Chapter 17: Chapter 17

He waved it away. “I’ve got more degrees than you could shake a stick at. I chose one and told her I’d decided to pursue it. Of course I had to sign another nondisclosure agreement.” He gave her a wry grin. “It’s standard for her. Anyway, she thinks I’m going to be doing work in mechanical engineering.”

“But she knows about us?” Babe wasn’t sure if she wanted to make that a question or a statement.

“Jennie, she has no idea we were together.”

“She doesn’t?”

“Did you think the reason I wanted to keep some distance between us was because I was ashamed of you?”

She worried her lower lip. After that first time in the dining hall, he’d said they should be careful, and while she’d been certain he cared about her…there had been that boy in high school who’d thought she’d be willing to accept whatever crumbs of affection he was willing to give her because she was a foster kid…