The Lies We Told Read Online Free PDF Page B

and all, but can’t agree on that basic, really important issue. Not something you can really compromise on, you know? Either you want kids or you don’t.”
    “I do,” I said, blushing suddenly. It sounded as though I was offering myself to him for something more than dinner. “I mean—” I laughed, embarrassed “—I feel the way you do. I have no family except for my sister. It’ll be a challenge balancing kids and work, but it’s a priority.”
    For the first time that evening, he seemed at a loss for words. He chewed his lower lip, gazing at his nearly empty plate, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. My embarrassment had vanished, and I felt something happening between us in that silence. A shift. A knowing . When he looked up again, it was clear he felt it, too.
    “You said I’m blunt.” He was smiling.
    “Well, I didn’t mean—”
    “I’m going to be even more blunt right now,” he said. “I fell in love with you in the O.R. today.”
    I laughed. He was crazy. “You don’t know me,” I said.
    “So true. So true. I sound like an idiotic kid, huh? But I fell in love with what I did know. What I witnessed. Your skill and caring.”
    “Maybe you’re one of those men who can’t stand to be without a partner,” I said, but I knew where this was going. Where I wanted it to go.
    “I’ve been without a partner for two years,” he said. “I’ve had opportunities. I haven’t been interested. Till right now. Today. But I don’t want to freak you out, okay? I won’t stalk you. Won’t call and bug you. I’ll leave the ball in your court.”
    “Maybe you connect to people too quickly,” I said, thinking of the housekeeper in the elevator. “You assign them a personality before you get to know what they’re really like.”
    “See?” He grinned. “You’re already finding fault with me, just like in a real relationship.”
    I laughed. Could he be anymore likable? But then I sobered. I looked at him across the table.
    “I lied to you earlier,” I said.
    He raised his eyebrows. “What about?”
    “I just…you’ve been so open. And this is a big part of who I am, so—”
    “You don’t need to tell me.”
    “I want to,” I said, knowing it was only a half-truth I was about to reveal. “Because I’m not…I’m a complicated person, and you should know that before you sign on.”
    He laughed. “It’s not like I’m buying a house here and you need to disclose all its flaws.”
    “Don’t make this hard,” I said, and I must have sounded very serious, because his smile disappeared.
    “Sorry. Go ahead.”
    “My parents didn’t die in an accident.” I looked down at the table. Pushed the handle of my knife back and forth. “They were murdered.”
    “Ah, no.”
    I couldn’t look at him. “I don’t like to talk about it, okay?” I said. “Just…they were. And it shook me up. Made me afraid of…certain situations where I don’t feel safe.” If Rebecca had been sitting with us, she’d be kicking me under the table. Never let them see you sweat. That was her motto.
    “Of course it did.” He reached across the table and rested his hand on mine. “Did they catch the guy? I assume it was a guy?”
    I nodded. “They caught him and killed him in a shootout.”
    “What was his motive?”
    “He was a disgruntled student of my father’s.” How often I’d heard those words, disgruntled student. I could rarely hear one without adding the other in my mind. “My father taught philosophy at American University.” I wrinkled my nose. “Can we not talk about this anymore?”
    “We’re done.” He nodded. “I just want you to know I’m sorry.”
    “Thanks.”
    “And you’re sweet to want to do the full-disclosure thing.” He smiled again, and this time I returned it. “Makes me fall even harder for you, Dr. Ward.”
    “I’m…a little overwhelmed by tonight,” I admitted. “Of how fast this seems to be going. People turn out not to be who you think they are at