Page 63 of Boxed In

“A lot of things.” Before she could stop herself, she said, “Like for example—I’m hoping you don’t assume I’m the kind of woman who has one-night stands.”

“That’s not what it was!”

“Care to elaborate?”

He ran his hand over his face. “Maybe that’s all you want out of it.”

“Are you trying to push me away?” she challenged.

“Are you trying to back away?” he countered.

She made a frustrated sound. “No. But we got into this relationship backwards. I’ve never slept with somebody first, then tried to get to know him better.” She stopped abruptly, wondering how that sounded. “I’m sorry. I’m embarrassed, so that might have come out wrong.”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” he said quickly.

“I could have been so embarrassed that I walked away from you.”

“Don’t!” He cleared his throat. “You’re not angry that I came to Peterbalm under false pretenses?”

“I would be, if I hadn’t realized protecting the box was important.”

“Thanks for that.”

The way he said it gave her confidence that perhaps they could get through the awkward part and work their way into something meaningful. “So, maybe we can get to know each other better. I mean me and Luke,” she qualified. “I’d like to know more about you.”

“Like what?”

“You’re from Baltimore, right?”

“I’m from the wrong side of the tracks. My grandmother raised me after my parents split up,” he said immediately. “She was a secretary at a marine shipping company.”

She heard herself laugh. “That’s a real icebreaker. Is that how you start conversations in bars?”

“I’m not much for picking up women in bars.”

“Good. That's not where I want to meet men.”

He shifted in his seat. “I don’t want to give you any false impressions. About me or my background."

oOo

Carl Peterbalm turned on the car light and consulted the list that he’d taken from Garner’s office. He’d already tried two customers who might have taken in Olivia and the computer guy. Now he was going to try the third most likely. The house had risen to the top of the list, because the last people had told him the Hanovers were out of town.

As far as Carl was concerned, that made their residence a grade A hiding place.

After programing the GPS, he was feeling a lot more optimistic about getting his property back. If he could clear this whole thing up in the next couple of days, his dad wouldn’t have to know a thing about how he’d messed up."

oOo

Okay. I'll be honest too." Olivia gave Luke a challenging look. “A little while ago, I was thinking that distancing myself from you would solve my problem. Now I’m thinking that would be the coward’s way out. “How do you feel about us?”

“That’s certainly a direct question.”

“Do you want to put distance between us?” she persisted.

He shifted in his seat. “No.”

She’d been holding her breath. Now she let the air trickle out of her lungs. “Good.”

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