Page 49 of Kidnapped in Dark Waters
She leaned back from him. “So, have you started your hunt for that special woman you want in your life?” she asked lightly.
His gaze grew especially intense on her. He was silent for a long moment before finally speaking. “I don’t need to hunt for her. I already found that special woman. I am in love with you, Dominique.”
His words positively stunned her. She hadn’t seen it coming. “Surely you’re mistaking lust for love,” she replied.
“That’s not true. I know the difference between physical desire and love, and I am deeply, madly in love with you,” he replied and leaned toward her, enveloping her in his achingly familiar scent.
“Oh Luke, it would never work between us,” she said softly. Despite the warmth that had filled her heart at his words of love, she was a realist.
“I am not the special woman for you and you aren’t the special man for me. I need a mate who is spontaneous and unstructured. And you need a woman who can live in the worldof routines and structure. We’d be divorced before the writing on the marriage certificate dried.”
He stared at her for a long moment and then slowly nodded his head. “Of course, you’re right,” he said, the brilliance of his eyes dimming a bit. He stood, obviously uncomfortable now that he’d spoken of his love for her. “Well, I guess I’ll head on home.”
She got up from the sofa and followed him to the front door. Her heart was unusually heavy. She couldn’t be in love with him. Could she? Even if she was, it wouldn’t change their situation.
He reached the door first, unlocked it and then opened it. He turned back to face her and his eyes still held a sadness that broke her heart.
“I’ll be in touch concerning the two cases,” he said.
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
“Dominique, if you get scared or something happens you aren’t sure of, please don’t hesitate to call me. Above all, I want you to be safe.”
“I’ll call if I need to,” she replied.
“Good night, Dominique.”
“Good night, Luke.”
With that, he walked out of the door and into the darkness of the night.
She closed and locked the door behind him, her emotions a jumbled mess. She’d never meant for him to fall in love with her. Many times, they had talked about how different they were and how they had different needs in the person they would marry. She’d tried to keep things casual with him. Dammit, he wasn’t supposed to fall in love with her.
She sank down on the sofa once again. She refused to consider her own emotions where he was concerned. It didn’t matter how she felt about him. She knew they were not a match. She just didn’t understand why she suddenly felt like crying.
GUTTED. LUKE WASonce again absolutely gutted as he left her shanty and headed back to his car. He hadn’t meant to speak of his love for her, but he’d been unable to hold it inside him any longer.
She’d looked so pretty in the pink-and-yellow flowered house dress, with her hair loose around her shoulders and down her back.
But it wasn’t her physical beauty that had made him fall in love with her. It was her kindness and the way she cherished her family. He’d fallen in love with her sense of humor and her intelligence. There were so many things that had drawn him to her.
And now, more important than ever, he had to figure out how to stop loving her. In his heart of hearts, he knew she was right about them. They would never work. But that hadn’t stopped him from falling deeply in love with her.
She would be a deep ache in his heart for a very long time to come. Besides, she hadn’t told him she was in love with him. It was obvious that she wasn’t by how easily she had dismissed the idea of a romance between them.
He finally got home and went directly to bed, hoping she wouldn’t visit his dreams. He awoke early the next morning, eager to get into the station.
The least he could do for the woman he loved was find the person who had killed her mother. He needed to immerse himself in not only that case, but in the case that was even more important. He needed to figure out who wanted her so badly he’d attempted to kidnap her.
By seven he was back in the murder room with Daniel and Clay. A pall of disappointment draped over them like a heavy shroud. It had been like this since the moment Lucien Rousseauhad come forward with his alibi for Pierre.
The setback in the case had made them all sick. They had been so sure that Pierre was their man, that he had been the one who’d murdered Mystique, but now they were back to square one.
“So, what’s the general thought now about Charles Lathrop?” Daniel asked.
“I never really thought he was a good contender in the first place,” Luke admitted. “He’s definitely an arrogant creep, but I didn’t believe he’d kill Mystique just because the love spell she cast for him didn’t work.”
“Maybe he figured out that his personality made the love spell not work,” Clay added drily, causing both Daniel and Luke to laugh.
