Page 100 of Trouble

But my brain reminds me he never said we were…

“Only you can answer that question, Spencer. I have to go. Courtney wants to see her son, and it’s a two-hour drive.”

“Maybe we can have a drink when you get back. Best martinis in town?” He gives me a sexy little half-smile, and I can’t hold back.

My voice is sharp, and fire burns in my chest. “When you told me about your childhood, I was sad. I understood your walls, because you were taught not to love. Maybe you don’t even think you deserve love, but you’re wrong.

; “I love you. I want to give you what they never did. I want to be there for you, to make you laugh and bring you in from the cold. I want to show you a different life, one where you have someone to count on, someone who’s always there for you no matter what.

“But I can’t, and I can’t keep hoping for something you told me wasn’t possible. I wish I could’ve been the woman to make you want more, because I do want more. So this is goodbye. I hope you have the life you want, and I wish you well.”

Turning on my heel, I leave him standing there, watching me go, and in my mind, the last petal falls.

Chapter 30

Spencer

“I checked all the rooms, and I reset the alarm codes.” Tom strides into the living room with a black duffel in his hand. “It’ll prompt you to enter a new code when I leave. Then it’ll just be you.”

“Thank you, Tom.” My voice is quiet. I’m sitting in my favorite wingback chair.

It’s thick brown leather with heavy brass studs along the edges. I found it in Boston at an estate sale where the seller claimed it once belonged to John Quincy Adams.

It was my prized possession.

Gazing at the hand-knotted Persian rug covering the floor, regret tightens my chest. I’m just like him. Alone, in an empty house with only my things.

Why does this bother me? I never minded being alone before.

“Sir?” Tom waits, and I glance up at him.

“Yes?”

“I just wanted to say, it was a great thing you did today. I’ve always thought of myself as something of a silent hero, keeping people safe, but you were the real Tony Stark swooping in there like you did and shutting down that judge.”

My brow relaxes, and I exhale with a smile. “I was only the messenger.”

“You were more than that. You hired the private eye, you chased down the evidence, and I don’t know, but I’m sure you had to grease a few palms to get a notarized confession that fast.”

Leaning back in the chair, I hold up my hands. “No laws were broken in the liberation of Miss Shaw.”

He surprises me with a grin. “Either way, I just wanted to say it before I left.”

He’s said more just now than in the whole time he’s been with us. “Thanks, Tom.”

“Also… it’s none of my business, but I think Miss Winthrop is a great gal. You two seem like a good match.”

Her words are still ringing in my ears, her goodbye smarting in my chest. I haven’t been able to shake a sense of dread since she left me standing in the gallery of the court.

Looking up at my suddenly gregarious security guard, I figure he’s as good as anyone to run this past. “Tom, you’ve been in this business a while, yes?”

“Yes sir, seven years.”

“Tell me, have you ever done something you thought would make everyone happy then ultimately felt like you screwed up everything?”

His brow furrows, and he actually thinks a minute. “I’m not sure in what way you mean, but I did rescue a kitten once. I took care of it, fed it for two weeks, took it to the vet… Only to find out later it belonged to a little girl around the way who’d been crying for two weeks over her lost pet.”