Hot Under His Collar - Andie J. Christopher Page 0,31

a sweater. Her eyes were shiny and her pink lipstick made her teeth look impossibly white. Although the gloomy dregs of winter were holding spring off for the moment, she was like fresh air.

“Did anyone see you come in?”

She glanced around behind her, smirking when she looked back at him. “No. Why do you ask?”

He inclined his head toward the other side of the confessional. “Get in.” He wouldn’t be able to see her, but they could talk, and she wouldn’t blow his cover.

Sasha followed his instructions, which he liked even though he shouldn’t. He didn’t have a whole lot to say for a long beat. Maybe a joke? “Anything you want to confess?”

She laughed. “I thought we established the fact that I don’t believe in God the other night.”

That had been such a dumb thing to ask. “Sorry about that.”

“Oh, it’s totally fine.” He heard her clothes rustling as she shifted her body. The shadow at the other side of the screen seemed like it was closer to him, and he could smell her shampoo. Being this close to her was more intimate than he would otherwise be allowed to be, and it was a terrible idea. “Why did you ask?”

He wasn’t going to tell her the real reason—that he felt guilty about his prurient interest in her, and he would feel better about it if she wasn’t one of the faithful. “I was . . . curious. We’ve known each other for a while, but we don’t really know each other that well.”

“Hmmm.”

“What are you doing here today?” That sounded less welcoming than he wanted it to sound. Not that he welcomed her surprise visit more than any other surprise visit. He didn’t like her or anything. “I mean, is there something you need from me?”

“You sound like you’re afraid that I need something.”

Patrick scrubbed a hand over his face. He was tired. It wasn’t just the work; it was the work that went into making the work look easy. “A lot of people need a lot of things, but I can always make time for a friend.”

“Even if I’m a heathen nonbeliever?” Somehow, her teasing him made him feel better. It filled him with energy.

“You were still baptized, right? So, you’re still Catholic.” He might sound like he was trying to be helpful, but he was so selfish. He wanted to see inside her head and know what made her tick. And he couldn’t let himself think about the reasons why.

“But I’m not a good Catholic.” Was she trying to kill him? Saying that she wasn’t a good Catholic to him was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Because, thing was, Patrick adored sinners. He loved how interesting they were, and how they tested his faith.

“What do you mean by that?” She paused and he caught the glimmer of movement through the screen, as though she was brushing her hair behind her ear. He didn’t like that he made her nervous. “You went to Catholic schools long enough to know that you’re not a bad person. You’re a child of God.”

If only Patrick could remember that when he was around her. She wasn’t for him to lust after. She just wasn’t for him. And yet, he was dying for her to give him anything of herself. He had a conflict of interest here, but that didn’t mean he was going to do anything about it.

“Are you trying to tell me that you’re not like regular priests? That you’re a cool priest?”

“Are you quoting Mean Girls at me?”

“You’ve seen Mean Girls?”

“Come on! I didn’t come out of the womb a priest. And I can still watch movies.”

Sasha laughed. “I guess I just think of you as outside ordinary life.”

“If I couldn’t understand ordinary life, I wouldn’t be a very good priest.” He was in close contact with how ordinary life felt right now. Spending time with Sasha was reminding him of what his life might be like if he wasn’t a priest.

Sasha surprised him by laughing again. “No one in the Church understands ordinary life.”

“Listen, I’m not like the other priests.”

“We’ve established that you’re a cool priest.” Her derision got to him in a way he wasn’t going to dwell on. She’d come here for a reason, and this was about her, not his growing dissatisfaction with his vocation. “But you’re part of an institution, and bound by the canon laws of that institution.”

That was true. He really didn’t have anything to say in