“Sure, give me, like, ten,” he says.
“I’ll save you some time,” I say to him, still watching her. “I’m not picky. Nothing fancy and make sure the plates are big enough to fill me.”
“And no shellfish,” Romy adds.
My grin deepens. I tilt my head.
She catches herself and rolls her eyes. “I’d like the ranch not to trend for killing a country music star. Call me crazy.”
“Wow.” I press a hand over my heart. “Your concern warms me.”
“We’ve got the allergy noted,” Jensen says, pointing at his notes.
One of his employees politely interrupts us. Jensen excuses himself and heads off to another station, leaving Romy and me alone.
She glares at my smirk. “What?”
I shrug, leaning against the stainless-steel counter. “Nothing.”
“Stop looking at me like that.” She hugs the clipboard to her body and looks down at it.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re assuming I’m worried about you or something.”
“You have mentioned the allergy more than once.” I chuckle deep in my throat.
She doesn’t look up. “We don’t want to be sued if you drop dead.”
I narrow my eyes. “So, your concern for my well-being is just a legal precaution?”
“Pretty much,” she says, finally meeting my gaze.
We stand in silence for a beat.
This. This is exactly why I can’t be around this woman—because of what I can’t stop myself from revealing to her.
I lean in and whisper, “You looked really good in firelight, by the way.”
She doesn’t miss a beat. “You’d look really good in the fire.”
I chuckle, but she’s already shifting back into business mode.
“Tell Jensen to text me when he’s ready,” she says, turning to go.
“Wait—”
She hesitates just enough to let me know she’s listening.
“I don’t want it to be like this between us.”
She lets out a quiet breath. Her shoulders drop, and I see the soft edges she’s been trying to hide take shape. The part of her that used to open up to me, that trusted me isn’t so far under the surface.
“What? You want to be friends?” she asks.
I shrug. “I guess so, yeah.”
What I want is more, but I can’t have it. Don’t deserve it. Wouldn’t know what to do with it even if I had it.
