He caught my gaze and lifted a brow. “And what would that stuff be, exactly?”
Okay. Yeah. So he’d seen right through that answer. “I did a full spa day with a friend.”
“When?” he pushed.
“A year and a half ago,” I mumbled, refusing to tell him that the spa had been running an amazing special on full spa days that week.
“Right. So it’s been a while. What else? Tell me something from the last year,” he insisted.
I let out an exasperated breath. “I’m not a high-maintenance kind of woman. I worked long hours in the lab fairly often, and that’s what I really wanted to do. When I’m rolling on a project, I can’t just shut that down and go home. Once I did get back to my apartment, I was perfectly happy going for a run, and grabbing an easy dinner at home. If I had time, I’d watch one of the TV shows that I record, or talk to Mark if the time difference worked for whatever part of the world he was in at the time. It didn’t take much to make me happy. Okay, so maybe I’m one of the most boring single women on the planet, but I’m just not into the party or club scene.”
He studied me for a moment before he replied calmly, “Believe me, women who troll the clubs every night are far from exciting. They’re obsessed with appearances at the beginning of the evening, only to end up vomiting on their expensive high-heeled shoes by the end of the night. Have you ever tried to have a decent conversation with a woman whose biggest tragedy is breaking a freshly manicured fingernail? No? Well, I have, and it’s pure torture. I’d take what you consider boring over that any day of the week.”
The pained look on his face made me laugh so hard I nearly choked on my taco.
The thought of Jax trying to have a conversation with a drunken club hopper who had just broken a fingernail made me laugh a little harder.
“Somehow, I just can’t see you hanging out with that crowd,” I said once I’d caught my breath.
“I have,” he assured me. “But that phase didn’t last very long.”
I could definitely understand why that scene had gotten old for him in a hurry. “I’ve done it myself, and I decided I’d much rather be home reading a book or watching TV when I had free time. Until a few years ago, I was always working full-time and going to school. So I’d much rather spend my free time doing something more relaxing now that I actually have a little time to myself.”
“You’re an intelligent, beautiful woman, Harlow. You never made time to date before Mark?” he asked huskily.
“I never had much time,” I explained. “I got up, went to work, and then to classes. I’d fall into bed every night because I was exhausted. The next day it was pretty much rinse and repeat until I got my doctorate.”
“Until you met Mark?” he questioned.
I sighed. Jax was tenacious when he wanted to know something. “I was engaged once, a long time ago. It didn’t work out, and it took me a long time to get over it. I dated before I met Mark, but none of those relationships exactly turned into anything meaningful.”
“Do you want to tell me about your engagement?”
“No,” I said simply. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
That had been a painful time in my life, and I’d much rather not open that door again.
“Then we won’t talk about it right now,” he agreed. “I think you have enough on your plate at the moment, but I think you’ll tell me someday.”
“Maybe when you decide to tell me about your parents and your childhood,” I shot back, keeping my tone light.
He looked disgruntled as he muttered, “In that case, it could be a while before I hear about it.”
We switched to lighter topics while we finished off our margaritas.
After doing daily, very intense therapy sessions, it was a relief not to discuss heavier subjects.
Jax had a gift for telling amusing stories, and he kept me laughing until we exited the building.
“It’s good to hear you laugh, Harlow,” Jax said in a husky voice as he took my hand for the short walk to our bikes.
I sighed. “It’s good to be able to laugh,” I confessed. “Thank you for such an amazing day.”
“Let’s not end it yet,” he suggested. “We can go pick up the