Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [156]
“I’m not sure what part, if any, Eddie may have played in the murders. But you know I suspected Howard from the beginning. Come on, Maggie. We found him at the airport with what could be the murder weapon.”
She frowned at him and shook her head. “He doesn’t fit the profile.”
“Maybe not, but you know what? I don’t want to spend my last hour with you talking about Eddie Gillick or Ray Howard or Father Keller or anything to do with this case.”
He approached slowly, cautiously. She nervously pushed her hair away from her face. Tucked a stubborn strand behind her ear. The look in his eyes made the tremble invade her fingers again, and the flutter raced from her stomach to between her thighs.
He touched her face gently, holding her eyes with an intensity that made her feel as though she was the only woman in the world—at least, for the moment. She could easily have stopped the kiss, had meant to when he first leaned down. But when his lips brushed hers, all her energy focused on keeping her knees from buckling. When she didn’t protest, his mouth caught hers in a wet, soft kiss filled with so much urgency and emotion that she felt certain the room was spinning. Even after his mouth left hers, she kept her eyes closed, trying to steady her breathing, trying to stop the spinning.
“I love you, Maggie O’Dell.”
Her eyes flew open. His face was still close to hers, his eyes serious. She saw a bit of boyish apprehension and knew how hard those words had been to say. She pulled away, only now realizing that, other than his fingers on her face and his mouth on hers, he hadn’t touched her anywhere else. Which made her retreat disappointingly easy.
“Nick, we barely know each other.” It was still hard to breathe. How could one simple kiss take her breath so completely away?
“I’ve never felt this way before, Maggie. And it’s not just because you’re unavailable. It’s something I can’t even explain.”
“Nick…”
“Please, just let me finish.”
She waited, braced herself and leaned against the dresser. The same dresser she had clung to the night they had come so dangerously close to making love.
“I know it’s only been a week, but I can assure you, I’m not impulsive when it comes to…well, sex, yes, but not this…not love. I’ve never felt this way before. And I’ve certainly never told a woman I loved her before.”
It sounded like a line, but she knew from his eyes that it was true. She opened her mouth to speak, but he raised a hand to stop her.
“I don’t expect anything I say to compromise your marriage. But I didn’t want you to leave without knowing, just in case it did make a difference. And I guess even if it doesn’t, I still want you to know that I…that I am madly, deeply, hopelessly, head over heels in love with you, Maggie O’Dell.”
It was his turn to wait. She couldn’t speak. Her fingers clawed at the dresser top, keeping her from going to him and wrapping her arms around him.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” His eyes told her he meant it.
“I obviously have feelings for you.” She struggled with the words. She hated the thought of never seeing him again. But what did she know about being in love? Hadn’t she been in love with Greg, once upon a time? Hadn’t she vowed to love him forever?
“Things are really complicated right now,” she heard herself say and wanted to kick herself. He had opened his heart to her, taken such a risk, and here she was being practical and rational.
“I know,” he said. “But maybe they won’t always be complicated.”
“It does make a difference, Nick,” she said, making a feeble attempt at correcting her ambiguity.
He seemed relieved by that simple revelation, as though it was more than he had ever hoped for.
“You know,” he said, sounding more comfortable while her heart screamed at her to tell him how she felt. “You’ve helped me see a lot of things about myself, about life. I’ve been following in these huge, deep footsteps my father keeps leaving behind and…and I don’t want to