Before Sunrise Read Free

you recommend me for that job? There must be a line of people who’d love to have it—people better qualified than I am.”
    He turned his head and looked directly into her eyes. There was something that he wasn’t telling her, something deep inside him.
    â€œMaybe I’m lonely,” he said shortly. “There aren’t many people who aren’t afraid to come close to me these days.”
    â€œDoes that matter? You don’t like people close,” she said.
    She searched his arrogant profile. There were new lines in that lean face, lines she hadn’t seen last year, despite the solemnity of the time they’d spent together. “Something’s upset you,” she said out of the blue. “Or you’re worried about something.”
    Both dark eyebrows went up. “I beg your pardon?” he asked curtly.
    The hauteur went right over her head. “Not something to do with work, either,” she continued, reasoning aloud. “It’s something very personal…”
    â€œStop right there,” he said shortly. “I invited you out to talk about a job, not about my private life.”
    â€œAh. A closed door. Intriguing.” She stared at him. “Not a woman?”
    â€œYou’re the only woman in my life.”
    She laughed unexpectedly. “That’s a good one.”
    â€œI’m not kidding. I don’t have affairs or relationships.” He glanced at her as he merged into traffic again and turned at the next corner. “I might make an exception for you, but don’t get your hopes up. A man has his reputation to consider.”
    She grinned. “I’ll remember that you said that.”
    He pulled the car into the parking lot of a well-known hotel restaurant and cut off the engine. “I hope you’re hungry. I missed breakfast.”
    â€œSo did I. Nerves,” she added.
    He escorted her into the sparsely occupied restaurant and they were seated near the window. When they finished looking at the menu and gave their orders, he leaned back in his chair and studied her across the width of the table with quiet interest.
    â€œIs my nose upside down?” she asked after a minute.
    He chuckled. “No. I was just thinking how young you are.”
    â€œIn this day and age, nobody is that young,” she corrected. She leaned forward with her chin on her elbows and watched him. “Don’t fight it,” she chided. “You might never run into anyone else who’d make you so uncomfortable.”
    â€œThat’s a selling point?” he asked, surprised.
    â€œOf course it is. You live deep inside yourself. You won’t let yourself feel anything, because it’s a form of weakness to you. Something must have hurt you very badly when you were younger.”
    â€œDon’t pry,” he said gently, but the words warned.
    â€œIf I hang around with you very much, I’m going to pry a lot more than this,” she informed him.
    He considered that. He had cold feet where Phoebe was concerned. She wasn’t the sort of person who’d settle for a shallow relationship. She’d want to go right to the bone, and she’d never let go. He was like that, too, but he’d been burned badly once, by a woman who liked him because he was a curiosity
    â€œI’ve been collected already,” he said quietly. “Do you understand?”
    She saw the brief flash of pain in his eyes and nodded slowly. “I see. Did she want to show off her indigenous aborigine to all her friends?”
    His jaw tautened and something dangerous flashed in his eyes.
    â€œI thought so,” she murmured, watching the faintest of expressions in his face. “Did she care at all?”
    â€œI doubt it very much.”
    â€œAnd you found out in a very public way, no doubt.”
    His head inclined.
    â€œI’m sorry,” she said. “Life teaches painful lessons.”
    â€œHave you had