I was strangely disappointed that I couldn’t see her eyes anymore. They were so deep and expressive that I found I’d come to rely on looking into them to try to determine what was really going on behind them.
Guess I’m just going to have to go with my gut for now. It told me something was up with her and waiting her out was getting to me. “Work stuff?”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I told you I wanted to extend the shop hours, remember?”
“Sure.” It had come up in one of our conversations last week. “What about it?”
“I’m just not sure how to go about doing it. I’ll figure it out, though. Don’t worry about it.”
My eyes slid to the side as I slowed for a red traffic light. “Want any help figuring it out? I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but I’m good at business.”
“You haven’t been as modest as you seem to think.” She smiled. “So I assumed even if you haven’t said it, but I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind.” I wasn’t even only offering because she was helping me. Business was something I enjoyed and figuring out what she needed in hers would be fun.
Luna shook her head, a small smile still playing on her lips. She moved her hand to cover mine on the gear shift. “Thanks for offering, but I really will be fine.”
“Okay.” I let out a breath and rolled my lips. Obviously, something was going on with Luna’s shop, but I couldn’t help her if she wouldn’t talk to me about it.
Deciding to ask about it again once we knew each other a little better, I pulled into the parking lot she directed me to. “The park is right around the corner. We can walk the last few blocks.”
“You got it.” I found a space and carefully pulled into it, then turned in my seat to face her and pushed my sunglasses to the top of my head. “Before we go anywhere, are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
“Why?” She sighed and dropped her head back, letting it loll to the side to watch me as she pulled her own sunglasses off. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Whenever somebody says something isn’t a big deal, it’s usually because it is a big deal.”
“I thought you didn’t want a relationship. This sounds a whole lot like relationship talk.”
“I thought we’d agreed to keep sleeping together for the time being. That may not constitute being in a romantic relationship, but it does mean we have some kind of relationship with one another. Even if it doesn’t mean we’re a couple.” I lifted my hand to her cheek. “As always, you can tell me to fuck off. If this is really about work, then fine. You don’t have to talk to me about it, but I can’t sleep with someone who has so much trouble looking me in the eye all of a sudden.”
“Well, I can’t sleep with someone if he’s the one getting married.” Her eyes blew wide open. She sucked both of her lips into her mouth, like she hadn’t meant to say that and was trying to seal her mouth against saying anything else.
I lifted my eyebrows and lowered my chin, keeping my gaze on hers. “I thought we’d established I’m not the one getting married.”
“Yeah, we did,” she said, her voice so low I could barely hear her. “But I told you about my ex and what happened. It just occurred to me that you said it wasn’t you getting married, but I still don’t know who it is.”
“I’m not your ex, Luna. If I wanted to sleep with a woman behind my wife’s back, she wouldn’t be called my wife.” I wedged my hand into the pocket of my jeans and extracted my phone. “Here. Let me prove it to you.”
I unlocked the device and clicked into a social media app I didn’t use often but Peter loved. He’d signed me up for it because apparently everyone under the age of eighty had a profile on it these days.
“This is Peter, my brother.” I turned the screen toward Luna and scrolled through his photos. “That woman with him is Jenny, his fiancée. They’re the people getting married. Take the phone, scroll through his profile. There are photos of their engagement and I’m pretty sure I got an email saying he tagged me in something where he thanked me for agreeing to help.”
Tentatively taking it from me, she spent the next minute or so looking at pictures and whatnot until she gave it back. “I believe you. Peter and Jenny are the couple we’re planning a wedding for, not you. I’m sorry for sounding like a lunatic.”
“Well, to be fair, the word does have your name in it, so maybe I should have expected it.” My lips curved into a grin as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened my door. “Are you coming, Luna the lunatic?”
A low groan fell from her lips, but she nodded and let herself out. “That nickname isn’t going to stick, is it?”
“I don’t know. Are you going to keep coming up with the crazy thought that I’m the one getting married? Because that’s the second time I’ve told you it’s not me.”
“I know. I guess I just wanted to be sure.” She offered me a small smile as we started walking out of the parking lot. “I didn’t really believe it was you getting married, but after what happened before…”
“I get it. Better safe than sorry.” Emerging onto the street, we joined the people on the sidewalk and settled into a slow pace as we headed toward the entrance of the park.
The very faint and sheer lilac and rose scent of blossoming cherry trees wafted in the air, accented with vanilla and an almost nutty aroma. Beside us in the park we walked along, all sorts of flowers were in bloom, and trees were budding with bright green leaves. Luna pointed it all out to me, marveling in naming certain flowers and getting excited about spring.
She tipped her head back and inhaled deeply, letting out a contented sound. “I love this time of year. All this new life is like a gift from nature, don’t you think?”
“Can’t say I’ve ever thought about it that way, but it sure beats everything being gray and dreary.” I opened the latch on the low gate leading into the park and held it open for her, then followed her through and shut it again.
There were people all over, sitting on the grass or under the canopy formed by the light pink cherry blossoms. Luna led me away from the main area just inside the gate, walking back in the direction we’d come from.
Our arms brushed together as we strolled through the park, but neither of us made a move to touch the other more than that. It was comforting that she wasn’t trying to cling to me or lay some claim to me despite what we’d agreed to.
In the past, I’d been burned once or twice by people claiming to be okay with casual sex when what they really wanted was everything but. “Are we done talking about this thing with your ex then? Because I promise you, Luna, I’m not him. I might be an asshole, but I’m not an insecure or attention-seeking one. When I have been in a relationship, I’ve always been faithful.”
Crossing her arms under her breasts as we walked, she angled her head to look up at me. “You were faithful to the gold-digger?”
My lips pressed into a tight line, but I nodded. “Until the very end. After the very end even.” I hooked my thumbs into my pockets. “I know you and I haven’t made any promises to each other and that we’re not planning to, but you can trust me.”