“I tried, Stan. She doesn’t want to be with me. She’s obsessed about making her big break in journalism.” And rehashing this in the damn lobby with his suitcase next to him wasn’t helping the burn from his ulcer.
“You know, the problem is that Reese is afraid she’ll never measure up. She thinks she’s not good enough for you.”
Stan must have been hitting the martinis himself. Derek dropped his duffel bag to the floor. “That’s ridiculous. She’s gorgeous, funny, smart, and she doesn’t put up with crap from anyone. That doesn’t sound like someone with self-esteem issues.”
“You’re wrong.” Stan pushed up his glasses. “She spent her whole childhood trying to prove herself and now you come along, she falls in love with you. She feels like you’re attracted to her and you want her physically, but she’s not good enough for you for the long haul.”
Derek stared at his Cooperating Witness. “How long have you been in the lounge talking to her?” It sounded like Stan knew more about Reese than he did. He’d never heard her express those kinds of doubts about their relationship.
“For over an hour. She’s in bad shape and you need to go talk to her.” It sounded like a reprimand and Derek bristled.
“I told her I loved her.”
“But did you ask her to stay in Chicago? To live with you?”
Stan was so right, he was getting on Derek’s nerves. “Since when are you a Reese whisperer?”
Stan laughed, the first real genuine laugh Derek had ever heard come from the man. “It’s just nice to try and help someone else out with their life, instead of worrying about the mess that mine has become.”
Whatever doubts Derek had ever had about Stan’s motives disappeared then. Like so many people who walk around quietly, hidden behind unobtrusive clothing and average looks, Stan was a good man, who deserved to be protected when the Delco story hit the news. Reese had been right about that.
“Here, give me your luggage and I’ll check it with the front desk. You need to get in there before Reese slides under the table.”
Derek handed his stuff to Stan and said, “Thank you, Stan. I appreciate it.”
He headed towards the lounge, determined not to leave it until he and Reese had worked this out. He wanted her in his life. He had to have her in his life.
She wasn’t under the table, but she was lying across it, licking a peanut off her napkin with her tongue. The napkin stuck to the tip, and she moved her head back, dragging the napkin along with her. When she saw him, she pulled it off.
She was beautiful, and man, did he love her. He’d been an idiot to think he could ever walk away.
“What are you looking at?”
“The woman I love.” With all his heart and soul.
Reese looked over her shoulder. “Where? I don’t see anyone.” Then she laughed, hitting the glass table with the palm of her hand.
He raised his eyebrow and took in the martini glass almost drained.
She followed his gaze. “Don’t worry, I’m not drunk. I’ve only had one and a half martinis in two hours and any effects of the alcohol in my stomach have been absorbed by the three thousand peanuts I’ve eaten.”
Damn Knightfor walking in on her misery, looking delicious and telling her that he loved her. Was he trying to destroy her along with breaking her heart?
“Can I sit down? We need to talk.”
Oh, yippee. “It’s a free country. I think.”
He sat down, stretching his bad leg out stiffly. She wondered if his knee was bothering him, knowing he would never admit it.
There was a long silence where she rolled a peanut around the tabletop, still lying with her head on her arm.
Then he blurted, “Reese, baby, I never said I objected to your career choice or your ambition.”
Pain sliced through her malaise. “No, you just criticized me every step of the way.”
His finger drummed on the table. “I like doing things by the book. That’s true. And you do not. But I fell in love withyou, and maybe you are…creative in your pursuit of a story, and it is hard for me, but I love your passion. And you make me laugh.”
Oh, great. She was laughable. “Then why did you act so weird this morning? Last night was...” She sighed, unable to find the right words to describe that moment when he had said he loved her, her body singing with pleasure and his eyes locked with hers. “Then this morning you acted like you couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”