Page 35 of Just One Silver Fox

Five

“You legally changed your name?” That’s what Sonia had said, but Nate needed to be sure he’d heard correctly.

Sonia nodded.

Nate looked down at his plate, his appetite trashed. She’d left home, cut ties with her family and old friends, and changed her name. He knew she had to have a big bad reason for such a drastic choice.

He was seriously out of his depth.

He had to ask the obvious question. “Did they abuse you?”

Sonia frowned. “I don’t want to talk about it. What’s past is past.”

Fuck. That meant they had.

Nate put down his knife and fork.

Sonia stood up and started to clear the table. “Do you want to take the leftovers?” she asked briskly. “It would heat up all right tomorrow and give you an easy meal when you’re getting settled in.”

“Sure,” Nate said, hating to see food wasted.

Sonia took a container out of the cupboard and started to pack up the rest of the meal. She seemed to be deliberately keeping her back to him, and her posture was tense. The mood had turned awkward, as if she regretted her confession.

Nate was torn, one more time, between what he knew was the smart choice and what he wanted to do in this moment. He should head out to Boston ASAP. He shouldn’t prolong the inevitable. He shouldn’t feed her expectations. He shouldn’t ask questions and dig into her past.

But he really wanted to help.

He knew what it was like to face doubts alone at night.

“Aren’t you keeping any?” he asked, just to break the silence.

“Are you kidding?” Sonia cast him a quick smile and that reassured him. “I already have to do an extra session tomorrow after this pastry. It was good, though.” She turned to face him, keeping her distance, and smiled again. “Sorry for over-sharing.” There was a sadness in her eyes that tore him up.

“My lips are sealed,” he said in a teasing tone, making a motion as if he was locking his mouth closed.

“Thanks.” She offered the take-out container, all sealed and ready to go.

Nate took it, knowing this was his cue, but didn’t move. “Are you okay?”

“More or less.”

“Because if you want to talk…” he started to speak but her words spilled forth, interrupting him.

“You know, it’s late to start a long drive.” It was as if she’d read his mind. “If you stay the night, that won’t give me expectations of more than one-and-done.” She sounded stronger now, and more like her usual self. Maybe the fact that he was lingering was helping.

“We’ve already had more than one.”

The strange thing was that it hadn’t been enough. He should have been satisfied and a lot less interested in kissing Sonia again. But Nate wanted to take that step between them. He wanted to pull her into his arms and he wanted to do whatever was necessary for her to make that little sound again.

Just the memory of it made his heart leap.

“But it was all part of the same interlude, wasn’t it?” she said, apparently oblivious to the conflict in him. “Like courses at a meal. We had a slow appetizer…”

“I recommend the oysters,” Nate said on impulse and Sonia laughed out loud.

She put her hand over her mouth, as if she didn’t think she should have laughed, but her eyes were sparkling again. “That was bad.”

“No, I thought the oysters were great,” he dead-panned, which made her laugh again.

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