Hell, no, he didn’t. If she knew the things he’d done over the years, she wouldn’t wait for him to drive her back to town. She’d take off running as fast as she could and wouldn’t look back.
He shifted on the blanket, bringing her closer to him, and he wrapped an arm around her, tugging her closer.
Gunnar tried to think of something else to ask. “Tell me your favorite moment in time.”
“It’s not pretty.”
“Tell me anyway.” If he had to go kick someone’s ass, then he’d just have to pretend he was going on a job and she’d never need to know about it.
“Okay.” She turned away from him. “When I was a kid, my mom left my dad. I remember I had one pink pillowcase to put my toys in. My mom put my clothes in a white one.” He could hear the catch in her voice. “Mom didn’t bring anything for her. She just took me, and made sure I had my stuff, ya know?”
“Moms are supposed to put their kids first. Yours sounds like that’s exactly what she did.”
“I know.” She nodded, her hair brushing off his chin. “I knew then my momma would always be in my corner. That no matter what else happened, I knew I was loved beyond a doubt by at least one person on the planet.”
He was about to ask her why her mom just walked out with nothing but the clothes on her back, her kid, and only toys and her child’s clothes. But he figured two things out before he put his foot in it. One, it might upset her, and two, it would piss him off. Both of which would ruin what was left of their night. “Your mom does love you,” he told herseriously. “Anyone who will call my mom and threaten to sic the cops on her if I didn’t produce her daughter by midnight is pretty damn fierce.”
“Your mom wouldn’t do the same?”
“She’d have the butler do it.”
“Seriously?”
“Our butler, Harry, is much scarier than Mom, and she knows it.” Gunnar snorted. “Even Mom does what Harry tells her to do. She loves us, don’t doubt that. She just knows Harry gets shit done faster and better than she can, especially when it comes to wayward sons.”
“Mental note to self: be sure to hire a butler named Harry to chase after my kids if I ever have any.”
Both of them laughed together. Gunnar didn’t remember ever having this much fun answering questions. In his world, answering questions was never a fun experience—until now.
“Tell me yours?”
“Sure, lemme think.”
“Because you have soooo many,” she teased.
He laughed with her. “Nah, I’m just not so used to putting my memories out there for anyone to see.” He cleared his throat. “So anyway, we were at this refugee camp. I can’t tell you what country. But I was bored one day and stole some dish soap from the camp kitchen.” He shrugged. “I wanted to goof off a bit. So anyway, I mixed it with water and used a tab from a beer can to blow some bubbles. Before I knew it, I had half a dozen kids around me, and they were all blowing bubbles. Not gonna lie, but seeing those sad babies’ eyes light up when I taught them how to blow bubbles made from dish soap and water, even my cold dead heart felt a couple of emotions.”
“Kids are amazing at finding joy in the smallest things, aren’t they?”
“They sure are.” There were so many more things hecould say, but it was uncomfortable for him to remember all those babies he hadn’t been able to save. “What’s your best piece of advice?”
She thought about it for a couple of seconds. “My momma taught me to have a line in the sand that’s your bottom line. Don’t cross it for anyone you wouldn’t die for.”
He’d been expecting something to do with computers, like Remi would have dished out. “That’s a good one.”
“What’s yours?”
After the heavy stuff of the last couple of questions, he figured it would be a good idea to lighten the mood a little. “Don’t wear headphones while vacuuming the house.” Just as he hoped, she laughed with him. “Hey, don’t knock it. I once finished the whole house before realizing the vacuum wasn’t plugged in.”
“I’d have been so mad.”
“I was. I almost gave in and allowed the guys to hire a cleaner for our houses and not just the main living spaces,” he said seriously. “Never tell them that, or they’ll bug the crap out of me until they wear me down.”
She drew her fingers across her lips and tossed away the key. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.” Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. “I think it’s time to leave so they can close up.”
She sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to.”
