Page 7 of Collateral Damage

Not him though. He found it fucking irresistible.

Unfortunately.

She chuckled, revealing the barest hint of a dimple on her left cheek. “Oh, it’s definitely the case.” The woman calling herself Carly smiled a little more, digging that same dimple deeper. “Most people don’t really get me.”

“That I would believe.” Wade leaned closer, trying to catch a little more of the alluring scent of her skin. It was different. Not what he would have expected her to be wearing and like nothing he’d smelled before. “But I can’t imagine there are many people you wouldwantto get you.”

A tiny flash in her eyes gave her away. Told him he was right.

This woman was the very reason most people don’t get her.

She didn’t let them close enough to even try.

And damned if that didn’t make him like her more. Make him wish he could be one of the ones she let in.

It couldn’t happen. By his own choosing.

But still.

Her head tipped to one side as her hazel eyes moved over his face. It took everything he had to be as blank of a slate as possible. It shouldn’t be as difficult to accomplish as it was. It never had been before.

Finally she took a deep breath. “Why areyouhere tonight, Whitt?”

He almost told her the whole truth, barely managing to bite it back at the last second. “I was tired of sitting alone.”

It’s still more than he should give her. More than he should probably give himself.

Another flash of something passed across her unwavering gaze. Maybe understanding. “Being alone isn’t so bad.”

He shook his head. “It’s not.” Wade’s eyes dropped to where he held her hand in his. How long had it been since he’d held a woman’s hand?

Years.

Hand holding was something done by couples. People who could have a future and a past.

Not people like him. “But sometimes you can get sick of your own company.”

The sound of her laugh broke through the troubling thoughts fighting for acknowledgement in his mind, shattering them apart with the lightness of the sound.

“Isn’t that the freaking truth.” The woman who was captivating him more with each passing second let out a soft sigh. “I didn’t think anyone else ever felt that way.” She gave him a small smile. “Unfortunately I’m not sure I wouldn’t get sick of everyone else’s company too.”

Wade couldn’t stop his own smile. “I know exactly what you mean.”

It’s why it was always so easy to live the way he did. Keep everyone far enough away they wouldn’t get hurt. It kept things simple. Neat.

But this woman didn’t seem simple.

Not-Carly propped one elbow on the table and rested her chin on the knuckles of her hand. “I think I like your company though, Whitt.” Her eyes were sharp, narrowing just a little as she watched him the same way he watched her.

Looking for the truth.

He couldn’t give it to her. Even if he wanted to. This woman might be nothing like anyone he’d met before, but that didn’t change the reality of the situation.

The reality of his life.

“I like your company too, Carly.”

The name was bitter on his tongue. The lie she fed him even worse.