“And your father?”
“He died soon after I was born. But he was a genius, too. A real rocket scientist,” she answered quietly. “What about you? Why did you become a cop? A billionaire cop doesn’t seem very logical.” It was a question she’d been dying to ask even before she’d met Dante Sinclair.
“It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. My father was an abusive drunk, and luckily he was dead before I got out of high school. So I was free to pursue any career I wanted. And I wanted to be a cop. I went to college first, hoping I could advance through the ranks faster. I knew I wanted homicide, and I’d have to spend my time on patrol first. I got what I wanted when I turned twenty-six and got assigned to homicide.”
“And you liked it?”
Dante shrugged. “I was satisfied. I think doing police work is kind of like a calling, the same as wanting to be a doctor. As a homicide detective, I was basically on the job twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Murders usually didn’t happen in my district in broad daylight.”
Sarah could understand that. “I never wanted to do anything else, either.” She’d dreamed of being a doctor all her life, starting to fulfill her dreams at the same time most girls were just noticing that boys existed.
“Guess you didn’t have much of a childhood, huh?” Dante mentioned casually, as though he had almost read her mind.
Sarah smiled wearily. “I don’t ever remember being a child. When most girls were dreaming of being cheerleaders, I was studying college-level biology. I’ve always been . . . different. Amesport is the first place where I feel like I actually belong. I’m socially awkward, but nobody cares. They talk to me anyway. There’s such a mixture of different personalities here that I guess I fit in.”
“You’re not different,” Dante growled. “You’re special. Gifted. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Alone is alone, right? For whatever reason it might be,” she replied, giving Dante a questioning look. He was looking at her strangely, a gaze that she could almost swear was somewhat possessive and heated, and she started to squirm, feeling like a specimen under a microscope. Breaking contact with his fiery eyes, she set Coco on the floor and got up. “You need to be resting. I’ll take you home.”
Dante caught her upper arm as she walked past him, pulling her body close to his before he snaked an arm around her waist. Sarah’s breath hitched as her hips slid between his jeans-clad thighs. With him sitting on the stool, they were nearly at the same height, and she was eye to eye with him, the fierce, stormy look he was giving her even more frightening up close and personal.
“No boyfriend?” he asked gruffly.
Sarah shook her head slowly, unable to break away from his enthralling eyes and powerful grip around her waist. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Even injured, Dante seemed to pulsate with raw power and dominance that drew her to get perilously close to him.
“Have you ever been with a man?” His question was low, and spoken in a tone that demanded an answer.
Sarah wasn’t even going to pretend she didn’t understand what he was asking. “Once. In med school. It was awkward and painful. I was dating another medical student, and I wanted to see what I might be missing. He broke up with me the next day. I guess neither of us really liked it. Or maybe I wasn’t very good at it. I couldn’t see what the big deal was all about. It’s mating for the human species, and that’s it. I’ve never really figured out what other reason there is to do it.” She was speaking the truth, but she had been curious. So she’d tried it, only to find out that she was really missing out on nothing.
“Christ! Are you screwing with me? Is it possible to be a doctor and stay that innocent?” Dante rasped, his gaze sweeping over her face as though he were looking for something.
Her heart was thundering against her sternum as she watched his face, the healing scar on his cheek almost making him even more appealing, even more dangerous. “I’m not innocent and I’m not a virgin. I just don’t like sexual intercourse. It’s not very enjoyable.”