Page 19 of Claimed by Him

“What happened to her?”

I finally looked at him, surprised. “How could you have been in the FBI five years ago and not heard about Jenna Lang, especially with Agent Matthews as your partner?”

He frowned for a moment, then his eyes widened. “Shit. That was her?” He glanced at me. “You’re not getting mixed up in all that, are you? That’s not what she hired you to do?”

I shook my head. “I can’t tell you what the case is, but I can tell you that it’s not anything dangerous.”

I didn’t add that if Jenna ever asked me to help, I would. That wasn’t his concern.

Which he would soon find out, because we were pulling up behind my building, and it was time to have the talk. When we got inside, he reached for me, and I took a step back. The surprise on his face confirmed that he and I weren’t on the same page. The hurt said that I probably should’ve done this when I’d seen him in front of my door the first time.

“Rona?”

I sighed and sat down on the edge of the couch. “Sit, Clay. Please.”

He did, but far enough from me that we wouldn’t touch.

“We’ve had fun,” I began, “but I told you when we first started this, I wasn’t looking for a relationship. You said you weren’t either.”

“I wasn’t,” he said quietly. “But what we have is good, Rona.”

Shit. I really didn’t want to do this, but I had to. No matter how much I liked him as a friend and enjoyed sex with him, I didn’t want to be in a relationship with him. With anyone, actually. Maybe, one day, I’d change my mind, but I’d yet to find a man who made me want to consider it.

“It was,” I agreed, “but we’ve gone back to having our own separate lives. You’re in Denver, working a job that will probably have you spending long hours who knows where. I’m here, with my life. I don’t want to lose your friendship, but if we try to keep what we have, where we are now, I think that’s what’s going to happen.”

He wanted to argue, to try to talk me out of it. I could see it on his face.

“Please, Clay,” I said. “It’s for the best.”

Finally, he nodded. “All right. Friends.”

Relief flooded me. “Friends.”

---