Kiss and Make Up (gxg)

Chapter 11

It was Friday, the last day of the work week, and Shiloh and I had spent every lunch together over the last couple of days. We'd been doing well and learning about each other, and then Shiloh asked the question that I'd been dreading. The topics of my family and them not being supportive were easy. Explaining how Harper and I met, and our college adventures were even easier. Talking about past lovers and crazy exes, which we thankfully didn't have, was typical. I even told her about the one night with Harper, which she laughed quite a bit at, but admitted she could see it. But now we got to the one I didn't have a good answer for.

"What will you do when you sell the company? Will you stay nearby?" she wondered. "I was just trying to figure out how we'd start dating and immediately transition to a long distance thing."

I sucked in a shallow breath and gave a little shrug. "I don't really know. I want to stay close because I don't want to be too far from Harper, and I would like to see you. Not to mention, I wouldn't even be leaving until I found a job, so I don't know where I'd go. I'd stay in the Northeast if I could, though there is a big part of me that would like more sunshine. But we'll hopefully have time to sort things out before I do anything."

I could tell that wasn't the answer that she wanted, but I also didn't know what I could do. Yes, there was interest on both sides, but I just couldn't tell what the future was. As much as I wanted to make promises that I wasn't sure I could keep, just to make her happy in the short term, it was better to be realistic.

"I guess I'll have to charm your pants off to keep you close," she finally whispered with a wink.

Okay, that was just a low blow, because now I was feeling things down in between my legs that I had been trying to avoid. "You're supposed to be behaving!" I pointed my plastic fork over at her, we were eating some Chinese takeout and it still had some lo mein noodles on it, and mock glared at her.

"I'm behaving!" she couldn't help but grin. "I'm saying that in this hypothetical future, I'll have to try."

"Shiloh, I do like you, and I want to give us a fair shot. But that is as much as I can promise for now."

"Fair enough. I can handle that. I do have some good ideas for a first date, so I hope you like them."

Normally, I'd be nervous that at her age, which she'd admitted to being 22 in our talks, she would pick something that was not at all what I'd like. But I think by taking care of her mom, and having to grow up faster because of it, she'd shown herself to be very mature. Honestly, I was glad she was planning it, as I hadn't been on a date in so long, I might have forgotten how. "I look forward to that. Honestly, I really like these lunches too. It's been a pleasure getting to know you in more ways than the first weekend."

"Can I ask one more question?" She had a quizzical look on her face, and I nodded quickly. That was what this time was for, right?

"Sure, go for it."

"If your marriage was a sham, and you've already filed for divorce. Why are you waiting if you could easily get away with it in Harper's basement? I don't mean with me, but with anyone?"

"Because I don't want to be a cheater," I told her. "Tell me, if I cheated on him, no matter how bad of a marriage it was, wouldn't you wonder if I could do it to you? But if I can remain faithful to a man that I don't love even a little bit, then I can remain faithful to anyone."

She nodded slowly, but with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I can understand that. But I wish you could have gotten the divorce earlier. You deserve to have happiness, and it sure isn't with him."

I could only chuckle at that. "Yeah. But he kept refusing to get one. He had to be holding out hope that I'd cave and have an affair and that he could get proof."