“Thanks.” Steff looked away, unable to meet his gaze. The reason he’d come over was because of what he’d said, but she’d been happy to leave that conversation alone for a little longer.
Not because she didn’t like Dalton—she did. However, only a few days ago, the thought about being around him and his friends had triggered her anxiety to attack levels.
Yet you’re in the same room as him and haven’t had even an inkling of an attack.
Her inner voice was right, from the second she’d opened the door to him, and he’d walked in, everything that had always trapped her in her own mind and within her apartment, seemed to have disappeared.
She wasn’t foolish enough to think it was gone for good, but Dalton’s presence certainly helped her.
"I put the leftovers in your fridge. I divvied up the steamed rice and Pad Thai so that we have half each of what was left over.”
Steff looked toward the kitchen, noticing all the surfaces were clean and the plastic bag that had held all the food, wasless full now. It was knotted neatly, and sat on the corner of her kitchen counter, ready for when Dalton left.
“Thanks. For everything. For dinner. For cleaning up. For talking.”
Dalton stood in front of her, his gaze darting to the spare spot on the couch beside her and then back at her, as if asking a silent question.
“Yes.” The word slipped out, and he knew exactly what she was saying yes to.
The couch dipped as he sat, and their legs brushed against each other. Would he move once he realized what was happening? Or would he stay where he was?
He didn’t move.
“I know I said a lot of things that you might have thought were a lot, and maybe a little disingenuous.” He paused as if giving her an opportunity to say something, but the words wouldn’t come, her mind was blank, so she nodded instead, hoping he would continue.
He smiled gently. “I want to assure you that I meant everything I said. I do want to spend time with you. I know we only chatted for the first time at Angelica’s birthday, but that’s how most relationships start. With someone coming up to someone else and striking up a conversation.”
Relationship.
The word hung in her mind like a shirt flapping in the breeze. Then the rest of his words registered and she snorted. “I wouldn’t say you came up to me, more like I ran into you in a fit of fear.”
“Did you ever wonder why I was so close?”
Steff paused at that thought. At the time she assumed she’d been moving quickly between the second the urge to leave was one she couldn’t ignore, and ending up in Dalton’s arms. “Because I’d covered a lot of ground,” she eventually voiced.
“No, it was because I was coming over to say hi.”
She lifted her gaze to study Dalton. Was he telling the truth? His eyes were the same clear blue she’d noticed, even while in her panicked state. There was nothing about his demeanor to suggest he was lying.
Wait.
He had probably been trained to give the impression he was telling the truth when he was, in fact, lying.
Stop it. Stop questioning every little thing.
Steff was torn. She wanted to trust herself and blindly accept everything Dalton was telling her, but people lied as easily as they slept at night.
“You were?” She finally found her voice. “Really?”
“I was. I won’t ever lie to you, Steff. Not when it comes to the two of us. As I said on the phone, I may omit telling you about our missions, but that’s because I can’t talk about them. But I won’t lie. Ever.”
Again, he held her gaze the whole time he spoke. She also noticed the way his fingers twitched as if he wanted to grab her hand and squeeze it as a physical confirmation of what he was saying. But he didn’t, and her respect for him grew.
Any other man touching her would have her running for the shower to scrub away the memory of dirty hands all over her, but with Dalton, she didn’t feel that way.
That had to mean something, didn’t it?
Taking a leap of faith, she curled her fingers around his. A spark of warmth tingled through the connection. “I believe you. I know you won’t.”
