Cara Colter – Passionate Calanettis: Soldier, Hero...Husband? (страница 14)
“But you’d had a head injury. And you said you were lonely... I thought you might be...” His voice trailed away uncomfortably.
She looked at him silently. She should be insulted. He thought she might be what? Getting carried away with the first man who looked at her with avarice? But poor Connor looked tormented. His expression stole her indignation away from her.
“Vulnerable,” he continued.
That was so true. She did feel very vulnerable. But it seemed he felt vulnerable, too.
“It’s not that you wouldn’t make good decisions under normal conditions,” he said hastily. “But a bump on the head can cause confusion. Alter judgment slightly. I’m sorry. Am I making a fool of myself?”
“No,” she said softly, “you are not. I am quite touched by your concern for me.”
“I’m not sure it’s rational,” he said. “It’s just that, unfortunately, I’ve just seen a lot of people get themselves in trouble before they know what’s happened to them.”
“I wasn’t in trouble. But the party wasn’t for a child. Not really. For a sixteen-year-old. It’s a big deal in Monte Calanetti. Almost like a wedding. A meal and dancing. The party could go on all night.”
“I hate it when I act from emotion,” he said gruffly.
“Do you?”
He stepped one step closer to her. He lifted her hair off her shoulder with his hand. “What are you doing to me?” he asked huskily. “I feel as if I’m not thinking straight.”
“Ah.”
“I find you very beautiful. It’s hard for a man to think straight around that.”
“It’s just the dress,” she said.
“No, Isabella, it’s not.”
“It’s not?”
“There’s something about you that makes me think with my heart instead of my head.”
“Oh, dear,” she said, and her tone was playfully mocking.
“Here’s what I think,” he said firmly, as if he had it all figured out.
“Yes?”
“I should take you on a date.”
ISABELLA STARED AT CONNOR. He should take her on a date? But was that his head or his heart talking? Because the way he said it, it was almost as though he hoped to get her out of his system.
“You should?” she asked.
“Sure. I mean, if you’d like to.”
There was something very endearing about seeing this big, self-assured, superconfident Texan looking so unsure of himself.
“I’d like to,” she said softly. “I’d like to, very much.”
And then it seemed slightly and wonderfully ridiculous that they turned and walked home together.
Only it didn’t seem ridiculous when his hand found hers.
It felt not as if she was going to go on a real date for the first time in her life, but as if she was coming home.
* * *
“I’ve gone and done something really stupid,” Connor whispered into his phone.
“Huh? Who is this?”
“Justin, it’s me.”
“Connor?”
“Yeah.”
“What the hell is going on?”
“There’s this girl.”
Something relaxed in Justin’s tone. “This better be good—it’s two o’clock in the morning here.”
Connor contemplated that. Was there one rational thing left in him? No, that’s why he was consulting his friend. That’s what SEALs did when they were in a pickle, they relied on each other.
“She’s not really a girl. A woman.”
“Uh-huh?”
“I asked her out.”
“That sounds like it’s worthy of a two a.m. phone call.”
“The thing is, I didn’t really ask her out for me. I asked her out for her. She’s a widow. She married really young. She’s missed a lot. She’s never been on a real date before.”
Silence.
Connor sighed. “I’m the wrong guy for this, aren’t I?”
Silence.
“I mean, I’m just the wrong guy to try and show her how it can be.”
“How what can be?”
“You know.”
“You’ll have to spell it out for me. I’m having that two-o’clock-in-the-morning brain fart.”
“How it can be, uh, when two people like each other. A lot.”
“You mean falling in love?” Justin asked. He sounded wide-awake now.
“No!” Connor had to backtrack. He was sorry he had admitted liking her. A lot. His mission was one of altruism, and he wanted to make Justin understand that.
“I mean maybe falling in love,” Connor said carefully, “just not with me. I just want to show her life can be fun. I want to show her she’s missed something, and not to be afraid to embrace it. That it is not too late for her.”
“From the embracer of all things romantic,” Justin said wryly.
“You’re not helping! I guess I want to show her what she should be looking for in a guy. Not me. I mean, I’m leaving. I’m here for the short term only. But if I could just give her an idea how a date should feel.”
“Very altruistic.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
Justin sighed. “Okay. Ask me a specific question, and I will try to help you with it.”
“What should I do with her on a date? I was thinking dinner and a movie.”
“So, basically the same thing you’ve done on every single date you’ve ever been on?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”