Free Blast From The Past 2 by Faith Winslow Page A

to discuss.”
    J.R. sat down on the couch and looked at me finally, waiting for me to join him.
    “Okay,” I said. “Shoot.” I sat down and did my best to make sure that my panties weren’t showing.
    “I think we’ve made a lot of progress with things,” he said, looking down at my knee, then looking away. “And I think it’s been really great that we’ve worked on this together… But I don’t think we should work on it together anymore… And by that I mean, we should keep up our research, but we shouldn’t keep getting together like this.”
    “Why not?” I asked, expecting him to tell me something like Tommy would say—about how it was too risky to be seen together.
    “Because yesterday,” J.R. said, looking straight at me, “Julie wasn’t the only one who was jealous.”
    My head cocked to the side a little, and my heart fluttered.
    “When I heard you went home with someone from the bar, I was furious,” J.R. explained. “I know I have no reason to be, but I was… And I know you said it was your cousin—but, still, the idea of you going home with someone just really got to me.”
    J.R.’s tone was serious, and the look on his face was solemn. “It made me think about what happened between us , too,” he went on, “and it brought up a lot of bad memories.”
    “I know,” I said, rolling my eyes. "You felt stupid about your mistake , right?” I hated using that word, but J.R. had used it.
    “No,” he said, leaning down over his knees. “It made me think about your mistake… What happened back then really, really hurt me, Trish. What you did was brutal. Do you know what it’s like to go to your bed expecting to find a beautiful woman there, only to find it empty? You left me without so much as a word. You didn’t give me a chance… That’s your mistake, not mine—and, every time I’m around you, I can’t help but think about it. I can’t help but remember how you left me and shot me down so coldly—and the thought of you rolling around in some other man’s bed? Well, that’s just the icing on the cake.
    “So I don’t think there’s any way we can keep working together like this. There are too many unresolved issues and feelings.”
    I had to admit, I was very moved by everything J.R. said. I’d never realized—or considered—that he would have been so hurt by my actions all those years ago.
    “Let’s try to resolve them then,” I said, leaning forward, bringing myself closer to J.R. “For what’s it worth, I never meant to hurt you… I was only protecting myself. I’d never had a one-night stand before, and I’d only heard horror stories about them.”
    “But who said it had to be a one-night stand?” J.R. asked, turning toward me. It looked like maybe there was a tear or two in his eyes. “You left before we could even discuss it.”
    “I didn’t want to discuss it,” I confessed. “I didn’t want to give you the chance to reject me , so I rejected you first… I mean, guys like you—”
    “Hold up,” J.R. interrupted. “Guys like me? What does that mean? You never stuck around long enough to learn anything about me.”
    “I just meant guys who pick up girls in the bar,” I said, trying to save whatever face I had left in this conversation.
    “Just because we hooked up at the bar doesn’t mean that’s my thing, does it?” J.R. asked. “Was it your thing…? I’m not saying it’s the first or last time I ever did something like that, but, trust me, I never made a pattern of it. I’m not like that—and, maybe if you hadn’t run away from me so quickly, you’d have realized that.”
    “I’m sorry,” I said simply. I was apologizing for what I’d said just then as much as for what I’d done years ago.
    “I’m sorry too,” J.R. said, standing to leave. “But, obviously, you can see now why I said I don’t think we should work together like this anymore.”
    J.R. walked toward the door, and the sight of him leaving triggered