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As he lowers into his seat, he glances my way and stops, staring at me. "What's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing," I say, looking away from him. No way am I going to admit that his strange little gesture turned me on. My cheeks blaze white-hot.
He just stares at me, his eyebrows furrowed, like he doesn't believe me. "What did I say about lying to me?" he says.
I inhale. "No one has ever buckled me before." There. Half-truth, but it'll have to be good enough.
"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. I lost a childhood friend in a car accident, so I'm a bit jumpy."
My heart goes out to him and I glance into his blue eyes. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."
"Only a few people do. Honestly, I don't know why I told you." The hard set of his jaw tells me he's not pleased he revealed this to me, and I reel from his sudden change in attitude.
Does he worry I'll think he's weak for having emotions? "I won't say anything," I say, hoping that'll put him at ease.
He shakes his head. "It's not like that. I try not to burden others with my heavier memories."
His words only warm me up more. The more he says and does, the more I worry that this whole trip is a very bad idea. I can see myself actually falling for Nathan, and that's such a bad idea. For both of us.
He pulls out of the parking garage into the rain, his wipers keeping the glass clear and no condensation building up on the inside. He turns on the heat and the chill freezing me begins to thaw a bit. "You're welcome to adjust this however you're most comfortable." He gestures to the heating and cooling unit, but the dark, shiny panel without buttons only confuses me.
"Thank you," I say.
This day has gone from strange to stranger and I have a feeling that the weird is only getting started.
I shift in my seat, hoping I'm not ruining his upholstery.
"Don't worry about it," he says, as if fully aware I'm stressing about ruining his nice car.
"I'll do my best," I say as he continues to drive. "So where are we going?"
He looks over at me then quickly looks back to the road. "My safe haven. I hope you're good at keeping secrets."
I nod. I'd say I'm the best, but that would be telling. The last thing I need is for him to know that I am keeping secrets.
"I appreciate you making me this offer." The extra money will really come in handy. While I'm paid very well at work, a lot of my money goes right back into paying off debts. And what's left over isn't enough to pay the bills. I'm stuck in a never-ending loop of paying what I have to and juggling the other bills until I can pay them down.
Life is hard. But that's no one's problem but my own.
"I appreciate your company." he tosses me another intense glance and my belly flutters. How am I going to stay with him and not give into this overwhelming desire to beg him to touch me? To kiss me? I'm not like this. I don't just jump into the sack with guys. I never have. Heck, my ex was the first man I'd ever been all the way intimate with. At thirty-two, I feel that proves I'm pretty careful who I sleep with. Or I thought I was anyway.
My ex and I had been together for eight years, but even that wasn't long enough for me to see the truth about him.
"You seem deep in thought."
I jolt back to the present and glance at Nathan. "I guess I was."
"Are you nervous?" he asks.
I nod. "But not for any ominous reasons." I do trust him not to hurt me or anything. "I never just... drop things and leave on a whim." That might be part of my nerves, but not all of them.
"I think you're going to enjoy yourself," he says.
I glance at him, wanting to tell him that he's hit on exactly what I'm afraid of. That I'll have fun. Too much fun with my boss.
But those thoughts are going to stay locked away in my mind for good.
Chapter Three
