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Embarrassment had her scrunching up her nose. I’d never seen anything so cute.
“Believe me, this experience beats the last by a landslide.”
“Oof. Sounds like there’s a story there.”
I gestured to the blackboard, standing. “Choose your meal, and I’ll go order it, then I’ll give up one of my secrets. But, on the condition that this is a reciprocal thing.”
She blinked at me, and I elaborated with a wolfish grin.
“My stories for yours, roomie. I want to know who I’m living with, and ye have mysteries written all over your pretty face. Do we have a deal, or should I just bore on about home improvements all evening?”
I was reaching, without much expectation for her to give up anything, but to my surprise, she gave a slow nod.
“For the sake of getting to know each other, okay. I want that, too. Oh, and Valentine?”
My heart thumped, anticipation filling a void inside me I hadn’t known was there. “Anything, little spy.”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
God did that give me a raft of ideas, only some of which related to food.
Chapter 5
Mia
Valentine returned from placing our order, setting down two bottles of beer, condensation beading on them and running down to the coasters. Then he dropped into his seat, propped his chin up on his hand, and raised an expectant eyebrow.
“Oh no, you first,” I insisted.
I wanted an excuse to look at him. Already, this evening was mixing me up. First, picturing myself in the position of the woman he’d flirted with. Having that intensity focused on me would probably burst me into flames.
And second, he’d called me pretty.
Besides Daisy, and my mom, I wasn’t sure anyone had done that before.
Well, Tobi’s father, but I wasn’t touching that thought with a ten-foot pole. I didn’t trust any memories when it came to him.
Valentine relented, taking a long drink of his beer. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and settled into his story.“Many years ago, back at the dawn of time, I had a long-distance girlfriend. I was in the military, and she lived in a little town in Olympic National Park where my parents also made a home.”
“They live in the States, not here?”
He inclined his head. “I was born in Scotland, to a Scottish da and an English mother. My family emigrated, and I didn’t return until I was nine or ten. I was in boarding school from thirteen with Ben, and then the army, but I returned to the US often because our family had gone back. The girl in question sought me out on every visit, and I very quickly fell in love. She tolerated the long months of us not seeing each other and didn’t ask for much. When I popped the question, she accepted happily. Every minute of our relationship felt so straightforward, right until the end.”
I leaned in, the picture he was painting enthralling. I needed all the details. How could something so perfect have gone wrong? “Go on.”
Valentine took another swig of beer. “Nope. Your turn.”
I recoiled. “What do you want to know?”
His mouth fell open in an expression of amusement tinged with outrage. “Uh, anything? I know nothing about ye except that you’re a walking wet dream, and obviously running away from one life while trying to set up another fast. Believe me, I’m fascinated. Spill it.”
Fascinated? Oh my.
I hesitated, and he heaved a dramatic sigh. “Tell me why ye left wherever your previous home was, and I’ll serve the identity of the guy who was instrumental in the implosion of my engagement. You’ve met him.”
“It’s someone I know?” I barely knew anyone here, plus he’d been engaged in the US.
He gave a purposeful nod.
