She blinked at the sudden shift of topic. Now it was getting good. “What makes you think I have a boyfriend?”
“Come on. Pretty girls usually do.”
She liked the pretty, but there was that girl again. “Well, as it happens, I’m single at the moment. I’m focusing on my business right now.”
“Your most recent boyfriend, then.”
It was sort of another question, but she’d let it pass in the event it might work in her favor later. “That would be Nick. We didn’t date long, just five or six months, and then we decided we’d be better as friends.”
He hiked a brow. “You mean you decided that.”
“How do you know?”
“Admit it, it was you. No guy wants to be friend-zoned by a woman like you.”
Woman. “Fine, technically it was me, but the feeling was mutual.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Sure it was.”
She poked him in the side. “It was.”
He didn’t even flinch. Although, small wonder, since his obliques were a cement wall.
“If you say so. And you still haven’t told me about him, for the record.”
She was happy to accommodate since her turn was coming next, and she wanted a nice, detailed answer.
“He works at the marina.” She left off that he managed the office, preferring that he seemed more . . . physical than he actually was. “We’ve known each other for years, but we hadn’t really had a conversation until I was over there seeing if we could work together on boat rentals for my business. In the end we decided it wouldn’t work, but he asked me out, and I said yes.”
“Where’d you go on your first date?”
“I’d like it to go on record that I’m allowing some flexibility in this line of questioning.”
“Duly noted, Judge Bennett. Please proceed.”
She almost wished she’d denied his request because her answer seemed juvenile. “He took me putt-putting.”
“Putt-putting?”
“Hey, I won.”
“He took you putt-putting.”
“It was fun. And he was a gracious loser. Why, where do you take your women on first dates—Paris?”
“We’re still on my question. Is that all? Did he at least take you out to eat afterward?”
He hadn’t. And he’d presented a putt-putt coupon to the cashier, but there was nothing wrong with being frugal. “We had a Coke and sat and talked afterward.”
“Guess that’s one way to keep expectations low.”
She poked him again. Maybe just because she wanted to feel those iron abs again. “It was nice. He was very nice to talk to. He was a good listener and ended up being super dependable.”
“I’m starting to see why he got friend-zoned.”
She gave him a mock glare. “My turn. Your question, right back atcha.”
“Should’ve known that was coming.” He shifted, his hand coming within a hair’s breadth of her arm. “Currently single. Not really looking. Same as you, focused on my career.”
She waited, but he didn’t continue. “Because . . .”
“I travel a lot. Women tend not to like that so much.”
“You still haven’t told me about your most recent girlfriend.”
He glanced at her. “Lauren. Met her at a friend’s birthday party. Dated for almost a year.”
“And . . .”
“And . . . she got tired of me not being around. Missing special occasions. It’s hard to communicate while I’m on assignment—plus it’s shift work. She finally had enough, like others before her.”
“What’d you like about her? What initially drew you to her?”
He stared into the fire for a long moment. “She was beautiful and sophisticated. Savvy in the way of life. A good match for me.”
Grace felt a pinch in her chest. No one would ever use those words to describe her. She was, perhaps, the very opposite of all that, meaning Wyatt wouldn’t see her as a good match. It was nothing she hadn’t already deduced, but his words cut nonetheless.
Chapter Eighteen
Thunder rolled in the distance, filling the silence between Wyatt and Grace. He’d meant to make a subtle point with his description of Lauren, who was Grace’s polar opposite, but when hurt shadowed Grace’s eyes, he instantly regretted it. There was nothing wrong with Grace’s innocence and youth, and he hated that he’d made her feel inferior to someone who, in fact, couldn’t hold a candle to her.
All the things he’d said about Lauren were true, but there was more that he hadn’t said. That Lauren knew she was beautiful. That she brought her doctorate degree into every conceivable conversation. And that she was masterful at subtle manipulation. In the end he realized he’d been bored with her for a long time. And being released