Chapter 33

“You were the first person in all that time who asked what my real name was,” he said, shaking his head. “Hell, even my buddies in high school and college never asked me. Everybody called me Stone since I was in kindergarten, I think. And you kept asking and asking and asking. For no reason except you were curious.”

“Well, you’re a nice person. You had to have a name!”

I was about to add that it was sad that he wouldn’t tell anyone, but he spoke softly with a sigh.

“Until you came along, I was the person with no first name.”

I took his hand and squeezed it.

“If you tell me what your name is, it’ll be our little secret,” I assured him.

He laughed, low and hard.

“Nice try, Jimmy! Nice try.”

“What?” I was confused. What had I said? Nice try at what?

He pulled me in for a kiss and gave me a big smack on the lips.

“You’re not getting my name outta me like that. You’ve still got two more guesses,” he reminded me with a smirk.

“Oh! Oh, I wasn’t trying to….”