Page 80 of Capturing You

He ate a couple of bites, then set his fork down. “I wanted to apologize for last night. I got a little…carried away.”

“No need to apologize. You carried me right along with you.”

She’d said the words to lighten the moment, but his ever-present scowl deepened.

“It’s not that I don’t… I mean, you’re obviously very attractive.”

When he said it, it sounded like an accusation. “Thank you. So are you.”

He huffed. “The point is, I’m just not…” He seemed to struggle to finish the sentence.

“Interested in women?” She added humor to her voice.

“What? No. I like women. I didn’t mean…” He mashed his lips closed.

“So I’m attractive, but not for you.” She smiled to show she was teasing.

“Stop putting words in my mouth.”

But it was so much fun.

He tried again. “I’m saying I’m not in a place where I can get involved.”

“Right. You don’t live here. Where do you live?”

“Boston.”

“Practically the other side of the planet.”

He took a giant bite of his noodles.

She took a smaller one, then sipped her water. “You have a girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Wife?”

That earned a glare.

“Yeah, you don’t seem like the type to cheat. Or almost cheat, in this case.”

Now he ignored her, not even looking up.

Frustrated or rattled? Maybe a little of both.

“Don’t worry, you haven’t broken my heart.”

“Just trying to apologize. You don’t have to make it so hard.”

Exactly what Lenny had said, but coming from Ford, she found it amusing. “That wasn’t hard for me at all. It was the most fun I’ve had all day.”

“You don’t like to clean?”

“Nobody in their right mind likes to clean. But I have to do something. I’ve done everything I can for the gallery and Old Home Days from here. Fortunately, Jewel is managing the day-to-day, but I can’t stay gone much longer. I have work to do. And I need to take photos.” She’d restrained herself from taking pictures inside the house, though she’d considered it many times. Not that she’d sell them, but if she could… She could envision a whole series on this house, secret hiding places and passageways and all.

He lifted his gaze to hers, eyes narrowed. “You can’t go back to work until this is over.”

“I’m tired of people telling me what I can and can’t do.” Her irritation was back. “Especially when they don’t trust me to tell me anything else.Just keep Brooklynn in the dark. She doesn’t need to know anything. She can’tpossiblyhelp.”