Page 58 of Noble Neighbor
“He never lifted a hand to me, but his betrayal, and the aftermath devastated.” She stood and walked to the railing, bringing her a few feet close to the man who could mean a lot to her.
What if she let Oliver in? No. Never.
She never wanted to see disgust replace affection.
“Are you in Witsec, Sunny?”
Witsec. Was that what he thought? Maybe she ...
No. No outright lies.
“I’m not under federal protection. It’s … complicated.” She inhaled a shaky breath and slowly exhaled, battling to find an explanation. “But I am in a prison of sorts. One of my making. I can never tell you about my past, and I would never commit to a serious relationship without complete transparency.”
A beat of silence followed her pronouncement. “It’s not as if I asked you tomarryme.”
The wounded tone of his voice cut into her chest, coiling around her heart, squeezing so hard she figured her organ was shattering.
Oliver had not expected her words to hurt so badly, but her harsh statement had forced the snide rebuttal out of him, and he immediately regretted his words.
“I’m sorry, Sunny. That was cruel of me,” he said over the phone, keeping his eyes locked on the figure across the way. She looked so forlorn, leaning against the pillar, one arm wrapped around it, as if it were preventing her from collapsing to the ground. He wished he could walk across the ground separating them and pull her into his arm and tell her it’s all right. But she didn’t want that.
A pregnant silence followed, and then, “I’m sorry,too, Oliver, for the way I said what I said. But I’m askingyou to respect my position. I cannot give you more.”
Was he prepared to take the crumbs she was offering? Could he be the booty call she was insinuating?
It’s what he’d thought he’d be able to handle.
But that was before last night.
He’d woken beside her earlier, overwhelmed by the intensity of what he felt for her, and he’d fled her bed, gathered his clothes, and dressed in Kenzie’s empty room.
It was too early to call his feelings love, but he’d loved Christie, and what he felt for Sunny—
“Oliver?” Her voice, soft and hesitant, pulled him out of his inner reflection.
“I need to … go.” He had no idea what else to say, how to react.
“I understand,” she replied after a beat of hesitation.
“Later, Sunny,” he said, averting his gaze from her and the big white house, ending the call before she had time to answer.
Oliver stalked back inside. “Fuck!” He threw his phone against the wall. “Just … fuck.”
Nala scurried from the room as the pieces flew about.
“A dollar in the jar. A dollar in the jar,” the refrain came from the kitchen.
“Shut up, Harvey!” Oliver boomed.
The parrot knew when to keep his mouth closed.
Silence settled over the house.
*
“What are you doing?”
“Searching,” Oliver replied, reaching into the farthest corner of the very bottom of the cupboard. Why hadn’t they sprung the money for one of those fancy pull-out corner units?
