Lover Eternal

Mary stopped breathing as Hal released her hand. Maybe she was dreaming. Yeah, that had to be it. Because he was too gorgeous. Too sexy. And way too focused on her to be real.

The waitress came back, getting as close to Hal as she could without actually being in his lap. And wouldn't you know it, the woman had freshened her lip gloss. That mouth of hers looked like it had had an oil change with something called Fresh Pink. Or Curious Coral. Or something equally ridiculous.

Mary shook her head, surprised she was being so bitchy.

"What can I get you?" the waitress asked Hal.

He glanced across the table and lifted an eyebrow. Mary shook her head and started flipping through the menu.

"Okay, whadda we got here," he said, opening his own. "Let's have the Chicken Alfredo. The NY strip, rare. And a cheeseburger, also rare. Double on the fries. And some nachos. Yeah, I want the nachos with everything on them. Double that, too, will you?"

Mary could only stare as he closed the menu and waited.

The waitress looked a little awkward. "Is all that for both you and your sister?"

As if family obligation was the only reason a man like him would be out with a woman like her. Oh, man...

"No, that's for me. And she's my date, not my sister. Mary?"

"I... ah, I'll just have a Caesar salad, whenever his"¡ªfeeding trough?¡ª"dinner comes."

The waitress took the menus and left.

"So, Mary, tell me a little about yourself."

"Why don't we just make it about you?"

"Because then I won't hear you talk."

Mary stiffened, something bubbling below the surface of her consciousness.

Talk. I want to hear your voice.

Say nothing. Over and over and over again. Do it.

She could have sworn this man had said those things to her, but she'd never met him before. God knew, she would have remembered that.

"What do you do for a living?" he prompted.

"Er... I'm an executive assistant."

"Where?"

"A law firm here in town."

"But you did something else, didn't you?"

She wondered how much Bella had told him. God, she hoped the woman hadn't brought up the illness. Maybe that was why he was staying.

"Mary?"

"I used to work with kids."

"Teacher?"

"Therapist."

"Head or body?"

"Both. I was a rehab specialist for autistic children."

"What got you started in it?"

"Do we have to do this?"

"Do what?"

"All the let's-pretend-to-get-to-know-you stuff."

He frowned, leaning back as the waitress put a huge plate of nachos on the table.

The woman bent down to his ear. "Shhh, don't tell anyone. I stole these from another order. They can wait, and you look very hungry."

Hal nodded, smiled, but seemed uninterested.

She had to give him credit for being polite, Mary thought. Now that he was sitting across the table from her, he didn't seem to notice any other women at all.

He offered the plate to her. When she shook her head, he popped a nacho in his mouth.

"I'm not surprised small talk annoys you," he said.

"Why's that?'

"You've been through too much."

She frowned. "What exactly did Bella tell you about me?"

"Nothing much."

"So how do you know I've been through anything?"

"It's in your eyes."

Oh, hell. He was smart, too. Talk about the total package.

"But I hate to break it to you," he said, making fast but neat work of the nachos, "I don't care if you're annoyed. I want to know what got you interested in that line of work, and you're going to tell me."

"You are arrogant."

"Surprise, surprise." He smiled tightly. "And you're avoiding my question. What got you started in it?"

The answer was her mother's struggle with muscular dystrophy. After seeing what her mom went through, helping other people find ways around their limitations had been a calling. Maybe even a way to work off some guilt at being healthy when her mother had been so compromised.

And then Mary had gotten hit with some serious compromises herself.

Funny, the first thing she'd thought of when she'd been diagnosed was that it wasn't fair. She'd watched her mother do the disease thing, had suffered right alongside. So why was the universe requiring her to know firsthand the kind of pain she'd witnessed? It was right then and there that she'd realized there was no quota on misery for people, no quantifiable threshold that once reached, got you miraculously taken out of the distress pool.

"I never wanted to do anything else," she hedged.

"Then why did you stop?"

"My life changed."

Thankfully, he didn't follow up on that one. "Did you like working with handicapped kids?"

"They're not... they weren't handicapped."

"Sorry," he said, clearly meaning it.

The sincerity in his voice popped the lid off her reserve in a way compliments or smiles never would have.

"They're just different. They experience the world in a different way. Normal is just what's average, it's not necessarily the only way of being, or living¡ª" She stopped, noticing he'd closed his eyes. "Am I boring you?"

His lids lifted slowly. "I love to hear you talk."

Mary swallowed a gasp. His eyes were neon, glowing, iridescent.

Those had to be contacts, she thought. People's eyes just didn't come in that teal color.

"Different doesn't bother you, does it?" he murmured.

"No."

"That's good."

For some reason, she found herself smiling at him.

"I was right," he whispered.

"About what?"

"You're lovely when you smile."

Mary looked away.

"What's the matter?"

"Please don't put on the charm. I'd rather deal with small talk."

"I'm honest, not charming. Just ask my brothers. I'm constantly putting my foot in my mouth."

There were more of him? Boy, that'd be a hell of a family Christmas card. "How many brothers do you have?"

"Five. Now. We lost one." He took a long drink of water, as if he didn't want her to see his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Thanks. It's still fresh. And I miss him like hell."

The waitress arrived with a heavy tray. When the plates were lined up in front of him and Mary's salad was down on the table, the woman lingered until Hal thanked her pointedly.

He went for the Alfredo first. He sank his fork into the tangle of fettuccine, twisted until a knot of pasta was on the tines, and carried the noodles to his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully and added some salt. He tested the strip steak next. Shook on a little pepper. Then he picked up the cheeseburger. It was halfway to his mouth when he frowned and put it back down. He used his fork and knife to take a bite.

He ate like a total gentleman. With an almost dainty air.

Abruptly, he looked at her. "What?"

"Sorry, I, ah..." She picked at her salad. And promptly went back to watching him eat.

"You keep staring at me and I'm going to blush," he drawled.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. I like your eyes on me."

Mary's body shimmered to life. And she responded with total grace by launching a crouton into her lap.

"So what are you looking at?" he asked.

She used her napkin to dab at the dressing skid on her pants. "Your table manners. They're very good."

"Food is to be savored."

She wondered what else he enjoyed like that Slowly. Thoroughly. God, she could just imagine the kind of love life he had. He'd be amazing in bed. That big body, that golden skin, those long, tapered fingers...

Mary's throat went dry and she made a grab for her glass. "But do you always... eat so much?"

"Actually, the stomach's off. I'm taking it easy." He shook a little more salt on the fettuccine. "So you used to work with autistic children, but now you're at a law firm. What else do you do with your time? Hobbies? Interests?"

"I like to cook."

"Really? I like to eat."

She frowned, trying not to imagine him sitting at her table.

"You're irritated again."

She waved her hand around. "I'm not."

"Yeah, you are. Don't like the idea of cooking something for me, do you?"

His unfettered honesty made her think she could tell him anything and he'd respond with exactly what he thought and felt. Good or bad.

"Hal, do you have any kind of filter between your brain and your mouth?"

"Not really." He finished the Alfredo and moved the plate aside. The steak was up next. "So what about your parents?"

She took a deep breath. "My mother died about four years ago. My father was killed when I was two in a wrong-place-wrong-time kind of thing."

He paused. "That's hard. Losing both of them."

"Yes, it was."

"Both of mine are gone, too. But at least they made it to old age. Do you have sisters? Brothers?"

"No. It was just me and my mother. And now only me."

There was a long silence. "So how do you know John?"

"John... oh, John Matthew? Did Bella tell you about him?"

"After a fashion."

"I don't know him all that well. He just kind of came into my life recently. I think he's a special kid, a kind one, even though I get the sense things haven't been easy for him."

"You know his parents?"

"He told me he doesn't have any."

"You know where he lives?"

"I know the area of town. It's not a very good one."

"Do you want to save him, Mary?"

What an odd question, she thought.

"I don't think he needs to be saved, but I'd like to be his friend. Truthfully, I barely know him. He just showed up at my house one night."

Hal nodded, as if she'd given him an answer he'd wanted.

"How do you know Bella?" she asked.

"Don't you like your salad?"

She looked down her plate. "I'm not hungry."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes."

As soon as he'd finished his burger and fries, he reached over for the small menu by the salt and pepper shakers.

"Is dessert more to your liking?" he asked.

"Not tonight."

"You should eat more."

"I had a big lunch."

"No, you didn't."

Mary crossed her arms over her chest. "How would you know?"

"I can sense your hunger."

She stopped breathing. God, those eyes of his were gleaming again. So blue, so bright, the color endless, like the sea. An ocean to swim in. To drown in. To die in.

"How do you know I'm... hungry?" she said, feeling as if the world were slipping away.

His voice dropped until it was almost a purr. "I'm right, aren't I? So why does it matter how?"

Fortunately, the waitress arrived to pick up the dishes and broke the moment. By the time Hal had ordered an apple crisp, some kind of brownie thing, and a cup of coffee, Mary felt like she was back on the planet.

"So what do you do for a living?" she asked.

"This and that."

"Acting? Modeling?"

He laughed. "No. I may be decorative, but I prefer to be useful."

"And how are you useful?"

"I guess you could say I'm a soldier."

"You're in the military?"

"Kind of."

Well, that would explain the deadly air. The physical confidence. The sharpness in his eyes.

"What branch?" Marines, she thought. Or maybe a SEAL. He was that hard.

Hal's face tightened up. "Just another soldier."

From out of nowhere, a cloud of perfume invaded Mary's nose. It was the redheaded hostess sweeping up to the table.

"Was everything okay?" As Hal looked over, you could practically hear the woman sizzle.

"Fine, thanks," he said.

"Good." She slipped something onto the table. A napkin. With a number and a name on it.

As the woman flashed her eyes and sauntered off, Mary looked down at her hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her purse.

Time to go, she thought. For some reason she didn't want to watch Hal put that napkin in his pocket. Even though he had every right to do so.

"Well, this has been... interesting," she said. She picked up her bag and shuffled out of the booth.

"Why are you leaving?" His frown made him look like true military material, taking him very far away from the sexy male pinup stuff.

Unease flickered in her chest. "I'm tired. But, thanks, Hal. This has been... Well, thanks."

As she tried to get by him, he took her hand, stroking her inner wrist with his thumb. "Stay while I eat my dessert."

She looked away from his perfect face and his broad shoulders. The brunette across the aisle was getting to her feet and eyeing him, a business card in her hand.

Mary leaned down. "I'm sure you'll find plenty of others to keep you company. In fact, one's headed your way right now. I'd say good luck with her, but she looks like a sure thing."

Mary made a beeline for the exit. The chilly air and the relative silence were a relief after the crush of people, except as she approached her car, she had the eerie sense she wasn't alone. She glanced over her shoulder.

Hal was right behind her, even though she'd left him in the restaurant. She wheeled around, heart pounding like it wanted out of her ribs.

"Jesus! What are you doing?"

"Walking you to your car."

"I... ah. Don't bother."

"Too late. This Civic is yours, right?"

"How did you¡ª"

"The lights flashed as you unlocked it."

She moved away from him, but as she backed up, Hal came forward. When she bumped against her car, she put her hands out.

"Stop."

"Don't be scared of me."

"Then don't crowd me."

She turned away from him and went for the door handle. His hand shot out, clamping on the seam between the window and the roof.

Yeah, she was going to get behind the wheel. When he let her.

"Mary?" His deep voice was right next to her head, and she jumped.

She felt the raw seduction of him and imagined his body as a cage locked around her. With a treasonous shift, her fear changed into something wanton and needy.

"Let me go," she whispered.

"Not yet."

She heard him take a deep breath, as if he were smelling her, and then her ears were flooded by a rhythmic pumping sound, as though he were purring. Her body loosened, heated, opened between her legs as if it was prepared to accept him inside.

Good God, she had to get away from him.

She grabbed onto his forearm and pushed. Which got her nowhere.

"Mary?"

"What?" she snapped, resentful because she was turned on when she should have been petrified. For God's sake, he was a stranger, a big, pushy stranger, and she was a woman alone with no one to miss her if she didn't make it home.

"Thank you for not bailing on me."

"You're welcome. Now how about letting me leave?"

"As soon as you let me kiss you good-night."

Mary had to open her mouth to get enough air into her lungs.

"Why?" she asked hoarsely. "Why would you want to do that?"

His hands fell onto her shoulders and turned her around. He towered over her, blocking out the glow from the restaurant, the lights in the parking lot, the stars far above.

"Just let me kiss you, Mary." His hands slid up her throat and on to the sides of her face. "Only once. Okay?"

"No, it's not okay," she whispered as he tilted her head back.

His lips descended and her mouth trembled. It had been so long since she'd been kissed. And never by a man like him.

The contact was soft, gentle. Unexpected, given the size of him.

And just as a blast of heat licked over her breasts and landed between her legs, she heard a hiss.

He stumbled back and looked at her strangely. With a jerky movement, his heavy arms crossed over his chest, as if he were holding on to himself.

"Hal?"

He said nothing, just stood there, staring. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was shaken.

"Hal, are you all right?"

He shook his head once.

Then he walked away, disappearing into the darkness beyond the parking lot.