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She puffed out a breath. “Uh, sort of. In passing. Enough to know the main characters—like Stacy.”
Ouch. . . yeah, there was a great reminder of why it wasn’t such a good idea to be in this small room with this entrancing woman. He’d sworn off relationships. “Stacy’s done an excellent job for us.”
Cara’s brows lifted. “Oh, I meant to ask. Well, not now, but later on. How did the talk go with Stacy? Everything ironed out?”
Roman should give her a vague answer, but like last night, he found it insanely easy to talk to this woman. “She wasn’t happy. I told her that I hadn’t changed my mind, and we weren’t getting back together.”
Cara’s mouth quirked. “You really said that to Stacy Bernard?”
He frowned. “Yeah . . .? Was I not direct enough, or too direct? She thinks I’m going to change my mind, and that’s what bothers me. But Mia is six years old, still a little kid. She doesn’t need her dad in some topsy-turvy relationship. And things with Stacy have always felt topsy-turvy.”
Cara only stared at him, as if shocked at his words.
Were they shocking? He didn’t know. They were the absolute truth, though. He rubbed at his temple. “I don’t know why I’m saying all of this. It’s just coming out. Sorry, Cara. I should probably let you get to your organizing, and I’ll go do my producer stuff—something I have a lesser chance of screwing up.” He turned to leave because he didn’t trust what else might come out of his mouth about Stacy. And it wasn’t really anyone’s business. Not that he thought Cara would somehow tell others about this conversation, but Roman should move on from this chat.
“Roman,” she said in a soft voice.
Her hand was on his arm again, and he stopped. Turned toward her.
“I won’t say anything,” she said. “If you knew the complicated family I come from, then you’d know that I’m not judging you in the least. It’s okay not to know why we jump into a relationship, then have to bail. Sometimes things just happen. You can’t define or explain it.”
He looked down at her fingers resting on his upper arm. Her nails were clean, cut short. She was a no-frills person. Refreshing. But far from plain or simple or boring.
She dropped her hand. “Sorry, I’m probably not making any sense. If you need someone to vent to, I’ll be here for a few more days. And believe me, when your ex-sister-in-law marries your other brother, making your niece essentially a double-niece, not much can surprise you.”
Roman blinked. “What?”
“My brother Knox was married to a lady named Macie. They divorced, and a couple of years later, she married my other brother, Holt. They’re happy as two peaches in a tree. Knox is now back together with his very first girlfriend from high school, and they’re happy, too.”
“Huh. So how are family reunions?”
Cara laughed at this.
Roman smiled. When she laughed or smiled, it was kind of contagious.
“Entertaining.”
“I’ll bet.” Roman slipped his hands into his pockets. “Sounds like an interesting storyline.”
Cara’s eyes widened. “Don’t you dare.” Then her eyes narrowed. “You’re not a script writer, too, are you?”
He shrugged and gave a little smile. “I have some say in things.”
Cara moved closer to him. “Whatever is said in this room, stays in this room. Got it? You spilled a few things to me that I now have some collateral over.”
Roman grinned. “Okay, got it.”
“Are you leaning?” she asked, her blue eyes perfectly serious.
Was he leaning toward her? He was definitely leaning. “I think I am.”
“Ah.” She touched his shoulder with one finger and pressed.
He straightened. “I should go.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah,” he echoed.
Then, against all reason, or maybe against his insane thoughts of how he’d rather just hang out in the pantry with the cook all day instead of anything else, he headed into the hallway. Where his thoughts should have cleared and recentered themselves. But they didn’t seem to be listening to him, at all.
