Page 52 of The Mouse and the Maestro

“Do you tell people all your weirdly personal faults?” she asked.

“If it will help them realize I’m not a criminal,” he said, wincing as his words registered. “I mean, not that I think you’re a criminal, I don’t, it’s just…”

“It’s just there are some lingering doubts in your mind you can’t erase,” Jane said.

“A bit,” he admitted.

“Because I have no virtual footprint,” she added.

“You’re the only person I’ve ever met who doesn’t. Literally, Jane, the only person in the known universe. I’ve run criminals who paint a clearer picture than you do.”

“And it bothers you,” she said.

“Yes,” he bit out.

“There we go, back to square one.”

“Just tell me,” he begged.

“No.”

“Even if it means we can’t be together?” he asked.

She pressed her palms to his chest and shifted so she could see his face. “I guess what I need from you is a willingness to be together even though you don’t have all the answers about me, not a desire to get all the answers in order to decide if you want to be with me. Does that make sense?”

“No,” he stubbornly insisted.

“It makes sense to me,” she said.

“Of course it does, you’re a criminal mastermind. The cutest one ever.” He gave her another squeeze, and she rested her head on his chest again, exhausted, depleted.

“You’re kind of comfy for an overly curious, too tall computer geek,” she said.

“That’s because we have something. We fit, we have chemistry.”

“I don’t deny that,” Jane agreed.

“There’s only this one little obstacle standing in the way,” he said.

“My stubborn insistence on getting to know each other like normal people?” she said.

“No, your stubborn insistence on keeping your past secret,” he said.

“My past isn’t a secret. I’ve already told you it was unusual, I was homeschooled, I grew up mostly in Africa, and I have two sisters. You know what my degree is, where I work, my dating history and roommates. What else is there?”

“What about your dad? You won’t talk about him.”

She sighed. “My entire life has been defined by my dad’s choices. I don’t want it to be that way with you.”

“I swear it won’t affect the way I feel about you,” he said.

“But it will. I guarantee it will, and we’re not there yet. Someday you’ll know everything, and maybe by then it won’t matter. But right now it will matter, possibly a lot.”

“Jane, you’re so adorably stubborn, and if my esophagus and throat didn’t feel as if they’d been dipped in battery acid, I would totally kiss you right now.”

“And if I weren’t dying for a toothbrush and a long, hot shower, I’d totally kiss you back,” Jane replied. “But for now this is nice.”

“Yes, it is,” he agreed. They were cuddled up on the couch, folded together in a cozy pose, despite their combined weakness and misery. Within a few minutes, they fell back asleep, waking again when Blue’s phone rang.

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