Page 30 of Bad Boy Done Wrong
He resumed eating.
She stared at him for several long moments while he said nothing, his sole focus on his food. She gave him that, he was probably hungry. Finally she couldn’t wait any longer. “Zach? Is that what you do?”
He lifted his coffee mug to his mouth, muttered, “Yeah,” and took a sip.
“Cool! I’d love to take a tour with you.”
He set his coffee down and met her eyes directly. “I’d love for you to see Indonesia. Beautiful scenery, beautiful people.”
“When do you go back?”
He stared at the table for a moment and then met her eyes. “I’m heading to Singapore next for a two-year gig. Right after Christmas.”
“Oh.” She forced a smile. “I’m starting grad school in a couple of weeks for my master’s in nursing. I’m going to be a certified pediatric nurse practitioner. I was lucky enough to get full tuition coverage with a teaching assistantship.”
“Congratulations. How long is your program?”
“Two years.”
Their gazes locked for a moment of shared recognition of what that meant. Two years, two different continents, two very different career paths.
Finally Zach broke the silence, saying quietly, “Sounds like we both have a two-year plan though you’re getting a semester’s head start.”
“I guess so.” He’d still be gone for two years. She stared at the table, her fingers tightening into a death grip on her mug. She forced herself to relax her fingers, lifted the mug to her lips, and realized it was empty. Caffeine was not what she needed right now. She nearly vibrated with tension, blindsided by a separation across the world. She swallowed down the emotion that had no place here. She had no claim on Zach, had worked hard to keep things light. So, she got her wish, fate intervened to make them an impossibility. She’d get through this ordeal with Edward and then say goodbye to Zach. Her gut churned. No, that wasn’t right. Zach had been good to her and he didn’t deserve being used as a buffer for a situation he had nothing to do with.
She lifted her eyes to his. “You don’t have to be my date for my parents’ anniversary. It was selfish of me to want you there. I’ll deal with Edward myself.”
“Too late, already invited me.”
“Zach.”
“Carrie,” he growled with a note of finality.
She lifted her palms. “Okay, okay. Thank you.”
He grunted and returned to eating.
She debated if she should warn him about the kind of man he’d be meeting. They were as different as two people could be, which she was happy about, but she didn’t want Zach to be caught off guard. Edward was a snooty intellectual, something he’d worked at. His parents were down to earth.
“Edward is a brilliant doctor,” she said. “A brain surgeon.”
“So? Even smart people can be stupid.” He finished his omelet in one big bite, his teeth snapping together.
“Zach.”
He chewed and swallowed. “What?”
“That was sweet.”
“Nothing sweet about it. Edward was clearly stupid to miss out on all you have to offer.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, you have so much passion and all.”
She blushed. “You’re the one who’s so passionate. I’m just trying to keep up.”
His eyes were warm on hers. “It might just be us.”
The wordushung in the air between them, shimmering like a tiny star of promise. She looked away first, a little off balance at the shifting sands of what she thought was a solid understandable thing. A fling. Temporary. Necessarily shallow so no one got hurt.
Two different continents.
