“Except that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know. I wish I could explain, but I really can’t and I have to ask you to please not pressure me about it.”
Wyatt’s arms wrapped around her. He squeezed her gently and pressed his face into her neck, kissing the sensitive spot near her collarbone. “I love you so much, Vee.”
“I love you, too. Come on. I’ll meet you at your place.”
He pulled back enough to look at her face. He kissed her hard and then nodded, adding a quick, “Drive safe.”
“I will,” she promised.
Valene drove straight to Wyatt’s place, went past his house and parked around the corner on a dead-end street with only one streetlight. A well-trodden path passed from the lonely short road along the back of the homes on Wyatt’s side of the street. Only one yard was fenced, right next door to Wyatt’s. It would be problematic if his neighbor’s dogs were out in the yard. Usually they were tucked in their doggie beds by this time of night.
She’d snuck along the path often enough to know the ins and outs of making her way past the five houses closest to Wyatt’s place in the quickest time possible.
Wyatt’s small house was just two streets over from the home he’d grown up in—his physical closeness to his family another example of their emotional closeness.
Valene locked the sedan and walked along the sidewalk before ducking into the nearest unfenced backyard. She carefully passed the first few homes until she came to the narrow passage between a tall wooden fence on the left and a chain-link fence on the right.
She stopped at the corner, searching the neighbor’s yard for either of the humongous Siberian huskies in residence, but didn’t see or hear them.
Scooting sideways between the fences, Valene took care to be quiet. No need to rouse the animals into a frenzy. She made it without incident and was soon standing on Wyatt’s small patio next to the kitchen door at the back of his house.
Before she even knocked, she heard the chain lock release and the dead bolt snap free. The door swung open and Wyatt hooked an arm around her, pulling her inside.
She didn’t have time to catch her breath before Wyatt kissed her hard on the mouth. She returned his kiss with her own amped-up attitude. She didn’t know how long they stood in front of his kitchen door smooching, but when he lifted his head, she was breathless.
Wyatt hugged her tight and whispered in her ear, “What was your name again?”
“Very funny.” She huffed. “It’s Valvoline Ethyl Grey. Stop asking me that. You know I hate my name.”
“Fine. I’ll just call you Vee.” His expression changed, though, hardened. “Why won’t you marry me, Vee?”
“It’s complicated.”
“If I ask you here in the privacy of my kitchen, will the answer be different?”
She slowly shook her head, certain her expression conveyed her misery.
“Are you already married?”
She snorted out a startled laugh. “No.”
“Locked in an arranged marriage like your brother?”
“No.”
“You have another boyfriend tucked away somewhere?”
“No! Absolutely not!”
“Then why is it complicated?”
“Because…well…” She sighed loudly. “Because it just is.”
Valene didn’t know what to tell him. If she told him the truth, she’d have to run and get the Defender weapon out of the glove compartment of her parents’ car and shoot him…again. He’d be fine, lose nothing more than a bit of time. But she didn’t want to do it.
