Page 10 of Tide and Seek
“But if we had been burglars you could have been hurt.”I frowned.
James laughed gruffly, rubbing the back of his neck.“I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.”He smiled.“I didn’t want you to get burgled again.”
“You shouldn’t have been so reckless.”The words sounded ungracious, but they weren’t meant that way.I really was concerned that he could have been hurt if he’d confronted someone trying to break into my home.
James ignored my comment.“I can’t believe you’re just here all of a sudden.You left so abruptly after—”
I stiffened.“Yes.I needed some distance from things.”I fought off the grim memories of Lucinda Pratt’s death.“I’m only back temporarily.I came because of the break-in.”
A glimmer of disappointment shone in James’s dark eyes.“Really?I’d hoped you were back to stay.”
“No.”I glanced toward Royce.“My home is in Texas now.”
“But,” sputtered James.“Last I heard, you hated it there.”
I lifted one shoulder.“It’s grown on me.I… I bought a house there and everything.I’m… putting down roots, as they say.”
“It never occurred to me you’d stay there permanently.”James looked befuddled as he batted at a moth dive-bombing the porch light.
Royce said under his breath, “Maybe you should invite him in?”
Selfishly, I’d have preferred to send James away and head back upstairs to finish what Royce and I had started.But even I knew that would be unforgivably rude.So instead, I stepped aside and said with forced cheerfulness, “Would you like to come in?”
“Sure,” James said, moving into the house.He brushed past me, and the familiar cedar scent of his cologne brought back unsolicited memories.
They weren’t unpleasant memories.James had been an anchor for me during med school.He’d been four years older than me, and we’d gone through the whole war-buddies-in-scrubs thing together.Suffering through that with each other had created a bond of sorts.While connecting emotionally with people had always been difficult for me, I’d probably been closer to him than anyone else in LA.
Despite that, I’d never been in love with James.We’d shared the same relentless ambition though.James had been a study partner, surgical rival, and sometimes something more intimate.Although, to be honest, in those days, sex hadn’t been about intimacy.Sex had been about releasing tension.
“I didn’t expect to see anyone I knew so soon,” I murmured as I closed the door behind him.“I’ve only just arrived.”
James grimaced.“Sorry.I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“No, it’s okay.”I forced myself to say what Royce might say.“You were worried about another break-in at my house, which was very kind of you.”
“Well, we always did watch out for each other, didn’t we?”His smile was melancholy.
“Absolutely.”Truthfully, while he’d always been protective of me, I probably hadn’t returned the favor nearly enough.
“It’s just so good to see you again.”He smiled and moved closer, placing his hands on my shoulders.His touch was hot through my shirt, and there was a sheen of perspiration above his upper lip.
“Good to see you too,” I parroted, uncomfortably aware of Royce standing just a few feet away.
“I was worried about you.”James’s tone was chiding.“You weren’t very good about responding to my texts.”
“I know.”He’d texted me several times after I left LA, and at best I’d been sporadic in replying.I’d moved on with my life and assumed James had done the same.But from the way he looked at me now, I wondered if maybe he hadn’t.
He searched my face.“It was impossible not to be concerned.After all that happened… I knew you were in a bad place.”
“Yes, I was,” I admitted, guilt nudging me.“I should have known you’d worry.You always worried about me.It was wrong of me not to respond to your texts.I was selfishly only thinking of myself.”
“It’s fine.”He released me and his gaze shifted to Royce.“I’m sure you were busy with your new… life.”
I winced inwardly at the bitterness in his voice.
“What do you do, James?”Royce asked into the strained silence that followed his statement.
James lifted his chin.“I’m a vascular surgeon.Maxwell and I came up through the ranks together.Or should I say war zone?”He laughed, nudging me with his elbow.“We’ve known each other a very long time, haven’t we, Maxwell?”
