Page 43 of Spencer

“Yes. I like you, Tabitha. I think we’ve established that. But—and not to scare you off—I’ve also never been attracted to anyone like this before. Not like I am to you. There’s a…connection here. Something special that happens when we talk and when we touch. It may seem like I’m moving too quickly, but I feel like I’ve known you forever, and I want to explore that. What better way to do it than to spend a few months together, here in Maine, seeing if the job fits you? Then if we have something extraordinary between us, you might be persuaded to stay.”

“But…” she looked conflicted. “What if you’re wrong? On the ‘special something’ aspect, I mean.”

“Do you think I’m wrong?” Spencer pushed. “I’m hazarding a guess you’re not this, uh, forward with most men you meet.”

Tabitha laughed tightly. “Well, thanks for that. Are you asking, in a roundabout way, if I keep a revolving door?”

Spencer was immediately appalled. His mother would kill him if she knew how badly he was going about this.

“No! No. Not at all. I’m sorry I made you think that was my meaning. What I really meant was that I believe we’ve stumbled onto something special here. You. Me. Us,” he explained frantically. “And that you’ve been honest and straight forward enough not to dismiss it or disguise your interest. I really appreciate that. I do. I don’t like to play games, and clearly you don’t, either.”

He hoped his declaration was enough to steer Tabitha away from her thinking he only wanted her for her body and/or her business connections. That was a huge hope considering they’d only just met. He added one thing. “I really like you, Tabitha. A lot.”

He held his breath.

“Okay. Here it is,” she huffed. “I’m loathe to agree because…”

Spencer braced to be shot down, and it hurt more than he could have imagined.

“…my parents died four years ago from a freak carbon monoxide leak in their house.”

What the fuck? That’s not what he’d been expecting to hear.

Spencer immediately stopped thinking about his own stupid feelings.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, reaching over to take her hand again. “That had to be awful.”

He couldn’t imagine losing anyone that way, let alone his mother and father.

“It was.”

Tabitha sucked in a breath, clearly not done.

Spencer waited.

“The deal breaker is, I’m now the person in charge of my twenty-six-year-old sister’s care, and… Sheila is autistic.”

CHAPTER 15

“That must be challenging,”Spencer replied thoughtfully.

Tabitha swallowed hard. Would there be a brush-off, now that she’d told him about her sister? He was intelligent. He’d know the challenges she faced, and that they might prevent her from leaving Florida.

She glanced down. Spencer hadn’t let go of her hand. That had to be a good sign, right?

He continued. “How does Sheila cope at home when you’re away on a job like you are now?”

Tabitha was shocked; completely unprepared for how immediately understanding Spencer was. Normally when she disclosed that her sister had autism, people either quickly changed the subject, uncomfortable to engage, they’d ask really dumb, invasive questions, or they’d back away slowly, imagining God-knows-what. There weren’t a lot of people who encouraged her with actual, thoughtful inquiries.

Tabitha felt herself relax just a little.

“Sheila, uh, doesn’t live with me. Shortly after our parents’ deaths, I realized that since I had to work, and I couldn’t be around her as much as I deemed was necessary, I got her into a small, group home only three blocks from my apartment. It tookShiela a while to adapt because new situations are often scary to her, but she’s doing well now.”

“That’s great. It’s good for you that she’s okay when you’re gone for short periods of time. How about…longer absences?”

Clearly, he was fishing, but Tabitha didn’t mind. The first hurdle had already been crossed. Telling him about Sheila.

Tabitha warmed up, because Spencer’s face continued to register only curiosity.

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