I’ve seen that look so many times from her over the short time we’ve known each other. It’s pretty clear what’s going on in that head of hers right now.
“You don’t believe a word I say, do you?”
She takes another sip from the bottle, averting her gaze. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
At least she’s being honest.
It would have been easy enough for her to lie, for her to tell me she believes me when I know she doesn’t get whatever it is she’s looking for from me, but the fact that she was willing to tell me the truth suggests she at least wants to trust me.
Somewhere, deep down, she doesn’t want to bicker and have the push-pull sometimes contempt-laced interactions we have in the past.
That’s a massive step in the right direction as far as I’m concerned.
I won’t push her for more at the moment.
The only way to get Bishop Clarke to trust me is to earn it.
That takes time and patience.
I snag the container of cheese and tear it open, then rip off a hunk of bread. “Hungry?”
She shakes her head. “I ate.”
I pop the food into my mouth and chew, waiting for her to make the decision about how the rest of our night is going to go.
Her gaze stays locked on the water for so long that the sun fully sets, plunging the park into darkness.
When she finally glances at me again, I take that as an opening.
“I really suck at this, huh?”
Her brow furrows. “At what?”
“The whole spontaneity thing…”
The tiniest smile pulls at her lips, and aside from the earlier laughter, I think it’s genuinely the first time I’ve seen a reaction from her that wasn’t all-out contempt—at the very least, mistrust—when looking at me. “No.” She scans the dark park again. “This is actually pretty nice.”
“Wait a minute, was that a compliment?” Her head whips back toward me, and I grin widely. “Maybe I’m hallucinating?—”
She shrugs at me with a full-blown smile this time, and it completely lights up her entire face.
Gone are the dark circles under her eyes.
The deep lines she worried into her forehead disappear.
All I see is a happy—and amused—woman for the first time since I met her.
“It was definitely a compliment, but don’t let it go to your head.”
“I won’t.”
That’s a lie.
It was a big win. Hopefully, a massive step forward in whatever this is that’s happening between us. Maybe it’s too much to hope for that, but something seems to shift between us.
A lightening of the air.
Her eyes continue to move over the park, from the huge grassy areas, to the old bridge and the water sparkling under the almost full moon that is out tonight. “Why here?”
