Finding Dr. Right. Lisa B. Kamps

of holding her like he wanted, he yanked one hand from his pocket and reached out to awkwardly pat her on her shoulder. She stiffened under his touch and he let his hand drop to his side, cursing himself for only making things worse. What did he know about comforting women? He had grown up in a family of three boys without a mother’s influence, where talk of sports dominated every conversation. Any emotion deeper than that died a swift death, simply because nobody knew how to deal with it.

      “I’m sorry,” she repeated, louder this time. Her shoulders shook with a deep breath as she continued to stare out over the water. “It’s just been a bad day. Actually, more like a bad week. I didn’t mean to ruin your evening.”

      “That’s okay. I didn’t have anything better to do.” Nathan winced at his poor choice of words and scrambled to find something else to say. “I mean, I did kind of force you to come along. I thought, well, I shouldn’t have forced you.”

      Silence settled between them, awkward against the backdrop of the sounds surrounding them. Laughter from couples and small groups walking along the street, muffled sounds of music drifting into the night from the doorways of the different pubs, the steady thump-thump-thump of car tires along the cobblestone street. Nathan took a deep breath and wished for a way to draw Catherine out of the silence and into the life that ebbed and flowed around them. Forcing her had proved to be a mistake. Short of bodily dragging her, he could think of nothing else.

      “Maybe we should just leave now.” Her quiet voice pulled his attention back to her. She was watching him with those dark eyes, her hair a protective veil that fell across her face. He stared at her for a minute, trying to read her thoughts, but he couldn’t see through the wall that surrounded her. He took a deep breath and pulled the keys from his pocket, trying to smile and failing.

      “Sure, no problem.” He motioned for her to lead the way and watched as she stepped from the curb, following her with his eyes and wishing there was some way to reach her. She stopped next to his car and turned, looking lost again. Nathan squared his shoulders and walked toward her.

      Tonight could have gone a lot better. She wasn’t as untouchable as he first thought, and he wanted to find some way to breach her protective barrier and get to know her better.

      He just needed to figure out the best way to do it.