His honesty endeared him to her.
But she’d do well to heed his warning, as well. If she’d had any doubts about the inadvisability of letting that kiss happen a second time, he’d laid them firmly to rest.
She’d never intended to let anything happen between them, in any case. While she didn’t blame the Coltons for what had happened to her, she didn’t want anyone associated with law enforcement in her sphere. She just wanted to put the whole thing behind her.
Just had one point of curiosity...
“What ended up happening to her? The woman who was stalking you?” The man was related to pretty much the entire GGPD.
“She wasn’t stalking me.”
Interesting take on it. “What would you call it?”
“Having a hard time taking no for an answer.”
Yeah, and she hadn’t been a victim of a near murder that morning, either, because who, after all, wanted to be that?
“So, what happened to her?” she asked.
Gram had always said that if you wanted to get out of your own misery, think of someone else’s. The advice had worked in prison.
“She ended up getting some professional help and last I knew was living upstate with a relative.”
The way he said it...ended up getting professional help...
She studied him as he drove, noticing how, once again, his gaze seemed to be on the road, and all around them, too. Like he’d be able to dodge a bullet if it came at them?
“That was it? She just decided she needed help?” she prodded him, wondering how he had handled being a target—like she’d been.
“In exchange for not having charges pressed against her.”
Wow. So, it had been big. Couldn’t have been easy for him to deal with. And yet he wore it well. Hadn’t seemed to have shaken his peace of mind—at least, from what little she knew of him thus far.
She wanted that. To be able to take the things that happened to her and continue forward, having learned from them, but not letting them stop her from moving on to what was next.
As he drove, keeping his lookout, she just had to say, “Thank you.”
“For what?” His glance was lingering, but his attention turned immediately back to the road, reminding her that there could be danger all around her.
“Your honesty.” She told him the truth, and then, feeling awkward, she added, “And everything.”
When he shot her a glance, looking like he had something to say, but not saying it, she said, “I find you intriguing, too, but I have no intention of that kiss ever happening again.” He just drove. “And no desire, whatsoever, to become involved with a PI who works with the GGPD.”
Now, that was too harsh. “Or anyone. Not yet. Not for a long while.” Her heart reached out to him. Feeling what he must have gone through, having a woman he’d been intimately involved with try to threaten him.
At least with Fritz, it had all just been him being a creep. A liar. All things the mind had a place for...
But Clarke...there he was...coming off one bad relationship and kissing an ex-con barmaid client.
She wanted to reassure him...she wasn’t as bad off as she came across...
“It was the first time I’ve kissed a man other than Fritz since he and I first started dating...”
She didn’t go around just getting physical with other men. Not even after her husband had left her. His lies about her cheating had prevented her from even thinking about doing that—until now.
Which, knowing Fritz and his manipulative ways, had probably been a secondary intention when he’d concocted the lies to begin with. Protect his own reputation with his family, first, and control her, second.
“He wanted me,” she said aloud. “He just didn’t want to be faithful to me. Or want me to be my own person, either.” She’d had goals, dreams of her own. He hadn’t wanted that, so he’d made sure, behind her back, that it didn’t happen.