“Maybe I’m trying to figure you out,” I suggest.
“Me?” he laughs. “There’s nothing to figure out. I’m an open book.”
“Open, huh?” I ask, eyeing him with scrutiny. “Why don’t I believe you?”
He smirks. “Because you seem like an intrinsically distrustful person.”
“I’ve had to be.”
“Oh, I believe you,” he chuckles. “Okay, I’ll prove it. Go ahead. Ask me anything.”
My eyes go wide. “Really?” I ask. “Anything?”
“Anything.”
“Something’s changed about you,” I observe, going with the first thing that pops into my head. “Since we last saw each other, something’s changed. Is it my imagination?”
He gives me an odd expression, one that makes me think I’m right.
And for a second, I see him the way it seems he’s seeing me.
Past the surface.
Past the shimmering eyes and the easy laugh.
To the man underneath.
“No,” he replies quietly. “It’s not.”
Wow.
I really didn’t expect him to own up to that.
“Okay,” I say, spying gardens up ahead and veering towards them instinctively. “Well, then that’s question number one. What happened?”
“Jesus,” he breathes. “I kinda thought you’d start off with a simple question. Like, ‘Have you ever murdered anyone? What’s your darkest secret? Do you love your ma?’ That kind of thing.”
I give him a sheepish smile. “Are you going to answer me or not?”
Cillian picks up his pace suddenly and vaults over the low brick wall that separates the street from the gardens. He grins at me from the other side and offers me his hand.
I give him a glare, ignore his hand, and mimic his jump.
When my feet land on the other side of the brick wall opposite him, I give him a smug smile.
“Damn,” he whistles. “That was sexy.”
I roll my eyes to hide the blush that races up my cheeks. Then I walk deeper into the perfectly pruned garden, forcing Cillian to follow behind me.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“I can hear water,” I tell him over my shoulder. “Come on.”
I was right. The trickle of water is coming from a circular pond in the center of the garden. It’s manmade but I’ll take what I can get.
Three benches encircle the water feature in a sort of inverted triangle. I take a seat on one of them and Cillian sits down next to me.
The benches aren’t particularly long, so it leaves only about half a foot of space between us. Every time either one of us moves, our shoulders inevitably make contact.