Page 56 of The Woman with the Handcuffs

“I’m not going to try to convince you that people don’t think about you. But maybe you can accept that they’re thinking good things. Most people aren’t going to be anywhere near as harsh as that voice inside your head wants you to believe.”

“I’ve embarrassed myself no less than, like, fifty times with you already.”

“And I was kind of amused by all of it.”

I liked that he didn’t rush to tell me that I hadn’t embarrassed myself. For some reason, not sugarcoating it made me believe what he was saying a lot more.

“Even the throwing up?”

“Cait, you got yourself so worked up over the thought of torture that you got sick, had to comfort yourself with saltines, and fell asleep from the whole ordeal. Trust me, in my world, that shit is amusing. Maybe even kind of sweet.”

“Not weak?” Like I’d been calling myself ever since.

“Not weak. Maybe soft. But, trust me, I work in a hard industry, know a lot of hard people, soft is good.”

It was absurd just how much my heart swelled at those words.

“You know what is weak, though?” he asked.

“What?”

“Your self-control around junk food.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Gavino

We had to check out early, so we rushed around in the morning, going down to the buffet, then rushing back to clean up, pack up, and hit the road.

But we finally managed to make it to the tractor-trailer yard before noon.

“So, um, if Ira asks, who am I going to say you are? Because he’s my dad’s boss, so…”

“How much about your personal life does Ira know?”

“I mean, not much. Not anymore.”

“Then say we’re together. If he asks about where I’ve been, say I was out of the country on business.”

I could have been her friend. Her roommate. I didn’t need to pretend to be her boyfriend.

I damn sure didn’t need to put my arm around her as we walked toward the office with the excuse of needing to ‘sell it.’

But that’s what I did.

She’d been tense at first, her spine stiff. But when my hand tightened a bit on her hip, she melted.

“Nugget!” a man in a baseball cap and a tucked-in polo greeted her, looking a mix of surprised and pleased.

My lips curved up, because I could guess where that nickname came from.

“Hey, Ira.”

“Glad to see you again so soon. Though I hate why.”

“Yeah, me too,” she said. Ira’s gaze slid to me, his brow lifting. “Oh, sorry. Ira, this is my boyfriend, Gav. Gav, this is my dad’s boss.”

“Nice to meet you,” I greeted him, offering my hand.