“You should have waited. Not gone nuts and tried to exact a little retribution on your own.”
“I can’t believe you think I should have stood by and watched while they destroyed my truck.”
“That is not what I’m saying. I’m saying when something like that happens, you are supposed to call the people who handle it and then let us handle it. You do not go racing in there yourself. What if it hadn’t been Tony? What if it had been an armed robber? You could have been hurt. Did you stop for one second to think about that?”
“No. Because I knew it was Tony.”
“Yeah. This time. What happens next time a potentially dangerous situation comes up? You going to handle that by yourself, too?”
“You are being so unbelievably unfair.”
“You keep saying that. Life isn’t fair, Gina! Ever heard that one?”
“Yeah. I’ve heard it. And if you’d unclench for half a second, you might realize that in this case at least, I’m right! Not everything is black and white, Officer Boyd. There’s a lot of gray in there, something you’d realize if you’d quit being such an anal-retentive control freak!”
“Oh, that’s good. You calling me the control freak. You can’t even give up enough control to keep the one promise I asked you to keep. Everything has to be done your way, the second you want it done, but that’s not how the world works.”
Gina sighed and shook her head, all the fight going out of her. They could go the rounds all night. They’d never end up anywhere but where they were.
“I knew this wouldn’t work,” she said. He blinked at the change in her tone. She knew she sounded sad, defeated. His brow creased, and he took a step toward her. She shook her head again. “You can’t have a relationship when you don’t trust the person you’re with. You keep saying you can’t trust me to keep my promises, to be truthful.” She shook her head. “I can’t be with someone who doubts every word out of my mouth. I’ve never lied to you, Rick. Never would. The only lie I told was when I convinced myself there was a way we could make a relationship work. But it’s impossible. We’d fight over everything.”
A faint smile crossed his lips. “We do view the world a little differently.”
That got a sad laugh out of her. “That’s one way to put it.”
“That doesn’t have to mean…”
“Yeah,” she said. “I think it does.”
His eyes searched hers, and she felt herself wavering. Wanting to give in to him. To take it all back. But it would hurt worse further down the road.
“So…”
She nodded. “So.”
He stared at her a moment longer and then opened his arms. She knew she should resist, but she wanted to be held by him once more. Feel those arms wrapped around her. Hide in his warm, safe haven one last time.
She went to him, laid her head on his chest, wrapped her arms around his waist. And just breathed with him. Let him hold her. He stroked her hair. Rested his cheek on her head. His arms tightened briefly, and then he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Sweet and gentle. Like no one had ever done before. She couldn’t imagine anyone touching her that way again.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Me, too.”
“I guess I should be going then,” he said, his voice strained.
He made no move to let her go, but she pulled away and nodded. Enough of this. No point in torturing herself. It was over and done with. And the sooner he left, the better. It would be good to get on with her life without Mr. Hall Monitor watching her every move and tattling on her for every little mistake. And she’d keep telling herself that for as long as it took.
He jumped down from the truck, but looked back one last time. “Take care of yourself, Gina.”
She mustered a smile. “I always do.”
The smile he gave her in return was full of love, and longing, and sadness. And it shattered her heart into a million pieces.
There weren’t enough lies in the world to fix it.
…
Gina zipped up her fabulous ball gown and looked at herself in the mirror. It really was a killer dress. So she was glad Nat had found a reason for her to wear it. Even better that the fund-raising event Eric’s parents were throwing was the same night as the Policeman’s Ball. With any luck, Gina would be too busy to wonder if Rick had found someone else to be his date.
Nat came in, her eyes widening at the sight of Gina. “Wow.”
Gina smoothed her hand down over her hip, brushing away imaginary wrinkles. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. You’re going to have every guy there throwing himself at you.”