Page 18 of Healing Conviction

Girl, I would so be okay with tradesies.

Once she was out of sight, Nora turned her attention back on Matt. “So, um, you really liked your dinner.”

“It was fantastic. I wish you would’ve tried it.”

She shook her head and swirled the soup with her spoon. “I’m a vegetarian.”

“What?How did I not know this? Oh god, Nora. I’m so sorry. I should’ve taken you somewhere else. I just wanted this to be nice.”

Nice.

The way she and Drake had spat the word out to each other sputtered into her brain.

She waved a dismissive hand and shrugged. “Stop worrying, Matt. It was. Nice, that is. It was nice.”

He nodded, seemingly placated. “And the soup was good, right? When I asked your boss where we should go, she said this restaurant had the best food in town.”

“Wait…” Nora resisted the urge to furrow her brow. “Julessuggested we eat here?”

“Yeah, she said you’d love it.”

Wow, Babs. Super off base with this one.

The poor woman’s mind was usually sharp as a blade, but it’d been dull with baby brain lately.

Still, disappointment laced her voice. “You know what I think my problem is? I’m not feeling that great. I should probably go home after we pay the check.”

Concern marred his gorgeous, dark features. His eyebrows were upturned rather than in an angry V, and his lips were more a frown than a straight line. “That’s the second time in a row, babe, I hope you’re not comin’ down with somethin’. Of course, I’ll drop you off. No problem.”

She gave him a half smile and folded up her napkin in her lap. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” he repeated before clearing his throat. “Listen, I, uh, did want to talk to you about something.” The hope in his voice made her cringe inside. “It’s summertime, so maybe we could take a trip sometime? Like a day date? Go hike Mount Ash? Get outta Ashland, ya know?”

She’d been afraid of this. Despite the fact that Nora hadn’t been with a guy in a long, long, long,longtime, she’d always turned Matt down when he asked her to go on a date with him. Why she said yes the day she wanted to break it off was her own special kind of mystery that only a therapist could solve.

It wasn’t his fault for thinking he had a shot. Ever since the night Nora had tried to get past her grief over Drake by having a hot and heavy make-out sesh with Matt, the guy had been trying his best to pursue a relationship that she didn’t have the heart to give. And she’d actually tried so damn hard this time.

It’d been a mistake kissing him. Then again, kisses always had the potential to backfire. If she didn’t feel anything, it could still lead the other person on, and if shedidfeel something, she had to end it. Plus, making out with guys who were all about wifing a woman up was an unforgivable sin for a woman who had no intention of being wifey material.

That’s how she knew for a fact that it truly was not him, it was her. She’d never given her heart to anyone before, but after getting to know him, getting to know howperfecthe was, she realized the hard truth of the old cliché.

It’s not you, it’s me, Matt.

That was as good a place to start a breakup as any, but she couldn’t muster up the courage. It helped to remember that if there was ever a man who deserved to be loved, it was sweet and thoughtful Matt, and she couldn’t give that to him.

Her mind flashed back to the PT room yesterday morning and Melly’s pretty googly eyes. He and Melly would be perfect together. Their names would look so cute carved into a tree—

“Babe?” A waving hand in her face, followed by a nervous laugh, jolted her from her Cupid-esque ideations. “You’ve kinda been lookin’ at me weird for a little while. I’m starting to feel self-conscious.”

“Shoot, I’m so sorry, Matt. I’ve been in my head lately.”

Especially ever since Drake ended us before we even started. ‘Not a distraction anymore’, my ass.

At least if she wasn’t a distraction, she wasn’t a liability. If that was the price of making sure she never got him hurt again… she’d hate it, but she’d take it.

Matt’s brows pinched into the middle. “So… going on vacation together? Getting out of town? Doesn’t that sound nice?”

Nice… Nice. Nice. Nice.