Page 63 of Protecting Love

The minute they were in her apartment, he moved around checking in the rooms, then returned to her by the door.

“Nothing, right? Other than my bed calling my name.”

“You’ve got the first room, right?”

It was the first time he’d come in here. “What gave it away? The picture of France on the wall?”

Her sister’s little joke when they got their first place together.

France for her, England for London. So they knew who had what room.

She rolled her eyes over it, but she took that picture with her everywhere she moved and always hung it in her bedroom.

London did the same.

“No,” he said. “You’ve got a different style than your sister.”

“Not chaotic?”

“I’m not sure I’d say that.”

“What?” she asked, her hand going to her heart. “I’m not the least bit chaotic. That was a joke. Now you’re hurting my feelings.”

His smile was slow and steady. Sure. Like he had all the time in the world. Or thirty minutes.

“I doubt I did that.”

“Maybe just a little.” She kicked her shoes off and picked them up.

“I thought you could run a marathon in them.”

“I walked enough, that’s close to a marathon for me.”

“So you lied?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“That could be two of us tonight,” she said, lifting her chin.

He frowned, his neck going back, his face a little squished. “What did I lie about?”

“Your past. Your ex-wife?”

“Really?” he asked. “How is that?”

She walked into her room, then into her closet to put her shoes away. She wanted out of this dress also, but wasn’t crazy enough to do that until he left.

“Do you really believe that I think you opened up that much about your wife to me when before tonight you could barely hold more than a ten-second conversation?”

“You think I made that up?”

“Didn’t you?”

“The only thing I lied about tonight was me not wanting more of your sandwich. It was really good.”

She let a laugh slip out. “It was. We could have swapped. Your burger was pretty great also.” She hesitated over his silence. “That really happened to you with your wife? You expect me to believe that she was doing this without your knowledge? I know you had some supervisory role at your last job. No way West would hire someone not more qualified than what he even needed. He probably sought you out rather than you applying.”

“I wasn’t lying about Lorraine. She’s my ex. She cheated on me for years.” His voice stayed level, but something hardened underneath it. “Maybe it’s a lesson that when you’re too comfortable things can slip right under your nose.”

He walked toward her.