“It sure feels like that to me. I’ve never spoken to any human being as much as I have to you, and I still have so much more I want to talk about with you.”

Brooke sighed. “Nate…”

“Yes, Brooke?”

“You shouldn’t say stuff like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because!”

His laughter was one of her favorite things. She looked forward to his calls with the kind of heightened excitement that could surely be her downfall where he was concerned.

“I have next weekend off. Can I come see you?”

“My family is going to Camp David next weekend.”

“Do you have to go?”

“No, but I was planning to.”

“Could I convince you to hang with me instead?”

Most of their “relationship,” if you could call it that, transpired on the phone through frequent FaceTime chats that kept him from getting too close even as she became closer to him than anyone alive. And yes, she could see how strange that was, but she liked it the way it was. “What do you want to do?”

“I could get a room near school, and we could… Go on hikes, go out to eat, go to the movies. I’d even be willing to go to the antique stores since I know you love that stuff. Whatever you want to do.”

“You should…”

“What?”

The ache in her chest was so intense as to be concerning. “Be with someone who can give you what you need.”

“I am with someone who gives me what I need, Brooke. And what I need is to spend more time with you rather than just talking to you.” He softened his tone. “I understand what you’re worried about, and this would be a no-pressure weekend. Just time to hang out and have some fun like we did in DC.” They’d gone to the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum and had pizza afterward. He hadn’t even tried to hold her hand, which had been somewhat disappointing.

How many no-pressure weekends without sex would he engage in before he moved on to someone who hadn’t been traumatized by violence?

“You know you’d be safe with me.”

“How do I know that?”

“I’m a Secret Service agent,” he said on a laugh. “Our motto is ‘Worthy of Trust and Confidence.’”

“I’m more concerned about my emotional safety than the physical.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about there either.”

She wanted so badly to believe him, but the feelings she had for him scared her.

“So, what do you say? Should we hang out next weekend? I can be in Charlottesville by Friday afternoon and would need to be back in Princeton by Monday at midnight.”

That would be three nights and three days, since she didn’t have class on Mondays… “I’d have to do some schoolwork.”