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Blake raised an eyebrow, and she couldn’t help a small smile. “I’m not,” she insisted, taking a step back from the window. “Maybe I just needed a minute. Is that a crime, Agent O’Connell?” Skyla couldn’t believe she’d just spoken to him that way. With such an heir of humor and lightheartedness. They weren’t strangers, but she was definitely much closer to the women in the group.
His expression broadened into a full smile and it was like the temperature in the room skyrocketed and something inside Skyla thawed.
“It was Vivian, right? Her comment about you having a gift?”
Skyla didn’t know what to say. Had he been eavesdropping on their conversation? Though it couldn’t really be considered eavesdropping since he was sitting right next to them, and it wasn’t like any modicum of privacy was expected amidst the group at that moment.
Blake sighed. “It’s okay. She kind of makes me nervous, too.”
His admission made Skyla frown. “I thought you work together?” He was standing so close to her now. Just a breath away from touching distance.
Blake nodded. “We do. But that doesn’t mean I have to like being in her presence. She has something about her that makes you want to…”
“Run,” Skyla quietly supplied.
Blake’s head snapped in her direction and their gaze locked.
“I didn’t mean…” she started to say, but Blake put up a hand, almost as if in agreement with her.
“I’m sorry if she made you feel uncomfortable. I was honestly surprised to see her here, but I guess she met Hallie and Orly at Madigan’s the other night, and they became fast friends.”
Skyla shrugged. “Yeah, I was there. She seemed nice enough, and after Orly bumped into her, and Vivian spilled her drink on herself, I think they just felt bad, so they invited her to sit with them after she told them that she’d been stood up by some guy.”
“That was nice of them,” Blake said absentmindedly. He was checking out of their conversation, which Skyla actually didn’t mind. He needed to go back to the aloof Blake that she knew before she got any more crazy ideas about him.
“They shouldn’t have,” Skyla said. “But it’s not my place to tell people what to do.”
“Why not?” Blake asked, lowering himself to the nearby couch.
Skyla breathed a sigh of relief at the distance that created between them, but then quickly grew uncomfortable standing over him, so she followed his lead and sat on the opposite end of the large sectional. “They were just being who they are. If it was me...I guess I’m not quite as trusting. I don’t really invite people into my life unless I know who they are and that they won’t stab me in the back.”
A corner of Blake’s mouth rose the barest of inches. “Can’t say I disagree with you. I tend to stay in my own lane as much as possible.”
“Bad childhood,” she said, mostly to herself.
“Not at all. I mean my sisters and I were raised by a single mom after James died, but it wasn’t bad by any means. We went to school, did chores, had friends, all the usual stuff.”
“I was raised by a single dad,” she offered. “Well, starting right after my fourteenth birthday.”
“What happened?” There was genuine concern and interest in his voice. It reminded her of how he’d been at Madigan’s after seeing her dad there. Like he was actually seeing her, instead of looking past her or through her, and it made Skyla want to talk about her life for the first time in a long time.
“My mom died,” she said, trying to reign in her emotions. How had they even gotten into this topic? They usually hardly spoke to each other, if at all.
“I’m sorry. That must’ve sucked.”
Skyla didn’t have the words to explain how much it had truly sucked not having her mom around just as she started high school.It was a pain that squeezed her chest and threatened to overwhelm her every day.
“My biological dad didn’t die. He just walked out and never looked back. Didn’t even leave a forwarding address. Mom was too proud to ask for help, so she worked two, sometimes three jobs, to keep the lights on and food on the table. Then she met James, and they got married. They had my little sister, Emily, and things were good for a while. But then James died…”
Maybe if she’d had a mom and siblings instead of her grouchy father, she would’ve turned out more like Blake, or even like Hallie or Orly. Happy, and full of hope and trust.
Blake scooted closer to her on the couch. “It wasn’t always easy, but Mom loved us, and to this day, I go home at least once a month to check on her, and fix whatever needs fixing around the house.”
“That’s sweet.” Skyla could only wish she had a mom to go home to once a month. Though she was surprised by how much she didn’t want this conversation with Blake to end. “What about your sisters?”
Blake shoved a hand through his curls. “Emily is a nurse in San Antonio. Brennan is a free spirit living in Florida, hellbent on social justice reform, while driving all of us crazy with her irrational and sometimes dangerous life choices.”
“Sounds like she kind of takes after you.”
