Page 63 of Forever Mine

He read the screen, sucked in a sharp breath, and rage twisted his face. In seconds, he was tapping at the screen, returning a message. When he looked at me, his smile wasn't the genuine article. “Sorry, babe, I need another minute. I have to make a call.”

I reached for my bag, thinking I'd check my messages. I couldn't help wondering what had gone wrong in Scott's camp.

He walked outside and stood under the awning at the front of the restaurant. His face reddened as he spoke and I guessed it might be Lucy who called. By the time I returned a text to Rita and put the phone in my handbag, Scott was back. Other than some heat behind his eyes and the ruddy cast to his skin, he seemed fine.

Still, I asked, “You okay?”

“Everything's fine.” Scott rubbed his beard and bobbed his head, but his eyes were shuttered.

What reason did he have to lie to me? His demeanor said something was wrong, but I didn't press the issue. Nothing was wrong with him wanting to keep whatever just happened private. Unless he didn’t think I deserved to know.

I pushed back from the table. “Let's go. We have twenty minutes before your session starts.”

While I spoke, Scott picked up his laptop case and got to his feet. When he stood next to my chair, I said, “Later, we can finish where we left off before you got distracted.”

“Good.”

His gruff tone unsettled me, and the intensity in his gaze carried a message. Scott’s attitude made me question my decision not to define our relationship. Was clinging to my independence worth more than what this man was offering so freely?

We hit the sidewalk, but unlike the other times we were together on the street, Scott didn't take my hand in his. He studied the concrete, with his hands stuffed in his pockets. The silence between us spoke louder than anything he'd said to me all afternoon.

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