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4) Nate received three back-to-back phone calls from Marty, which he ignored because he had enough drama in his life right now without arguing with his cousin/agent over whether to audition for some shitty straight-to-DVD movie that would probably do Nate’s career more harm than good.
“Sorry, there’s no more bread.” Nate stared woefully at the empty loaf pan on the kitchen island. “I ate it all.”
“Jesus,” Roger said. “Allof it?”
“That’s okay,”Gemma assured Nate. “I didn’t really want the bread. I just wanted something to calm my nerves.” She darted a glance in Kris’s direction.
Kris crossed her arms over her chest. Red rimmed her eyes and tipped her nose, like she’d been crying.
A wave of fierce protectiveness swept over Nate. He wanted to tug her into his arms and shield her from anything that might make her cry—her mom(s), her dad, Gloria, that ugly green sweater that made her recoil when she saw it at the outdoor flea market he took her and Skylar to the other day.
Since Kris was standing next to her father, who frowned at Nate like Nate had just announced he’d tested positive for STDs and was intent on spreading it to the older man’s daughter, he stayed where he was. That didn’t stop his heart from aching. This whole situation was so fucked up.
Nate’s phone buzzed with another call.
Dammit, Marty.
Roger’s frown deepened, and an irritated Nate silenced his phone. A second later, his screen lit up with a text message.
Marty: CALL ME! IT’S URGENT!!!
All caps, three exclamation marks. Nate would’ve been concerned, except the last time he’d received a similar message from his cousin, Marty had needed a double date partner for the blonde twins he’d met at The Grove.
Needless to say, Nate didn’t take Marty’s all-caps-three-exclamation-marks messages all that seriously.
“What are you doing here?” Kris asked Gemma. Her voice, while not unfriendly, oozed wariness.
Gemma fiddled with her bracelet, and Nate realized Kris had the same tic when she was nervous or distressed.
“I asked her to come.” Roger cleared his throat. “We have a lot of unanswered questions from last night and I thought we should wrap those up after we had time to sleep on…everything.”
“Kris, do you mind if I speak with you? Alone?” Gemma asked softly.
Kris’s shoulders visibly tightened. Her eyes darted from her father to Gemma to Nate, who gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Gemma seemed like a decent person, but if she hurt Kris, he was going to have it out with her.
He was sick to death of shitty parents.
“Okay.” Kris nodded in response to Gemma’s question.
Relief spread across the other woman’s face. “Okay,” she repeated.
Nate forced himself not to follow as Kris and her biological mother disappeared into another part of the house, leaving him and Roger alone.
Shit.
Nate wished he hadn’t eaten all the banana bread. A slice of that heavenly goodness would’ve gone a long way toward easing the scowl on the Carrera patriarch’s face…or not. There was a strong possibility Roger’s features had frozen into a perpetual disapproving grimace.
“I don’t like you,” Roger said.
Damn. Talk about cutting to the chase.
“Yes, you made that plenty clear when you tried to bribe me into breaking up with your daughter,” Nate said, equally blunt. No point in trying to kiss ass. It wouldn’t get him anywhere, anyway.
“Let me finish,” Roger growled. “I don’t like you,butI…appreciate how you’ve looked after Kris these past few days.” He choked out each word like it was a shard of glass slicing his throat open on its way out. “I know about the cafe and her living at your house,” he added when he saw Nate’s surprise. “I put someone on her tail when I found her note saying she was moving out for the rest of the summer. She’s my daughter, and I won’t let anything happen to her. That being said, I still think you two aren’t well-suited. You’re too different, and that’s not even taking into account your past…activities. But I can tell you genuinely care for her, and Kris cares for you, too.” More grimacing. “So I’m willing to step aside and allow you two to stay together for however long this thing between you lasts.”
Nate’s emotions fluctuated from shock to irritation to amusement in the two minutes it took Roger to give his little speech.
Trust Kris’s father to deliver the world’s most tepid stamp of approval. You almost had to admire the guy.
