Page 60 of Mountain Target

His eyes flew up at her words. It was obviously not a word he was used to hearing. “What?”

Valentina shrugged. She honestly didn’t have time for this.

“That’s what you’re telling me. If you’d chosen not to call me because our evening together meant nothing to you, because you didn’t think the sex was as spectacular as I thought it was … I could have respected that. I might have been angry, sure, but I would have respected it.” She took a sip of her coffee and put the mug back on the table, bringing her eyes up to look straight into his as she did so. “But that’s not what you’re saying. You’re saying you liked it so much that it scared you.”

Beau’s eyes widened. “I … I guess that is what I’m saying.”

“You should also know you’re not the only one who has problems, or things in their life to consider. I don’t even know why we’re having this conversation. It’s not like I’m looking for a relationship.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and she almost laughed to see how uncomfortable the word relationship made him.

“How’s Ren doing?”

“Her ankle’s fine.”

“I didn’t mean her ankle.”

Val decided to give him a truthful answer.

“Some days, I think she’s doing better. Other days, it’s an uphill battle, and I wonder if she’ll ever be alright. But I won’t stop trying.”

“I know you won’t,” he said, and his certainty warmed her.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know if I could be ready for anything … with you. Ren’s my priority right now.”

“I understand.”

“But, for the record, I still think you’re a coward if you don’t consider the possibility that this … that this might be something real.”

“And you think the sex was spectacular.”

This time, she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from laughing.

“Is that the only thing you heard, or everything I said?”

“It’s one of the things I heard,” he corrected.

Her phone beeped. “We should go back.”

“But you’re not done with your coffee. And,” he said, almost shyly, “I didn’t think we were done talking.”

“I’ll think about what you said if you do the same. How’s that?”

He nodded. “That’s fair, and more than I could really ask for, Valentina.”

He stood up and helped her into her coat, carefully picking up her pile of winter accessories, which looked tiny in his hands.

“So we’ll talk again?” he asked, handing them over. She was struck, once again, by how much taller he was than her.

She’d been nothing but honest with him. She didn’t know if more was in the cards for them.

“We’ll talk again, Beau.”

17

Beau

"No,” Beau said.