Page 55 of Over the Line

“Do you have a workout bag in your car, too?” he reached into the carton for a couple more eggs.

“Prepared for anything, anytime.”

Also the result of your relationship with Lewis?

“I’m never in one place for too long.”

“Has it always been that way?”

“Except for that one failed attempt at a relationship.” She took a sip of her coffee. “I inherited my parents’ love of the world. The story goes that I was conceived in Sydney, Australia. Hence, my name.”

“Clever.”

“Glad that didn’t happen when they were in Kuala Lumpur.”

“Right?”

“Anyway, I was born in the United States, but I spent my first birthday in Budapest. My second in London.” She picked a strawberry from a bowl on the bar and popped it into her mouth. “From what I’ve been told, I took my first steps in Geneva. Learned to ski in Utah.”

Which explained a lot about her.

“Dad is quite a bit older than Mom, and he’d inherited some money. He worked as a consultant, and that took him all over the world. So she went with him. They didn’t accumulate a lot of worldly goods, believing experiences were more important than things.”

“Hard to disagree with that.”

After biting into a second berry, she picked up the threads of her story. “I think I was unexpected—not unwelcome, but not planned. So their philosophy was to throw me in a backpack and keep going.”

When breakfast was ready, she helped him carry the platters of food to the table.

She snagged a piece of bacon before he could serve it. “This might do the trick.”

“Trick?” he repeated, frowning in confusion. “What are you talking about?” He pulled back a chair for her.

“You cook. Crispy bacon. Fluffy eggs. And you brew an amazing pot of coffee. It might get me to accept another invitation.”

“If I’d known it was that easy…” He took the chair next to hers. “And I was planning to offer to tie you to the fence and flog you to sweeten the pot.”

The piece of bacon dropped from her fingertips. “Well, you certainly do know how to capture a girl’s interest, Sir.”

“That’s my intent.” He spooned eggs onto her plate.

After taking the first bite, she saluted him with her fork. “This is amazing.”

Her pleasure sustained him.

As they ate, they talked about ranch life.

Afterward, she carried their dishes to the sink, then returned with the coffee pot. As she refilled their cups, she regarded him.

“What’s bothering you?” he asked.

“How do you keep doing that? Reading my mind?”

“You’ve got an expressive face.” Sitting back, he waited for her to take the carafe back to the kitchen.

When she was across from him again, she said, “I’m curious about what happened to your marriage.”

Though he didn’t like to talk about it, he wanted to see her again. Gaining her trust was more important than his need to compartmentalize his past. “After we were married, she shifted her expectations about BDSM and sex. What had been fun was now forbidden.”