Jade still had a bite of cheesy goodness in her mouth. At the moment nothing was wrong. How could there be when she was eating her favorite food? She pointed to her mouth to show she couldn’t speak.
He waited for her to finish and asked again before she could take another bite. Sneaky.
“The problem is, there isn’t enough cheese,” she answered.
“That’s because you’re wearing most of it on your top.” He pointed to her chest. “I swear you need a bib when you eat.” He laughed.
Jade scooped up the melted mess with her finger and scraped it on the edge of the box. “I was saving it for later.”
He laughed harder.
God, she would miss that sound. No, don’t go there. Just enjoy the night like two friends. Only friends. She needed to keep reminding herself.
When he stopped laughing, he pinned her with a searching stare. “I know something is wrong, and it’s not the cheese.”
He got off the couch, walked around the coffee table, and squeezed down next to her in the large chair. Their legs touched from hip to knee, and her body grew tingly and warm. She tried shuffling away as much as she could to put space between them, but he slid his arm over her shoulders, anchoring her on the seat.
Placing a finger under her chin, he turned her face to him. “You can talk to me.”
He’d said the same thing in the hall earlier in the day. She’d avoided telling him then what was on her mind. But with the way his gaze watched her with concern she wanted to give him something.
“I’m feeling a little sorry for myself. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Why are you feeling sorry for yourself? Is it because the music lessons are continuing? I told you’d I’d stop them—”
“No, it’s not that. Well, a small part of it is. But I want the kids to have the lessons. I’m sad I can’t be part of it.”
“But there’s more,” he prompted.
Ava had said Jade couldn’t hide her emotions, but hopefully she could mask what she was feeling with him. To stop any signs of her love showing, she chanted in her mind: Just friends. Just friends. Good friends. Friends with benefits. No! Not friends with benefits.
With his hand brushing in circular motions over her shoulder, she was finding it hard to concentrate. She again tried to wiggle away, but he held on tight.
“My best friends are married with wonderful husbands. They’ve both had beautiful, healthy babies, and I’m a little envious. They have it all. And all I’ll ever have is Dorito, who I love, but it’s not the same as my own human family.”
“You can have all that too.”
“I can’t. The curse—”
“Let go of that damn curse and you will find love. Some guy would be lucky to have you and never leave.”
Some guy. Not Nate. Her heart dropped to her stomach. If there was one man she would maybe take the chance with, it would be Nate, but he didn’t want to be that guy.
“I wish it could be me,” he whispered.
Wait…did she say that out loud? Or were her feelings, which she’d tried to hide, written all over her face?
He removed his arm from around her shoulders, shifted in the chair, and wiped the palms of his hands on his jeans. “Mike has been nagging me to get back to New York. We’ve been working on some music he wants to record before we head out on tour again.”
“When do you leave?” She could tell by his solemn expression he wasn’t going to tell her he was staying.
“Friday.”
Her heart squeezed, and she sucked in a sharp breath. “So soon?”
“I’ve found someone to replace me for the music lessons. I’ve passed her information on to Toby.”
Did he think she cared about that? He was leaving in a matter of days. She’d never see him again. Except if she watched the music channels and caught his latest video. But the rock star wasn’t the man she loved. The man she loved was leaving just like she knew he would. But she didn’t want to show him how much it hurt.
