by Noelle Adams
“I have no idea. But a man like you doesn’t make a move on a woman like me for no reason.”
“What do you mean a woman like you?” His tone is different now. So is his expression. I can’t exactly pin down the change, but it feels realer. More natural. “Why wouldn’t I make a move on a woman like you?”
“Because you wouldn’t. I’ve lived thirty-two years with my body and my personality. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with me, but men like you don’t go for me.”
“Men like me?”
“Oh please. You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’d give George Clooney a run for his money. And you’re obviously very good at stalling and avoiding answering questions, but I’m asking you again. What exactly do you want?”
“I really don’t want anything. I just saw you over here and came to talk.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t believe you.”
“I can’t do anything about what you believe. I can just tell you the truth.”
“But you’re not telling me the truth. Seriously. If I knew any state secrets, I’d swear you were a spy, trying to seduce me into spilling everything I know.”
He laughs for real. It looks and sounds genuine. He’s different now. Whatever game he was playing earlier is over. “I promise I’m not a spy.”
“If you were, you’d be a pretty incompetent one, going after someone who knows absolutely nothing.”
“I’m definitely not incompetent.” His eyes are resting on my face again, and they feel appreciative rather than calculating. As if he’s really seeing me. As if he’s really thinking about me.
As if I’m not invisible to him anymore.
“I wouldn’t think so. But that leaves me with more questions. Because I have absolutely no idea what you could want from me.” A little flicker of an idea sparks painfully. “You’re not... I mean Ashley and Sean didn’t... didn’t hire you or something, did they?”
The idea is horrifying.
Utterly horrifying.
The confusion on his face would be hard to fake. “What?”
I shake my head. There’s no way. Ashley would never do that to me. She’d know how much it would hurt and humiliate me. She wouldn’t.
“What would I have been hired to do?”
“Nothing. It was just a random thought. Anyway, whatever you’re trying to do isn’t going to work. I don’t trust you, and I’m not going to believe anything you tell me. So would you mind sitting somewhere else? You’re getting in the way.”
To my surprise, he actually rises to his feet, but he doesn’t walk away immediately. He tilts his head down to murmur, “What am I getting in the way of?”
“That’s not your concern. So go sit over there and mind your own business.”
He laughs as he strolls to the other side of the bar with his glass of scotch. He takes the farthest stool and settles in with an expression of aggrieved resignation.
I try to roll my eyes and keep my expression lofty and disinterested, but I have a hard time not laughing in response.
YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE about Third Life here.
About Noelle Adams
NOELLE HANDWROTE HER first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she writes full time, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.