Page 54 of A Texas Hero

The statement felt like a bomb, given the utter silence that followed his truth explosion.

Then Zoey snorted. “You’re kidding.”

He didn’t change his expression.

“Oh, you’re not kidding! Are you serious? No women who were just your friends?”

“It sounds ridiculous, but there was rarely an opportunity to stay friends.”

“Oh, I see,” Zoey said, giving him the side-eye. “Now it makes sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you didn’t want to stay friends, and you get what you want, don’t you?”

“Well, that is probably true.” He cleared his throat. “All in the past. The thing is, and I know it’s hard for you to believe, but before my accident…let’s just say I dated a lot.”

“Color me not surprised!” She chuckled, then turned her entire body toward him.

“The thing is, I’ve recently understood how truly stupid that is.”

“Dating a lot is stupid?”

He shook his head. “No, not knowing how to stay friends. You’ve been good for me, Zoey. I’m learning a lot.”

“Wow, bad timing for me.”

“Good timing for you. I’m not willing to risk going all in with the physical stuff, even though I’m attracted to you. I know now how important it is for a couple to be friends first. I mean, that’s how it should work.”

“Sometimes. That’s how Twyla and Noah got together. They were friends for years before anything happened.”

“Years?” Archer tried not to choke on his own spit.

This had not been what he had in mind, but he admired Noah for his restraint.

“Yes. Well, they were young when they met. And over the years, they dated other people. Still stayed the best of friends.”

“That had to be tough for Noah.”

“More so for Twyla, actually.”

Archer doubted this but didn’t want to argue the point.

Now Zoey cleared her throat. “Just, um, out of curiosity, where will you go after this job with me is over?”

The truth? He didn’t know. He’d have to go where the agency needed him to be. It might be California, or it might be the Middle East. The job involved travel, even if some jobs would undoubtedly be local, like this one. But that wasn’t the norm.

“It could be anywhere.”

“Anywhere?”

“Yes. Literally anywhere.”

“So…you might be sent thousands of miles from Texas. Is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

She was quiet, presumably absorbing that information, allowing him to focus more on driving, a mindless activity that gave him some degree of comfort. He found a parking space on the restaurant side of the boardwalk, the cries of children echoing from the carnival side. It reminded him of his childhood, trips to the Jersey Shore and Coney Island, and a wave of melancholy swept over him.