Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)(17)

She drew in a breath. She’d never believed in being honest in a relationship. In her mind, telling the truth only led to more questions, and at some point, because of what she did for a living, she would be forced to lie. Only she wasn’t in that line of work anymore and she was tired of having to be someone else.

She liked Kent. She’d liked him from the first moment she’d seen him, earlier that summer. She’d learned to trust her gut and it told her he was worth the effort.

“You intimidated me a little.” She swallowed. “A lot,” she amended. “When you talked about the kind of math you taught. Plus, the whole college thing. You’re smart and educated and I’m not.” She forced herself not to duck her head. “I got my GED, but that’s it.”

Emotions chased across his face. He was easy to read. Disbelief followed by confusion followed by what seemed like hope.

“I teach math at a high school,” he told her. “I’m not a senior scientist at JPL.”

She was pretty sure JPL was some jet engine–space business, maybe in Southern California. “I’m not sure why that makes a difference,” she said.

“Most people don’t think teaching high school math is that big a deal.”

“I’m not most people.”

“That’s obvious.”

His voice was gentle and slightly admiring, so she guessed he meant the comment as a compliment.

“I can’t do algebra,” she admitted.

“Yeah, and you could so kick my ass.” He leaned toward her. “Seriously? I intimidate you?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?”

“Have you looked in the mirror?”

As soon as he said the words, his expression tightened. As if he regretted them.

She glanced down at the dress she’d put on. A dress! So humiliating and girlie. But she’d worn it deliberately, and she’d left her hair down after curling it. All in the hopes she would see Kent.

“I don’t come from a great neighborhood,” she told him. “I’ve spent my career in the military. I’m as good with a firearm as any sniper and I can open most combination locks in less than a minute.”

His eyes widened. “Okay. That’s impressive.”

“Maybe from the outside, but I’m nothing like you. You have a great family and a regular job. You’re a nice guy.”

“Nice guy. Great.” He turned away.

She touched his arm. “No. Nice is good. Nice is the goal.” She paused. “I thought, if you want, maybe we could get to know each other.”

Relief filled his eyes. “Yeah? Sure. That would be great.” He grinned. “What do you want to know? You’ve already heard about my family. Ford would have told you stuff.” He frowned. “Whatever he said about me when I was a kid isn’t true. You have to believe me on that.”

She laughed, relaxing just a little. “He hasn’t said anything bad.”

“I know that’s not true.” He leaned back on the bench and stretched out his arm along the back. His fingers were only a few inches from her shoulders. Were he anyone else, she would assume he was trying to touch her or make a move. She had a feeling Kent didn’t operate that way.

“What do you think about Fool’s Gold?” he asked.

“I like it a lot. I wasn’t sure at first. I’ve never been anywhere like this.”

“It’s not Afghanistan.”

“How did you know I’d been to Afghanistan?” she asked.

“I didn’t. I thought I was making a joke. Why, were you there?”

She shook her head. “I can’t say.”

He studied her for a second. “Okay. Let’s talk about this town. Festivals, tourists. Not very exciting.”

“I like that. I’m ready for calm and quiet.” She tilted her head. “Ford mentioned you’d recently moved back yourself.”

“A couple of years ago. I’d been divorced awhile and wanted a change.”

“Why a math teacher?”

His smile was self-deprecating. “I’m a nerd. I can’t help it. I like math and science, but I wasn’t brilliant enough for anything theoretical. I thought about engineering, but after a couple of classes, I knew it wasn’t my thing.” He shrugged. “I like being around kids. I like the look on their faces when they figure out something difficult.”

“You’re the teacher they’re going to remember twenty years from now,” she said.

“I hope so. You know anything about dogs?”

She smiled. “I know what they are, but I’ve never had one.”

“Carter, Reese’s friend, got a German shepherd puppy. Now Reese wants one. I’m not sure we’re ready for a puppy. We already have a dog—Fluffy.” He held up his hand. “I didn’t name her.”

Her smile broadened. “Fluffy?”

“My sister is responsible for that. Fluffy was in training to be a therapy dog, but she flunked out. We took her, but she was close to a year when we got her. Now Reese thinks it would be cool to have a puppy. I’m less sure.”

“I know Felicia is taking their puppy into the office, but it’s not a school. She has more flexibility.”