Free Bittersweet by Noelle Adams Page B

guess.”
    There
was a stretch of silence. Then finally Adam asked, his tone a little diffident,
“So what’s going on?”
    Zoe
blinked, a knot of anxiety tightening in her gut. “What do you mean?”
    “What’s
going on?  Has something happened?”
    She
knew—she knew —what he was asking about. She’d been acting differently
with him this week. He was a subtle, insightful man. He must have recognized
it. “Nothing’s happened.”
    “So
why are you acting so standoffish with me?”
     “I’m
not being standoffish. Didn’t we just have dinner?”
    “Yeah.
After I basically invited myself over.” Adam’s face was calm, just vaguely
impatient. “Tell me what’s going on, Zoe. I made a promise to my cousin, and I
can’t keep it if you insist on pushing me away.”
    “I’m
not pushing you away. I’m just making sure we both have enough space.” When his
brow lowered, she could tell he didn’t understand. “I just…I just don’t want
things to get weird between us.”
    “You
think things have been weird?”
    “No,
no. I just don’t want them to get weird.” There was absolutely no way to
explain this without admitting things she couldn’t possibly admit. “You know
how it sometimes gets between men and women when they’re just friends. And with
our relationship, it’s even more important that nothing gets…weird.”
    She
felt like a fool after she stammered out the explanation, but Adam seemed to
understand now what she meant.
    He
grew very still—almost frozen in a strange way—and he asked slowly, “Do you
think I’ve been trying to make a move on you?”
    “No!”
she said, appalled at the idea. “No, of course not! I know you’re not…I know
you don’t…”
    Adam
picked up the slack when she trailed off, at a loss for words. “I had
understood that you thought about me almost like family. Was I wrong?”
    “No,
you were exactly right. That is how I think about you.” It was. Except for that
moment on the sailboat last weekend—that was precisely how Zoe had thought
about Adam for the last three months.
    “So,
if we both understand that, why would things get weird?”
    The
way he asked the question was so obvious, so matter-of-fact, that Zoe suddenly
felt silly about her anxiety. He must be right. They were like family. And just
because she had the passing acknowledgment that he was an attractive, virile
man didn’t meant that anything in their relationship necessarily had to change.
    Her
cheeks grew a little red at the knowledge that she might have overreacted. “I
guess they wouldn’t. I’m not sure what I was worried about.”
    “Are
you not comfortable with my place in yours and Logan’s life?” Adam asked, his
face careful, his tone still rather diffident.
    “No!
It’s good. I mean, I’m glad you’re a part of our life. I’m sorry. I guess I
just…” She hated that she kept leaving so many unfinished sentences, but she
couldn’t possibly explain things, couldn’t possibly make Adam understand her
conviction that she needed to keep a little more distance from him.
    At
the moment, she couldn’t even understand it herself.
    “You
just what?” Adam prompted, still sitting rather stiffly, more motionless than
he normally was.
    She
supposed he felt as uncomfortable as she did with this bizarre conversation.
    “I’m
a mess,” she finally said, rubbing her face. “Emotionally, I mean. It’s so hard
to try to start my life again with Josh gone. And you’re all wrapped up in that
confusion for me, so I guess I wasn’t thinking as clearly as I should. I do
want you in my life. And definitely in Logan’s. I’m sorry.”
    Adam
released a breath. Although there wasn’t any obvious evidence in his body,
something seemed to have relaxed inside him. “Good. If you’re sure.”
    “I
am. I’m sorry.” They both sat in silence for a minute, and the only sound in
the room was Logan chatting happily and incomprehensibly to his blocks. Then
finally Zoe asked,