Page 53 of What Started In Deception

He shook his head. “I’ve had one serious relationship. During my junior year in high school. Back then, I was super involved in sports and keeping my grades up, so I was never even tempted to free dive. Now, with my career the way that it is, my hookups are more casual, so it’s definitely not an option.”

“Your friend with benefits.”

He grinned. “Exactly. I had a similar arrangement in college and out in LA, too. It’s just simpler that way.”

She nodded.

“Going bare is a level of intimacy that I’ve never achieved with a woman. But I’m also not looking for that type of a connection. At least, not at this point in my life.”

She nodded again. “I can see that.”

“What about you? Have you ever ditched the condoms?”

She shook her head. “I had two short-term relationships during my junior and senior years in college, so as far as I was concerned, no condoms was never even an option.”

He nodded. “Makes sense.”

“With Andy, he was always freaked out about the idea of me getting pregnant, even though I’m on the pill, so not using condoms was never really a discussion.” She looked at him again. “If his move to Europe hadn’t happened, we would have ended our relationship anyway.”

He frowned, surprised by her confession. “Oh yeah?”

She nodded. “It became very clear to me that although he said he wanted kids, he didn’t.”

“You do? Want kids?”

“Definitely. Having a family is in my three-year plan.”

“So, it’s kids for you in the next three years, huh?”

“I certainly hope so. As you know, I’m twenty-nine. I’d like two, so it needs to happen at some point in the not-too-distant future.”

“That’s logical.”

She nodded. “What about you? Do you want a family?”

He shrugged, finding it interesting that they were having this conversation. This wasn’t stuff that he talked about at the office. “I haven’t thought about it much. My niece is cute, but a lot of my co-workers are divorced. I love my career. I’m almost always on the job. I’m not entirely sure that a partner and kids fit into that scenario.”

She nodded. “At least you know that about yourself.”

“For sure.” He moved his arm to glance at his watch.

“Am I keeping you from something?”

“No, not really. I am going to have to cut our night short, though. I need to FaceTime with my mom at some point. I told her I would.”

Lydia stopped dead. “I—Can I meet her?”

He hesitated, not excited about crossing such a big line. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Lyd.”

She frowned. “I think it would be really odd for us to be together for six months, and I’ve never spoken to anyone in your family.”

He clenched his jaw, figuring that she had a fair point. “She can’t know that I’m undercover—that you and I aren’t real.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

He sighed. “You’re going to be the first woman that I’ve ever introduced her to. She’s going to get her hopes up that I might finally be settling down. I’ll undoubtedly never hear the end of it when we ‘break up.’”

She grinned. “I won’t say anything that might give her any sort of hope.”