Page 16 of Sound and Deception

He shrugged. “What about you? What kind of job keeps you on the road all the time. I know when I’ve spoken with your Gram or Sunny, they always seem a little worried.”

“I’ve gotten pretty good at taking care of myself, but you know how they are. I think Sunny is a little too addicted to true crime stories and has, subsequently, brought Gram along for the ride. But,anyway, I’m a regional manager for a pet food company. I travel to stores up and down the West Coast introducing new products and training staff. I also make sure our representatives have it together for their weekend demos. A bunch of other stuff, too, but those are the highlights.”

“So, you work for a dog food company.”

“Pet food.”

“Okay, pet food.” He cocked his head. “Do you actually have any pets? I mean, not counting Asta?”

The irony had never been lost on me, and I offered a small laugh. “I’m never home to take care of a pet, and it just didn’t seem right to drag one all over the place in my CR-V.”

“You like it?”

“For the most part. It keeps me independent and appeals to my wanderlust.” I smiled, not mentioning the borderline burnout from several months earlier.

“I get that. I love to see new places, too. Moved around while I was in the army, sure, but I always made time to actually see things, not just be there, you know? Only difference is I like to have something stable to come home to. I’ve already had enough instability to last a lifetime.” He grinned a thanks to Mrs. Ngam when she brought his bottle of Singha and my Thai tea. “Different strokes and all that, though.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I just sipped my tea, enjoying the sweet creaminess.

“So, this is going to be really blunt, but you have anyone special these days? Are you gnawing at the bit to get back to them? Or are they coming up this way to visit you?”

I almost coughed on my tea, and shook my head. My most recent boyfriend, Garrett, and I had lasted all of three months, the one before that maybe, six months, before that, around two, and lots of long gaps in between. I got the feeling I wasn’t the easiest person to deal with. “No. I keep scaring them off.”

“Seriously?”

This time, I shrugged. “They start out liking independent women, and then decide they don’t like them so much.”

“Ah. They were attracted, but didn’t dig the idea of not being able to clip those wings.” He helped himself to the steamed rice and yellow curry the restaurant owner placed before him. “Not sure why people try to change their significant others. Seems stupid if they liked who they were to begin with.”

I digested that bit of information, unsure if he was just throwing some BS my way, or if he honestly thought that. I shrugged it off and rolled noodles around my fork. “What about you?”

Noah let out a hefty sigh. “Here and there, I guess. No one serious. Well, that’s not quite true. I did have a friends-with-benefits kind of thing for several years. Helene was older and SO not interested in snagging a new husband. I think I did love her, but…” He flopped one hand. “Anyway. We had fun. And I learneda lot.”

I blinked and cleared my throat. “So, um, you still in touch with Helene?”

“I occasionally get a post card, but she kicked me out a while back.” Pausing, he took a swallow of his beer. “She told me I needed to find a spry young filly, not continue to hang out with a moth-eaten old mare.”

He met my gaze again, but this time, his rich brown eyes were in no way laughing. He lowered his voice. “The night I left you alone in the hotel room, the truth is, I was terrified. I’d never been with anyone in that way, and I was so afraid I’d disappoint you. So, I chickened out, panicked, or whatever. I’m so sorry.”

I wasn’t sure if time actually stopped, but it sure felt that way. The murmurs of other restaurant patrons, the croon of Rod Stewart from the speakers, the bubbling from the saltwater aquarium at the front of the business all fell away. That late May night years before, he’d excused himself to go grab a couple of Cokes from the soda machine in the hallway. I’d expected he’d be back to share that tiny bottle of Jack Daniels we’d managed to obtain. And he never did. I’d been so hurt at the time, thinking I’d loved him. That hurt had turned to anger, and my first time wound up being with my freshman biology lab partner. It had been horrible, but then again, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, despite what movies and TV shows promised.

“We were kids, Noah.” I spoke softly, but clear. “I won’t insult you by saying it didn’t hurt, but it wouldn’t be right to judge you now on what happened when we were teenagers.”

“You forgive me then?”

I didn’t care for this sudden intensity. It seemed way beyond what it should have been. “Well, for a while there, I kept envisioning different medieval tortures I could subject you to, but I think I finally got beyond it.”

“What kind of torture? Iron Maiden? The Rack? The Brazen Bull?” This time, his mouth twitch returned, and I had to smile.

“You’re sick.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who brought it up to begin with.” He leaned back and grinned. “Hell hath no fury…”

“You better believe it, my friend. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Chapter Sixteen

---