I checked to make sure no one was within earshot. The rumor mill was already in overdrive – no need to add fuel to it. ‘I just want to keep things professional.’
She sighed. ‘Whatever. At least you referred to L.A. as home, I suppose. You haven’t done that in a while. I was beginning to think you were starting to like it here.’
‘I do like it here.’
‘But you prefer L.A.’
I pulled a face. ‘I don’t know. This place isn’t so bad.’
‘What do you mean, you don’t know?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Yes. It matters a lot actually.’
I put the tray on top of the bar while I considered my reply. ‘OK, well, this place is growing on me, I guess. The slower pace of life. The nature right on the doorstep. I’ve even made some friends.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘What are you saying?’
‘It’s really not that bad. You’d probably like it too if you spent more than a few weeks at a time here.’
‘A few weeks is more than enough for me,’ she retorted. ‘Even that’s too much, sometimes.’
‘Well, then I guess you’ve got yourself a bit of a problem, haven’t you?’ I shifted the tray to balance the weight. ‘Seeing as you bought yourself a business here.’
‘I don’t have to be here full-time for this place to work.’
‘I know that. Even when you’re herepart-timethis place works just fine without you. It’s not like you lift a finger to do anything around here.’ My tone was mild, not betraying how irked I really was.
She held up one hand and showed me her long, perfectly manicured pink nails. ‘You want me to risk breaking one of these? When there isn’t a decent manicurist in this town capable of fixing it?’
‘Have you even given the local salon a chance? Because I’ve heard nothing but good things. The woman who owns it, Addison, comes in for happy hour every Friday and seems nice.’
She shuddered. ‘My girl in the city would kill me if I went to someone else. Literally.’
‘Not literally.’
‘OK maybe not literally. But I certainly wouldn’t be able to show my face there ever again.’ She pouted. ‘I’d be a social outcast, and you don’t want that, do you?’
I had to laugh. She was spoiled, but I’d known that from the moment I’d met her. I couldn’t be mad at her now when it was just the way she’d always been. It was me who had changed, not her.
‘I don’t have time to stand around chatting,’ I told her briskly. ‘Either make yourself useful or entertain yourself.’
‘Fine, I will,’ she sniffed. ‘There’s a new romance on Netflix I wanted to watch anyway. I just came down for a bottle of wine, and to tell you that I’ll be heading back to L.A. tomorrow.’
‘Again? You’ve only been here a week.’
‘Eight days, actually.’
I tried not to show the flicker of annoyance I felt. ‘Fine. Drive safe to the airport.’
‘Come with me?’
‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I have this place to run,’ I reminded her. ‘Yourbusiness.’
