He stopped just inside the door and his eyes moved over me once. Then again. He knew. Of course he knew. “What happened?”
I turned away and grabbed the rag from the counter. “Nothing.”
Rome didn’t move.
“Josie.”
“I’m fine.”
He walked closer.
Slow.
Controlled.
He stopped on the other side of the counter. “What happened?”
I smiled. It felt wrong on my face. “Long day.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I’ve got.”
Rome stared at me.
Not angry.
Not at me, but I could see the patience thinning.
“Baby.”
That one word almost did me in. I looked down at the rag. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay.”
I blinked and looked up. He held my gaze. “I’ll ask one more time after you breathe.”
That should’ve annoyed me. It didn’t.
Because it wasn’t a threat. It was Rome giving me space without letting me hide in it.
I took a breath. Then another.
He waited.
The man could be a bulldozer when he wanted, but he could also stand perfectly still and make me feel like I had all the time in the world.
Finally, he asked again.
“What happened?”
I sighed and leaned against the counter. “Brandi came in.”
Rome went still. “Brandi,” he repeated.
“And her friend.”
His jaw flexed. “What’d she do?”
