Her Sweet Talkin' Man. Myrna Mackenzie

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СКАЧАТЬ glanced up at him, wondering what he really thought about what had happened back there. Especially since she herself wasn’t quite sure what had happened. She hadn’t seen Branson in years.

      But Ace’s expression was unreadable. He bore no sign of his struggle with Branson other than one disheveled lock of black hair. He looked like a man who was used to fighting and didn’t let it bother him. It bothered her that he had been forced to come to her rescue.

      “I seem to be causing you a great deal of trouble today,” she said.

      He ignored her concerned tone and gave her a slow sexy grin. “Don’t apologize. I’m rather partial to trouble. Been in the thick of it all my life.”

      She gulped at the look in his eyes. It was the look a man gives a woman who interests him, at least physically. Her pulse began to trip over itself. This just wouldn’t do. It wasn’t that she didn’t find him amazingly attractive. She did, and more than that, she was grateful for his help and his kind attention, more grateful than she could say. But he was obviously the worst kind of man. The kind that flipped through women like the pages of a magazine. The kind she never went near, not anymore.

      “Well, then, all I can say is thank you for your help. I’m indebted to you,” she said. “If I can ever repay you…” She hoped that didn’t sound as bad to him as it did to her.

      He shook his head. “For what? I told you, I welcome trouble.”

      Oh, she’d just bet he did. She’d bet he caused it, too. Which meant the only smart thing for her to do now was to get as far away as possible from the attraction he held for her. “Thank you, anyway,” she said. “But I guess I should get back and make sure everything is running smoothly.”

      He nodded, but the long look he gave her held her as immobile as Branson’s death grip. “You want to tell me what that was all about back there?”

      Three

      Crystal blinked. No, she didn’t want to talk about what had happened with Branson. She didn’t want to talk about it or even think about it. But Ace stood there waiting, his blue eyes studying her, his stance loose, almost relaxed.

      As if he could wait forever for her to speak.

      “I don’t exactly know,” she finally confessed. “Years ago, when I was in high school, I dated Branson. He seemed like a quiet shy boy at first. After we’d gone out once or twice, though, he…well, I could tell that he wasn’t always operating under the same rules as the rest of the world. Little things upset him a lot more than they did most people. He would get unreasonably angry if he forgot his textbook at home, angry enough to throw things. If I didn’t say ‘Goodbye, Branson,’ instead of just ‘Goodbye,’ he would rant and rave. After just two dates I told him that I didn’t think I was right for him and that he should find someone else.”

      She stared into Ace’s eyes. She was embarrassed, and her first instinct was to look down, but she’d done enough of that in her life and so she forced herself to hold his gaze.

      Instead, he was the one to glance down. Just once. Just a quick look. She realized she was twisting her hands together. So much for appearing poised and calm.

      “I take it Branson wasn’t exactly happy with your decision.”

      She wasn’t sure she could say the next part. She wasn’t sure why she was even considering saying anything, but there was something very compelling about Ace’s unreadable expression. It was the sort of expression a cop might wear. Just the facts, ma’am, he seemed to be saying. And she realized she’d never really told anyone about what had happened between her and Branson. Maybe because all of them thought they already knew and no one wanted to talk about it.

      “Branson blew up. He screamed and yelled. In the end he begged. I was…I was frightened, but I knew that it would be worse giving in than going forward. I left. Soon after that, the whispers started. Someone started a rumor that I was easy, that I would let anyone do anything, that I would sleep with any male who asked, that I was a tramp. Branson told them that I’d done things with him that I’d never done. Most people didn’t believe him, but a few did. That hurt so much that I went into hiding, which was the wrong thing to do. People took it as an admission of guilt. It took me years to win back my self-esteem. And then I met John. I had Timmy out of wedlock. The rumors started again, only this time I stared them down. The Carsons found me a good job here at the hospital, and I hold my head up high.”

      “No reason you shouldn’t,” Ace said softly.

      She realized that she’d made her last statement somewhat defensively, but that Ace hadn’t seemed to notice.

      “Anyway, that’s my story, such as it is. I haven’t had contact with Branson for years. He’s spent a lot of time in and out of jail. He did have some conflict with the hospital once in the not-too-distant past. His wife had experienced complications of childbirth due to alcohol abuse, and the doctors were unable to save the baby, which was premature. Branson tried to sue, unsuccessfully. For the past year, he’s been in jail for burglarizing an auto parts store, so I have no idea what brought him here today or why he chose to approach me. What I do know is that I really had better get back to work now.”

      Ace gazed down at her. She stood up and he stepped aside to let her past.

      “Thank you for stepping in to help me,” she said, holding out her hand.

      He stared down at her hand, and for a moment her palm tingled. Then he closed his fingers around hers. His hand was large and warm, but she didn’t feel threatened the way she had with Branson. Instead, she felt a desire to stay there connected to him. Quickly she withdrew her hand and turned away.

      He fell into step beside her.

      She glanced to the side and frowned. “I know I’ve twice looked like a helpless boob today, but I assure you that I can take care of myself.”

      “I know that.” He continued walking by her side.

      “I really don’t think he’s going to come back and bother me again.”

      “Probably not.”

      “The security officers took him away. He’s gone.”

      “Looks that way.”

      “Ace, you don’t need to escort me. I’m not going to get in any more trouble.”

      He raised one lazy brow and she held back a smile. She couldn’t really blame him, considering the way the day had gone.

      “I’m not normally this catastrophe-prone,” she promised, and this time she wasn’t sure whether she was talking to him or to herself.

      He stopped, turning to face her, and took both her hands in his. “Everyone knows that. I can’t tell you how many total strangers have told me that you are the one responsible for this new wing. I believe the way they put it was ‘Crystal Bennett can turn on that smile and talk you into donating money you haven’t even started to earn yet.”’

      She laughed. “Well, I’m not that bad—or that good—but we really did need this maternity wing.”

      “The hospital didn’t handle births?”

      “Of СКАЧАТЬ