Page 31 of Corkscrew You
“I was engaged to be married,” he says. “She dumped me on my ass, the week before the wedding.”
“Ouch.”
A hint of a smile. “Yeah, hard landing, that one.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So was I,” he says. “I was the most sorry fucker you’ve ever seen.”
“Nothing to be ashamed of.”
He screws up his mouth. “Maybe not. But all the stuff leading up to that, I cantotallybe ashamed of. I – wasn’t a committed boyfriend, let’s put it that way.”
It’s out before I can stop it. “You did the boinky-boink with someone else?”
His eyes go all wide, like he’s tryingreallyhard not to laugh.
“Theboinky-boink?”
Then he’s gone, laughing loud and long, while I blush deep and red.
“Oh, man,” he says, wiping his eyes. “And to answer your question, I didnotdo the … thing … with someone else. I just wasn’t around enough. I threw myself into work and I neglected her. Simple and stupid as that.”
‘You probably thought she’d understand because it was her family’s business,” I say, blithely.
Then I freeze. Nate does too. There’s a chilly little pause.
“You knew all this already.” It’s not a question. “Let me guess – Chiara?”
I bite my lip and nod.
“Is there anything Chiara knows about me that I don’t know but really ought to know?”
“Almost certainly,” I say.
He blows out a breath.
“I’m glad you told me, though,” I say. “And if it helps you feel better, I haven’t hadanyproper relationships.”
“Why not?” He seems genuinely perplexed.
“Oh…” I’m blushing again. “I just … haven’t had time. Or met the right person.”
Or made any effort to look for them.
“Shit.” He says it under his breath.
“I’m fine!” I say, because mostly, I am. “Don’t worry about me.”
He blinks, like I’ve brought him back from a whole other train of thought.
“Glad to hear it,” he says, quietly.
We stare at each other for a moment. The lighting in here isn’t great, and it’s hard to tell if it’s casting those shadows on his face, or if he’s tired. Guess it’s been a long day for both of us.
“You know,” I’m taking a risk here. “I really believe we’d work better as a proper team, rather than being … delineated.”
I spot a half smile and am half hopeful I haven’t blown it.
