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Her eyes flew open. “How did you know I was still awake?”
“Really?” He shifted over, creating more room on the bed for her.
Tom was right. She was so close to the edge it was ridiculous. She shuffled more to the center, still careful to keep their bodies from touching.
He turned and casually propped his head with the back of his hand so that he looked directly down at her. She couldn’t avoid him even if she wanted to. The thing was, she was beginning to think that she might not want to.
“Why aren’t you with someone?” he asked.
“Who says I’m not?”
“Are you?”
She should make something up. Tell him she had a boyfriend. Except, what did it matter? “Nope, I’m free as a bird. Not that I haven’t had plenty of opportunities, but a serious relationship isn’t in my life plan right now.” Okay, so maybe the word plenty was an exaggeration. But he didn’t have to know that.
“Your life plan,” he repeated slowly.
“Yep. My life plan. Comprised of four parts. But I’ve only completed two so far.” She paused, uncertain whether or not to go on.
“I’d love to hear it.”
Sarcasm? Interest?
Not sarcasm. He sounded too…intense.
“All right.” She took a deep breath. Surreal. That’s what this was. Talking about her life plan with Tom Donalan of all people. The guy who had screwed up her original life plan. But there was nothing better to do, so why not?
She held up a finger. “Part one, get my college degree.”
He nodded.
“Part two, sow my wild oats. Which means—”
“I know what it means.”
“No need to get snappy. So, part one and part two are done. Part three is a little trickier. It’s get a permanent job with Florida! magazine, which this ghost story would help me land.”
“Why that m
agazine? Why not some other publication?”
“Because that’s the one I want. It’s a perfect mixture of everything I like to write: ecology, travel, human interest. Plus, its headquarters are in Orlando so it would be an easy transition from Tampa. I’d still be an hour from the beach, close to a major international airport, and just a long afternoon drive from family. It’s perfect, really.”
“Sounds like you got it all figured out. So what’s part four?”
She startled. Had she told him her life plan had four parts? She must have or he wouldn’t have known to ask. It must be the whiskey making her careless. “Sorry, but part four is private.”
“Private as in, you don’t tell anyone? Or you just don’t tell me?”
“I’m not discriminating here. Private as in, I don’t tell anyone. Period.” Before he could respond to that, she said, “My turn to ask a question. What made you change your mind and stop the demolition?”
He was silent long enough that she didn’t think he was going to answer. Finally, he said, “Maybe I just didn’t want you to think I was an asshole.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I think it anyway.”
Okay, Allie, that was uncalled for.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. As a matter of fact…I really appreciate this. I know how much inconvenience this has caused you, not to mention what it might mean with your job. I guilted you into it, right? That whole big ‘you owe me’ speech.”
