She realized she sounded modest about achievements she didn’t really feel that modest about – she’d workeddamned hardto get where she was – but nor did she really feel all that much like boasting to Kieran. In the world she came from it was necessary not to be shy about yourself and your skills, but Kieran wasn’t a prospective client or someone who was interviewing her for a job, where she had to puff herself up.
No, he’s…
Natasha frowned.
I thought he was going to be a vacation fling. But the more I talk to him…
The more she talked to him, the more she found herself warming to him – in more ways than one.
He wasn’t like the men she’d gone on dates with back in the city. They were either slick corporate types with paychecks to rival her own – which often meant they were insufferable prigs – or they were men whoseemednot to mind her dedication to her career at first, only to reveal themselves as completely insecure about it after a couple of months, telling her they needed a woman who’d be waiting at home for them with their dinner on the table.
It’s not even as if I mind doing those kinds of things!Natasha thought. She liked cooking, actually! She wanted romantic candle-lit dinners at home with her special someone! But she just wanted it not to be arequirement.Eventually she’d just given up, and thrown herself even more wholeheartedly into her job.
And she couldn’t imagine any of those guys just… lying down and falling asleep in a forest. That was way too…quirky.
But quirky could be good?Natasha thought, glancing up at Kieran through the filter of her eyelashes.
“I think we’re pretty much back to civilization,” Kieran said as they rounded a bend in the path, and the parking lot came into view.
Natasha couldn’t help the sinking feeling of disappointment in her chest. She’d been enjoying their talk, and while they’d been surrounded by the forest it had felt almost as if it might go on forever – as if they’d carved out some little place for themselves, secluded from reality, from the fact that she was only here for a month, and Kieran probably wasn’t staying all that long either.
“Oh, I guess we are,” Natasha said, as the sound of cars on the road leading to the parking lot began to find its way to her ears – she wasn’t sure she was able to keep the disappointment from her voice, and she also wasn’t sure she cared.
She bit her lip, confusion rising within her.
I know we already organized a date for tomorrow, but we’re here now… maybe we could just –
“I should probably be getting back to where I’m staying, anyway,” Kieran said, a slight grimace crossing his face. “But… I’m really happy we happened to cross paths. Even if itwasunder kind of embarrassing circumstances.”
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” Natasha said, laughing. “Really – I mean, going to sleep in a peaceful forest doesn’t even rank on the embarrassment scale. When I think about it, it actually seems like one of the most sensible things you could do.”
To her surprise, she found she kind of meant what she said, too.
“Um – so you said you were staying with your uncle?” she blurted out in a desperate attempt to keep the conversation going – and probably totally destroying the cool, icy façade she’d been hoping to cultivate. Though it was probably too late to be worrying about that now, anyway.
Oh, God, didn’t he say that he died?Natasha thought wildly, horrified at how she’d shoved her foot into her mouth.
“Oh, wait, I’m sorry, I remember now –” she began, hoping the conversation could still be salvaged.
“Oh, no, don’t worry,” Kieran said. “He lived a good life, doing exactly what he wanted to do. Which was living in a big house in the middle of the forest. He was a bit of an eccentric that way – but I like to think he lived on his on terms, and he seemed at peace when he went.”
Natasha bit her lip. “I didn’t mean to pry.”
“Don’t worry, you didn’t,” Kieran reassured her. “Like I said, it was a while ago, though of course I do still miss him.”
Natasha was relieved she hadn’t unwittingly dragged up a painful memory, but then Kieran grimaced, and she wondered if perhaps he was only being polite by telling her she hadn’t offended him. But the only thing he said was, “I don’t want to rush off, but Ireallyneed to be getting back. I left… uh, a ton of things that need doing back there. It’s a pretty run-down old place and if I’m going to stay there, I really need to get on to them.”
“Right. I understand.” Natasha nodded, trying not to let how disappointed she was show on her face. What he said was perfectly reasonable, after all – he had stuff he needed to do, and he couldn’t neglect it for a chance meeting. It wasn’t like he was blowing her off! “So… tomorrow, then?”
The smile that broke out across Kieran’s face was bright and dazzling enough to allay any fears she might have had that he was trying to escape her company.
“Absolutely. I can’t wait. Really, I can’t. I’ll be counting the hours.”
Natasha swallowed heavily, turning away as she walked on up the path, the fluttering in her heart becoming almost unbearable.
Why he is so… so… so…!
Behind her, she heard a rustling of leaves and felt a sudden gust of wind, as if it was rushing down the mountain to cool down her heated cheeks. She clutched at her woolen hat, even though it was in no danger of flying off, to give herself an excuse to take a moment to calm down before she spoke again.
