Obsessed(63)
“Okay,” I finally whispered, awkwardly. “Well… thank you, I guess.”
He smiled slowly, and god, it was unusually sexy. He hadn’t smiled like this at the hospital. I knew he wasn’t trying to be sexy either. This guy was naturally smooth. I’m sure his ugly cry could turn on any girl with a pulse.
“My pleasure,” he replied.
My pleasure. I scoffed. Too smooth. Shame on him.
“You can carry on crying, if you’d like,” he added. “I know how important it is to get it out, so don’t mind me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m afraid you’ve ruined the mood.”
“I was hoping you’d say I’d improved it.”
The way he said that made me break into a smile. Goddammit.
“Ah, that’s better,” he continued in that smooth way, his gaze on my mouth. “Smiling suits you better than crying, Miss Wright.”
My eyes widened and my chest did things I hadn’t felt in a while. “You remember me.”
He nodded. “Of course I remember you. Hard to forget the axe-wielding wood-chopper with a fiery temper.”
My cheeks heated. “Yeah, I…Sorry about that.”
He chuckled. “You don’t need to be. You were going through a difficult time, and I can tell you haven’t gotten through the worst of it.”
“I don’t normally cry like this anymore. Today is different.”
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
I looked at him, feeling more warmth at the concern in him. I wasn’t used to anyone caring for me anymore. Naturally my heart sought it out immediately.
I swallowed and shrugged at his solemn face. “Nothing.”
“You’re the furthest thing from nothing, Elise. Let it out so your day gets better from here.”
God, he’d even remembered my first name.
I licked my lips, contemplating his words. This was the strangest encounter I’d ever had, but I was so desperate for attention, I couldn’t help the words that poured out of my mouth.
“It’s my birthday,” I said quietly. “My father died last summer, and I can’t stop thinking of what he would have done for me today.”
He nodded. It was strange. There wasn’t sadness in his eyes, but…curiosity. It felt good not to be pitied, or judged badly. He studied me as the silence took over, and I looked back at him, wondering why he was so interested.
“I know all about loss,” he quietly said. “The pain doesn’t go away, but it gets easier.”
“Not for everyone,” I replied. “My mother…she’s still devastated. She works, and she’s kind of around, but…she’s not really there.”
“Did they have a good relationship?”
I swallowed hard. “The best.”
His gaze softened. “She lost half her life in a blink of an eye. She’ll need more time to heal.”
“I guess.” I glanced at the time, frowning when I realized how late the bus was. I looked at him again. “You really don’t have to be here. I’m sure you have somewhere to be, like the hospital.”
His lips quirked up. “Not the hospital today. I’ll be at a book store half a block from here. My mother owns it, and I help her out when I can. I’ll be a little late, but life goes on. It’s not every day I talk to a beautiful girl at a bus stop.”
Shit. Fuck. Really? Was he trying to pick me up? It didn’t look like it. He said it so casually, after all. And I was blushing. Can you believe it? Blushing!
“I’m not saying that to be suave,” he then explained on a short laugh. “And I’m not desperate either.”
“Don’t worry, I believe you,” I replied. A man that looked like him was far from desperate.
“I say it completely platonically. You’re young, and I have no intentions of taking advantage of you.”
“I’m not that young,” I replied.
“You were seventeen when I saw you last.”
I looked at him wryly. “Do you remember the ages of every woman you tend to?”
“No, but I remember certain things about the really gorgeous ones. I’m only human.”
“Well, like I said, it’s my birthday, Doctor Crowe.”
“Call me Hayden.”
“I’m eighteen, Hayden.”
He smiled warmly. “And I’m much too old for you.”
“Not to talk to.”
“You’re a kid.”
“You say that like you’re forty. It’s kind of creepy.”
He chuckled. “No, but I’m almost a decade older than you.”
“So what?” I challenged on a shrug. “That doesn’t mean anything.”