Drake Sisters 04 - Dangerous Tides

piercing blue eyes resting on her face, his expression suddenly lost. "I came to see how you were doing. You scared the hell out of me, Libby, and your sisters wouldn't tell me how you were doing." He stepped closer, towering over her, shadows stealing into the depths of his eyes. "Ten days. I haven't been able to sleep or eat or even work the way I should. You put me through hell."

    Libby opened her mouth to respond and abruptly closed it. Part of her wanted to yell at him to just go Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    away, but he looked and sounded so vulnerable.

    He raked both hands through his hair in frustration. "I'm so inadequate at this. I say and do all the wrong things, Libby, and I can see it upsets you." He picked up a thin blanket that was lying over the back of a chair and tucked it around her.

    The action was so unexpected and his hands so gentle, that for a moment she couldn't speak. She stared up at him, shaking her head while she tried to hold on to her annoyance. "Why are you so angry at my family?"

    There was a small silence. Tyson dropped into a chair opposite her. "The modern term family comes from the Latin word famulus , which means servant. In Arabia at the time of Mohammad, the word for marriage was nikah , which literally meant sexual intercourse. In the Koran, it was also used to mean contract. Marriage was conceived of as a contract for sexual intercourse."

    Libby's eyebrow shot up. "I'm not touching that one, Ty. I don't even want to know what you meant by that."

    He shrugged. "I didn't mean anything in particular, I just thought you might find it interesting."

    Libby let her breath out in a slow rush of air. Tyson used facts as a defense mechanism. The moment he was uncomfortable with anything, he threw out random facts, distracting himself and anyone around him.
    He'd probably been doing it since childhood when his parents weren't really interested in the things he wanted to talk to them about, so he'd developed a way to shift his brain from emotional to intellectual instantly to protect himself.

    Libby's heart went out to him. She didn't want to feel the way she did, all soft inside when what he really needed was a lesson in manners. "Why do you care at all, Ty? You've hardly spoken to me over the years."

    "I've spoken to you, you just never heard me."

    Libby frowned. She'd been attracted to him for years. Secretly maybe, but she would have noticed if Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    he'd shown an interest in her. "That's not true."

    "It's true, you just didn't notice someone like me."

    "Someone like you?"

    "You're repeating things. Do you need something? Water? Tea? You always drink tea. You look more like a ghost than you usually do." He jumped up again and rested his palm against her forehead.

    Libby jerked her head away, scowling. "A ghost? I look more like a ghost than I usually do?"

    He crouched down in front of her so they were eye to eye. Up close she could see he looked haggard and worn and his concern for her was etched into the lines of his face. "You're repeating everything I say." He enunciated each word carefully.

    "Because I can't believe you would say such a thing, even if you're thinking it."

    He rocked back on his heels. "What did I say wrong this time?"

    "Do you think a woman wants to be called a ghost? News flash, buddy, women don't take that as a compliment. It makes me feel like a zombie walking."

    "That's silly," Ty replied, exasperated. "You know you're beautiful, Libby. You can't possibly think anything else. You're incredibly intelligent, you actually understand what I say when I'm talking to you and when you smile, everyone around you wants to smile with you. You are pale right now. I'm thinking of calling a doctor and having you examined. What's wrong with everyone here that they don't see you're ill?
    You need someone to take care of you."

    Libby knew her mouth had fallen open. She could only stare for a long moment, hoping a fly didn't buzz by. The man was impossible. He was always either saying something that made her want to hit him—or something that made her want to kiss him. Right now she wasn't certain which she wanted to do the Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    most.

    "I am a doctor," she reminded him, striving for a balance. There was no maintaining any kind of equilibrium around Tyson. She