A Better Man(83)

"What's wrong?"

The fact that she wouldn't look at him spoke loudly.

"I'm so happy that you and Nicole are working things out," she said, her hand caressing the sleeve of his jacket.

"It wouldn't have happened without your help."

"That's not true." She looked down at her feet. "You'd have done just fine without me. You love her. It was only a matter of time before she accepted it."

"Lucy?" He tucked his finger beneath her chin and forced her to look up. "What's wrong?"

"This has been fun, and I'm so glad you asked me along."

"But?"

"But now that you have things working in your favor with Nicole, it's time we move on."

"Move on?" A cold chill pricked the back of his neck.

She nodded. "Not that I don't appreciate everything. But I guess I never really believed anything would ever happen between us and-­"

"But it has happened," he reminded her. "And it's great."

"Maybe on the surface." She pushed her glasses up with her index finger, and the shuttered look in her eyes sent another chill up his back.



       
         
       
        

"On the surface. Between the sheets. Wherever you want to take this, Lucy. You can't deny we're good together."

"I agree it's been nice but-­"

"Nice? Is that what you want to call it?"

"Be reasonable, Jordan. You and I both knew this was temporary."

"It doesn't feel temporary."

"But it's what's reasonable," she said, like repeating the word would make more sense. "Do you really think you're the type to carry on a long distance relationship?"

She tilted her head and gave him a moment to think about that. A few weeks ago he'd have said a big hell no. But now . . .

"You have a busy life to get back to. And so do I," she said. "Between your family, your sister, the trouble with the winery, and your career, you already have way too much going on."

"And you think I won't have enough time for you?"

She turned her palms upward. "Why would you want to add one more thing?"

"News flash. You're not a thing. You're a woman I'm very interested in."

"For now. But we both know distance does not make the heart grow fonder. It makes it more difficult. So isn't it easier to say good-­bye now before things go any further?"

"Why do you think we'll say good-­bye at all?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Not to me." He slammed his hands down on his hips. Now she was pissing him off.

"We're too different," she said, sidestepping his remark. "We run our lives completely the opposite. And . . . it's also a good idea to keep our time together just between us."

"Why?" And now she didn't even want anyone to know? What the hell? "Do I embarrass you?"

"I'm thinking about Nicole. After all, I'm her teacher. It might make things uncomfortable for her if anyone at school found out. And your sister is already going through enough."

"And that's the only reason?"

"No." Her jaw twitched. "Other than you, no one in Sunshine knows anything about my personal life. I'd like to keep it that way."

"Seeing me has already thrust you in the spotlight."

Her lips tightened. "No one in Sunshine is going to read a paper from all the way across the country." 

"The paper has an Internet site, and I'm sorry for that. But I don't see why it should make you doubt us."

Her shoulders lifted with a sigh. "You don't understand."

"Then make me understand." He tossed his hands up. "Because right now I'm confused as hell."

She looked away. When her gaze came back to him, he could see the shadows from the past emerge.

"When I went through the divorce my name was dragged through the mud. His family hired the biggest, baddest attorney in town-­who also happened to be a close family friend. The man made me look ridiculous. Like I asked for the abuse because if I hadn't liked it I wouldn't have stayed with him for so long. It was like the rape cases you hear about where, because a woman wears a short skirt, she's asking for it. The judge also happened to be a close family friend so I was in a lose-­lose situation."

Jordan never understood how that could happen in a court of law-­how a victim could be made to look like the one at fault or how a judge wouldn't be recused because he knew the players in the case and couldn't be impartial. When she put it in those terms he began to understand a little more what she'd gone through. And he got a big clue that maybe for Lucy, this really wasn't about how much he had going on, but more about how his life operated in the limelight.