Page 5 of The Negotiator

She pulled her keychain out of her pocket and bounced it in her palm. The sound of clanking metal served as background noise. “I was being—”

“Lying.”

Her head shot to the side and she stared at him. “What?”

“You were lying.” When she frowned, he decided to try a little tact even though every cell inside him yelled for him to push her to get through this story. “Fine. We’ll use the word pretending. You were pretending Carl died in a freak, horrible accident.”

“As far as I knew, he had.”

Garrett whistled. “Wow.”

“What?”

“Your denial. Did you take a class in that? Because damn, woman.”

She shook her head as she opened the latch on the small gate leading to the pathway to her front door. “I forgot how difficult you can be.”

Garrett didn’t follow. He stopped, watching those legs and that fine ass and wondering if she realized how hard she was running from the truth.

“You know, you’re allowed to be angry with him. To think he’s a piece of shit. That doesn’t make you a bad person.” Garrett had a feeling he could spend the rest of the week saying those simple words and she’d never believe him. Her blank look suggested her denial was pretty deeply entrenched. “Or you can just stare at me.” Which she did. Stared and didn’t say a word. “Fine, we’ll pretend his being alive is a surprise, and we’ll ignore the fact you don’t seem even a little happy about having a husband again.”

Yeah, that last part was a bit of a shot, but it was true. She’d found out her long-lost husband was back just a few hours ago and instead of reconnecting with him she’d texted Garrett. His ego exploded at the thought, but her decision carried a message. He wasn’t sure why she couldn’t see it or wouldn’t admit it.

“I’m not married to him anymore.”

Okay, not the response he’d expected. Garrett had expected a fight on a different topic. “Because you had him declared dead? I’m not up on family law but I think having him declared dead is not the same as being divorced.”

Her mouth dropped open and stayed there for a second. Then the uncharacteristic stammering and fidgeting started. “I can’t... No. There’s no way...”

Even in the dim beam from the porch light Garrett could see all the color drain from her face. Her body seemed to list to one side for a second. He felt sick for her but he also felt some relief.

He nodded. “There you go.”

“What?”

“A show of emotion. It’s about time.” He half wished she would yell. Not at him. No, they could find a better target, like Carl.

Her head shot back and for a second she didn’t say anything. “Are you afraid I’m dead inside?”

That was too far. She was closed off and careful, and he was determined to break through to her. “I never said that.”

“Oh, really?” She snorted. “You’ve repeatedly asked me out and I’ve said no. You don’t think maybe I’m all out of energy for emotions and feelings and whatever it is we’ve been doing that we’re not calling dating.”

At least they could both admit the whole not-dating thing was getting old, especially when they really kind of were but without the side benefits of kissing, touching and generally getting all over each other. He’d never worked this hard to get close to a woman. He’d even had to convince her to let him clean her boat just to spend a Saturday with her one time. What the fuck was that about?

The whole relationship, friendship, want-to-get-you-naked thing they had going on was a constant source of confusion. He didn’t pine. If a woman wasn’t interested, he respected that and moved on. Problem was, Lauren made it clear she was interested but the no-trespassing sign still stayed up to keep him at a distance.

For anyone else, he would have given up and walked away. But there was something about her. The joy that thrummed off her when she was on the water or telling work stories. The stark loneliness he sometimes saw in those eyes as she stared off into the distance. He understood the constantly shifting emotions. They boiled and churned inside him as well.

She was complex, interesting and sexy as hell. She had him spinning in circles and rearranging his life just to drive from Washington, DC, to Annapolis once or twice a week to spend time with her.

Really, what the fuck was that about?

If his friends only knew... but they didn’t. Or they hadn’t before Carl showed up again. But his friends were smart and nosy as hell, so they’d figure it out and poke around in his private life. Just one more reason for him to despise Carl.

“I hoped you were playing hard to get.” He had to hold on to that theory or he’d completely lose his ability to be rational.

Her blank expression broke into a sunny smile. “Because you’re so irresistible.”

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