She didn't. No matter what went down between her and Hawk, she could not spend her life with a man whose touch left her colder than the sleet falling that night two years before, when she'd stood in the frozen rain, watching two security guards drag Hawk from her parents' property.The night she'd proven herself the coward he claimed her to be."Nicholas." Gently she twisted from his arms and stepped from his touch, welcomed the warming rays of the early-afternoon sun. "You've been such a good friend to me."He went absolutely still, all but the wind rustling his golden hair. "I love you."Her throat burned. All her life she'd been the family peace-keeper. She hated conflict. She hated to cause pain. Ethan had teased her relentlessly for escorting spiders out of the house, rather than squashing them with her shoe.But now she had no choice. She couldn't continue the charade, not when the truth seared through her. In perpetuating a lie, she'd hurt them both. And Wesley. God help her, she was beginning to suspect she'd hurt him worst of all."I can't go away with you." Couldn't love him, couldn't marry him.
