Smoke looked triumphant, and Amira wanted to hit the man. That thought stunned her as she was never prone to violence. She abhorred brute force in all its forms. She tried to change the subject.
“We were just talking about your honeymoon,” Amira reminded the woman. “Don’t you want to tell me more about it?”
Her deflection didn’t work. Mrs. Clemens was set on something else now. “Oh no, Dr. Amira, I want to hear about your date, not my honeymoon that happened so long ago.”
“I want to take her dancing,” Smoke said. “My beautiful mother, who raised me all by herself, insisted I learn how to dance, so she’d practice with me every single week. She was exhausted because she worked three jobs from the time I was born, but she still gave me every minute of her spare time. I still love to dance, and it always reminds me of my mom, and all she sacrificed for me while I was growing up.”
“Oh, Smoke, that’s beautiful,” Mrs. Clemens said. She turned back to Amira. “Tell me you’re going to go dancing with this young man.” It wasn’t a question, it was a demand. There was such hope and joy in Mrs. Clemens eyes at the thought of them doing just that, that Amira couldn’t deny the woman anything.
“Of course, I’ll go dancing with him,” Amira said with a false smile on her lips. She wondered if Smoke was telling the truth about his mother teaching him to dance. It truly was beautiful.
“You will?” Smoke asked, his eyes sparkling as a beaming smile rested on his full lips.
“Yes, of course,” Amira said. She was locked in because once Amira gave her word on something she wouldn’t go back on it. And even though Mrs. Clemens had dementia, Amira was sure the woman would remember this conversation and ask all about their first date. Dang it, how did she get into this position?
“Then let’s do it tomorrow,” Smoke said, taking the opportunity to lock their date in.
“I can’t tomorrow,” she told him. “But I’m free Friday.” She wanted to hate the idea of going out with him, but she felt a stirring of excitement low in her belly. The thought of being held in Smoke’s arms while sultry music played in the background wasn’t at all unappealing.
“Then Friday it is,” Smoke said. He gave his full attention back to Mrs. Clemens. “I’m going to have to send you flowers since you just played Cupid,” he told the woman as he gently squeezed her fingers that were still resting in his palm.
“Oh, I do love flowers,” Mrs. Clemens said. “My Henry would give me a beautiful bouquet every month.”
“It sounds like your Henry was a wise man,” Smoke said.
“He was my knight in shining armor,” Mrs. Clemens said as a tear fell from her eye.
“I’m sure only God himself could’ve taken him away from your side. You are beautiful, vibrant, and have a pureness in your eyes very few people possess. I have no doubt he’s waiting with open arms for you to finish your journey in life.”
Tears filled Amira’s eyes at Smoke’s words. Did he mean what he was saying? Was there more to this man she’d instantly judged than she’d expected? Was he too dangerous to date? She feared the answer was yes to all of those questions. Smoke was the kind of man a woman didn’t forget. She feared he was a true heartbreaker.
“I’ve never had someone put it to me like that before, Smoke. Thank you,” Mrs. Clemens said. “My Harry always did tell me he had to go first so he could get our home ready.” A tear fell down her cheek.
“A good man goes above and beyond for the woman he loves,” Smoke said. He was fully focused on Mrs. Clemens, but Amira felt a pang in her heart at his words. It was silly to feel that. They didn’t know each other enough to even like one another. Love wasn’t even close to the floor where the two of them were concerned.
“I agree,” Mrs. Clemens said. “But it goes both ways. I took care of my Harry just as he took care of me. I think there are two tragedies in life.” She paused long enough that Smoke spoke again.
“What are those, Mrs. Clemens?” His voice truly was like warm velvet on a cold bed.
“Sorry, I got sidetracked,” she said as she gazed out the window. “The first is how short of lives our beloved pets live. I’ve fallen in love with a few dogs only to have them leave me too soon.” Smoke nodded as if he fully understood. Amira hadn’t ever been allowed to own pets, and she was so busy as an adult she didn’t have any now either, but she’d heard many patients talk about their animals and truly grieving their loss. She understood as best as she could.
“I agree. I choose not to have pets because I don’t want to lose them,” Smoke told her.
“That’s not a way to live, honey,” Mrs. Clemens said. “It’s better to have a perfect day with a companion and feel despair at the loss, than to be alone all of your life just to avoid pain.”
Smoke nodded as the two of them conversed. Smoke had gone into the wrong profession. He should’ve been a doctor. He truly had an incredible bedside manner.
“The second, of course, is falling in love, and then losing the love of our lives. Those two losses are the hardest to get over. They say time heals all wounds, but I don’t fully agree. I think the wound will scab over, but it will always be there just waiting to rip open again at the drop of a hat.”
“I was once told that pain is our bodies way of letting us know we’re alive,” Smoke said. “And though I don’t like to feel pain, I’ve come to realize that we can’t truly appreciate joy and love without feeling pain and devastation. If we only feel one emotion, we don’t understand what we’re feeling,” he told her.
“Oh, Smoke, you are a wise man, indeed. I know you and Dr. Amira will have a wonderful date,” Mrs. Clemens said.
“I’ll do my best to make that come true,” he assured her.
Smoke stayed with Amira and Mrs. Clemens for another hour, their appointment running long over their normal two-hour timeframe. But Amira couldn’t seem to end the visit since Mrs. Clemens was opening up so much, displaying a love of life and romance all at the same time.
When their time came to an end, Amira fell a little bit harder for Smoke when he took Mrs. Clemens’s arm and insisted on walking her to the main floor where her daughter was waiting for her. The sound of their laughter mingling together was the last thing Amira heard as the elevator doors closed on the two of them.
She was in trouble — she was in big trouble. So, Amira did something she never ever did — she quickly fled the hospital before Smoke made his way back. Yes, she had a date with the man in a few days, but she needed every minute leading up to the date to get her heart to slow its beat, and to get her mind in the right place.
Smoke, Tyrell Rice, was one dangerous man . . . and it might just be too late for her to stop what was coming.
Chapter Two
Smoke looked out at the quiet beach where tragedy had occurred three weeks earlier. It was eerie being there now with Green and Chad accompanying him, standing on the private beach where the Andersons had celebrated so many happy events. He moved to the spot where police tape was fluttering in the wind, having come half undone in the time since it had been put up.