Free A Caress of Wings by Sylvia Day Page B

and the warmth of his skin. He smelled wonderful and looked even better. His angel blue eyes were so deep and inviting she could drown in them if she wasn’t careful.
    Dear God, she’d missed him so much more than she could make excuses for.
    “Plans. Yes,” he murmured, stepping closer. “I have some. I’ll have to change them. I can’t go there when you’re here.”
    “Go where?”
    “Anywhere you’re not. I might sound crazy, but you’re about to walk away and I don’t know who you are or where to find you, and if I can’t find you again I’m pretty sure I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
    Siobhán sucked in a deep, shaky breath. “I’m sorry, but I have to decline.”
    He caught up her left hand and looked at it. “No ring. Not married, right? I knew you couldn’t be. Whoever he is, Siobhán, he’s not the right one for you.”
    “You’re awfully sure of yourself,” she said softly, enjoying him. And yet she knew it was wrong. Trevor didn’t know anything about her or what she was.
She
had to be the responsible one and walk away.
    It had never been so hard to be responsible.
    “As a rule, yes,” he agreed. “But this is different. Give me a chance and I’ll prove it.”
    “I really can’t . . . It wouldn’t work out.”
    “Siobhán.” He looked into her eyes, his voice fervent and earnest. “I believe everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason we found each other today, a reason why we’re throwing sparks off of each other. We can’t just walk away from that because it’s inconvenient. If you do, you’re going to look back on this someday and you’re going to be sorry.”
    What if he’s right?
a little voice in her head wondered. Before she’d wiped his memory he’d said he would be attracted to her even without the connection they’d forged when she rescued him. It seemed that was true.
    Just to be certain, she reached into his mind and felt the piercing rush of feeling he’d experienced when he saw her in the lobby. It had been a sudden kick of primal recognition that had nothing to do with memory, which meant it would be impossible to prevent him from being drawn to her no matter what she did. Moreover, Adrian and Lindsay proved that it didn’t matter what stood in the way—if two souls were meant to find each other, they would.
    Running from Trevor wasn’t the answer. She had to make sure he didn’t want to hunt her down.
    “I can’t go with you right now,” she heard herself saying. “I have work this afternoon. People are waiting for me.”
    “Dinner, then.”
    “I’ll be in Ontario.”
    “Ontario, California?”
    She nodded.
    “That’s fine. I’ll come to you. Tell me where. Seven o’clock okay?”
    “Okay,” she breathed, feeling as if she was about to step off a cliff without her wings. “The Elephant Bar in Montclair.”
    “I’ll find it.” His gaze darted over her face. “Promise me you’ll be there.”
    Siobhán felt her lips curling into a smile. “You don’t trust me.”
    “You look scared. You don’t have to be. I’d never hurt you, and I won’t let anyone else hurt you, either.”
    Despite her turmoil and weakness for him, it was so good to see him whole and strong and confident. He was so powerfully vital, a potent force of nature.
    “Trevor. You have to understand. You and me . . . It can’t happen. My job won’t allow it. Ever.”
    “Jobs can change.”
    “Not mine. I was born to do it. There’s no other choice for me.”
    He smiled and pulled out his cell phone. “Let’s just start with dinner, okay? What’s your number?”
    She gave it to him and he texted her, watching as she pulled her cell out of her pocket to read,
7 at the Elephant Bar w/Trevor.
    “Now you’ve got my number, too,” he said. “Promise me you’ll be there.”
    “I promise.”
    He backed away, looking boyishly anticipatory and darkly handsome. “Seven o’clock, Siobhán. But I won’t mind if you show up early. You can