His mouth went dry, but he continued to meet her gaze.
“You’re notnicebecause, in your experience,nicehas never been useful. Oh, and your parents are divorced.”
A heavy, cold silence enveloped them, broken only by the sound of the sea.
“Is that it?” he asked quietly.
“Yes.”
“Hm.” He nodded stiffly. “Okay. Not bad. Nine out of ten,” he said tonelessly.
“What did I get wrong?”
“My parents were together until the end. Until my dad died.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
Yeah, he was sorry too, that they’d stayed together until the end. Even though he was sure that wasn’t what Rachel meantby her apology. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” he replied sharply, letting his gaze wander slowly over her oval face. Her cheeks were flushed, either from the heat or the wind. “But, yes, the rest is correct.”
She smiled. “Does that surprise you?”
“No. I'm…confused.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t get it. If you’re such a good psychologist with such a good understanding of human nature…” His toes brushed against hers, and he looked her straight in the eyes. He wanted, needed, tounderstandher. She was so much more dangerous because she never did or said what he expected. “Why didn’t you realize that the guy who found you toointimidatingwas an asshole? He matched with you about as well as oranges go with chocolate?”
Blinking, she looked at him. “He wasn’t an asshole. And oranges combined with chocolate are delicious.”
“You’re wrong about both,” he murmured urgently, bending down to catch a glimpse of her face. She smelled of mint and something sweet. He hated that he knew that now. “Oranges are good for fighting scurvy, but not good for anything else. And the guy made you feel bad about being smart, ambitious, andtall. Like you should be ashamed of that. Good Lord. Why would you ever have to justify being too strong and smart to someone? Batman doesn’t do that. Why the hell should that beyourproblem? He sounded like an asshole to me, no matter how friendly his tone. You should know that, since you seem to be an expert at determining who’s an asshole and who isn’t.”
Her eyes widened and the same incomprehension that filled him was reflected in her expression.
Good. At least he wasn’t the only overwhelmed party.
“See you around, Rachel,” he said quietly, walking backwards a step and then turning around.
Distance. Distance sounded good. Distance until he could think clearly again.
Chapter Five
Nobody is perfect!
From the self-help book for self-pitiers by psychologist Rachel James
Speak for yourself. - Connor
Rachel was finding it difficult to think clearly.
Last night, she’d slept restlessly after her conversation with that stupid divorce lawyer. She didn’t feel comfortable agreeing with Connor Stone, but the longer she thought about it, the clearer it became that Dwayne had indeed been an asshole. A friendly one, but…that didn’t necessarily make it better.
She was so used to hiding how ambitious and intelligent she was in front of men that she hadn’t questioned it at first. Dwayne hadn’t been the first man to tell her he was looking fora different type of woman.
On paper, he’d been exactly what she was looking for, so she’d wanted to be…right for him. She’d been wrong too many times in her life – supposed perfection or not.
Now she stood in the bakery a few doors down from Maddie’s old apartment – which was now her new one – wondering how the shirtless guy who, for some reason, was holding a metal detector and jogging along the boardwalk toward her could look so annoyingly hot — and beright, too!
Men weren’t supposed to be smart, have a sense of humor, look good, and be right. That wasn’t natural.
