“I’m into him, Jules. I want to be with him. And now I’ve ruined any chance of that ever happening, because I betrayed his trust and learned things he didn’t choose to tell me. Not little things, either, but something so serious it changed his whole life. Going in, I had no idea I would find something that bad.”

Julie released Erin’s hand and sat back on her chair. “Just don’t ever tell him you did it.”

Erin shook her head. “Eventually I’ll have to tell him, and he’ll be angry with me in a way that I may never overcome.”

“Then just don’t.”

Erin’s heart felt as if it were breaking. “You don’t understand. Wyatt is special. He’s inherently honest. Not about his lack of hearing, obviously, because that awful night might never have happened if he hadn’t fooled that woman into believing he could hear. But in every other way, he’s probably the most direct and honest man I’ve ever met.”

“Sometimes,” Julie said softly, “being too honest can do more harm than good.”

“And sometimes not being completely honest can destroy what might be absolutely perfect.”

* * *

As Erin drove home, her thoughts were centered on Wyatt and how she had pressed him to be her friend. She hadn’t really believed him when he said he was attracted to her. She’d thought he was just being nice. But now she was starting to wonder if he had been telling her the truth. As she’d tried to express to Julie, Wyatt seemed to be intrinsically honest. And if he was attracted to her, every moment he was around her might test his willpower.

Later, as she lay in bed, she wished with all her heart she hadn’t dug into Wyatt’s past. For one, it had been his secret to keep. And now that she knew what had happened, she wasn’t sure how to proceed. Should she tell him she’d used her badge to invade his privacy? That she knew things about him he hadn’t chosen for her or anyone else to know? She finally plunged into a troubled sleep and had nightmares about running after Wyatt as he walked away from her. She screamed his name and pled with him to forgive her, but he just kept walking. So she pulled out her only big gun and yelled that she loved him. When he just kept walking, she realized he couldn’t hear her. That she was wasting her breath. The only way she could ever convince him of how sorry she was would be to make him look at her, and she didn’t know if he’d ever willingly look at her again.

She jerked awake and sat straight up in bed. Sweat trickled down her sides and along the curvature of her spine. Her hair was soaking wet. She felt as if a clawlike hand was ripping her heart from her chest. As sleep moved away to make room for reality, she registered that it had been only a dream. She wasn’t in love with Wyatt Fitzgerald. She’d only known him for a few months. Well, more than a few, but they hadn’t been around each other all of that time. Falling in love with a man took time, lots and lots of time. But in her dream, the feelings had been so sharp and painful within her that she couldn’t deny them now as she shook off the last vestiges of the nightmare.