Rescuing Rayne Read Online Free PDF Page B

flight with a woman who was flying to New York to undergo an experimental surgery for colon cancer. She was traveling alone and I felt bad for her. So after I’d served the drinks, I sat and talked to her. Her husband couldn’t go with her because he had to work. He didn’t have any sick time left and she was on his health insurance. They couldn’t afford for him to lose his job, so she had to fly up there by herself. I can’t imagine how scared she was, or how her husband felt about not being able to be by her side.
    “The week before that, I noticed a woman with a black eye sitting next to a very big, very pissed-off man, who I can only assume was her husband. It was obvious she was being abused, but there was nothing I could do about it. Also the other week, I had the displeasure of having to try to please a man and woman and their two kids. The kids were out of control, and the parents didn’t care. All they wanted to do was drink as many of the little bottles of alcohol as we’d serve them.”
    She leaned into Ghost as if it would help make her point. “I can tell you think being a romantic is a bad thing, and while I freely admit to wanting to find a man to spend the rest of my life with, I do know the world isn’t always sunshine and roses. Most of the time it’s overcast skies and poison ivy. That’s why I read the books and watch the movies I do. If the only way I can experience romance is through my imagination and fairy-tale books and the weddings of English Royalty, I’m going to do it. Don’t burst my bubble, Ghost. Please, let me have this.”
    Ghost wanted to argue, to tell her there were more assholes in the world than princes, and reading romance novels or watching sappy movies wouldn’t ever change that fact. He wanted to make sure she knew that he wasn’t a prince. He might not be quite as big of an asshole as the people he met in his job, but he didn’t want her under any illusion that what he hoped they would be doing later would lead to a Lifetime movie or anything.
    “Come on, come sit with me.”
    He towed her over to one of the many pews in the huge church and urged her down the bench until they reached the middle. He sat down and waited for Rayne to sit next to him. She sat uneasily and he could see the tight grip she had on the seat by the way her knuckles turned white.
    Ghost hadn’t meant to upset her, but he needed to make his point. He didn’t want her falling for him. He knew he should get up and leave her to the rest of her day before she read more into what they were probably going to do that night than he could give, but he wasn’t going to. He needed this woman. Her quirky personality had burrowed under his skin and he wanted her. More than he’d wanted a woman in a long, long time.
    “I’m not a romantic guy, Rayne. I don’t have it inside me to be in a relationship.”
    “Bull.”
    “Rayne—”
    “No, seriously.” She turned toward him on the bench. “I’ll believe you when you say you don’t want a relationship, but I will never believe you when you say you aren’t romantic.”
    “I’ve never given a woman flowers in all my life. I’ve never proposed, hell, I don’t usually stick around long enough to tell a woman I’ve had a good time.”
    His words hurt, but Rayne pushed it down. She’d known what she was in for when she’d first decided to bum around London with him. But she wanted to make sure he got where she was coming from, whether he liked it or not. “Fine, maybe you’re a bit of a Neanderthal when it comes to relationships. You’re not perfect. Great. I get it. But, Ghost, you are romantic.”
    When Ghost began to shake his head in denial, or disgust, Rayne wasn’t sure which, she put her hand on his knee. “Let me finish.”
    Waiting until he finally nodded, she continued. “You’ve paid for every single thing we’ve done today, from the taxi, to lunch, to tipping the concierge at the hotel. When we were walking to the subway