“Ha! No, they never caught us, and we only blew up things behind our house, never someone else’s property. But my poor mom … She lived in terror of us blowing each other up, or at best losing a finger or an eye.” He laughed easily. He felt like he could tell her anything. Well, anything but who he was. “Luckily, we only gave ourselves some good burn marks and scars from tricks on everything from skateboards, scooters, and bikes to snow skis, surfboards, and wakeboards.”
“And here I thought Teal and I were daredevils taking snow sleds down all three stories of steps in our house, or jumping from the second-story deck into the swimming pool.”
“That does sound brave, and fun.”
“You sound like a lot of fun. As my priest, I guess I can’t ask your name …”
He sucked in a breath. Would he have to lie again? If he came up with another JJ name, would she figure it out without him having to tell her? Maybe he wanted her to know. He really wanted her to want him. Why, when he’d finally found a woman who he was interested in, did she have to have such relationship-stopping baggage?
“But can I ask how old you are?” she asked.
“Thirty.” Finally, he could admit the truth to something. “And you?”
“Twenty-seven.”
His eyebrows went up. She was older than he’d thought.
“Well, I’d better go to bed. Nice talking to you.”
“You too. Have a good night.”
“Sleep tight,” she said in a teasing tone.
“Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
She laughed, then said again, “Good night.”
He could see her shadow move, and then her door opened and closed. Joshua didn’t move, watching the water slide by the ship for a long while. He liked her. That was okay to admit. Yet he was weaving so many lies that he wasn’t sure if she would ever like him, all of him. He found himself thinking about her instead of land acquisitions, the next hotel to build or buy, or who in his direct line of authority needed encouragement, training, or reward. His mom would be happy that a woman was distracting him. He could admit it was fun, but he didn’t know that he’d go with happy just yet.