She narrowed her eyes. “Why not?”
Fuck. This was why having Brenna in my life wouldn’t work. I lost all sense of myself, rattled by her mere presence. Stuck reliving memories, rendered speechless by her breathtaking beauty, fuming with jealousy. This was why I needed to keep my distance.
But I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on what we needed to do if she went home to Derek Ellis every night.
I didn’t need her to suspect my jealousy and make this situation even more awkward. Scrambling for an excuse, I said, “We can get more done if we stay here together. You want to get out of here as quickly as I do, right?”
Brenna flinched. She still wore every emotion on her face.
“And I can’t imagine Mr. You Too would be happy with you living with your ex.”
Her eyebrows rose. “But he’d be fine if I live withyou?”
“I hardly count.”
Not true,my mind rebelled. Brenna and I dated for only a couple of months, but our connection spanned years, before and after. We couldn’t rewrite our history, but maybe we could ignore it.
Brenna turned her back on me and ignored my comment. “I’ll stay at the B&B.”
“Mrs. Callahan is heading down to Florida tomorrow for the rest of winter.”
“How do you know that?”
I smirked. “She told me at the dinner you skipped because you were embarrassed about falling off the treadmill.”
Her gaze fell to the floor, studying it, as if something there caught her attention. She didn’t retort as expected. My strategy to get through this required her to be on the same page as me, and she wasn’t playing along.
“I don’t know if I want to stay here.” Her voice was thick with emotion as she fiddled with the strap of her purse.
And dammit if her emotions didn’t put a massive crack in the front I put on around her.
My hand landed on her elbow before I could give it a second thought. The barest of contact, not even skin to skin, and my body screamed for more. Brenna’s eyes tracked my hand before slowly making their way to my face.
Time stood still. I waited for her gaze to lock with mine.
When it did, all the air was sucked out of the room. Brenna’s chocolate brown eyes held a softness I hadn’t seen since we’d reunited. I hadn’t had a chance to study her closely like this. My eyes hungrily took the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with their favorite view.
Her throat bobbed.
Such dangerous territory we navigated.
“Neither do I,” I said finally before opening the front door and gesturing her out. “But we’ll have to do a lot we don’t want to do in these next few months.”
I was less worried about what I’d have to do. The single thought in my mind was what Iwantedto do but couldn’t.
10
BRENNA
Now
The neighborhood surrounding theCourtside Café vibrated with activity—residents leaving condos in small expensive cars, pedestrians frequenting newly opened stores and restaurants, the cacophony of a city bursting around us.
And there our business sat, exactly as I remembered it. Gordon either had a fixation on the past or he was very, very lazy.
“Palmer City has changed,” I mused, looking in all directions as I walked beside Nathan.
I didn’t know how I expected him to respond, but it wasn’t with silence. Though after ourmoment, I shouldn’t have beensurprised. Nathan had filled the car ride with a baseball podcast, saving us from having to talk. Not that I digested a damn word. I was too focused on replaying how Nathan’s eyes had roamed over my face in a way that was anything but appropriate.
