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“Listen…” His eyes meet mine, and I have a guess what he’s about to bring up, but I can’t handle it. We’re not doing this. Not here, not now.
Over my dead body will he ever know how much that night hurt me.
“Can I get you a coffee?” I interrupt.
His eyes widen. “What? Oh. No, thank you. I’ve had enough already.”
He clears his throat and looks away. The moment has been broken, and whatever he wanted to say is gone.
“How long are you staying in town?” he asks.
“For a few weeks,” I reply. “Until my parents are all settled in their new place.”
“You can take off work for that long?”
I bristle at that. “Yes.”
If he’s looking for an explanation, it’s not coming.
“What else?” I ask. “Did you go to college? Take a break and see the world before you took on the ranch?”
They’re meant to be barbed questions, and I’m happy to see his face turn red. He should have never implied that I don’t care about my parents.
“Nope.” The answer is sharp. Final. “With a business that requires sixteen-hour days, seven days a week, it’s kind of hard to run off to another place. Especially when you don’t have parents paying your way.”
Seriously?! Yes, my parents helped me with school, but even if they hadn’t, I still would have gone. I would have taken out more loans and made it happen somehow.
Plus, I got into school all thanks to my hard work. No one but me spent all those nights and weekends studying.
I take another sip of my latte, trying to hide my annoyance. I know that Josh is just lashing out because of his own insecurities. After all, I’m sure it can’t be easy running a ranch all on his own. But that doesn’t mean he has the right to belittle my achievements.
“Well, I guess we all have to work hard to get what we want,” I reply evenly. My eyes flick to his ring finger, which is bare.
Hmm. I would have thought he’d be married by now to some girl from high school and that they would have three kids and a dog.
A small part of me shivers in excitement at the prospect of him being single, but I quickly shut that down.
I’m not here for a fling, and I don’t want to complicate things with Josh. We have a past, but that’s all it is.
Plus, based on this short conversation, I can see that he’s still the same jerk he was fifteen years ago. So no, thank you. I’ll pass.
“Well, this has been nice. I have to get going now. Nice seeing you, Josh.” I nod politely and turn to leave.
“Wait.” His hand shoots out, grabbing my arm. The touch sends a shiver up my spine and my heart races.
I freeze, waiting for his apology. “Yes?”
“Tell your mom we have some flank steaks available now, and she can put in an order on the website.”
My stomach drops. That’s it? That’s all he has to tell me? A sales pitch?
“Cool,” I clip. “Will do.”
As I walk out of the bakery, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed. The encounter with Josh was not what I had hoped for. A part of me had secretly hoped that he would ask me out or something. But that was just silly thinking. I’m here for my parents, not for some guy who still acts like a high school jock.
I take a deep breath and remind myself that I’m better off without him. I don’t need his attention or validation. I’m successful and independent to the point that most people only dream of.
As I walk down the street, Josh lingers in my mind. The delicious shiver that ran through me when he touched my arm was enough to nearly knock me off my feet. I want to be touched like that again, and I absolutely hate it.
