“A large one?” she prodded.
“Define ‘large'.”
“Large as in…bigger than one brother and a cat.”
“I have a large family.”
“How large?”
He sighed. “Two parents. Four sisters. Two brothers-in-law, a few ex-brothers-in-law. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins…Y
ou name it, I've got it.”
“That's large.” She felt a split-second pang of envy. What was it like to be surrounded by that much flesh-and-blood family? It was something she would never know.
A minute slipped past, the time ticked by on the steady beat of Garrett's heartbeat in her ears, and the breath that soughed in and out of his lungs.
In the last fifteen minutes the temperature in the car had dipped dramatically. A shiver skated down Murphy's spine. One of Garrett's arms tightened around her, while his other palm made quick, brisk strokes up and down her left arm.
“Tell me something,” he said finally, thoughtfully. “Who's waiting for you at home?”
“My brother and his wife and Dana.”
“That's not what I meant.”
“Um…What did you mean then?”
“Are you married?” he asked, is voice low and husky. Was he in pain, she wondered? Well, obviously he must be. Yet, for some reason she felt sure pain wasn't the emotion she heard etched in his tone. “Engaged? Involved with anyone?”
The question took her off guard, and her surprise was echoed in her tone. “Does it matter?”
“Yeah, it does.”
“Why?”
Garrett hesitated a beat before answering. “Damned if I know. Are you?”
“No. I have enough problems to deal with right now, thank you very much. The last thing I need is a"—she shuddered as her tongue stumbled over the word—"relationship. That would really mess things up.”
“You sound like me.”
“Do I?” She pulled back a bit and glanced up at him. The muted light in the car caressed his face, made his eyes shimmer an iridescent shade of dark blue. “How so?”
He shrugged. “Let's just say I've never had much luck with relationships and leave it at that, okay?”
“No, it isn't okay.” She smiled up at him, but he didn't smile back. “Then again,” she said, changing her mind, “maybe it is. What about you?”
“Huh?”
Without thinking, she stroked the tip of her finger over the hard, square line of his jaw. His whiskers abraded her fingertip. They both shivered as she asked, “Are you married? Engaged? Involved?” When he didn't answer, she reminded him firmly, “Fair's fair. I answered your questions.”
He angled a glance down at her, one sandy brow quirked accusingly high. “One of them,” he reminded her. “You didn't answer all my questions, sweetheart. In fact, you skirted the one about your job quite nicely.”
She had the decency to blush. Gathering the blanket closer around her shoulders, she cuddled her head back on his chest, where she wouldn't have to look him in the beautiful-blue-eyes. “Okay,” she relented, “if you answer this one, I'll answer that one. But only if you promise to tell me the truth.”
“Would I lie to you?”
The question, oddly enough, didn't take her by surprise. The answer that sprang instantly to mind, did. How could her initial opinion of this man have changed so swiftly?