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“Really?” She actually looked even more confused now. “Why not? She’s really amazing. You should lock that down. I mean if I swung that way, I’d put a ring on it.”
Now it was his turn to laugh. No one ever made him laugh like Eliza did. It wasn’t that he didn’t laugh, he did. But no one surprised him when they spoke. Logically, he knew that was because of his higher-than-normal IQ and his ability to predict patterns of behavior based on personality, intelligence and disposition. But he’d never been able to figure Eliza out. She was a mystery to him…and he loved it.
He loved her.
“I’m not kidding!” A smile spread on her face, a real smile, and it almost dropped him to his knees. Lifting her hand she began counting off on her fingers. “She’s gorgeous, funny, smart, kind, charming, cool and a freakin’ pediatric surgeon…” She flipped over both hands and raised them up. “I mean, come on, she’s too good to be true, but she’s true. What more could your heart desire?”
You. My heart’s only desire is you.
Her Bailey campaign continued. “She’s perfect! I mean, what more could you want?”
“She’s great,” he agreed.
She was great, but she wasn’t Ellie.
“No.” Ellie shook her head as her eyes widened. “I’m not asking rhetorically. I’m literally asking what more could you possibly want in a woman?”
You. I want them to be you.
Since he couldn’t say that, he asked, “What happened with you and your husband?”
It’d been driving him crazy since the day before. He had to know. This was as good a time as any to ask.
She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “Well played, sir. Well played.”
“Well played?” He had no idea what she was talking about.
“Yep.” She nodded and pointed her finger towards him. “I see what you did there. I was asking personal questions so you turned the tables. Touché.”
“I wasn’t turning the tables.” This wasn’t a game and he didn’t want her to think he was playing one. “I honestly want to know. But you don’t have to tell me, it’s none of my business.”
A flash of surprise registered on her face. “Oh, you were serious. Okay, well it’s pretty cliché.” She let out a forced laugh and her voice trembled. “In fact it’s probably the oldest story in the book. I walked in on him with the dental assistant that I had hired the week before. The nineteen-year-old dental assistant.”
Before she’d even finished her explanation his blood started boiling. In Ranger training he’d learned several ways to kill a man, in seconds, with his bare hands. Never once had he been tempted to do it. Until right now.
Luckily he was schooled at keeping his expression blank. Growing up, his mind was always going a mile a minute. Sometimes he’d get in trouble for scowling at his mother or teachers. It was never directed at them, but he’d quickly learned to never let what he was thinking show on his face.
She didn’t need to see how it was affecting him. She didn’t need to see that he wanted to tear her ex from limb to limb for hurting her. She didn’t need to see anything but her supportive friend.
A forced laugh fell from her lips as uncertainty filled her emerald gaze. “I got replaced by a younger model. It doesn’t get more cliché than that.”
“He’s a fucking idiot,” Nate growled. He’d meant for his tone to be softer. Not so murderous. But that wasn’t possible right now. “He never deserved you. You deserve…”
He hesitated before finishing that sentence. He almost didn’t finish it, but after seeing the insecurity in her eyes, hearing the quiver in her voice, he couldn’t stop himself. Something inside him snapped. “You deserve a man that sees you. Not just how unbelievably sexy, adorably cute and heart-stoppingly beautiful you are every second of every day which you are totally unaware of and that naivety only adds to. Not just how you light up every room that you walk into and make the people around you better just by being in your presence. Not just that you’re witty and smart and you always try to see the best in people.
“You deserve a man that knows that when you’re nervous you rub your thumb along the pads of your fingers, so he’ll know when to put his arm around you and tell you that everything is going to be okay. You deserve a man that knows if you’re sad you need to watch sad movies, not to wallow in your feelings but so you can let out all the tears. You deserve a man that makes sure you don’t forget your keys, or your purse, security codes, or anything else you might need before you walk out of the house because your mind is always preoccupied with how you can be better, how you can help more people.
“Doug was never that man. You don’t need him. You need a man that goes to bed every night and wakes up every morning in awe that you’re by his side. A man that can’t wait to hear the next word that comes out of your mouth, just to hear your voice. You need a man that would never, that could never cheat on you because no other woman in the world even exists to him. A man that can only see you, your smile, your eyes. Only hear your laugh, your sighs, your words.
“That’s the man you need. That’s the man you deserve.”
Ellie’s lips parted as she sucked in a short breath and there was an uncertainty in her stare as she looked up at him with tears brimming in her eyes. He could sense the energy between them shift and he instantly knew that he’d gone too far. Revealed too much. That he’d crossed a line he had no business crossing.
He was about to apologize when he saw something that stopped him. The blush that he’d grown addicted to causing when they were younger spread up her neck. Her chest rose and fell as her breaths came in pants. She licked her lips and dipped her head shyly. Her hair fell like a curtain around her face.
Now his blood was hot, but for an entirely different reason. He didn’t have to be a genius to recognize arousal. He stepped forward and reached out to lift her chin so he could look in her eyes. He needed to see her face. To see what she was feeling. Even if he couldn’t act on it, he needed to know.
Just as his finger brushed her soft skin the lights turned on and he heard footsteps coming their way. He stepped back just as Jarmen rounded the corner and jumped with a start.
