right,” he said, dragging a hand through his hair. “After what Robert did to my mother? There isn’t a rubber stamp of excellence on these people, Kara.” He shook his head. “Let’s not get into all that now. I want to know about you.” He smiled. “Uh-oh, there I go again with I want.”
Kara’s heart did a funny little two-step as she stared at Andrew.
Andrew Malone smiling was more than she could handle in her exhausted state, she thought frantically. His smile softened his features, revealed straight white teeth and changed his brown eyes to liquid depths a woman could drown in. Oh, this man just didn’t quit.
“Yes, well…” she began, then cleared her throat. “I’ve told you about me. I was Ralph and Mary MacAllister’s foster child, then adopted by them when I was eighteen. End of story.”
“I’ll wait,” Andrew said quietly.
“Wait for what?”
“For you to feel comfortable enough with me—even more, to trust me enough—to share the complete story of why you were a foster child, why you didn’t have a home at sixteen. I’m not normally the most patient of men, but for you? I’ll wait.”
Andrew covered one of Kara’s hands with one of his on the table. Heat danced along Kara’s arm, then across her breasts to finally settle low and intense in her body.
“Because, Kara MacAllister,” Andrew said, “I know, I just somehow know, that you are most definitely worth waiting for. When you’re ready to tell me the whole story, I’ll be here. I’ll listen to every word. I just hope you’ll come to trust me that much, Kara, I truly do. I don’t know why it’s so important to me, but it is.”
She was going to cry, Kara thought incredulously, drawing a shaky breath. Andrew’s softly spoken words were touching her in a place deep within her.
He wasn’t pushing, wasn’t crowding her, wasn’t demanding an explanation about her past, wasn’t doing his I want routine.
He was simply waiting—waiting for her to trust him because…because she was worth waiting for. Oh, good grief, she was going to start blubbering like a baby if she didn’t get out of here.
She was overreacting to everything due to her exhaustion. Everything, including that kiss shared with Andrew in the elevator.
Kara slipped her hand from beneath Andrew’s and got to her feet.
“I have to get some sleep,” she said. “I strongly suggest that you do the same.”
“I doubt there’s a hotel room free in Ventura on New Year’s Eve,” Andrew said, looking up at her. “I hadn’t planned on staying over.” He ran his hand across his chin. “I didn’t pack a bag, don’t even have a razor.”
Kara folded her arms beneath her breasts. “Oh? You just intended to drive into town, destroy as many MacAllister lives as you could, then leave?” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” She looked at Andrew again. “I’m beyond rational thought. Maybe I can arrange for you to get some sleep in an empty room here in the hospital.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure out something. I’ll see you in a few hours, Kara. Maybe you’ll have news about Robert’s condition by then.”
“Yes, yes, perhaps I will. Good night, Andrew.”
“Kara? Think about trusting me. Will you do that? Think about it?”
Kara nodded jerkily, then turned and hurried away.
Andrew watched her until she disappeared from view, then drew a weary breath as his exhaustion seemed to slam into him like a physical blow.
He glanced around the nearly empty room and felt the chill of loneliness consume him once again.
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