Her voice was suspicious and rightfully so. He and his roommates could be a bunch of meddlers. “Nope. Unless you want me to. You know my skills. I’m your romance hookup. I know which flower store has the best rose petals?—”
“I amnotbuying rose petals.” She crunched the bottle harder. “Oh God! I hate talking about this stuff. Are you sure you aren’t hiding a special T-shirt for me in your pocket? You know, one that says something like I NEED LOVE THERAPY or MISTRUSTFUL WOMAN SEEKS PLUS ONE?—"
“I did see a T-shirt with a broken heart that said I CAN DO IT, but Jacqueline vetoed it.”
Lady Jacs had also voted down the other present he’d wanted to give Madison for the holidays, which was too bad. Now the item seemed perfect.
“I figure you and Kyle have talked everything through yourselves.” But he doubted Madison knew Kyle was learning Spanish. When Dean had caught him practicing it in his home office, Golden Boy had shown a whole new side of himself. A man in love who was scared he didn’t have a chance with the girl who held his heart. Dean had to give Kyle credit. It tookcojonesto go after Madison.
Dean resumed eating, groaning while Madison looked off in troubled silence. He wished he could help her more, but love was a choice. No one could do it for you. Besides, he and Brooke had agreed it would be disrespectful to push Madison—if not downright scary.
They both thought it best to take on a more supportive role.
“This whole situation is hard for me,” she admitted quietly. “Feeling like this. You guys knowing. Not knowingwhen the rug’s going to be pulled out from under my feet. But thanks for coming. Even if you did eat like Nanine’s had turned into a buffet.”
An emotional humdinger of a confession, followed up by her usual dry wit to cover it up. He had to do the same. “You’re welcome. We’re weirded out too. And honestly, I think we should consider opening a new restaurant with a buffet under our Paris Roommates Group umbrella. I’d go there and chow down every day.”
Her mouth tipped to the side in the barest of smiles. “A buffet would never work in Paris.”
“Oh, you of the limited mind. I’d bet we’d be the first buffet to win a Michelin star.”
Her mouth tightened, the small smile disappeared, probably because he reminded her of the other pressure in her life. The quest for her star. As if falling in love with your best friend and navigating those waters weren’t enough of a tightrope.
He could kick himself for saying the wrong thing.
“Pierre could run the place,” he added, trying to clown up the moment. “We could name the dishes after exotic birds like the Flamingo Shrimp Plate?—”
“Dean! Finish up. I need to leave. Ah…Kyle’s probably waiting for me.”
A flicker of nerves passed over her strained face. Right. She and Kyle were living in that huge house alone now. He didn’t think they’d jumped each other yet, but he’d bet the tension in that house was thicker than ever, swirling in the air like summer bees. He ate quickly and then took his plate to the dishwasher’s station and rinsed it off while she pretty much paced the kitchen floor in her black high-tops.
After cooing over Pierre, he settled the little guy back into his cage. “How about I bring Pierre over for a sleepover? With my Lady Jacs gone, the apartment is too quiet. Would that be okay?”
Her eyes went wide with shock for a moment before she nodded. “Sure. We’re closed tomorrow, so it’s not like he’ll be needed in the kitchen. You go on and have some fun.”
Except her voice sounded like it was going through a cooking strainer. “Do you need Pierre and me to walk you home?”
“No, I—” She pressed her fists to her black jeans. “I’m a fast walker. Besides, no one messes with me.”
Except Kyle.
All the more reason to give her that initial present Lady Jacs had convinced him not to pick up. He’d do it the next time he saw her.
