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."Careful with that thing, lass.Unless it pleases you to ruin my shirts.""Don't move and I won't have to cut you," she snapped.He dropped his hands to his side."I must move to collect the flask.""I'll follow you.""Nay, you will not.I will not take you to my lair.""I am the one with the knife," she reminded him."And it currently rests above yourheart."If he moved, she didn't see it.All she knew was that one moment she had the knife athis chest, and the next it was gone.She blinked, trying to bring the room back into focus.The blade was flush against her throat.Her eyes flared wide and she gasped."How did you do that?""You cannot control me, lass.No one can," he said wearily."If I give to you, it isbecause I choose to give to you.And, Lisa, I would choose to give you everything, ifyou would but permit.""Then give me the flask," she demanded, ignoring the cold metal at her neck."Why do you seek it? To what do you wish to return? I have told you I will wed youand care for you.I am offering you my home."A groan of frustration escaped her.Nothing was working out as she'd planned.He hadso easily disarmed her, stripped away her control.I am offering you my home, he hadsaid, and a treacherous part of her was deeply intrigued by that offer.She was doing itagain vacillating.She glared at him, a sheen of tears clouding her vision.At the sight of her tears, he flung the knife to the bed, where it landed with a soft thud.Pulling her into his arms, he caressed her hair tenderly."Tell me, lass, what is it? Whatcauses you to weep?"Lisa pulled from his embrace.Thrumming with frustration, she began pacing betweenhim and the door."Where is my baseball cap, anyway? Did you have to take that awayfrom me, too?"He cocked his head."Your base ball cap?" he repeated awkwardly."My" what had he called it? "bonnet."He moved to a chest beneath a window, lifted the lid, and retrieved her clothing.Herjeans and T-shirt had been neatly folded, and atop them was her cap.She leaped toward him and snatched it greedily from his hand, clutching it to her breast.It seemed a lifetime ago that she and her father had sat in the third row, in the blue seats,directly behind home base.They'd laughed and yelled at the baseball players, drunksodas and eaten hot dogs drenched with mustard and relish.She'd decided that very daythat she would one day marry a man just like her daddy.Charming, smart, with afabulous sense of humor, tender, and always willing to take time for his family.Then she'd met this capable, mighty warrior, and in his shadow the real Jack Stone hadcome into sharper focus.As had her real feelings about him.She was angry at her father.Angry at his irresponsibility: his failure to have carsserviced, to take out life insurance, to carry adequate auto coverage, to plan for a futurethat might stretch beyond his present.In so many ways her father had been anovergrown child, no matter how charming he was.But Circenn Brodie would alwaysplan for his family's future.If he wed, he would keep his wife and children safe, nomatter the cost to himself.Circenn Brodie took precautions, controlled his environment,and built an impenetrable fortress for those he called his own."Talk to me, lass."Lisa dragged herself from her bitter thoughts."If you tell me why you seek so desperately to return, I will bring you the flask.Is it aman?" he asked warily."I thought you told me there had been no one."The tension that had quickened in her veins while she'd sat in the doorway, clutchingthe knife and waiting for him, dissipated suddenly.She chided herself for herfoolishness: She should have foreseen that force wouldn't work with this man.The primary reason she'd refused to discuss Catherine with him was that she hadn'twanted to make a fool of herself, to start talking and end up weeping openly before theimpassive warrior.But her emotions were no longer under her control, and the need totalk consumed her, the need to have someone to trust, to confide in.Her defensesslipped further, leaving her raw and exposed.She sank to the floor."No.It's nothinglike that.It's my mother," she whispered."Your mother what?" he pushed gently, sinking down beside her."She's d-dying," she said.She dropped her head forward, creating a curtain with herhair."Dying?""Yes." She drew a deep breath."I'm all she has left, Circenn.She's ill and won't livemuch longer.I was taking care of her, feeding her, working to support us.Now she iscompletely alone." Once the words had started coming, they tumbled forth more easily.Maybe he did care enough to help her.Maybe if she told him all of it, he would find away to return her."She was in a car wreck five years ago.We all were.My daddy died in it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]