play. Give me two truths and a lie about yourself."
"I don't have time for games."
"There is always time for games," he told her, reminding her of how many times he had stolen her away from her books to play a silly game or go somewhere fun.
Jake had definitely expanded her world. He had pushed her to try things she never would have tried. But look where pushing those boundaries had gotten her—a world of pain.
"Come on," he said, bringing her focus back to the present. "Let's play."
"You already know way too much about me."
"We'll see if I still do."
She hesitated. It was kind of silly, but on the other hand, it was probably better than talking about their pasts. "Okay. Let's see." She thought for a moment about the life she'd lived away from Jake's view. "I ran naked through the quad at the University of Colorado in Denver."
"Interesting." He gave her a thoughtful look. "What else?"
"I won a contest and got to sing on stage with the Jonas Brothers."
"That's two."
"While I was training to be a nurse, I had to go to the morgue one day, and when I pulled the sheet off a corpse, he moved his foot. I screamed and went running out of the room." She smiled. "That's three. What do you think? Which ones are true, and which one is a lie?"
"I believe the morgue story," he said slowly. "The lie is either singing on stage with the Jonas Brothers or the naked dash through the college quad. I've seen you do karaoke, so it's possible you got on the stage. I've never seen you run naked anywhere, and the time we went skinny-dipping in high school, you kept on your underwear."
She flushed at that memory. "I forgot about that."
"I've never been able to. Even in underwear, you were spectacular."
"I was too skinny."
"And too critical of yourself."
"We're getting off track," she told him, not wanting to think about the fact that while she'd kept on her panties and bra, Jake had stripped all the way down, and his body had been more than a little impressive. "Which one is the lie?"
"The naked run."
She was happy he didn't know everything. "You're wrong. I did that on a dare and a couple of shots of tequila."
"I'm impressed."
"By that? I don't think your bar is very high for being impressed."
"I'm impressed you let loose and ran free."
"Things were definitely loose," she said with a laugh, as he grinned back at her. "And don't imagine it."
"Too late. I can't help myself."
"Your turn," she said, wanting to get his gaze off her body, as her nerves were tingling in all the right places. "Two truths and a lie." She was actually curious as to what he would say. She might get to learn something about him without having to show any interest. And that was another truth—she was interested to know more about the man he was now, even though she'd spent the past several years trying to keep his name and face out of her head.
"All right," he said, a sparkling gleam in his brown eyes. "I got to take batting practice with the Colorado Rockies, and on the first pitch, I hit a home run."
She nodded, thinking that actually sounded feasible, although it reminded her of one of his teenage dreams. He'd been the star shortstop in high school. Of course, he'd also been the football quarterback, and the high-shooting forward in basketball. Jake was the guy who did everything well. "Next," she said.
"I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. And in college, I played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet," he finished.
"You're making this too easy. I can see you hitting with the Rockies. I can see you climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Romeo has to be the lie."
"You're…right," he said.
"So, I win. What's my prize?"
"We didn't agree on a prize."
"How about you let me out of the date?"
"Nope. You should have negotiated before we played. And I should have come up with a better lie."
"You should have," she agreed, as she sipped her coffee. "When did you climb Mount Kilimanjaro?"
"The summer after college graduation."
"What was it like?"
"It was grueling. It's a six-day trip—four days to get up, two to come down. I thought I'd trained. I thought I was prepared, but I have to admit the altitude got to me. I had to battle headaches and nausea on day three, and the last day was a nine-hour trek that tested my will and my body."
"But you made it."
"I did," he said, meeting