Page 10 of Clear Blue Sky

“Oh. It sure has.” She loaded a cracker with a large piece of cheese and slice of pepperoni. “My dad hasn’t made it any easier. Being a Grant and owning a publishing company has had its share of challenges too. I don’t know what’s worse. People asking me weird questions about my mother or slipping me manuscripts under the bathroom stall.”

“I think I’d prefer to be shot at.”

She scowled. “That’s not funny because I’ve seen the scars on your body.”

He reached out and curled his fingers around her forearm. “I don’t mean to belittle my wounds. But you must understand that I have to be able to make light of some of the things that happened to me on the battlefield, or I’d go crazy.”

“May I ask you something personal?”

“Sure, but be prepared I might not want to answer.”

Well, that was honest. She shifted sideways, bending her knees. This was not the first thing she’d thought she’d be asking, but he’d opened the door. “A while back, when I spent the night, you had a bad dream.” She had chosen not to ask him about it then because she’d already decided to go back to the city and give Ethan a second chance. When that ended, and she returned to Lake George and her fling with Nelson, it never happened again, and she didn’t feel comfortable bringing it up.

But now she wanted to know something intimate about him and this was a good place to start.

“I did?” He turned his head, lifting his wineglass to his lips, and sipped. He kept his focus on something in the distance. “I don’t remember.”

“You woke up all sweaty.”

He shrugged. “I’m sure it was nothing.”

“I don’t believe that.” Placing her hand on his thigh, she squeezed. “Your whole body was shaking. Something obviously spooked you.”

Turning his head, he caught her gaze with an intense stare. His blue eyes tore right through her soul, sucking the life out of her. “I’ll fill you in on my nightmare if you answer me something.”

“Okay.” She swallowed. It was only fair that she be open to share intimate details of her life.

“Why did you ghost me for about six weeks this winter? And ever since then, you haven’t been around much.”

She blew out a puff of air. If she lied, it would be a lot easier to go about spending the night. But then if he found out, getting to know him better would most likely end.

However, being truthful might do the same.

“Something happened that put me in a weird situation.”

“What does that mean?”

“Right after the New Year, my ex-boyfriend moved back to town and to be totally honest, there were a lot of things between us that were left unfinished. I felt as though I needed to give him another chance, but right after Valentine’s Day, it ended.”

“Oh. So you were in a relationship. That explains a lot of strange text messages.”

“I should have told you what was going on.” She set her glass down. “I had broken up with Ethan a long time ago. He’d been discharged from the Navy.”

“He was a military man?”

“He served for six years, but he wasn’t cut out for the lifestyle. Anyway, he was moving across the country and my father kept telling me that Grant Publishing could be run solely by my brother and that I should followmy manandhis career.”

“That’s uncool.”

“That’s what I thought, and Lake backed me. But I did care for Ethan, and I’ve always wondered if I made a mistake. Turns out, breaking up with him had been the right decision.”

“Does Ethan agree?”

“It doesn’t really matter. It’s over and I’m sorry I left you hanging. I needed a little time to think, and then when I came back around to talk to you, well, we kind of just picked up where we left off.”

“Not exactly,” Nelson said. “You’ve been different, and I’ve never understood why.”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about all this, but we always end up in bed together.”

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