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“If there was, I didn’t know anything about it — sorry, I’m just stuck on the part where you said I was a beautiful woman.”
“You are.”
“I would have given anything to hear you say that to me when I was twelve.”
“That would have been weird.”
She burst out laughing. “It would have been very wrong. So what about you? You’re not half bad looking. You seeing anyone special?”
“Not half bad? Jeesh. You’re a hard woman to please. Is that what you thought when you were twelve?”
“You haven’t answered the question.”
“No. I’ve got no one. Is it because of your mom and dad?”
“What?”
“Why you’re not in a relationship?”
“Why is it so important to you?”
“Because I want to know that you’re happy.”
“I am happy. I love my work.”
“I just thought that after the way your dad was, maybe you avoided being in a relationship. Or maybe you don’t like to talk about it.”
“I guess that’s very perceptive of you. It’s not that I never had a relationship. I did actually date a guy when I was in college.”
“Didn’t work out?”
“It should never have started. I’ve mostly stayed away from guys. Because, like you said, after the way my dad treated us, it turns out I have trust issues.”
“Can’t say I blame you. So, against your better judgement you did date someone?”
“When I went to college, I went off the rails a touch.”
“A touch?”
“Off the rails for me. I was committed to my studies, but I started dating this guy.”
“You’re the only one who considers dating a guy as going off the rails.”
“It wasn’t that. It was because I knew he was dangerous. But I think I was tired of being afraid. Maybe I was trying to prove something to myself.”
“How dangerous? He skipped-classes dangerous? Or like biker-gang dangerous.”
“Worse. He was part of the Russian Mafia, if you can believe it.”
“Are you serious?” He didn’t expect it to be that easy.
“Yeah. I didn’t know what he was involved in at first. I mean, I wasn’t stupid. I knew there was something, but he spoiled me. He gave me so many things I ignored the gnawing feeling in my gut. I thought I had the perfect setup. I had proved that I could tame the bad boy.”
“You wouldn’t be the first to try.”
“No. Not the first to fail either. He caught me talking to another guy. Another student that I had a class with.”
“So he was the jealous type?”
