Solitary Man Read Free Page B

“Walking the streets alone in the dead of night, dressing like a… like a…” He shook his head and trailed off, obviously losing steam.
    “Don’t stop now,” she murmured. “Not when you’re just getting interesting. Dressing like a… what?” she prompted.
    “Forget it. Just tell me what the hell’s going on.”
    “I don’t know what you mean.” She blinked twice, feigning ignorance, buying time. Student teachers didn’t earn money and she’d been forced to give up her scholarship because she couldn’t afford housing on campus or otherwise. Her life had changed so fast she could hardly believe it herself.
    Explaining would take more energy than she possessed and she refused to bare her soul to a man who didn’t care. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you,” she said, turning the brunt of her true feelings on him. There was a time when she’d have told him anything, but not anymore. She spun on her heels, intending to walk away.
    He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. No force, no strength to his grip, just a touch… and she turned back toward him. “Tony wouldn’t approve,” he said softly.
    “Tony’s not here,” she reminded him, forcing the words past the catch in her throat. He muttered a harsh curse. She glanced up, hating the tears in her eyes, hating that he’d see her weakness. When she was weak she was at her most vulnerable, and she’d worked too hard to be strong.
    “But I am.” He touched her cheek with one hand, with a single stroke of his calloused finger. The warmth shot straight through her, settling in her chest, perilously close to her heart.
    Nikki fought the feeling and let his words register instead. Then she looked at him and laughed. She couldn’t help it, couldn’t control her reaction to what he’d just said because she’d come to him once before. She’d leaned on him, opened her heart, and relied on him to be there for her afterward. He hadn’t been. Instead he’d taken off and left her alone.
    As if she’d slapped him, he jerked his hand away from her face. The cold wind blew across her cheek and the chill went much deeper than her skin. She wrapped her arms around herself but she didn’t feel warmer. Being alone hurt, she admitted to herself, but better being alone than rejected again. No matter how much she needed someone, she wouldn’t turn to Kevin. She didn’t trust him to be there when she fell.
    “I don’t need you,” she told him. The nausea she’d suffered from earlier returned in force, but she fought against the wave that assaulted her. A few more minutes and she’d be on her own, and she could collapse in private. “Tony would have respected any well-thought-out decision and I’ve made mine. You’ll have to accept it even if you don’t understand.”
    He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “We’ll see about that.”
    “It isn’t your place to see or not,” She took two steps and her knees buckled.
    Kevin saved her from falling by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. “Apparently it is. You’re overworked, exhausted and…”
    “Just a little nauseous, dizzy. I’m fine or I will be after a good night’s sleep.”
    His eyes narrowed as his dark gaze focused in on her. “Has this happened before?”
    “Yes. No.” She could barely think, let alone answer. Maybe if his strength weren’t so potent, his scent so seductive, she wouldn’t feel as dizzy and overwhelmed.
    All her strength went into remaining upright and focused. Once she got rid of Kevin, she could collapse in a taxi and pull herself together.
    “Well, which is it?” he asked.
    Nikki shook her head, but the rapid movement only made things worse. The last thing she felt before blackness claimed her was his strong arms beneath her knees and his softly muttered curse in her ear.
    * * *
    The sound of oil splattering in a frying pan woke her. It wasn’t the first time Nikki had opened her eyes since falling into the