Page 12 of Believing in You

“Why’d you sell your car? Are you planning to buy a new one?” Harrison asked.

Well, if he was going to ask questions of her, that was just the opening she needed to ask him a few things.

Instead, she said, “In the future, but not right now. I’m saving to buy Moody Days.”

“Really?” Harrison divided his attention between her and the road.

“Yup. Not the building, but the business itself. Gordon, the owner, told me a couple of years ago that he’d sell me the club if I wanted it once he was ready to retire. Back then, it hadn’t sounded like that would be anytime soon, but I started saving anyway. I worked a couple of jobs and started stacking my money. I also learned everything I could about the business.

“But then recently, Gordon told me he planned to retire this spring. I saved up a nice chunk of change, but I thought I had more time. So, I sold my car and made a few more sacrifices.”

No way would she tell him that one of those sacrifices included not having her own place. She’d been couch surfing for a while now. Even with that, she still didn’t have enough money to cover Gordon’s asking price for the club, but there was still time. She was close. At least that’s what she kept telling herself because no way had she sacrificed all that she had to miss out on her dream.

Wanting to take the conversation off her, she asked, “Are you married?” She knew the answer because there was no way Jamie would encourage her to get to know Harrison better if he was. Still, with her history with men, she had to ask.

“I wouldn’t be here with you if I was married, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have kissed you.” Harrison’s words sounded like he was spitting gravel. Clearly, she had hit a nerve.

Nyla turned slightly to better face him and said, “I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I dated a married man whoI hadn’t known was married. I have to ask those types of questions, because I don’t want to repeat that mistake. Not that I’m saying anything is developing between us. It’s just umm… You know what, I’m going to stop talking now.” She turned to face the windshield and gritted her teeth to keep from doing more rambling.

“You were involved with a married man…and didn’t know it?” Harrison asked, splitting his attention between her and the road. Even though it was dark inside the vehicle, she didn’t miss the way his eyebrows pinched together. “Is that what happened?”

Nyla huffed out a sigh. “Yes.” That had been before her last relationship.

She didn’t embarrass easily, but her cheeks heated, and she felt like an idiot as she told him the story. She and the guy she’d dated before John had lived together for almost a year before she’d known he was married. He and his wife had been legally separated, but still, had Nyla known, there was no way she would’ve been with him.

Some days she still couldn’t believe how long it took her to learn the truth. Hearing herself tell the story out loud made her feel like a dweeb all over again.

“Damn,” he mumbled under his breath. “I’m sorry you went through that. The asshole should’ve been honest with you from the beginning.”

She glanced at him. Streetlights filtered through the window as he drove, and splashes of illumination lit his handsome face. There was no judgment in his tone, but she’d wanted to see his expression. The few people who knew—her family—judged her. Maybe Harrison was trying to be nice because they were confined to the truck.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I was engaged once, but when I went to prison for first-degree murder, she dumped me.”

Nyla’s mouth dropped open, and then she burst out laughing. “Okay, that’s a good one. If you were trying to make me feel better, it worked.”

When he didn’t laugh, and he didn’t look at her, Nyla’s laughter halted immediately. Unease clawed through her veins as she waited…and waited for him to say, just kidding.

When he didn’t, she braced herself, then asked, “You’re kidding, right?”

Chapter Seven

Harrison gripped the steering wheel tightly enough to break it as he stared straight ahead. First, he screwed up and kissed Nyla before thinking about what he was doing. Now each time he glanced at her, flashes of their heated kiss sent warmth shooting to every cell in his body.

If that weren’t enough, after the most amazing kiss he’d experience in like forever, he offered her a ride home. In doing so, he failed to remember he’d be in a confined space with her. That was a problem because she smelled incredible, like lavender and vanilla. He not only wanted to bury his nose into the crook of her neck for a better whiff, but he wanted to explore the rest of her body.

Now this.

He never meant to say anything about his stint in prison. Hell, he never slipped up regarding that time in his life, and he couldn’t figure out how he’d done it now. One minute, he was hearing the self-deprecating tone in her voice as she told him about her loser ex. The next? He was telling her he’d been in prison for murder.

Harrison shook his head. He could feel Nyla’s heated gaze on him, and it was the oddest sensation. In one sense, it was as ifher soft hands were on him, caressing his skin and comforting him in some way. But it also felt as if large hands were squeezing his neck and cutting off his air supply.

His heart was beating hard enough to beat right out of his chest, and the last thing he intended to discuss was that horrible time in his life. Yet, he knew he had to say something.Anything.But what could he say after dropping that bomb?

“I shouldn’t have admitted to that,” he said, his mind scrambling as he maneuvered his SUV through her neighborhood.

“So, it’s not true?”

After a slight hesitation, he said, “It is, but Nyla it’s not something I can discuss right now. All I can tell you is that Ididn’tkill anyone.”

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