Page 236 of The Professor's Wife

“You took off.”

“I’m waiting to be seen,” I explained. “I thought I’d missed my turn…”

His expression dropped. “Are you sick?”

I took a moment to answer.

It would have been easy to tell him I had stopped at the restaurant while I waited for the clinic.

But it didn’t feel right.

Because it wasn’t true.

I shook my head. “No. I’m not.”

Was that relief in his eyes?

His gaze pierced mine. “Do you want company while you wait?”

“It’s so busy, I doubt I’ll be seen.” I smiled apologetically. “You were busy singing, and I distracted you, and now you’re away from everyone—”

“They’ll always be there,” he cut in quietly, looking solemnly at me. “You won’t.”

My smile faded.

The sun burned.

His stare burned hotter.

I swallowed thickly. “Tristan, I’m married.”

Something dark flickered across his solemn expression. His jaw tightened as he forced a nod.

“I know that.”

I didn’t know what else to say. He seemed bothered as he exhaled slowly, deep in thought. The seconds passed between us, heavy and cloudy, and suddenly I wanted to move a little closer to him. To really look at him.

I wanted to see the sunlight reflected in his eyes. To trace the hard line of his jaw with my gaze and take in the pale stubble surrounding his full mouth. I wondered how soft his hair would feel beneath my fingers.

Maybe he sensed what I wanted because he moved a little closer. I tilted my head to keep looking at him.

His eyes were lighter in the sun than they had appeared the night before. His hair was dirty blond and wild, though not unkempt, and pale stubble shadowed the hard line of his jaw.

Tristan was heartbreakingly handsome. Coupled with his magnificent voice and the intensity behind every look, it was no wonder I had risked so much to see him again.

I had risked a lot.

Minutes ago, I had been close to crumbling and returning to what I knew. But staring at Tristan now, feeling his eyes on me, the pull toward him made its own kind of sense. The consequences hadn’t disappeared. They had only moved far enough away for me to keep going.

“Do you want to go somewhere and talk?” he asked.

My heart jumped at the invitation. “I would like that.”

“Anywhere in mind? I’m not from around here.”

I could hardly think. My voice was weak as I admitted, “I don’t really know, either.”

He continued watching me as though he were trying to decipher something. “Do you want someplace quiet or loud?”