When in Rome(11)

I nod, finishing his sentence for him. “The princess of soulful pop is in my house right now breathing up all my bought air.”

“No shit!” A new dawning look that I don’t quite like hits him. Like he’s imagining her face. Like he’s imagining his new prospects. And then his eyes shift to me and his look changes. “Ohhhh, now I see what’s up with the surly attitude.”

“I’m always surly.”

He’s smirking now like he understands everything about me. He probably does. I hate it. “She’s gorgeous and talented and you like her. But she’s an out-of-towner, and you’re too jaded to let yourself even talk to her.”

“I talked to her just fine. Now move,” I say, breezing past him and setting down the eggs. I run my hand over some pots and pans, making a ton of noise just for the hell of it. I don’t like that he picked me apart so easily.

Unfortunately, James isn’t scared of my moods like the rest of the town. “Man, you’re being an idiot. Rae Rose is…” He trails off with another look that makes me feel like punching something. Or him. “Anyway, it’s gotta be like a one in a million chance that she would break down in your front yard. Where’s she headed anyway?”

I wish she’d dropped into his front yard instead of mine. Clearly he appreciates the situation more than I do. “Why should I care?”

“Because…I don’t know. Maybe you’d have a shot with her.”

“I don’t want a shot with her.”

He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Man, come on. Are you just never gonna date again? Merritt messed you up that bad?”

I clench my jaw. “Don’t talk to me about her.”

He ignores my threat. “You’re gonna have to try again eventually. Why not go all out and try with a gorgeous celebrity?”

What makes him think I would have a shot with a woman like her, anyway? This town is nuts. Rae Rose is so far out of my league she wouldn’t even give me a second thought.

It’s clear that James is not going to stop pushing if I don’t give him what he wants. So after filling my lungs as full as possible, I push through the uncomfortable feeling that comes along with sharing any emotional part of myself and look straight at him. “I’ll date again when I’m good and ready. But I sure as hell won’t be trying with another woman whose life exists outside of this town—because you know I can’t go with her. And let’s say the world has flipped upside down and she was interested in a pie shop owner from Kentucky; I don’t care to date a celebrity and find out through a tabloid that she cheated on me.”

James gives me a pitying look. “Just because—”

“No, we’re done now.” I open the back door to the kitchen, not so subtly telling James to get out. He doesn’t budge. I’m going to have to rent a forklift for the day and physically scoop him out of here. “Will you quit making this out to be something it’s not? She’ll be leaving just as soon as Tommy tows her car to his shop and throws some oil in it.” If I’m lucky, I’ll never even have to see her again. It’s what I should have done when Merritt passed through town all those years ago—ignored her. I left Rae a note on the kitchen counter this morning with the phone number to Tommy’s Automotive shop, hoping that she’d get everything taken care of before I get home.

“What’s she doing right now?” he asks, and I sigh, slamming the door shut again and going into the fridge and unloading the carton of eggs into it.

“I don’t know, James. Scrolling through all the local cable channels? Like I said, I don’t care.”

He steps up beside me so he can look at my profile. “You’re an asshole, you know that, right?”

“I had a hunch.”

He shakes his head and rubs the back of his neck. “Your grandma would be ashamed of your manners.”

Okay, well, that’s a low blow and he knows it. My grandma is still my favorite person that ever lived. Even the slightest thought of her being upset at me makes my skin feel itchy.

I narrow my eyes on him. “How do you figure? I gave the woman a safe place to sleep last night and left her with the number of the local automotive shop. Just how does that make me shameful?”

“You left her alone in a random town to fend for herself in the midst of strangers.”

I turn sharply to him. “I’m a stranger!”

He waves that off like it’s not a valid point. “You know you should’ve done better. Imagine how she’s feeling right now? That woman is ridiculously famous. I bet she’s terrified to have to go anywhere by herself if she doesn’t have a bodyguard.”

Seems like something she should have thought about before leaving her house without any security. She’s not my problem. She’s not. Couldn’t be less of my problem, in fact.

James’s face shifts into an expression of complete and utter smugness. It tells me whatever he’s about to say will land the final match-ending blow. “How would your grandma have treated her if she were around?”

What a little shit. Of course my grandma would say I should do everything in my power to help Rae. She would also probably smack me upside the back of my head for not making her breakfast this morning and giving her a ride to the mechanic’s so she doesn’t have to ride in Tommy’s gross tow truck with his nasty dip in the center console. And oh man…the war stories. He’ll for sure tell her every gory detail.