from the sink to gather the last of the dishes from the table.
“You’re having sex with him?!?” Craig reached out and grabbed her by her injured hand, forcing her to face him.
“Of course not!” Lacie hissed, fighting the pain, which was overshadowed only by her total mortification of even having this conversation with him. “God, Craig, you’ve known me my whole life! I would think you’d know better than that.”
His grip loosened a little, but he did not release her until she pushed at his arm. “I do know you, babe, which is how I know that you are way over your head with this one.”
“I beg your pardon?” She forced herself to take even breaths as the pain seared up her forearm. Craig was too worked up to notice.
“These Callaghans, they’re like wolves, prowling around looking for little innocent lambs. They sink their fangs into you, rip you to shreds, then stalk back into the woods to wait for their next victim, leaving you to stitch yourself back together.”
That was a rather ironic analogy coming from the man who currently looked like he was ready to lay waste to everything within a five-mile radius. She couldn’t imagine the same wild look on Shane’s face; she instinctively knew he would always be in complete command of himself.
Feeling the need to defend both Shane and his family, she said, “Five of them are happily married, and utterly devoted to their wives and children.”
Her words only seemed to inflame him more. “Not your man, Lace. What does that tell you?”
Her chin tilted upward. “That he hasn’t met the right one yet.”
“Jesus Christ, look at the stars in your eyes!” he said in disbelief. “You think it might be you, don’t you?”
“I don’t think anything, you big idiot,” she said through clenched teeth, her voice an angry whisper. “We’ve only seen each other a couple of times.”
He nodded, as if she had just proven his point. “Ah, but the Callaghan men say they recognize their soul mates right away. If it was you, you’d already know.”
They believed in love at first sight? That was news to her. She refused to read anything into it. For all she knew, that statement was as biased and fabricated as his wolf-lamb analogy. “Where did you hear that?”
“Doesn’t matter, does it? It’s true. Do yourself a favor, Lacie, and forget this guy before he breaks your heart and I’m cleaning up what’s left.”
Her irritation swelled suddenly into an uncharacteristic rage. “Why don’t you do me a favor and stay the fuck out of my business!”
Craig’s eyes opened wide as Lacie’s hand flew up to her mouth. Lacie had never cursed at him; she appeared to be every bit as shocked as he was. She never used the “F” word, not to anyone.
Almost as stunned as he was, Lacie was out the door and back in her own apartment before he could respond.
Chapter Seven
Shane fingered the small mobile device, flipping it over and over in his hand, fighting the urge to call Lacie just yet. It had been exactly seventeen hours and thirty seven minutes since he’d done the honorable thing and left Lacie at her doorstep with naught but a brush of a kiss across the back of her hand.