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“You’re not off base. But in the spirit of candor, you’re not in my game plan.”
“You weren’t in mine, either.” His tone remained conversational. As if they were discussing the weather.
The knot in her shoulders began to loosen. Talking about their mutual attraction rather than stewing over the sparks zinging between them had been a wise choice.
“I wanted to get my career established here before I ventured into the dating scene.”
“Same here. Plus, I wanted to be available for Nan. I was also coming off a long-term relationship that was going nowhere. I didn’t intend to plunge back into the social realm until I had a few months to regroup. But it seems God may have other plans for me.”
Long-term relationship.
That comment deserved further exploration.
“You were involved with someone in Chicago?”
“Depends on how you defineinvolved. If you’re asking me whether we lived together—or slept together—the answer is no.”
Another forthright response. And a direct answer to the nosey question that had immediately popped into her mind. One she would never have voiced.
“I’m not trying to pry into your personal business, Marc.”
He made another turn and sent her a smile. “It’s not prying when the information is freely offered. Serena’s a smart, ambitious, career-focused prosecuting attorney, and we had a number of things in common. We clicked, we dated, we fell into a pattern that suited us both. It was pleasant and uncomplicated, but while we enjoyed the hours we spent together, it was understood from the get-go that our jobs came first. We were, to use a cliché, married to our careers.”
“That happens to a lot of people, yours truly included. But dramatic wake-up calls can force you to realign your priorities.” Like a career-ending accident.
“I hear you. Nan getting sick was mine. I realized what Serena and I had was a relationship of convenience. What I wanted was what my parents and Nan and Pops had. The decision to relocate to St. Louis also gave me the impetus to reevaluate and, in the end, walk away.”
“Was she upset?”
“About the shakeup in her routine, yes. Losing me? Not so much. Understandable, given the superficial nature of our relationship.” He swung onto her street. “Home safe and sound.”
As he drove toward the house, Bri rummaged for her house key, mind whirling.
While Marc had told her a great deal of personal history on the short drive from the mall, if he was in a talking mood, it was possible he’d tell her even more if she invited him in.Like, why he’d been raised by his grandparents. What had compelled him to become an ATF agent. How he felt about changing his plans and dating someone sooner rather than later in St. Louis.
Learning more about him over a shared pizza would be a pleasant end to this stressful day.
The only downside to that?
He’d expect to learn more about her too.
She pulled out her keys. Weighed them in her hand.
Telling him about her experience with Travis would be manageable. While it would be embarrassing to admit she’d been taken in by his rugged good looks and jovial, down-to-earth facade, she’d extricated herself from the situation once he showed his true colors.
But if she asked Marc about his younger years, it was logical to expect him to reciprocate—and talking about those days would be difficult.
He pulled into her driveway, set the brake, and unlatched his trunk. “I’ll get your door, then help you carry the bags in.”
As he slid out of the car, she took a long, slow breath.
She could tell him to leave the bags on the porch, thank him for his assistance, and wait until he left to take them inside. That would be the smart course if she wanted to avoid sharing any more confidences and keep the childhood details few people knew about locked inside.
Mom and Dad had been privy to many of them, of course, thanks to the social worker who’d placed her with them during her foster days. And Jack and Cara knew quite a few. But not all. Talking about them had always been too painful.
Yet for some strange reason, the notion of sharing them with Marc didn’t twist her stomach into a pretzel.
It would help to have a few more minutes to think through the ramifications of that unexpected reaction before making her decision, but that wasn’t going to happen.
