“I’m curious.”
She took a deep breath and shook her head.
“You can trust me.”
“I don’t know you that well, and from what I’m seeing, I’m not completely sure that I can trust you.”
My lips curved. “Why, because I smoke and drink?”
“Yes, those are not excellent qualities.”
“It’s just a habit, Elena. It says nothing about my character.”
“I beg to differ.”
“So, you’re going to ask me to stop drinking and smoking now?”
Her gaze flickered to mine. “You would do that?”
“I might. It depends.”
“Depends on what?”
I chuckled again, and she growled in frustration. “Fine, don’t tell me.”
“So, what will it take for you to trust me, saving your life?”
She laughed. “You think my life needs saving?”
“I don’t know. You seem like a damsel in distress. Maybe you don’t even know it. Maybe that is why your father doesn’t want to tell you the truth?”
She stared at me. I hit a nerve.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No, you might have just said something right, for once,” she whispered the last part and went immediately into thought. She hugged the gray coat that she wore over a shirt and jeans.
“You think that is why your father moves every three months?”
“I told you my father is in a high-security defense job. No, it’s not why we move every three months.” She was lying again. The high-security job was just a cover story. She did not know why they were moving. This was making the situation twenty times worse.
“Then why did you zone out on me?”
She laughed. “Can we please change the subject? You are way too observant.”
I shrugged. “I’m great at reading people.”
“Mm, I can tell.”
“Okay, fine. The subject’s changed. Favorite music?”
“Everything. I love music. Yours?”
“Mine,” I said.
She gasped. “You write music?”
“I’m in a band, or was. We had a bit of fallout before I left.”
