Thorn's Challenge - Brenda Jackson [46]
Tara smiled, thinking how much in love the couple were, as were Dare and Shelly. Love always seemed to radiate between them, and she always felt strong affectionate emotions whenever she was around them. On Super Bowl Sunday at Chase’s restaurant it had been hard not to notice the intimate smiles the couples had exchanged, as well as the discreet touches.
She often wondered whether, if things had gone according to plan, she and Derrick would have shared that kind of loving relationship. For some reason she believed they would eventually have become a divorce statistic. It was only after she had finally stopped wallowing in bitterness and self-pity that she had decided not marrying Derrick had really been for the best. Still, she could not let go of the fact that he had betrayed and humiliated her the way he had.
Her thoughts shifted back to Thorn. When she had met him two years ago, her heart was recovering from being brutally battered. But still she knew, just as sure as she knew there were still a lot of patients yet to be seen, that she had fallen in love with Thorn that night they’d first met. It had been the same night she had stormed out of Delaney’s kitchen to give him a piece of her mind. Instead, he had gotten a piece of her heart, a pretty big chunk. She had known the exact moment it had happened. At that time she had fled to the safety of her apartment.
Now she had nowhere to run to. The die was cast. A bargain made. He had kept his end of things and now she had to keep hers.
She loved him.
And the sad thing about it was that he had done nothing to encourage her emotional involvement. In fact, he had been more than up-front with her by letting her know he only wanted a physical relationship. She had known from the very beginning that his attraction to her had been based on lust and not love, and although it had been her intentions never to fall in love with another man after Derrick, she had done so anyway.
She opened her eyes at the sound of the knock on her office door. “Yes? Come in.”
A fellow pediatrician, Dr. Pamela Wentworth, walked in carrying a huge vase of the most beautiful flowers Tara had ever seen. Tara smiled. “Wow, Pam, those are gorgeous. Aren’t you special?”
Pam grinned. “No, in fact, you are, since these are for you.”
Tara sat up straight in her chair. Her eyes instantly widened. “Excuse me. Did you say those were for me?”
“Yes. They were just delivered at the nurses’ station, and I told Nurse Meadows that I would bring them to you myself,” she said, setting the huge container in the middle of Tara’s desk. “Hey, girlfriend, whatever you’re doing, you must be doing it right to get flowers like these.” She smiled brightly. “Well, I’ve got to get back. It’s like a zoo out there so enjoy your break while it lasts.”
Pam breezed out of her office just as quickly as she had breezed in, leaving Tara to stare at the huge arrangement of flowers sitting in the middle of her desk.
She frowned. “Who on earth would send these?” Tara wondered, leaning forward and pulling off the card that was attached. What man would remember her on Valentine’s Day by sending her something like this?
She quickly opened the envelope and blinked at the message, then reread it again.
Be mine, Thorn.
A knot formed in Tara’s throat. Be his what? His lover? His one-night stand? His bedmate for a week? His true love? His baby’s mommy? What?
She sighed deeply. Only Thorn knew the answer to that question, and she intended to ask him when she saw him again.
Nine
T ara scanned all the activities through Dare’s SUV’s window as the vehicle rolled into the heart of Daytona Beach where Bike Week would be held. Squinting against the glare of the sun shining brightly through the window, she was amazed at what she saw billed as the World’s Largest Motorcycle Event. And to think that Thorn was a major part of it.
It had been a little more