The look she gave him tore through him. “Do you know what the human soul sounds like when it screams in utter agony? It echoes through your body until you’re sure it will shatter your eardrums. Only no one else can hear it. Only you do. One minute, I was just a kid, dreaming about picking out a prom dress with my mother, having my dad teach me to drive that summer, and in the next everything about my life was irrevocably changed.
“I no longer had parents to be there when I graduated, to nag me to get married before I turned thirty.
No Mom for the mother-daughter tea at my sorority or Dad to help me lug boxes into my dorm room.
And all because of a senseless act of violence. It is harsh and it hurts and no child should ever feel like I did in that moment. No one should ever lose a loved one like that.No one.”
He didn’t know how she held herself so composed. Nothing but absolute anguish was in her eyes.
“Two hundred and fifty-nine families were shattered that day, and I want to make sure that no one will ever feel the pain that went through me when I realized my mom and dad weren’t coming home ever again. So that, Mr.Krux, is why when you say the word terrorist, I get pissed.”
“And you have every right to. I’m sorry, Rhea. I really am.”
She nodded. “I know. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really need to go to the bathroom for a minute.”
Ace stood back and watched as she headed toward the door. She walked slowly and methodically, but he had a good idea she was going in there so that she could fall apart.
Damn. He shouldn’t have pushed. But how could he have guessed that? His stupid story at the Smith was paltry compared to hers. And people like her were why his job meant so much to him. It was what Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
kept him going on no sleep, and why he never wanted to get serious with a woman.
His job was stressful enough, the last thing he needed was a woman who wanted time from him that he couldn’t give her.
Sighing, he went back to the table to wait for Rhea to return.
When she came back a few minutes later, he could tell she’d been crying. Her features were pinched, her eyes only a little red, but it was enough to let him know what she’d done in the bathroom.
“You are without a doubt the strongest woman I have ever met,” he said, toasting her with his beer. “I really admire you, Rhea.”
Rhea frowned at him as she reached for her wine andclinked it lightly against his beer bottle. “Now I’m really suspicious of you, Ace. What do you have up that sleeve of yours?”
“Nothing but bare flesh, which you will see all for yourself tomorrow morning.”He winked at her, which caused her to get that familiar angry spark in her brown eyes.
Now that was much better than her sadness. If he kept her angry, she wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else.
“You know, I’ve always read about incorrigible men, but you really are, aren’t you?”
He laughed at that. “Beat me with all your whips and quips, baby.”
She gave him a half-teasing, half-sinister smile. “I plan to.”
“That’s all right. It’ll be worth it so long as you kiss all my boo-boos afterward.”
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
“Oh, you are a quick one, Mr. Krux.”
“But the real question is,am I charming you out of your pants?” He wagged his eyebrows at her.
“You’re working on it, aren’t you?”
“I’m trying to.”
She gave him a heated once-over. “You might stand more of a chance if I didn’t know how many other women you’ve already charmed out of their pants and then danced right out of their lives.”
He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Those are all lies. I was framed.”
“Yeah, right.”
And yet she was beguiled by him and that infectious debonair attitude of his. He really was starting to charm her out of her pants, and that scared her more than the thought of dominatrix training.
She really did want him. How could she not? He had been strangely understanding about her parents, and now she realized he was trying to distract her to get her mind off it.
Ace really did have a heart and a soul underneath that trying facade.
“So let’s do some business,” she said as she returned to her grilled chicken. “Tell me all about Bender.”
“He’s a total freak.Just your kind of guy.”
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She laughed. “Sounds more like your type. Maybe I should have gotten you that bustier after all.”
“Stop with the bustier jokes.”He shuddered. “Every time you talk about it, I get this image in my head that has scarred me for life.”
“What image?”
“My aunt was one of the women who did the makeup forTootsie . To get ready for it, she practiced on my dad. I came home from school to find him decked out in the complete getup: sequins, wig, earrings, makeup, you name it. Forgethorror, that was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. My dad made one ugly woman.”
Rhea laughed again. “Are you serious?”
“Oh, yeah.You couldn’t pay me enough to ever get me near female clothes…unless I’m taking them off a female body.”
“Ace!” she growled. “Focus on something other than your hormones.”
“I would try to focus on your hormones, but you get pissed every time I do.”