Page 22 of While You Were Trending

“I didn’t know you did dishes.”

“I’m a man of many surprises.”

She takes small steps as she enters the kitchen, then pulls up a stool at the stainless steel worktable behind me, wincing as the legs squeak on the tile floor.

I go back to the pot. “I assume you’re here to kick me out?”

“Shocking that that’s your instant assumption.”

My shoulders tighten, but I make them relax.

I get it.

I didn’t go out of my way to be nice to her when Alex was dating her. I didn’t want either of them to know how much I liked her.

Didn’t want to wreck my friendship with Alex.

Didn’t want to put Ginny in an awkward spot.

So I tried to stay neutral.

And my neutral—it wasn’t neutral.

It was rude and dismissive and full-on asshat.

I blow out a slow breath. “Apologies. Didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

She doesn’t answer.

“You live here?” I ask her.

“Does it matter?”

Seeing her every day while I’m filming? Yes. Yes, it matters. “Suppose not. Just curious.”

“Say I do live here. Would you still want to do this? Stay here and do your filming thing?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Because you’re here.

I shouldn’t be happy that she’s here. I shouldn’t be worried that she’s here. I shouldn’t still want her to see me the way I want her to see me.

And I shouldn’t want to still do this more because she’s here.

But I do. “Only winery I know that’s starting almost from scratch at the exact minute that I need a bigger project.”

When she doesn’t say anything else, I glance back at her.

Lips pursed, travel mug held close to her face, twin lines between her brows above the bridge of her sunglasses.

The nail polish on her middle finger is chipped and she still has some of yesterday’s lipstick on.

She’s either breathing through a wave of nausea, or she’s thinking about what other wineries she might know that would be more interesting for me to film.

Or she’s thinking that I’m an annoyance and she wants me to leave.