Read Online The Lady and the Lion by Kay Hooper - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kay Hooper
Ads: Link
know that I should escort you to the plane tomorrow, let you go. Later, when I'm through here, I could follow you."
"But?" Erin prompted when he fell silent and looked at her broodingly.
"But... no matter how many times I tell myself to do that, I can't seem to listen to reason. This is the worst possible time to begin any kind of relationship, but I don't want you to go. I'm selfish, Erin. I want you with me. On my terms."
The waiter came to take their orders then, allowing Erin a few moments to gather her thoughts. She ordered automatically, hardly paying attention to her choices, her mind in turmoil.
His terms? She thought she knew what those would be. No commitment, no demands—and no questions. Any woman would be a fool to accept that, she knew. Where he went and what he did at night would be none of her business, that half of his life closed to her. Even if it were only a week or two, she had heard the strain and edginess in his voice during their dawn conversations, had sensed the smoldering anger in him, and even though she wasn't afraid of him, how could she cope with emotions like that when she had no understanding of the source?
He wasn't a criminal, he'd said, and what he was doing was not illegal. But he wouldn't talk about it, except to say the pressure was having a negative effect on him. It wasn't a part of his "normal" life, it was something he had to do. Alone. Something that was, she was very much afraid, tearing him up inside. And he wouldn't share that with her, wouldn't explain what was going on.
And what was he asking of her, really? Did he want no more than a brief affair, an outlet for the physical tensions left by these unnamed pressures? Did he want her only because of the explosive passion they'd both felt? Had it really been her voice on a dark balcony that had drawn him, or had he merely needed a woman and sensed her vulnerability?
The questions were hateful ones, and she hated them.
"Erin?"
She looked up, realizing that the waiter had departed and that Keith was gazing at her with his enigmatic eyes, his face revealing nothing of his thoughts. He wouldn't give an inch, she mused vaguely, not an inch. He wouldn't offer bedroom lies or empty promises. He was hard, paradoxical, uncompromising, secretive, angry— and altogether dangerous.
If she had a grain of sense, Erin realized, she would walk away from him and never look back. Instead, she heard herself say evenly, "Your terms. Which are?"
"Which are brutally unfair. " His voice was still quiet and matter of fact. "My work comes first, Erin. It has to. And you aren't involved in it. No questions. And no ties. I don't want a love affair. I don't want a relationship. I just want you. For as long as it lasts—and I don't know how long that will be. I can promise not to be cruel, but I can't promise to be kind. I can't say I won't hurt you, because I probably will."
Erin drew a deep breath, her eyes locked with his. "You are a bastard, aren't you?"
Four
"Sometimes." There was no apology in his deep voice. "Often, these days."
Erin took a swallow of her drink and wished she'd ordered something stronger. "You expect me to accept all this? Meekly agree to have a— what? A fling? Sleep with you because all you want from me is sex? Why should I agree to that, Keith?"
Very softly he said, "Because you want me too."
She didn't say another word. The lifelong training that had taught her to show her best face in public always and to keep her private emotions to herself served her well now. She wanted to hit Keith with something, to storm at him and rant and walk out. But the low hum of conversation all around them in the restaurant steadied her, and her social mask held. Just.
She wondered if he knew he should lay out his "terms" in a public place where she was unable to react as she wanted to. If so, that was as unfair as all the rest, because not being able to vent her emotions meant that her first negative impulses had to be
"But?" Erin prompted when he fell silent and looked at her broodingly.
"But... no matter how many times I tell myself to do that, I can't seem to listen to reason. This is the worst possible time to begin any kind of relationship, but I don't want you to go. I'm selfish, Erin. I want you with me. On my terms."
The waiter came to take their orders then, allowing Erin a few moments to gather her thoughts. She ordered automatically, hardly paying attention to her choices, her mind in turmoil.
His terms? She thought she knew what those would be. No commitment, no demands—and no questions. Any woman would be a fool to accept that, she knew. Where he went and what he did at night would be none of her business, that half of his life closed to her. Even if it were only a week or two, she had heard the strain and edginess in his voice during their dawn conversations, had sensed the smoldering anger in him, and even though she wasn't afraid of him, how could she cope with emotions like that when she had no understanding of the source?
He wasn't a criminal, he'd said, and what he was doing was not illegal. But he wouldn't talk about it, except to say the pressure was having a negative effect on him. It wasn't a part of his "normal" life, it was something he had to do. Alone. Something that was, she was very much afraid, tearing him up inside. And he wouldn't share that with her, wouldn't explain what was going on.
And what was he asking of her, really? Did he want no more than a brief affair, an outlet for the physical tensions left by these unnamed pressures? Did he want her only because of the explosive passion they'd both felt? Had it really been her voice on a dark balcony that had drawn him, or had he merely needed a woman and sensed her vulnerability?
The questions were hateful ones, and she hated them.
"Erin?"
She looked up, realizing that the waiter had departed and that Keith was gazing at her with his enigmatic eyes, his face revealing nothing of his thoughts. He wouldn't give an inch, she mused vaguely, not an inch. He wouldn't offer bedroom lies or empty promises. He was hard, paradoxical, uncompromising, secretive, angry— and altogether dangerous.
If she had a grain of sense, Erin realized, she would walk away from him and never look back. Instead, she heard herself say evenly, "Your terms. Which are?"
"Which are brutally unfair. " His voice was still quiet and matter of fact. "My work comes first, Erin. It has to. And you aren't involved in it. No questions. And no ties. I don't want a love affair. I don't want a relationship. I just want you. For as long as it lasts—and I don't know how long that will be. I can promise not to be cruel, but I can't promise to be kind. I can't say I won't hurt you, because I probably will."
Erin drew a deep breath, her eyes locked with his. "You are a bastard, aren't you?"
Four
"Sometimes." There was no apology in his deep voice. "Often, these days."
Erin took a swallow of her drink and wished she'd ordered something stronger. "You expect me to accept all this? Meekly agree to have a— what? A fling? Sleep with you because all you want from me is sex? Why should I agree to that, Keith?"
Very softly he said, "Because you want me too."
She didn't say another word. The lifelong training that had taught her to show her best face in public always and to keep her private emotions to herself served her well now. She wanted to hit Keith with something, to storm at him and rant and walk out. But the low hum of conversation all around them in the restaurant steadied her, and her social mask held. Just.
She wondered if he knew he should lay out his "terms" in a public place where she was unable to react as she wanted to. If so, that was as unfair as all the rest, because not being able to vent her emotions meant that her first negative impulses had to be
Similar Books
