“You’ve been lonely in LA. Got friends here.” His throat bobbed in a swallow. “Lise. Athena. Uh... Janel, maybe?”
Lise, her closest friend, did in fact live here. But— “Are you under the impression I don’t haveanycasual friendships in Los Angeles? Not a single connection I could cultivate, if I wanted to?”
And what about Karl himself? Did she not have a friend inhim?
For that matter, hadn’t the two of them built something far beyond friendship? But if they had, why wasn’t he telling her so, or listing their relationship as a reason for her to stay?
“Don’t need tocultivateanything with Lise,” he pointed out. “Work from home too. Nothing for your job keeping you out there.”
Okay, yeah. Being an audiobook narrator didn’t require a specific location, and she could transport and reassemble her studio with relative ease. Being physically near Lise, her most prolific author, might even make certain things less complicated, professionally speaking. In general, though, there were way more entertainment-industry opportunities in Los Angeles. He knew that, right?
She withdrew her hand completely. Let it drop to her side, empty. “If I ever decided to pursue voice-over work, living in semi-rural Maryland wouldn’t serve me well.”
Voice-over work didn’t particularly interest her at the moment, but whatever. That might change.
Besides, did he expect her to haul her entire life across an entire fucking continent just because her joballowedfor that? Like she was a restless kid in her early twenties with a futon and a bean bag chair, rather than a nearly forty-year-old woman with a king-size bed and a freakingdinette set, whose stress levels already had her doctor worried?
His hand reached for hers again. Fell.
“Yeah, but—” He rocked back on his heels, deep lines carved across his forehead. “Housing’s way damn cheaper in Harlot’s Bay. Could buy something new. No renos needed.”
Because she wouldn’t be living with him, apparently.
Just what the hell did he think they were doing here?
Suddenly, her remaining store of patience vanished, and she laid it out for him as bluntly as she could. “So I’d have friends. Work. Cheap housing.” She stared at him meaningfully, begging him with her eyes to give her what she needed. “What aboutyou?”
“I’d—” He paused then, chest expanding, and a flicker of hope reignited in her own chest. Then he deflated again. His voice barely audible in the still, moonlit classroom, he muttered, “I’d be here too.”
For once, he’d managed something quieter than a shout. Unfortunately, though, the content of his answer—the emotion it expressed—was as faded and threadbare as its sound.
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, gathering herself.
What he was offering? It wasn’t enough.
Only an utter fool would move cross-country for a man who’d never said he loved her or even that he wanted a future together. And she’d already been a fool for two men in her life.
How did the saying go? First time, shame on him. Second time, shame on her.
Her mental addendum?
Third time, not fucking happening.
“I—” Her heart wasn’t literally at her feet, broken. But it sure felt like it. “I appreciate the invitation. But I can’t say.”
To her credit, her voice didn’t shake. She wasn’t crying. She even conjured up a slight smile of thanks. Gratitude for his kindness in asking her to remain in Harlot’s Bay, even though she hadn’t wanted kindness from him in this moment. Only love.
The sort of love she could rely upon for a lifetime. The sort of love she’d never had from a man, and probably never would.
“Yeah. Okay.” Karl’s chin dropped, and he scowled at the floor like it owed him money. Hands clenched into fists, all jutting knuckles and bulging veins, he remained silent for a few seconds. “Figured. No big deal.”
It was no big deal to him whether she stayed or left?
All the raging emotion she was seeing in him must only be damaged pride, then. Lovely.
“No big deal,” she echoed, and turned for the door. “Shall we get back to the party?”
“Why the fuck not?” His voice was gravel-rough, and he rounded her to unlock the door and enter the hall first. “No goddamn reason to linger, right?”
