"It's not a matter of wanting," she argued, because he was looking decidedly pathetic and if she didn't find a reason to be irritated she was in danger of slipping into sympathy for him. "It has nothing to do with you, honestly. It's just unwise." She thought she'd made her point clear enough when she said she didn't trust him, but perhaps he still hadn't understood.

This was another sign of that sentimentality she'd detected in him earlier. He actually was curious, she could tell. The look would not have alarmed her if she thought he was faking it. The thing was, if he was actually interested in her as a person and she could tell, there was a chance that others would, too. Under normal circumstances it might not have mattered — Juliana was hardly adverse to unconventional friendships — but right now, people were going to be asking him about her, and if he liked her, if he thought she was interesting or witty or intelligent or anything, people were going to pick up on that. It would throw the whole premise of their being nothing more than passing strangers with unfortunate timing into question. It was problematic precisely because it was genuine, not because she doubted his amiability.

"Don't you have someone else you can talk to?" she asked in exasperation. She did sympathize with him, after his last sentence, but she did not imagine she could be the only choice of confidante available to him. "They needn't know everything to help you cope with rumors."