Page 6 of Watch Me

“Bullshit,” Ethansnapped.

“Please,” Ibegged.

“Is there someone else?”

“No.” There really wasn’t. I didn’t even remember the name of the guy I’d kissed. “It’s hard to keep up our relationship and school. It’s just not working out.” Part of that statement was true, but if I hadn’t kissed whatever-his-name-was, we wouldn’t have needed to have this conversation, and my heart wouldn’t have been ripping out of my chest and breaking intwo.

“We can make it work.”

More tears ran down my face as I tried to hide the sorrow in my voice. “We can’t.”

He paused for a moment before replying, “I don’t know why the fuck you’re doing this, but one day, Reagan Hunter, you’ll regret it.”

I alreadydid.

The closer we got to his apartment, the more I wanted to tell him what really happened to make me break up with him all those years ago, how my stupid teenage heart thought a kiss was the end of the world, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to taint the moment by bringing up the past. A past that was over two decadesold.

“I’m all out of beer,” he stated as we walked through the doors of his building. Ethan nodded to the doorman, and we walked toward the elevators. “That’s actually why I went to Judy’s tonight. But I have apple juice if you’d like.”

I laughed. “Apple juice?”

He grinned and pressed the button to call the elevator. “My sons both love apple juice.”

“You have kids?”

“Two boys. You?”

“I have a daughter.”

The elevator dinged, and then the doors opened. We stepped inside, and Ethan pressed the button for his floor. “Just the one?”

I sighed and leaned against the railing as the lift ascended. “We tried for more, but it never happened.” His gaze dropped to my left hand, but before he could ask, I added, “I’m divorced now.”

“Me too.”

“Is this a normal thing for you then?”

“What’s that?” he asked as the doors opened, and we stepped out onto hisfloor.

“Taking a woman home from a bar.” I smiled, trying to make a joke because the situation felt weird. A part of me felt comfortable with him, but another part was nervous as though I didn’t know him at all. Even though we knew each other intimately, we really didn’t know each otheranymore.

Ethan grinned. “No, it’s not a normal thing for me. I’ve dated a few women since my divorce, but work takes up a lot of my time.”

“Did you end up becoming a cop?” I already knew the answer, but I asked anyway, trying to make it seem as though I hadn’t tried to find out about him. I figured every woman had that moment, the one where curiosity took over and they typed their ex’s name in the search field on Facebook. I never found him on Facebook, but on Google I discovered he was a Chicago police officer. I’d also learned that Ethan had been involved in a shooting that killed a man who was trying to hurt his sister.

He nodded and fished his keys out of his pocket. “Yeah, I’m a sergeant now.”

“That’s amazing,” I gushed as Ethan opened thedoor.

“Yeah, I love it. What made you decide to be a bartender?”

I chuckled slightly. Did he think I went to Stanford only to be a mixologist? Granted, I wasn’t using my bachelor’s degree. “Actually”—I stepped inside his condo and into the living room area—“I just started at Judy’s last week. My daughter recently started college, and I needed something to do with my time. I have my BA in biology, but now I’m taking classes to become a crime scene investigator.”

“No shit?” He closed the door behind him and tossed his keys and phone on the table near thedoor.

I watched him walk to the open kitchen. “I’ve always wanted to work crime scenes, but I got married and had Maddie right after college. Never pursued law enforcement like I’d wanted to.”

“I remember when we were dating before, you wanted to work crime scenes, but are you okay seeing dead bodies?”