Accidentally Hooked (The Naked Truth Series Book 1) by Carmen Falcone Page B

the one who helped me deal with my disease and who gave me support.”
    Kika tilted her head to the side. “Your father didn’t?”
    The image of Charles Winters the Third, drinking his whisky and smoking his cigar in a spotless library room formed in front of him. And he had to fight the smile trying to break in his lips. “My father is a good man. But he swept problems he didn’t know how to deal with under a rug.”
    She nodded. “Did he divorce your mother?”
    “Strangely, no.” He shrugged. “Dad is a good man, but he blamed himself for all her mistakes.”
    “I can see that. I haven’t had much luck in relationships myself,” she said, then lifted her hand to her lips, as if she had shared something she wasn’t supposed to. He was about to question her, when she continued, “Prior to the double life of course.”
    Double life. The two words burnt a hole in his chest. “I reckon you use the double life not to get close to someone. Not to get hurt,” he said, and hated the pang of accusation in his voice. Let her live her life and work however she wants to. What she did or didn’t do wasn’t any of his bloody business. None.
    “Do you moonlight as a shrink or is that a hidden talent?” She winked at him.
    “I have all sorts of talents, love. Just need to show them to the right person,” he said, his tone too damn genuine. Shit. Instantly, the air around them shifted and he had to swallow a couple of times to push past the nagging pulse in his throat. She had one too, he realized, lifting his finger to hover over her delicate flesh. What the hell was he talking about?
    Throwing double innuendos like this wasn’t his thing—they were whenever he meant a sexual joke, sure. But to hint there could be more to them…
    Someone bumped against his back, and he turned around immediately. The middle-aged woman began to gesticulate, and she had a gray haired gentleman next to her who flashed him a close-lipped smile. “I’m sorry. We were trying to get a good shot.”
    “No worries. If you’d like, I can take a picture of the two of you.”
    “Why yes, that would be lovely,” the lady said, and she positioned against the breath-taking backdrop and held her husband’s arm. “Look at the camera, dear,” she coached her husband, and the man followed her instructions like it was no big deal.
    Ryan snapped a couple shots, and realized they were against the sun so he ushered them to the opposite side. The woman apparently didn’t mind the attention a single bit, but the husband just went along with it. The old man sighed with the serenity of a long-term spouse, no doubt.
    When he handed her the tiny digital camera, she offered, “I would be happy to have a picture of you and your wife.”
    He realized she was talking about Kika who stood in the same place as before, except her eyes trailed over him. When his gaze met hers, she looked away as if she had been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. “She’s not my wife.”
    The woman’s face flushed. “Of course. I’m sorry, dear. Girlfriend. You never know these days.”
    “No, you never do,” he said more to himself than to her. He managed a smile and waved at Kika, who joined them with furrowed brows. “Darling, let’s take a picture.”
    ***
    Kika inhaled. How come, even though she hiked in front of him, it felt like she dragged six feet behind him? Because she knew he could outrun her with a couple of strides. Because she didn’t need to glance over her shoulder to know he had his eyes on her, on her every move—which stripped her from the misleading idea she could be ahead.
    During the next two hours, they had lunch at a casual restaurant near the visitor center and talked about movies, music, and current events. She was impressed by how much they had in common, and how much they didn’t, in some ways. Spending time with him without focus on sex should had been strange, yet it oddly wasn’t. Maybe because they were always