My Stolen Identity (Complete)

Chapter 30 - Playing Hardball

"When did I start to like Knox?" I repeated. I didn't even have to think about that question. "Well, ummm. I knew I liked him the very first time we met. There was just something about him," I said with a smile spreading across my face and my cheeks blushing. It was weird talking about something so private in front of a courtroom full of people staring at me.

"He looked really good, but it was more than that. He had confidence and charisma and he was really funny. Knox is a really nice guy and I could tell he cared about helping people. That's what made him so attractive."

"Did you tell him that you liked him?" Jackson asked.

"I didn't really have to tell him. I was flirting with him pretty hard so I think he could tell," I laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck with a smile. "He umm. He asked for my number and I assumed he was asking for it because he liked me too."

"That wasn't the case?" Jackson asked.

"No," I laughed, shaking my head. "He said he was only asking for it to follow up about the case. I was so embarrassed."

"So he rejected you?" he asked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "He told me that he thought I was great and everything, but he had recently started seeing someone."

"Was that the only time he rejected you?"

"No," I said, letting out an exhale and looking down at my hands. Talking about it reminded me of how sad I had felt at the time.

"We umm. We became really close after working on the case together. We texted and talked on the phone all the time and after a while I fell in love with him. He needed a date for the police gala so he asked me to go with him and I had a great time. We got to slow dance together and I really felt a spark between us."

"So what happened?" Jackson asked.

I fidgeted a little in my seat and cleared my throat before finally looking up.

"On the car ride home I decided to tell him how I felt. I couldn't take it any more. I just blurted it out and told him, I like you a lot and I just need to know if you feel the same way about me, because not knowing is killing me."

Jackson smiled. "That's really nice. So what did Knox say to that?"

I took a deep breath in and exhaled. "Well, he said he didn't have room for a relationship in his life at that time. He was still messed up from losing his Mom, Dad and brother in the car accident not long before that and he had just become the guardian of his pregnant sister. Plus, he was working really long hours and he was afraid he wouldn't be a very good boyfriend. He said that I deserved better than what he could give me."

"How did you react to being turned down by him a second time?"

Thinking about it made my eyes start to burn. "Well, I cried really hard. I had never been in love and gotten rejected before. It was really hard. I was so heartbroken, I didn't talk to Knox for an entire month after that because I felt like it would be too awkward to talk to him."

"Okay. So take me forward. When did you two actually start to date?"

"After a month of not hearing from him, he texted to tell me our case was going to trial. I told him about my new job as a marketing analyst and he offered to help me do research for my presentations so I could keep my job. We had dinner at his house and things between us felt different. We just seemed to click. The next day he asked me to meet him at the park and that's when he told me that he liked me and he wanted to finally give a relationship with me a shot. Obviously I said yes."

Jackson nodded. "So just to clarify. From the very first time you met Knox, he was aware that you were interested in him and he was the one choosing not to date you?"