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Partner. The word had a nice ring to it. Though there was a definite electric current running between them and he needed to keep his distance if he didn’t want to get shocked.

Bryce pulled onto the main road. “I just want to warn you, my father isn’t the most pleasant person around. Assuming he’s sober when he answers the door.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve had my share of people disappointing me.”

His heart cracked at the pain radiating through her voice. “I’m sure it was hard for you growing up in an orphanage.”

“There’s that. But I was in a relationship when I lived in New York. Turned out the man wasn’t who I thought he was. We were on the force together, and let’s just say that things didn’t work out between us. I’ve always had the goal of joining the Bureau, but when that happened, well, it’s one of the main reasons I hung up my detective cap to join the FBI.”

No way was Bryce leaving it at “things didn’t work out.” Not when she was finally opening up about her background and what made her tick. “Tell me what happened. We have a forty-five-minute ride, and it might get my mind off seeing my father after almost eighteen years.”

She squirmed in her seat. “There’s not much to say. I thought we had a good thing going. But he had a second thing going.”

It took Bryce a minute to process that. “He cheated on you?”

“Yep. And I felt like such a dolt. I’m a detective and I was clueless. We were engaged, and he chose her instead of me. Some blond cheerleader—literally—barely out of college.”

“I’m so sorry, Kira. That’s messed up.” How could people be so cruel? Granted, he hadn’t known Kira long, but he didn’t need time to know she deserved someone who would be her hero, her partner. Not a man who’d stomp on her trust, especially after her rough upbringing. Someone who didn’t have baggage and—

“You’d think I was used to getting passed over. The orphanage taught me rejection is just a part of life, so I work around it. I adapt to my surroundings and give people what they expect. But getting involved with anyone from work? That’s a mistake I won’t make again.”

Her comments reeked of loneliness, but what could he say? After his failed marriage, he’d written off relationships. “I get the need to protect your heart. But don’t you get tired of living the life of a chameleon?” The words slipped out before he could stop himself. And then he tried to backtrack. “I just mean that I think we both have spent a lot of time trying to prove ourselves to others.”

“No, it’s a fair question. I do my best to work harder than anyone else to prove myself. I’m fine to play the game to get what I want.”

“But what do you want?”

She didn’t answer right away. “Despite all of the pretenses, I do want people to know the real me,” she finally said. “I have people in my life that love me. My parents are always there for me, along with my roommates. But part of me thinks if things get tough, they may bail. And I know it’s not true, but those old fears creep in at times. Relationships are fragile.”

He reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze. “I’m here. I’m listening. And you don’t have to pretend with me.”

The woman he’d just met had kicked open the door to his heart and was taking up residency—after he’d just reminded himself that she was off-limits.

Kira pointed at a lookout spot, and Bryce pulled into the gravel parking area that overlooked the valley below.

“This is beautiful. I can’t believe you grew up around here.” She craned her neck, scanning the area until her gaze finally found him. “How did you move on from your past?” Her voice was soft and inquisitive, trusting he’d mastered the art of healing the gaping wounds of a mother who abandoned him and an alcoholic father who’d neglected him.

“I started to go to church in college. My grandfather’s influence, I guess. But one sermon in particular woke me up. I realized that no matter how hard I worked, I wouldn’t be able to earn love and acceptance. That the only person who would love me for me was Jesus. I let go of the years of living up to my father’s expectations, and peace began to replace the bitterness. I became a believer.”

Where had that come from? He hadn’t anticipated taking their conversation deep.

She didn’t exactly roll her eyes, but he picked up on her skeptic vibe. “My adoptive parents are Christians. I’ve heard tons about faith, repentance, and love, but it’s so hard for me to see it.”

He understood, more than she knew. “The point of faith is believing without seeing. But if God hadn’t stepped into my life, bitterness would have consumed me.” His life would have taken a different trajectory had he given in to the victim mentality that haunted his childhood.

She pinched her lips together as if weighing her next words. “Maybe we have more in common than we first thought.”

“Right, so you’re also straitlaced and by the book like me?”

She laughed, and he relished the sound. When had he last laughed like that?

“I’ll admit that my first impression of you might have been wrong.”

Bryce feigned indignation. “What? You didn’t find me irresistibly charming?”

She punched his arm. “To be fair, I met you at one a.m. in a police station while I was covered in blood. I wasn’t too focused on you.”

“That’s fair.”