Page 37 of Definitely (Maybe) Dating
“Did you always want to be a lawyer?”
“God, no. I wanted to be a forest ranger. Then a cowboy. And finally, I wanted to work with tech startups.”
“What happened?”
“Life.” He slid her a glance. “Loafers are a side effect of necessity.”
Piper knew all too well about the impact of curveballs and how they could permanently change the course of one’s life. Not always for the better.
“What changed?”
“My parents found themselves trapped in a lawsuit that never should have gone as far as it did,” he said, the pain in his voice sounded as if it had happened yesterday. “Watching what they went through, knowing my dad spent a good portion of his last years fighting to keep what was rightfully his, caused me to change majors and apply to law school.”
She rested her palm against his chest—right above his heart. “I’m so sorry.”
The gesture had been one of caring, but the innocent contact quickly changed, and the air zapped around them. Holding her gaze, he slowly moved his hand until it covered hers. He paused, giving her a chance to retreat, but instead she found herself frozen in the moment.
“What about you? What did you want to be?” he asked.
At first, she wasn’t sure what to say. Then she decided to go with honest. “Safe,” she whispered. “When I was little, I just wanted to be safe.”
He watched her for a long moment, and she waited for the pity to shine in his eyes, for him to take a small step back like most people when she opened up about her past. Instead, he laced his fingers with her. “Is that why you came to Portland? To be safe?”
She shrugged. “I thought so, but then I realized that if I wanted to be safe, I’d have to work hard and get my own place, where no one could come in and no one could kick me out.”
“It sounds lonely.”
She tilted her head. “There are worse things than lonely.” She could name a hundred off the top of her head.
He lifted her knuckles to him lips and kissed them. “You’re pretty amazing, you know that?”
“For embracing loneliness?”
“For seeing the world the way you do and becoming the woman you are today.”
“I didn’t have many choices, and the ones I did have would have landed me in jail or worse.” Like Faith.
Still holding her hand, they started walking. “When did you become interested in photography?”
“I didn’t even hold a camera until I was a teenager. But looking back, I loved to stare at photos. I used to go to garage sales and buy old pictures. I know it sounds weird, but when things were bad, I would imagine I lived inside that one perfectly captured moment.”
A moment like this.
Before she knew what she was doing, she lifted her special camera and turned the lens to bring his face into focus, blurring the background until the lights from the gas lamps created a soft glow around him. He didn’t shy away or flash one of his charming smiles, instead looking right into the camera as if he were looking at her.
His usually assessing eyes were a warm sky blue, his expression open, and there was a vulnerability that made her breath catch. The sound of traffic and break lights blurred around them, drizzle clung to his hair and lashes, and a sense of rightness began to grow.
She pressed the button, and the shutter opened and closed, and he still didn’t look away. Feeling exposed, she lowered the camera and slung it over her shoulder.
“You still shoot with film?” he asked.
“I prefer film, but clients like options. Lots and lots of options. With film, there’s no post edits or effects. Just thirty-five millimeters of life. A what you see is what you get.”
“What did you see a moment ago?”
She saw someone who could break her heart if she wasn’t careful. She stepped back and cleared her throat. “I can’t imagine trying to keep track of all your brothers at the zoo.”
Even though he didn’t say anything, she could tell he wanted to ask her more about her past, but he let it go.
