Till Summer Do Us Part(24)

“That is pretty nice.” She shifts on her feet. “So then when you sold it, you retired, right?”

I nod.

“Why did you retire if you’re so bored?”

She’s really going for it on these questions. I kind of like it. “Thought it was what I wanted at the time. But it got old pretty quickly, so that’s why I volunteer a lot.”

“Where do you volunteer?”

“Well, mostly for Green Roofs in the City. Also, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I volunteer at a few different animal shelters. I’ll take dogs for walks, sit with the cats, clean out a lot of shit. Just started learning how to administer medicine. And then the other days, I split my time between Green Roofs, helping with maintenance and awareness, and then I sometimes volunteer with a few out-of-school STEM programs.”

“That’s…that’s a lot of volunteering.”

“Yeah, but I like it.”

“Have you had any serious relationships?”

Switching gears, okay.

“Not really. Nothing earth-shattering. I had a girlfriend in high school, but she broke up with me our senior year because she was going to school in California, and she didn’t want to try to make it work. I mean, I don’t blame her. She’s actually married and has a kid on the way now. Then there were some girls in college, but nothing that’s worth talking about.”

She nods, her lips twisting to the side. “What do you think about someone who is twenty-nine and lies about being married to gain favoritism in her job?”

“I think if you were able to realize that putting yourself in such a position would help push your career forward, then you’re pretty damn smart.”

That seems to encourage her, because she stands a little taller.

“Music of choice?”

“Anything but hard metal and screaming.”

“Do you listen to audiobooks?”

“Love them.”

“Well then”—she drops her arms—“unless you have any questions for me, I think we can be on our way.”

Huh, it was easier to win her over than I expected. Her standards must not be very high.

“Two questions. Is the money thing going to be weird for you? And what are the instructions for these next eight days?”

A smile tugs on the corner of her lip. “Absolutely not. Kind of find it funny. You don’t give off rich snob vibes…especially when going to Target for socks.”

I chuckle. “Not who I am,” I say with a shrug. “And what about the instructions?”

“Let’s discuss in the car.”

“Great.” I move over to her side and open the door for her.

Her eyes travel up my body to my face. She says, “What are you doing?”

“Being a gentleman.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“I know I don’t need to.” I keep the door open and nod toward the opening. “Come on. Get in.”

Tentatively and skeptically, she maneuvers into the car. When she’s settled, she glances back at me. I smile, and she nervously nods. As I shut her door, it makes me wonder who made her so jaded.

From the quick rundown Mika gave me, I know he met her at Stockings, she moved to the city recently to begin a new chapter in her life, and she’s not a fan of her current job. Given all those factors, I’m wondering what made her run away from the life she was living.

Not something I need to find out right now though.

Once she’s in, I shut the door and then round the front of the Jeep and get in on my side. Once the address is plugged in, we head off.

“I’ve never been in a Jeep Wrangler before,” she says, looking around. “Very utilitarian. Nothing fancy about it.”

“That’s why I like it. It has everything I need without a lot of the fluff.”

“Do you ever take it off-roading?”

“Sometimes,” I say.

“Do you ever scale rocky cliffs like it shows in the Jeep commercials?”

“No,” I answer as I stop at a stop sign and wait for a lady pushing a stroller to walk by. “But I did drive over a trash can once. It was small, but I felt cool doing it.”

“Wow, really living on the edge over there. My fake husband is a genuine thrill seeker.”

I chuckle. “I am. I like doing things like bungee jumping and skydiving.”

“Really?” she asks, surprised.

“Yeah. Why so shocked?”

“Because you’re telling me that you’re bored, hence this current situation. Why don’t you skydive or do more bungee jumping, things like that?”

“That’s something I do for special occasions. It’s not an everyday thing. And it’s not that I’m bored. It’s that I just want new experiences is all.”

“Yeah, but with your money, you could go off to Africa and help build schools. There’s experience there. Why are you staying here, in New York, when you could literally go anywhere in the world?”

I grip the steering wheel tighter and say, “I can’t leave here for long.”

“Why not?” she asks.

“Because of Mika,” I answer as I stop at a light.

“Oh,” she says, and I can see her working through the information. She knows what I’m talking about. She’s stayed by his side through the mental health struggles he’s dealt with.