The Spark

She smiled. “None taken.”

“You ever run track at school?” I asked Storm.

“Yeah.”

“You know why the ru

“Because the inside track is shorter.”

“That’s right. They make it fair for everyone. But in real life, that crap doesn’t happen. Some people start from behind—and for reasons other than just being poor.” I paused, making sure he was following. He gave the smallest of nods. “So learn to run faster, and never forget there are people starting even farther back than you.”

I finished repairing the cabinet and then helped Autumn, who had been painting the trim in Bud’s kitchen while I worked. I could’ve given Storm a hand, but Bud had gone out there to help, and I thought a little one-on-one time with him might do the kid some good. Besides, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to work close to Autumn. I stole glances every chance I got—when she stretched above her head to paint the top moldings and her top rode up, exposing her creamy, smooth skin, when she bent over to dip her brush into the paint, giving me a straight-line view of her phenomenal ass.

I was pretty damn obvious. And Autumn caught me red-handed on more than one occasion, but each time she’d smile, rather than call me out. I knew she had an idea of what was going through my head, but I wondered if she could read my mind as well as I could sometimes read hers. Since I hadn’t gotten smacked, I’d say we probably only had one mind reader in the room.

After we’d polished off an entire pizza pie, Bud needed to get ready to head out for di

“Do you really think he’s going to study tonight?” she asked me once we were alone in the car.

“Definitely not.”

“Maybe he actually listened to you say you had to work twice as hard?”

I glanced from the road to her, flashing a face that said not a chance.

“Well, I’m going to think positive and assume he was being truthful.”

I smirked. “You do that. But he wasn’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m good at telling when people are lying. It’s my superpower. I’m a human lie detector.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

She tapped her finger to her lips. Even while driving, I could see the wheels in her head turning.

“I love pineapples on my pizza. It’s my favorite food.”

I raised a brow. “Am I supposed to tell if you’re lying?”

“Yup. Go ahead, Human Lie Detector. Let’s see how good your superpowers are.”

We were about to pass a Wendy’s, so I put my blinker on and turned into the parking lot.

Autumn’s forehead wrinkled. “Are you hungry?”

“No. But I need to look at you for my superpower to work.” I pulled into the first available parking spot and put the car in park. Then I shifted in my seat to look at her.

I definitely like this game. With this view, we should play more often. “Go ahead,” I said. “Talk about your favorite pizza again.”

Autumn turned to face me and straightened in her seat. Her amused smile was freaking adorable.

“I love pineapples on my pizza. It’s my favorite food.”

I actually couldn’t tell whether she was lying or not, but I figured I had a fifty-fifty shot, so I bluffed. “Lie.”

Her eyes sparkled. “How did you know?”

“Told you. I have a bullshit-arometer.”

She laughed. “That could have been just luck. Let me try again.”

“Have at it.”

She gazed out the window a moment and then turned back. “When I was twelve, I ran away from home.”

Her presentation was pretty different from the way she’d spoken about the pizza, so I figured this wasn’t a lie. “Truth.”

Her jaw dropped, but she did her best not to look impressed. “Another lucky guess.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “How many is it going to take for you to believe in my skills?”

“I don’t know. Five in a row?”

“Well, then, let’s go. Actually, hang on a second. I’m curious. Why did you run away from home?”

She frowned. “My mom had died six months earlier, and my dad came home with a woman I’d never met and told me he was getting married.”

“Shit. Sorry.”

Autumn shrugged. “It’s okay. I only went a few doors down to my friend Jane’s house, and her mother made me cookies, so I wasn’t exactly roughing it with a bandana tied to a stick slung over my shoulder. Plus, that marriage only lasted eight months.”

“That marriage? How many have there been?”

“A lot. He just got engaged again recently.”

That bit of truth made me wonder if her dear old dad was part of the reason she was so sour on relationships.

“Okay…I have another one,” she said. Only this time, as she spoke, she reached up and adjusted her earring. “I once had an affair with my college professor.”

“Lie.”

“How did you know that? I could’ve. I had one hit on me a few times.”

“Bullshit-arometer. Told you.” I reached up and fingered her earring. “Plus, you play with this when you lie.”

Her eyes widened. “I do?”

“You do.”

“Wow. I’ve never noticed that. Are you just super perceptive? Do you notice things like that on everyone?”

“I don’t notice it on everyone.” My eyes searched hers. “Just people I’m interested in.”

Autumn’s eyes softened, and I completely forgot we were in a busy parking lot in the middle of Brooklyn. Cars pulled in and out of the drive-thru line behind us, a random car blared its horn somewhere in the not-too-distant vicinity, yet the moment felt oddly intimate and romantic—and I’d definitely been accused of not being romantic over the years by more than one woman.

“How about you?” I whispered. “Think you can tell if I’m lying?”

She stayed so still. It made me wonder if she felt the same thing I did—like we were in a little bubble, one I didn’t want to burst with movement.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly.

“Let’s try it out.” I moved an inch or two closer and lowered my head so we were exactly eye to eye. “I think you are absolutely incredible.”

She swallowed. “I don’t know.”

“Truth. Let’s try again.” I moved another inch closer. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I saw you standing there with my luggage.”

Autumn bit on her bottom lip. “Lie.”

I shook my head back and forth slowly. “Truth. One more. I want to kiss you so badly it fucking hurts.”

She swallowed again and whispered, “Truth?”

A smile spread across my face. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

Autumn smiled back. And for a few seconds, I thought we were making progress, that she might actually give me the green light to suck on her beautiful lips like I’d been dying to since the moment she’d walked back into my life. But then I saw it happen. Whatever it is that holds her back hit like a flash of lightning. Her smile wilted to a frown, and she cleared her throat as she leaned back into her seat.

“That must be useful in your profession. Having—what did you call it? A bullshit-arometer?”

I kept watching her, even though she turned her head and stared out the window.

“Yeah, it’s helpful.”