Page 88 of Trust

“Whatever. I can handle this!” She opened the door and told herself she felt nothing. Not an ounce of regret, attraction, or any other emotion that would allow her to resolve to soften. “Hey, neighbor. What brings you by?”

“I found one of your ribbons and wanted to return it.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Zane. I have dozens.” Uncertainty swam in his eyes, and she ignored it with every fiber of her being.

She gave him a tip of her chin, reminding herself that it wasn’t her job to make it better. Or offer solace. It was her duty to keep her walls fortified, so she didn’t embrace the fool in a hug and do everything she could to take just a bit of his loneliness away. He had a dozen friends now that could do the job beautifully, and if she weren’t mistaken, a pile of crumpled numbers somewhere.

He’d be fine. And so would she.

They just had to get over this rough bit first.

She took the proffered ribbon and noticed he didn’t let go. He tugged on it instead and moved her closer, making the delicious heat always present when they were together tricky to ignore. “You can keep it if you want to.”

“I had a whole speech prepared.”

Her grip on the lilac ribbon slipped, and instead of making him release it, it drew him closer. “Well, go on then. I’m listening.”

“It was something…wasn’t it?”

Her heart skipped a beat, and she found none of the words floating in her brain able to be set free.

“It was for me,” Zane said quietly. “And if it wasn’t for you, then that’s going be a hell of a pill to swallow.” He took a step in. “You want to tell me everything I did wrong—I’ll listen. But please, babe, don’t keep quiet.”

“It was something.” She swallowed loudly. “But now, it’s not.”

“If I’m your greatest regret, then so be it because that’s something I can build on. But if what we had was just a way to pass the time, then…”

“You know that’s not what I was doing.” She pushed her sandal across the floor. “Have you already forgotten all those unwelcomed overtures I made.”

“Liv, you never did anything that wasn’t one hundred percent welcome. Uncomfortable, absolutely. But that was because having a woman like you interested in any part of me simply didn’t compute.”

“That’s some fine revisionist history, Zane.”

“It’s no such thing.”

Praying her emotional walls could withstand the man’s presence, she cleared her throat. “Netflix is killing it right now. I have plenty to keep me busy. I won’t,” she waved her hand around, “bother you anymore.”

“You haven’t been listening, Liv.”

“There are hours and hours of excellent programming that I’m dying to get started on.”

“Make no mistake, Liv, I will find a way to become more interesting than a travel show.” He let out a frustrated huff. “If you want to watch that regency romance thing a fourth time, I will happily sit next to you and…”

“Why?” she whispered, frustration filling her chest. Why did men make the most infuriating proclamations when women were ready to walk away? “I’m not interested in a push-pull thing with you.” She let go of the ribbon and watched it flutter against his hand. “You only seem to want my company when it’s no longer available.”

“Babe, that is not true.” He linked their pinkies. “I told you from the beginning that I wasn’t in any kind of mental or emotional shape to take you on. I want to be worthy and…”

“Love doesn’t require perfection.” She shook her head. “I think the very idea of being without fault is ludicrous. We are all worthy of affection, and our foibles are what make us lovable.”

The corner of Zane’s mouth tipped up. “If you mean that, then I could very well end up being the man of your dreams.”

Some of the tension in her muscles drained. “I planned on telling you,” Bella’s happy bark interrupted her thought. “Did you get rid of Killer?”

“No!”

“Don’t overreact, jeez.” She unlinked their fingers and smoothed out her skirt. “Considering you all but gave him away at the race.”

“I did not! And you know it since I explained the misunderstanding. Hoyt asked to show the dog to Betsy to see if she might want one. How he interpreted that to mean he could put my dog on offer so he could remedy five years of romantic screw-ups is not something I can be held responsible for.”

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