Page 47 of This Moment

He winked, and I forced myself to ignore how it made my heart skip a beat.

Friends only, Cadie.

Friends. Only.

I suddenly found my chili very interesting.

“What about you, do you like to read?”

“I do. Romance is my jam, though. Not that I wouldn’t read a good suspense or mystery novel. I’m not even sure of the difference, if I’m being honest.”

Kian swallowed his food and wiped his mouth. “In a mystery novel, the reader gets to solve the puzzle, if you will. In suspense, the reader is on the edge of their seat, waiting to see what happens next. Well, it’s that way with a mystery novel as well.”

Looking up, I thought about it before I said, “I think I would enjoy a good mystery novel with some romance in it.”

He grinned. “Yeah, I like to read both mystery and suspense. James Patterson is one of my go-to authors.”

“I’ve never read anything by him.”

Kian’s spoon dropped. “What?”

I shook my head and chuckled. “Nope. Like I said, romance is my thing.”

“He writes romance as well.”

Surprised, I tilted my head and asked, “Are you pulling my leg?”

Kian held up both hands. “I kid you not. I should add, he always has another author co-write them with him. There is one I liked that he wrote. It’s calledSuzanne’s Diary for Nicholas.”

Pulling out my phone, I opened my notes and typed the title of the book in as a reminder. “I’ll buy it later. I’ve been needing a new book to read.”

“Let me know what you think. If you want to dip your toe into other genres, I’ll give you some more recommendations. Patterson writes some great mystery crime romance.”

A humorless laugh slipped free as I replied, “I don’t need any more crime in my life, fiction or real.”

I instantly realized my mistake the moment the words came out—about crime…to a lawyer. I tried to play it cool, but I could feel Kian’s eyes on me.

Think, Cadie! Think!

I started to put some fruit dip on my plate. “I was robbed in Chicago once, and I never want to go through that again.”

“What?” Kian asked with a frown. “What happened?”

You’ve gone and done it now. Lie on top of lie.

I glanced up. With a soft smile, I shrugged. “A friend and I were walking after we left a movie, and a guy robbed us. I don’t like to talk about it much. He didn’t do anything else, but it scared us both.”

“I imagine it did. Is that why you decided to leave the city for small-town life?”

“That was part of the reason, yes.”

That part of the lie was true. A crime was the reason I had decided to leave Boston—not Chicago.

“Have you ever seen someone get shot?”

My question surprised both me and Kian. He cleared his throat and put his spoon back down. “I can’t say that I have. Of course, that’s not an everyday occurrence like asking someone if they’ve ever seen a car wreck. What about you?”

For the briefest of moments, I almost told him. But if I did, I could potentially be putting his life in danger, not to mention his family. So I shook my head and answered. “No, I haven’t. I imagine it would be hard to see that.”

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