Glazed by Ranae Rose Read Free Book Online Page A

“Yeah?”
     
    One last deep breath. “I can’t go to dinner with you tonight, and I can’t see you again.”
     
    His smile evaporated like a drop of water dashed against a hot frying pan.
     
    “I’m sorry.”
     
    For a few moments he didn’t say anything, just stood there on her front steps looking like he’d been hit. When he regained his composure it was obvious he didn’t intend to just walk away. At least not yet. “Alright then. I’ll leave and I won’t bother you anymore, but you’ve got to tell me why first.”
     
    She opened her mouth to protest, and he raised an eyebrow. The memory of yesterday lay between them, unmentioned. Still, she knew he was thinking of it too. And she supposed that after initiating that, she did owe him an explanation. A quick one, and nothing more.
     
    “Come in for a minute then.”
     
    They headed by unspoken consent to the kitchen table, neither of them making any move toward the couch, which seemed to have acquired a sudden forbidden air, like the scene of some really hot crime, minus the yellow tape. Pulling out chairs and sitting across the little wooden tabletop from each other seemed oddly formal after yesterday, but that was for the best.
     
    Derek was silent, apparently waiting for her to offer an explanation without further prodding. “It’s not you,” she began. “I am attracted to you. Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it?” She laughed nervously, and the ghost of a smile touched Derek’s mouth. Were his lips tingling like hers were? “But I can’t get involved with anyone right now. I promised myself I wouldn’t until I got my café up and running.”
     
    Did that sound as lame to him as it did to her? Said out loud, it seemed like a hollow excuse. How could she explain her need to isolate herself for a while and the mess of an explanation that lay behind it?
     
    He was staring across the table at her, an unreadable expression on his face. His silence encouraged her to elaborate, perhaps more effectively than asking would have. With a small sigh of frustration, she plunged on. “The café is my dream. It’s so important to me that I don’t want to risk getting involved with anyone because I’m afraid they won’t support me, that I’ll let the relationship get in the way of actually starting my business. I need to focus on seeing my plans through.”
     
    He arched a dark brow, much like he’d done in the doorway. “You don’t think I’d support your business ambitions?”
     
    Her insides gave a guilty squirm. It was hard to imagine anything negative about Derek when she was sitting across from him, looking right into his gorgeous eyes. “Like I said, it’s not you specifically. I’m not willing to take the risk on anyone. I promised myself.”
     
    His expression had changed. What was it she saw in his eyes now – a knowing look? Yeah, that was it. Something almost imperceptible had passed over his face, and now he looked strangely as if he knew something she hadn’t said out loud.
     
    “Tell me, is that because someone disappointed you before?”
     
    The knots in her stomach tightened. Was he reading her mind, or just her face? Or was the baggage from her last relationship just that obvious? “Yeah.”
     
    He pushed a hand across the table and spread it over one of hers. His touch was solid and reassuring. She hadn’t known he was capable of touching her in a way that didn’t instantly jump-start her sex drive. He was still appealing – there was no question about that – but there was more friendliness in his touch than sexual appetite. The realization made her eyes feel tight and dangerously damp.
     
    “He made me feel terrible.” She was talking again before she realized it. “About wanting to open my own café – about myself.” That was a serious candidate for understatement of the century. “He was OK with it when we first started dating, but when I started really laying down my plans and trying to get things