Page 18 of A Lord's Chance
“But they are both dead, and I never knew them, so it’s basically impossible to be sad about that. Confused, maybe. Angry that they abandoned me, but that’s been with me my whole life.”
Lloyd nodded. “I think I understand why you’d be mad about that.”
Nobbie tried to think of something that might help Lloyd understand. “Imagine if I’d said No to you investigating my watch, and then I sent the watch on a ship to the antipodes, so you’d never be able to find it.”
Lloyd gasped. “You would never.”
“I might have. You were so insistent to me about it that I assumed you were trying to scam me.”
Lloyd dropped his book. “You ... what?”
Nobbie sighed. “Lloyd, why do you relax me so much that I say things like this?”
“This is my fault?”
He shook his head. “No. Of course not. I only meant that I’m better at controlling my tongue around other people.”
Lloyd’s eyes sparkled. “I like your tongue control.”
“Not like that.” Nobbie’s face bloomed with heat. “Growing up in an orphanage meant I learned my place in the world and I’ve had to work hard to find my own place that wasn’t what everyone else deemed appropriate for me.” He wasn’t sure why he was being so open about this.
“Wait a moment. I’m lost. How did we get here?”
Nobbie laughed. “You were the one who made a joke about tongues and took the discussion on a completely different tack. How illogical of you.”
Lloyd placed his hand over his chest. “Me? You were the one who leaped from being angry at your parents to accusing me of scamming you.”
“Thus proving that you weren’t really lost in the conversation at all.”
“No. I’m learning to follow your leaps in logic.”
Nobbie kissed Lloyd on the forehead. “As if you are the most logical person in the world. You have whole conversations in your head, then announce the conclusion and everyone else is supposed to follow along.”
“I do?”
“Yes.”
“I still don’t understand why you thought I was scamming you.”
“Lloyd, my darling.” He’d paused, surprised at his own fondness. “Ahh, you threw yourself at me over a watch, for God’s sake. Who does that? What was I supposed to think, but that it was an elaborate scam?”
“Are you always this cynical?”
“Yes. I hate to break this news to you, but yes. Life works out better when I assume that everyone is trying to get something from me. And you gave me such confusing glances.”
“This is my fault?” But this time, Lloyd was smiling. “It’s your fault.”
“How?” Nobbie leaned closer.
Chapter 13
Lloyd adored the way Nobbie glared at him. “For being so distractingly handsome, of course.”
“I was right.” Nobbie’s face lit up with a broad smile and he relaxed, shifting to a less intense pose, which helped Lloyd relax too. Maybe whatever Nobbie was going to be correct about wouldn’t be so bad.
“About?”
“You were trying to scam me.” Nobbie winked and Lloyd was completely confused, caught between the seriousness of the accusation and Nobbie’s playful expression. People were so goddamned confusing.
