Page 74 of Shifting Gears

When I turned back toward the bed, AJ was sitting up, rubbing his hair out of his face. He looked over at me as the sun streamed into the surrounding space. It felt so good, warming my skin, and I soaked it in for a second before I walked over toward him. But his expression changed. He seemed sad even.

“What’s wrong?” I said as I sat back down beside him.

He shook his head. “Nothin’. You reminded me of someone, standing there like that.”

I played with the sheet between my fingers as I whispered her name. “Raven?”

But to my surprise, he shook his head.

“No. Someone I left behind in LA.”

That piqued my interest. I didn’t know why I’d assumed my sister would be the only woman AJ thought about, but I was wrong.

“Do you mind if I ask who?” I said as I scooted closer to him.

“The woman I don’t think I’ll ever get over, but I probably ruined my chances with her for good,” he said and sighed.

“How so?” I said as I placed a hand on his knee.

“Because I let her think I didn’t love her anymore, and I dumped her right before I took off on a flight to Tokyo. And that was the furthest thing from the truth. Fact is, I left her to keep her safe because I love her so much.”

He met my gaze, and that was when I knew. I realized that there was a lot about AJ I didn’t know.

And I wasn’t sure if I would ever truly know him.

CHAPTER 25

SYDNEY

Tonight was the night.

I hadn’t seen AJ in person since the night we’d hooked up. We’d texted, but I had been so preoccupied with finalizing how everything was going to go down tonight that the last thing I could afford to focus on was a man hung up on a past girlfriend.

My mind wandered back to the conversation we’d had that morning after.

“Wow, never thought about where you really came from or why someone like you would come to Japan,” I said. I wondered who this mystery girl was. I was almost upset because he was thinking about a different girl and not my sister—someone who had clearly cared about him enough to put herself in harm’s way.

“Someone like me?” he asked as he lay back against the headboard.

“Well, most foreigners move here for either modeling or some kind of corporate job, not just to ship cars and spend their free time in a gym every day,” I said, watching him carefully.

He chuckled. “Sorry I don’t fit in with the usual crowd.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry that I never thought to ask,” I said, still trying to cool my emotions down enough to ask more about him.

“You were busy with other things, baby.”

Yeah, like taking care of my sister’s funeral and mourning her death. For a moment, I wanted to lash out, not really at him, but at the situation. He must have noticed because all of a sudden, I was being tugged onto his chest, and his arms wrapped around me.

“Easy. I didn’t mean to bring her up like that,” he said, his voice low and soothing.

It was crazy how he could tell.

We don’t even know each other that well, yet he knows when I’m getting upset.

“Does this woman you love have a name? Or is that also one of the secrets you won’t share?” I muttered against his chest as I glanced up at him.

He met my stare and frowned. “It’s not like I’m intentionally keeping shit from you. If you don’t ask, I’m not going to just share shit. But since you asked, her name is Rosalie.”

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