Page 65 of No Headlines Please

Every time the conversation turned to him, he managed to redirect it straight back to me. It was subtle enough that I hadn't quite noticed. Or maybe I had, and I'd been too flattered to mention the imbalance.

He really was a great listener.

So of course, I felt guilty when he calmly asked, "Unfair how?"

I summoned up a smile. "Do you realize I know nothing about you?" I glanced around. "Well, except for where you live and that you enjoy board games."

This made him frown – not a big frown, but enough to make me feel ungrateful for everything he'd done. It wasn't just dinner and coffee. He'd listened to me whine about my problems with more patience than I had any right to expect.

I mean, it's not like he was my boyfriend.

The idea was ridiculous, anyway. We clearly lived in two different worlds.

But there he was, sitting across from me, looking unfairly handsome while acting like it was utterly normal to ask all kinds of questions without answering many in return.

Then again, this wasn't the only thing that was lopsided.

So when he didn't respond, I felt compelled to say, "Is this where you point out – and honestly, you'd have a point – that I'm the one who's been unfair by letting you buy dinner and coffee when I didn't even pay for your shirt?"

He shook his head. "I already told you. You don't owe me anything."

"So…by that logic, you don't owe me anything either. Like…you're sharing all the food, and I'm sharing all the secrets?" I tried to laugh. "So it all balances out?"

"Nice logic," he said. "Except this isn't transactional."

"I never said it was."

"Sure you did." His gaze met mine. "But you want the truth?"

I nodded.

"Maybe I've been putting it off."

I tried to be optimistic. "Maybe?"

"Alright. Scratch the maybe."

So much for optimism. Bracing myself, I asked, "So you're hiding a deep, dark secret, huh?"

He gave me a faint smile. "Who says it's just one?"

Yikes. Before I could overthink it, I dropped the dice onto the board, got to my feet, and moved around the coffee table to sit near him on the couch.

Maddox glanced at the dice. "So, you surrender, huh?"

"What? No." I scoffed. "But you can if you want."

"Not a chance." One corner of his mouth twitched. "I'm not surrendering anything."

At that hint of a smile, something eased in my chest. "So…a temporary truce then?"

His mouth tightened. "You won't be calling for a truce once you hear what I've got to say."

I almost groaned. "Oh, my God. You're married, aren't you?"

His expression blanked for half a beat before he started to chuckle.

I studied his face. "Is that funny because you are? Or funny because you're not?"