Page 39 of Separate Lives

“Hmm?”

“Here, things are so different from Chicago. Less complicated, it seems,” Reece commented, his voice heavy with sarcasm which went unnoticed to Jess.

Silence followed his statement. Jess was thankful for that. She was about to ask Reece if he could please stop his meaningless chatter. It was annoying. It demanded she turned her attention to him, when all she wished to do was admire the young couple sitting at a table on her right who were so absorbed with each other.

“Why did you leave, Jess?”

Thatsnapped her attention back to him. “What?” she asked, not sure she’d heard him correctly.

“I’d like to know why you fled Chicago to come here, and left me only a measly note taped on your front door.”

Looking at him, she tried to reorganize her thoughts. “My boss asked me to buy The Edge and gave me a few days off to carefully consider his proposal.”

This didn’t quite answer his question, but it explained why she’d come to Fairbanks.

“That’s great news.”

“But also a great burden.”

Sensing Jess needed to talk about this important career choice, Reece allowed her to sidetrack. “Care to explain?”

She did, sharing with him her fears and doubts.

“What does LeeHanne think?”

“I have yet to tell her. You and my parents are the only ones who know about it.”

Reece was flattered, though put on the shoes of the confidant with Jess was unusual for him. Their relationship was ruled by passion, but this newfound camaraderie was a nice addition. “The decision is yours to make. I’m sure that if you accept your boss’s offer, you'll meet the challenge and succeed.”

“I hope.”

“Why did you run away from me and moved in with your parents?” he fired. Now they’d talked about what was bothering her, Reece needed to talk about what was bothering him.

“I didn’t run away from you,” she clarified. “My water heater broke and it was either move back with my parents, or freeze to death while it was replaced.”

Reece subjected Jess to a long, searching stare she stoically sustained. It was the truth, though it couldn’t have happened at a better time.

“And what about the note?” he insisted, determined to get to the bottom of the matter.

“I don’t think this is neither the right time nor right place to approach such a delicate issue.” Jess was amazed Reece had the gall to propose they discussed such a private thing in public.

“I beg to differ. I told you yesterday why I came, and I won’t leave until we’ve ironed everything out. Getting to know each other means not only being apprised of yours or mine likes and dislikes, but also being aware of what one thinks, confronting each other’s ideas and points of view, and smoothing over any misunderstandings. So now I demand a straightforward answer to a straightforward question.”

“In the middle of a rather crowded restaurant?”

“Would you prefer the cozy, but very constraining walls of your cabin?”

No she wouldn’t.

Pushing her plate aside, Jess looked at, but did not touch her dessert. Her sweet tooth had suddenly gone sour.

If possible, Reece leaned even closer to her. He did it partially to cut off the disturbing noise around them, and partially to make sure her mind was focused on him, and not on the couple she’d been ogling. His dark eyes were staring at her so intently they swiped her mind free of thoughts, demanding she address his words seriously.

“I want to know why you ran away from me this time. You always accuse me of bullying my way into your life, but I don’t recall having imposed my will on yours that evening.”

She arched a brow.

“Well, I did at the beginning, by closing the door and joining you in bed, but only because you clearly needed to be held. Later, you appreciated my being there.”

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