“I just want you both to know that this stays between us. I would never mention this to anyone,” I said, while I waited for my coffee to cool. I regretted having brought this up at all. I was ruining the mood, but both Tsehay and Elias seemed to relax.

After a moment of drinking our coffee in a semi-tense silence, Tsehay smiled and moved closer to me. “So did you have a special someone back home? Do you want help picking out some gifts?”

Her tone was casual and friendly, but still I straightened my back and tried to figure out from her expression if there was a hidden agenda behind that question. Did she have suspicions about me? Did she notice anything with me and Elias?

I glanced at him sitting on the other side of Tsehay, and his expression was completely blank. Nothing to show me if he’d heard what she said. The only thing giving him away was the way he was tapping the side of the small cup. A little nervous gesture that tempted me to find out what would happen if I actually told the truth.

I turned to Tsehay again, sure by now that she’d figured out I didn’t have a good answer to her question. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been asked this before. I was well into my marrying years in most of the countries I worked in, so getting asked about my wife or kids happened on pretty much every work trip. I usually answered with something vague or said I was too busy with work for romance, but this time I just didn’t feel like doing that.

I put my coffee cup back on the small table and turned so that I was looking right at Tsehay. “Nope.” I counted, one, two, three breaths, my heart doing its best to beat right out of my chest, and just said it. “I had a boyfriend, but we broke up before coming on this trip.”

Elias’s cup rattled as he put it back, making me jump, but his face was not unkind. More like he was flustered by the answer.

Tsehay, on the other hand, squeezed my forearm hard and winked at me. “You don’t want to tell anyone else that.” She waved a finger between Elias and herself. “And we won’t, either.”

I nodded, but didn’t know what else to say, and it seemed it wasn’t necessary. From then on I just focused on the dancers as Tsehay and Elias offered explanations about the different tribal styles and dress. It was all so fascinating I almost—but not quite—missed the long looks Elias sent my way after my big revelation.

Chapter 7