Erin Kern - Along Came Trouble

“Home. I was tired.” Why did he have to look so damn good, even all wrinkled and unkempt? Hair all uncombed, jaw unshaven. Eyes especially hard, yet even more piercing than ever. And zeroed in on her, although not at all soft as she was used to seeing them, but they still created a patch of heat in her midsection. “And what are you doing here?”

“Getting food,” he said without missing a beat. “And yeah, I got that you were probably tired. Why’d you run off without telling me? I looked all over the hospital for you.”

Something about his tone, and the irritation lacing it, got her back up. She gripped her bag of food tighter to her chest. “Really? I didn’t think I was important enough for you to worry about.” She deliberately used his own words against him, because, dammit, she was tired, confused, and just had her heart broken.

A muscle ticked in Brody’s jaw. Anger and confusion was a tangible thing coming off him in waves that it almost knocked the breath out of Elisa. She’d seen him agitated before. But this was something different. This was pure stone-cold ire.

Well, served him right.

“Yes, I heard you,” she continued when he didn’t respond to her statement. “I heard what you said,” she clarified just in case he hadn’t gotten the message.

“Then you obviously didn’t listen to the conversation long enough. And, anyway, I don’t like spilling out my personal relationships for my family. That wasn’t the time or place to have an intimate conversation with my brother. Especially with the mood he was in.”

Elisa didn’t know what to say to that. It wasn’t exactly an apology, or any kind of indication that the words weren’t true.

“That’s not good enough for you, is it?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t know, Brody. What am I supposed to think after hearing something like that? You’ve been so evasive about your feelings for me. Quite frankly, I’m tired of waiting.”

“What do you mean?”

She inhaled a deep breath and tried to fight the tears that were threatening again. “I told you before, I can’t just be a sex buddy to you. There has to be more to this relationship than that.”

He took a step toward her, and she backed up into one of the patio tables. Luckily no one was sitting there. “And I told you before that I care about you. But right now this is all I’m capable of.”

“That’s not good enough. I know you love me, Brody, but for some reason you can’t admit it. And I deserve better than that.” She deserved better than someone who would lie to her and lie to himself.

“You’re right, you do. And I’m sorry you heard what I said to my brother. I didn’t mean it, and I shouldn’t have said it. But neither my brother nor I were in the right frame of mind to have that kind of discussion. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have feelings for you, because I do.”

She tilted her head and studied him. “But those feelings aren’t strong enough for you to stick around, are they?” Elisa accused. “And you might be leaving anyway, so perhaps it’s best if we call things off right now.” The tightness in her chest returned, the one where she felt on the precipice of having a heart attack. She pulled a deep breath and felt the organ do a little triple beat. Not much better than the tightness.

“You’re the one who’s leaving,” he tossed at her.

“At first it was permanent, yes. But after I met you, I thought about coming back to Trouble and giving this a shot. But you haven’t given me any reason to come back, or any indication that you want me to.” She stared at him, trying to read his features, but he was poker-faced. “Give me a reason to come back, Brody.” She shook her head. The tears were getting harder and harder for her to fight. “I can’t keep doing this. I love you, and I’m not afraid to admit it. For some reason, you’re terrified.”

A woman walked toward the entrance of the burger joint, which had Brody and Elisa stepping out of the way. “You’re right, I am terrified,” Brody admitted. “Terrified of what I could do to you. That I could end up destroying any faith you might have in me.”

Too late for that . “Why, because of a poor decision you made when you were still married?” she asked instead, confirming that he’d already destroyed her. “Brody, a moment of bad judgment doesn’t define who you are. We all have times of weakness.”

He didn’t respond to her. Instead he took another step toward her and narrowed his gaze. Those soulful eyes of his cut straight to her heart, like they always did. If she didn’t scurry away now, she would find herself succumbing to him again. And she didn’t need that. Her heart was too fragile to get any deeper with him. If she had any prayer at all of surviving him, she needed to end things now.

“I can’t do this,” she muttered again in a whisper. If she forced a normal voice, he might suspect the tears. “I have to go,” she murmured with her eyes focused on the ground. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She took a wide berth that would ensure she could get around him without touching him. Because, really, wasn’t being close to him enough torture?

He, however, the persistent, sneaky man, had other ideas. His hand shot out and latched onto her wrist. The touch, his skin in contact with hers, ignited all kinds of buried feelings and sensations she’d spent the better part of the night trying to forget. And all it took was one grasp of his hand to remind her what kind of control he could have over her.

He pinned her with those scorching gray eyes of his. The same gaze that she had drowned in when he’d been buried deep inside her.

In order to mask her reaction, Elisa glanced away and looked at… the ground. What the hell else was she supposed to look at? Certainly not him.

When she thought he would speak, to say anything to reassure her this was nothing more than a misunderstanding, he disappointed her. Nothing but silence and his penetrating presence looming over her.

The only thing she got in return was his thumb grazing back and forth over the inside of her wrist. Like some pendulum clock counting down the seconds until he let her go and she walked away from him. Because, unless he said something really Earth-moving, she’d walk.

Without a word of any kind of hope or confirmation, he turned around and walked into the restaurant. His silence decimated what was left of her heart.

For once in his life, Brody didn’t have a damn thing to do. Except brood and kick himself for how things had gone with Elisa when he’d run into her the day before. He’d showed up at the restaurant, ready to drown himself in work, when Charlene all but booted his ass out the door. He supposed the thunderous look on his face and unkempt appearance wasn’t really conducive for a professional atmosphere. Whatever. He could use the time off. Charlene knew that and assured him everything was taken care of. Just before escorting him out, she flashed him her pearly whites and slipped a piece of paper in his hand. Brody didn’t open it until he got in the car. He wasn’t in the mood to read anything, or use his brain in any sort of capacity.

The paper was a photocopy of the review Michelle had written for The Trouble Citizen. In the front seat of his car, Brody glanced over the article, just picking up highlights here and there. It was a good review. In fact, it was freakin’ glowing. He really should take the time to read the entire thing. There was a small chance it might lift his spirits. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. In fact, there wasn’t a whole lot he cared about right now—except maybe drowning himself in a big-ass bottle of Jack.

He set the article aside, turned his truck on, and just sat there, staring out at the parking lot and dwelling on how he’d royally screwed things up.