Nora
“Looks like I’ve missed nothing,” comes Roman’s voice from the entrance. “Nothing at all.”
Blinking away the fog from my eyes, I turn toward his voice. Having no idea how long he’s been there makes my cheeks heat up. How long have I been spacing out since Jericho left me in this speechless, horny state of mind?
It started as my desire to simply thank him for his help and maybe to put an end to this feud. Like maybe we still could be friends. I didn’t want to be just friends with him, but I also wasn’t willing to step on anyone’s feet.
Once the memory of his possible girlfriend resurfaces, my mood goes right under. I don’t want to bethe other woman, not after what happened with Dick, and even though Jericho has never struck me as the cheating type, I can’t ignore what I saw.
“You are late,” I bark, trying to avoid his further questioning.
“You’re stalling.” Roman takes off his jacket that’s coveredin snow and shakes it right by the door while keeping his stare on me. “Even though it looked,” he winces as if in pain, “consensual, I gotta ask. Was it?”
“Yes!” I shoot back. “Jericho would never do something like that!”
Roman pauses, squinting his eyes at me. “Yeah? How long have you known him? Two days?”
“Longer than that, and you know that.” I purse my lips. But there’s truth in his words; we haven’t known each other that long. And there are parts of his life that he has avoided talking about, but I’m willing to bet my money on him being as decent as good men come.
Roman walks up to the counter and takes a seat across from me. “Pour me that witch brew you made for yourself.”
With still pursed lips and feeling slightly offended on Jericho’s behalf, I pour him a cup of my stashed coffee and place it in front of him. After the first sip, he closes his eyes with a moan.
“I needed that.” Another sip. “I’ve been shoveling our driveway the whole damn morning and nearly froze my fingers off. I figured you’d be snowed in down that side street of yours.” He’s watching me from the brim of his mug. “Imagine my surprise when I see you already here, and with a man no less! After I calmed my horses and figured you were not in danger, I decided to,” he chuckles, “get some fresh air.”
“More fresh air?” I raise a brow.
He laughs again. “Can never get enough of this around here, I’spose. So, the new guy in town, huh.”
“What are you talking about?”
He carefully places the mug on the table and looks up at me. “I’ve always thought you’d go to some big city because this place is too… stuffy for you.”
“The diner?”
“The town.”
“You wanted me gone?” I didn’t know it would hurt so much hearing that.
“God no,” he replies with a laugh. “I want you right here, where I can watch after you. But you’ve never been happy here. Especially not since you came back.”
I feel my brows drawing together in confusion. “I’ve been happy here.”
“Have you?” He tilts his head to the side, drilling a hole in my brain with his eyes. “Ever since you came back, you’ve been a shadow of your old self. Hiding behind this diner and your crystals.”
“The diner is my life.”
“Exactly.” He throws his hand in the air. “It shouldn’t be. You are young. You need love. You live in Big Love, for God’s sake. You need something to melt your heart. Someone,” he adds meaningfully.
“And you think it’s Jericho?”
“I haven’t seen you throwing yourself out there to protect a man you barely know like that. It must say something about your feelings.”
My eyes roll backward and stay there to prove my point. “P-p-please, it means nothing.”
“You can bullshit anyone but not me, Nora. You’ve taken to the man.” Roman lets out a weird noise that sounds almost like a giggle. Which is extremely odd to hear since you don’t expect a giggle coming out of a six-foot man with a bushy mustache and tatted arms. “Plus, there’re not many men in this town willing to take on Dick the dick.”
I pick up my mug again and bring it to my lips to hide behind, because I have to admit, Jericho standing up to my ex did something to alter my brain. Karina was right. Itwashot.
