AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can’t.” She closed her eyes for a long beat. “But it is nice that you want to. Realistically though, it doesn’t matter. Pretty soon I’ll be in Portland, and you’ll be in Boston. You’ll forget all about me and my mysterious past. It won’t matter.”
“You really think I’m just going to forget you?”
“Fine,” she said with a shrug. “You can keep thinking about me as long as you want to. But it won’t change how far we are from each other.”
“We don’t have to be that far from each other. Things can change.”
“Don’t say that,” she cautioned, holding up a hand. “Please. I can’t go there right now. Obviously, there is something between us. We’ve been thrust together in a strange circumstance for over a month. We can’t be foolish enough to think when those circumstances change we’d still have any reason to be together. We’re very different. And all the secrets you want to know about my past would change how you see me. Trust me.”
“No, they wouldn’t.”
“You have tenets you live by. I respect that. But I haven’t lived up to any of those. I would be quite a disappointment to you if you knew who I really was. So let's just live in this moment. We, oddly enough, work well together. We’ve found some extracurriculars,” she winked and said, “that we’re good at too. Let’s just live in the here and now.”
“Aren’t you a planner? The here and now is not your thing.”
“You’re right. And I plan to go to Portland and do what I always do. Start fresh. Work hard. Move on.”
“If that’s all true, tell me what you’re hiding. It won’t matter anyway.”
“Maybe when we’re done with this last job. Let’s help Ronnie through this and go from there. We could be getting a call as early as tomorrow with some DNA results. That’ll set us on a path of investigation. We’ll need to track this guy down. See where he’s at and what kind of life he’s living. Then we’ll need to update the temporary custody agreement to reflect the fact that Ronnie and Sammy are not biologically related, but make the case that she’s still his best guardian option. After that, we’ll reassess where you and I are.”
“I know where I am now.”
“And where is that?” she cut back quickly. “You’re falling for me, and you want to grab a bag and come out to Portland so we can make a go of this?”
“You sound like that would be the worst thing that ever happened to you.”
“It’s just impulsive and poorly planned. You and I fight constantly.”
“That’s not true. Now we do other things too.”
“You can’t build a relationship on arguments and mind-blowing sex.”
“The arguments are debates, and the sex would be a hell of a foundation to build a relationship on.”
“The same impulsiveness that would have you moving out to Portland would have you chasing some other woman to the next place. I can’t put myself through something like that. It’s not how I operate.”
“If you think it’s how I do, you’ve misjudged me. We’ve spent the last month together. Have you seen me out chasing women anywhere? Am I a misogynist? Do I act like a man who would just bail on one woman to move on to the next?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just know that you and I wouldn't work. And so logistically, it doesn’t make sense to make decisions pretending it would. We’re going to make the most of this time together and then just move on.”
“Okay,” Nick said, frustrated with the finality of her statement. He was falling for her, not headlong and all at once like some reckless fool. It had been a little every day since they met. Every conversation. Every snarky remark and sarcastic look. They’d found a way to make their very different styles work. In spite of all their fundamental disparities, he still longed to be near her. The idea that it might be over soon didn’t work for him. “Let’s just table this for now. I want more. You’re too afraid to try. We’ve got time to sort it out.”
“I am not afraid. I’m logical. I can use past performance to predict future outcomes. I know myself. I know you. The math doesn’t work.”
“We’ll see.” He shrugged, knowing full well that would enrage her.
“Listen, it won’t matter anyway because whatever flesh-eating disease we catch from this motel room will probably kill us.”
“I’m changing my mind. I don’t think I can sleep here. Even with your giant blanket on that bed.”
“There weren’t any other options.”
“Not in this area,” Nick said. “But about thirty miles back, we passed that nice little town. There was a decent looking lodge there.”
“You want to just leave and go try that spot?”
“Why not? This place didn’t work out. We need to be nimble.”
