Hello."
Her mood deflated as if she'd been pricked with a pin. "Alan."
"Shelby."
She struggled not to be moved by the quiet,serious tone that should never have moved her.She liked men with a laugh in their voice. "Alan, this has to stop."
"Does it? It hasn't even started."
"Alan-" She tried to remember her decision to be firm. "I mean it. You have to stop sending me things. You're only wasting your time."
"I have a bit to spare," he said mildly. "How was your week?"
"Busy.Listen,I-"
"I missed you."
The simple statement threw the rest of her lecture into oblivion. "Alan, don't -"
"Everyday," he continued. "Every night. Have you been to Boston, Shelby?"
"Uh...yes," she managed, busy fighting off the weakness creeping into her. Helplessly she stared up at the balloons. How could she fight something so insubstantial it floated?
"I'd like to take you there in the fall, when it smells of damp leaves and smoke."
Shelby told herself her heart was not fluttering. "Alan, I didn't call to talk about Boston.Now,to put it in very simple terms,I want you to stop calling me, I want you to stop dropping by, and -" Her voice began to rise in frustration as she pictured him listening with that patient, serious smile and calm eyes. "I want you to stop sending me balloons and pigs and everything! Is that clear?"
"Perfectly.Spend the day with me."
Did the man ever stop being patient? She couldn't abide patient men. "For God's sake, Alan!"
"We'll call it an experimental outing," he suggested in the same even tone. "Not a date."
"No!" she said, barely choking back a laugh. Couldn't abide it, she tried to remember.She preferred the flashy, the freewheeling. "No,no,no!"
"Not bureaucratic enough." His voice was so calm,so...so , she decided, she wanted to scream. But the scream bubbled perilously close to another laugh. "All right, let me think-a standard daytime expedition for furthering amiable relations between opposing clans."
"You're trying to be charming again," Shelby muttered.
"Am I succeeding?
Her mood deflated as if she'd been pricked with a pin. "Alan."
"Shelby."
She struggled not to be moved by the quiet,serious tone that should never have moved her.She liked men with a laugh in their voice. "Alan, this has to stop."
"Does it? It hasn't even started."
"Alan-" She tried to remember her decision to be firm. "I mean it. You have to stop sending me things. You're only wasting your time."
"I have a bit to spare," he said mildly. "How was your week?"
"Busy.Listen,I-"
"I missed you."
The simple statement threw the rest of her lecture into oblivion. "Alan, don't -"
"Everyday," he continued. "Every night. Have you been to Boston, Shelby?"
"Uh...yes," she managed, busy fighting off the weakness creeping into her. Helplessly she stared up at the balloons. How could she fight something so insubstantial it floated?
"I'd like to take you there in the fall, when it smells of damp leaves and smoke."
Shelby told herself her heart was not fluttering. "Alan, I didn't call to talk about Boston.Now,to put it in very simple terms,I want you to stop calling me, I want you to stop dropping by, and -" Her voice began to rise in frustration as she pictured him listening with that patient, serious smile and calm eyes. "I want you to stop sending me balloons and pigs and everything! Is that clear?"
"Perfectly.Spend the day with me."
Did the man ever stop being patient? She couldn't abide patient men. "For God's sake, Alan!"
"We'll call it an experimental outing," he suggested in the same even tone. "Not a date."
"No!" she said, barely choking back a laugh. Couldn't abide it, she tried to remember.She preferred the flashy, the freewheeling. "No,no,no!"
"Not bureaucratic enough." His voice was so calm,so...so , she decided, she wanted to scream. But the scream bubbled perilously close to another laugh. "All right, let me think-a standard daytime expedition for furthering amiable relations between opposing clans."
"You're trying to be charming again," Shelby muttered.
"Am I succeeding?
( Nora Roberts )
[ The MacGregors: Alan & Grant ]
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