“I did.”
“Why?”
“Someone dared me to.”
I believed that. Rule did not seem like the sort to back down from a dare.
“What was your name before?”
“Irrelevant,” he said softly.
“You didn’t like it?”
“It was given to me by someone who felt sorry for the diaper-wearing kid found in the police station. I had no value, nor did the name they gave me.”
“So you think it was irrelevant.”
He glanced my way. “No, I thinkIwas irrelevant.”
Remember when I said I didn’t have a heart? I think I was wrong because that statement ripped my chest wide open, flayed me straight down the middle. The way Rule said the words … as though he truly believed them … it caused something inside me to shift.
Because I could tell that was not a topic he was willing or eager to venture into, I shifted tactics.
“Does it bother you that I’m asking all these questions?”
“No.”
“Would you tell me if it did?”
“Yes.”
“I believe you.” I grinned, tucking my hands in my pockets to warm my fingers. “I like to ask questions. I like to know things about people.”
“But you don’t let people know you.”
There was no heat in his tone, no accusation. “It’s easier that way. Lessens the chance of disappointment. Plus, most people don’t want to knowme. They want to know my mother. I’m merely a path to get them there.” I glanced over at him. “You’re not exactly an open book, either.”
He didn’t respond, but he tended not to when I didn’t voice a question.
“You said you wouldn’t fuck other women while we’re married. Why not?”
I think I surprised him with my candor because his gaze snapped to mine before he could hide his reaction.
“I don’t want to,” he said gruffly.
“But you don’t want to fuck me either? Why is that?”
“Because that’s not what this is.”
“Then whatisit, exactly?” I stopped walking because I wanted to look him in the eye when I asked my next question.
Rule stopped, too, but he didn’t turn to look at me immediately as though sensing what I was going to ask.
“What’s in it for you, Rule? This marriage, I mean.”
“Nothing.”
I wished I could’ve detected a lie in his answer, but I didn’t. Whether that was because I didn’t know him well enough to detect one or because he was telling the truth, I wasn’t sure. He assured me he wouldn’t lie because he had no reason to. Was that true? Or was that a lie simply to keep me from thinking the worst?
