Free EMBER - Part Two (The EMBER Series Book 2) by Deborah Bladon Page A

and listen. "You said he tracked you down. Is that the same guy?"
    "That's him." She turns towards me briefly before she settles her gaze back on the wall. "I don't know how he found me, but he did. He was here yesterday."
    I can't imagine that. I've never had a man chase me beyond a few boys on the playground when I was a child. "I'm sorry to hear that. Is he dangerous?"
    "Not in that way." She rubs her hand over her eyes. "Emotionally he's dangerous. He hurt me. He dumped me and then begged me to take him back."
    My mind jumps to Maisy and although I know that Dane never begged her to take him back, the pain of the rejection has stung her enough that she's had trouble letting him go. "That sounds awful."
    "I've never loved anyone but him and yesterday when he was here he told me he loves me too and wants to try again."
    It sounds so cut and dry but I know that if it was, she wouldn't be confiding in me. "What do you want?"
    "I want to understand him. I want to know if he's playing games with me."
    I nod because I can't think of anything to say that will help her.
    She drops her chin slightly, which changes the shape of her eye. I quickly sketch its outline wanting to capture the pure emotion that I see there. "If I give him one more chance, and he breaks my heart again, I don't know if I can survive that."
    The pencil in my hand stops in mid-air. I look up and that's when I see a solitary tear running down her beautiful face.
     

Chapter 21
     
    The moment to capture her portrait had been lost when she'd started to cry. I'd reached forward not sure if offering her the comfort of an embrace would help her. She hadn't even glanced in my direction before she pulled a tissue from a box on her desk, and wiped the tear away as if it, or the emotion behind it, never existed.
    She'd closed herself up then and as I gathered together my things, she promised that she'd call me to finish the portrait. I know that she won't. The moment of vulnerability that took her to a place where she felt she could open up, had disappeared. I'll work with what I have on paper and the memory of her face in my mind's eye and I'll finish the sketch.
    I feel the vibration of my phone in my pocket as I walk out of the lobby of Harper's building and into the languid heat of the late morning. I scoop the phone out, feeling a sharp burst of pain in my wrist when I do.
    I glance down at the screen, realizing that the sunlight's reflection is making it impossible for me to read the text message. I push my bag onto my shoulder as I cup my hand over the phone's screen to block out the light.
    It's a text message from Zoe.
    Vanessa can have dinner tomorrow. Your place at six?
    I type out a quick text back to her.
              Works for me. You bring the white wine.
    I smile knowing that the message will bring a smile to her face.
    I take a step forward before my breath catches in my throat when I feel a large hand circle my waist. I've never been mugged and in my imagination when it did happen, it wouldn't be on a busy street in the middle of the day. I always thought it would happen when I left a club at night alone.
    I ready myself to scream when I hear his voice in my ear. "How did you end up in the very spot in Manhattan that I am?"
    I pivot on my heel, looking up into his dark eyes. "It's fate."
    "Call it whatever you want, Bridget." Dane lowers his face until his lips are level with mine. "I call it destiny."
     
    ***
     
    "You didn't follow me to my appointment, did you?" I rest my hand on his thigh. "I know I didn't tell you that I had a therapy appointment today, so the only way you would have known that is if you were following me."
    "You're a creature of habit." He scoops my hand into his palm before he brings it to his lips for a kiss. "You kept all of your accident paperwork on the kitchen table in your old apartment, and you do the same in your new place."
    He's right. I did dump everything into my purse before I left the old place