I studied his profile. Strong nose, sharp jaw, those damn eyes that seemed to see too much. “What do you want to know?”
“Where are you from originally?”
I hesitated. Giving him information felt dangerous. But what was the point of lying now? “Baltimore. Born and raised.”
“How’d you end up in DC?”
“My twin sister Zainab and I moved to LA when we were about eighteen. Wanted to get away from home, start fresh. Then I moved here a few years ago. Needed a change of scenery.”
“Your twin still in LA?”
“Yeah.”
“Must be hard. Being away from family.”
There was something in his voice. Something raw and unguarded. I looked at him again, really looked at him.
“What about you? You close with your family?”
“Some. My siblings and I are close.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “My father is dead, and my mother and I don’t speak.”
“At all?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“Damn. What happened?”
“She’s a terrible mother.” The bitterness in his voice was familiar. I recognized it because I carried my own.
“Ohhhh,” I said, understanding clicking into place. “That’s what your problem is. That’s why you hate women. Your mommy didn’t hug you enough.”
He cut his eyes at me, but there was a hint of amusement there. “You think you’re funny?”
“I think I’m right.”
“Maybe. But you’re wrong about me hating women. I love women.” He shifted in his seat, and suddenly his voice dropped lower, more intimate. “You wanna help heal me, Goddess?”
The nickname hit me like a physical touch. Goddess. The way he said it, slow and deliberate, made my stomach flip.
“Don’t call me that,” I said, but my voice came out breathier than I intended.
“Why not? It fits.”
“It doesn’t.”
“It does.” His eyes flicked to me, then back to the road. “You don’t see yourself clearly.”
Heat flooded my face. I turned to look out the window, trying to ignore the way my pulse had kicked up. “You don’t know me well enough to call me anything.”
“I’m learning.”
“Well, stop.”
He laughed. Actually laughed. The sound was rich and unexpected and did things to my insides I refused to acknowledge.
“You’re attracted to me,” he said casually, like he was commenting on the weather.
“I am not.”
