A Heart Worth Healing

Chapter One

Kirsty McLaren sat eating her lunch, unaware that someone was watching her. She was engrossed in her ereader, a habit she had formed when her lunch hours became more boring than usual. She was currently indulging in a rare treat - lunch at a nice hotel not far from her office.

Kirsty enjoyed escaping to the sophisticated, peaceful atmosphere of the hotel. It was one of the few places where she could be in control, where the wait staff could appreciate her rather than order her around. She could pretend to be someone important, even though she had to pay a bit more for her lunch. Kirsty enjoyed escaping from her boss, Mrs. Templer, who badgered her all day long.

Kirsty was forced to look up from her ereader when the waiter brought her shrimp salad to the table.

"Thank you," Kirsty replied, smiling up at him. The smoothness of her voice and the raw purity of her beauty made him smile at her. She seemed unaware of how attractive she was. Her hair was a golden brown colour and she had inherited her late mother's bright, blue eyes. Her skin was creamy white and the waiter surreptitiously noticed that her figure was well proportioned. If Kirsty noticed the waiter's scrutiny, she did not dwell on it. Her heart had long since dulled to the possibility of male companionship. Over the years, she had succeeded in building a wall around herself and no man would ever have the ability to break through it. Or so she wanted to believe.

Kirsty was half-way through her shrimp salad when the waiter again came over to her table.

"Pardon me, miss," he said respectfully, "but the gentleman across the room would like to know if he may join you for coffee."

Kirsty's fork stopped mid-way to her mouth as she contemplated the waiter's statement. No one had every approached her in such a manner before. There was nothing offensive about it, yet she felt characteristically reticent about any type of overture, especially one made by the opposite sex.

Almost against her will, Kirsty's curiosity got the better of her and she peered around the waiter to see who the 'gentleman' was.

There were not that many people in the dining room at that moment and Kirsty was shocked to see a very attractive man sitting directly across from her. He was staring at her quite boldly, leaving no room for mistake as to who he was looking at. He was not leering at her, but she felt uncomfortable nonetheless. She didn't know what he could possibly want to talk to her about. She was curious about him.

Without smiling, Kirsty replied, "Yes, he may join me if he wants to."

 The waiter smiled at her, nodded, and walked over to the man's table. Kirsty's heart started to pound when she realized what she had done. It was too late for her to call the waiter and tell him she had changed her mind. Her view of the man was blocked by the waiter. When he turned toward the kitchen, Kirsty stole a secret glance at the man. He was not looking at her now. He was finishing his lunch and it looked like he was reading some documents.

Kirsty had a difficult time eating the rest of her salad. She was puzzled as to why the man had not come over to her table yet. Maybe he had decided not to join her, after all. Instead of feeling relieved, she felt slightly disappointed. He looked like an interesting person. She tried to get back into her reading, but the words swam before her eyes. Sighing, she put away her ereader and finished eating her salad.

When the waiter came to take away her empty salad dish, he asked her if she would like anything else.

"I'll have some tea, please," she replied, looking at her watch to see how much time she had left. Ten minutes. She was not looking forward to going back to the office.

When the waiter turned away, Kirsty stole another look at the man. He was no longer sitting at his table. Instead, he was striding confidently toward her. And he was smiling enigmatically at her. Her heart was in her throat.