---- were brilliant." But then his tone shifted, becoming more probing. " What about relationships? The person who kept you away from home for five years-what does he do for work? How did you meet? And why did you break up?" The questions hit me like ice water. I froze, not expecting Garrett to ask such detailed and personal questions. My fingers unconsciously tightened around the thermos as I looked down, avoiding his gaze. "Garrett, you never used to ask about these things," I said quietly. It was true. In all our phone calls and messages over the years, he'd never pressed me for details about my romantic life. Garrett's voice remained gentle, but I could hear a firmness underneath that brooked no refusal. "When Iasked before, did you ever tell me anything real? You always deflected or changed the subject." ---- He was right, and we both knew it. I fell silent, my mind racing. I knew Garrett was worried about me-I could see it in the way he kept glancing over, the careful way he was asking these questions. But I couldn't say Damon Blackwood's name. I couldn't let him know about that shameful past, about how completely I'd been fooled and used. Everything was over now. Damon was part of a chapter I'd closed forever. I didn't want Garrett to worry about something that could never hurt me again. "Tt doesn't matter anymore," I said finally. "It's over. That's why I came home." Garrett said nothing more for several minutes, but I could feel his gaze on me. When I glanced up, I caught him studying me in the rearview mirror. His expression was searching, like he was trying to read between the lines of what I wasn't saying. ---- And for just a moment, I saw something flash in his eyes that looked almost like... jealousy? But that was impossible.