Page 21 of Dirty Rumors

She steps forward, fingers outstretched. “Wow. They’re beautiful.”

I’ve never shown a soul my workshop before. But the way her eyes glow when she sees the line of glossy, freshly painted vintage diecast metal cars makes me wonder if I should.

“I’ve always loved cars,” I explain. “Then I found out there was a market for restoration and custom painting of the scale model ones. I have a really steady hand, and I thought this would be a great way to have a relaxing hobby that also earns money.”

She twists her head to look up at me. “But you already have a good job. What do you need the extra money for?”

“The future.” I lean against the wall. “Someday I might have a son or daughter who wants to go to technical school. Oruniversity in Europe. I want to be sure all my bases are covered no matter what.”

Nikki straightens up, turning to face me. “You never mentioned kids before. Do you want a huge family?”

“I don’t know. And the thing is, I’ve met an incredible woman, but I don’t know yet how many kids she’s thinking about.” I smile. “I was kind of assuming two, but that’s negotiable.”

Her fingers are still fussing with the edge of the shirt, and it finally clicks for me. “Is this why you didn’t want to date, kitten? You’ve seen other men keeping secrets and the way that destroys relationships?”

She slumps onto my work stool. “Yeah. Mom had her life ruined. So did my sister. A couple of friends in university. They all jumped into relationships before they even knew the guy. Then once it was far too late, they found out that the guy was a gambler, or a hard drinker, or even worse.” She shudders.

Dropping to my knees, I take her hands in mine. “Gambling – I buy a couple of charity raffle tickets whenever they’re fundraising for something. Drinking – I like a glass of wine with dinner now and then, and probably average three beers a week over one or two nights out with the guys. I guess my only other secret is this.” I nod to the enormous worktable. “I’ve never told anyone about my model painting. Figured it’s nobody’s business. Plus…” I wait until she’s staring directly into my eyes. “I guess it is kind of weird. Maybe I didn’t want the entire town knowing I have a childish hobby.”

“It’s not childish,” she says softly. “These cars are beautiful, Carson.”

“I want to share everything with you, kitten. No secrets. Nothing weird. Nothing scary.” The way her teeth sink into her bottom lip is so sexy, yet I hate that she is still uncomfortable.

“I guess it all comes down to the fact that I still don’t know you very well,” she whispers.

The lurch of my heart confirms what I already know.

I’m in love with her.

I want to beg her to trust me. Tell her that I’m already positive that she’s my person. But that wouldn’t be smart. Walking away the first time I asked her out and she said no, that was smart.

“Okay.” Standing up, I take her hand as we walk upstairs. “Breakfast. Dressed. I’ll drive you to work. And you can ask me anything you want on the way. No holds barred.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. If you want to hear about the time I had an ingrown beard hair so deep that I had to get Jonah the town medic to dig it out for me, I’ll give you all of the gory details, but I warn you, they’re pretty gross.”

Finally, she lets out a huge belly laugh.

“No time for laughing, Agent Nikki. We’re on a mission to get you to work on time, and we need to feed you first.”

My no-nonsense attitude breaks the tension, and Nikki starts behaving like herself again.

But I’m worried. I encouraged her to break a promise to herself.

Does that make me exactly the kind of untrustworthy man she is afraid of?

13

NIKKI

This morning at Fran’s Diner, I’m wearing a dark green beanie to cover my hair, which is pulled uncharacteristically into a side braid. With my back to the middle of the room, I’m not recognizable to anyone drifting in or out to grab a quick breakfast.

During my first coffee, the conversation is mostly about the weather, and how desperately we need a proper rain. It almost sounds like people are blaming Gus, the local weather expert, like it’s personally his fault.

I can’t bring myself to care about the weather right now.

Last night while I tossed and turned on Carson’s unbelievably comfortable couch, I allowed a shift to take over my mind and turn my thoughts black. My hope turned to horror. I’ve had all my rules in place for so long, and I abandoned them just because of the way my stomach flutters when a hot man smiles at me.

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