Nighthawk by Rachel Lee

Author:Rachel Lee [Lee, Rachel]
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2010-12-23T23:42:29.193000+00:00

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Chapter 8

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Craig built a fire in the living room fireplace while Esther huddled under the quilt on the couch, her braced leg stuck out in front of her. She couldn't seem to get warn, and she shivered even inside the cocoon of the quilt.

The fire was soon burning brightly, and Craig disappeared down the hallway. Before long she heard things rattling in the kitchen. He was probably making them something hot to drink, she thought.

Like a drowning victim clinging to a straw, she was trying to focus on the ordinary and mundane. Anything except the note from her father that said he had been there.

Craig returned eventually with a plate of turkey sandwiches and two mugs of hot chocolate. He held the sandwiches toward her. "Help yourself."

"I'm not hungry. Thank you."

"Try to eat something anyway, Esther. Put some fuel in the system. You'll think more clearly and you'll probably warm up."

Obediently she took half a sandwich and bit into it. Much to her surprise, when the delicious flavors of turkey and tomato touched her tongue they awakened her appetite. She devoured what she had in her hand and reached for another half sandwich.

Craig watched her with smiling eyes. "Are you always difficult?"

She looked up, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I sometimes get the feeling that if I said the sky was blue you'd argue that it was green."

Color heated her cheeks. "I'm not contrary."

"No, but you sure as hell don't want me to do anything for you. Even something as small as making a sandwich. Why? Are you afraid it'll give me power over you?"

She was embarrassed to realize that his assessment was quite close to the truth … and equally embarrassed to realize that his having power over her sounded … intriguing. Tempting. What would it be like to be totally at the mercy of Craig Nighthawk? Not that she would ever find out.

"Is it just me?" he asked her. "Is it something about me? Maybe those stories you've been hearing about my checkered past? I didn't hurt that little girl, you know. I never laid a finger on her."

Horror washed over her. "I know that! Do you think I'd have ever let you into my house if I hadn't known that?"

They stared at each other from apposite ends of the couch, and Esther suddenly felt as if they were at opposite ends of the world.

And that was her fault, she realized. She'd been so preoccupied with her own problems, with the scars from her own past, that she had never once considered that Craig Nighthawk might have some problems of his own. That he might have some tender scars of his own.

"Forget it," he said before she could think of anything to say that would close the gap between them. "I'm just getting edgy because I'm so tired. You must be exhausted, too. Finish that sandwich, then curl up and go to sleep."

But now she really had lost her appetite and put the sandwich back on the plate.

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