A Girl's Best Friend by Crystal Jordan Page A

first place? I didn’t force any of this on you.” The numbness was wearing off and the anger came roaring back, fueled by disappointment. In himself for hoping, in her for not fulfilling those hopes. “So what was I? Some fuckfest on the way to Mr. Right? Now you can settle down with some boring office type you think can deal with your weight, and I was just a bad decision you made along the way.”
    Her eyes rounded. “Don’t say it like that. You’re making it sound ugly.”
    “I call it like I see it, Lorna.” He gave a tight shrug. “You know that. And I’m not looking to be your mistake. Friends don’t do that to each other.”
    Now rage sparkled in her gaze, and she poked a finger at his chest. “And who the hell are you to make me feel guilty, Mr. No Strings Attached? You expect me to believe this is so deep and permanent for you? You don’t do serious since Sherona. Everyone knows that.”
    “Not serious, huh? How’s this for not serious?” He shoved his hand into his jacket pocket, pulled out something small, and shoved it into her palm. It sparkled in the lamplight. He watched her breath catch when she recognized it. The diamond ring she’d loved so much at the photo shoot. Some piece of insanity had made him stop off at Carraway’s this afternoon and ask about it. They had one in her size. He hadn’t even known why he was buying it, when he would give it to her, but in a moment of sheer clarity he realized that she was the only woman for him. Whatever excuses he had burned away, and he knew he was so deeply in love with her that he’d never escape. And he didn’t want to.
    He thought he could ease her into it, but now he wasn’t so sure. If she couldn’t live with him on SWAT, then she wasn’t the woman he thought she was. Bitter pain swamped him so fast it made his teeth lock. He couldn’t even think past the agony ripping through his chest.
    “Tyrone, I—” Her breath escaped in a rush.
    “Yeah. I was planning to sit down and tell you I want us to be together for the rest of our lives. I want us to be friends and lovers until we’re old and gray. Stupid of me, right?” Damn her for making him love her. And damn him for setting himself up for this.
    Tears welled up in her eyes, a deep misery he didn’t understand stamped on her face. But he knew it was his fault. “I just…I never thought…”
    “I just realized something though.” He shrugged and turned away, so she couldn’t see his eyes. Couldn’t see how badly this hurt him. “It’s always going to be something, isn’t it? We’re always going to let something get in the way. Your weight, our friendship, my job. I was ready to try, but you aren’t. This isn’t what you want, baby. I’m not who you want. I get it…I finally get it.”
    And then he did the hardest thing he’d ever had to do in his life. He walked away from the only woman he could ever love. If he stayed, he’d only cause her pain like he had Sherona, but he didn’t think he’d ever recover if Lorna loved him and left him.
    He had to save his best friend from himself.
     
    * * *
     
    Diamond’s bark sounded from the doorway of the warehouse. Lorna spun around, her heart pounding. Was he here? Had he come? She had no idea what she would say to him, but she wanted to see him so badly it pulled at her very soul. The way they’d left things last night had shredded her. She’d lain awake all night, torturing herself with the details of their fight. They’d argued before, but not like that. Not the kind of parting that felt like forever.
    What would she do without him? He was her rock. How could she live with a part of her suddenly ripped away? And not by death, but by her own actions. She’d said he was going to be injured someday—as though it was inevitable that he end up the way his teammate had, broken and fighting to survive. She knew that wasn’t true, no matter how dangerous his job was. His father was proof of that. He’d been on SWAT