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“I’m sorry for being so short with you.”
“It’s okay,” she murmured.
He shook his head. “No, it’s not. It’s never okay for me to lose my temper even if it was something you’ve done. Your brother… he just gets under my skin.”
“I thought you guys were close,” she whispered.
“We were. And I guess there’s still a part of each of us that considers the other a friend. He has this way of getting to you, you know? There’s something to be said about how someone can make you feel like you’re not good enough with just a single look or a simple phrase. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Ethan is capable of that and so much more.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. He can make me feel that way sometimes, too.” Rose lifted her eyes to find Mike watching her. “I don’t blame you for feeling that way. It’s hard to meet Ethan’s high expectations all the time.”
Mike looked away. There was something about the way he avoided her gaze that made her wonder if there was something more going on that he wasn’t willing to share.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to ask him because he pulled her toward his truck and changed the subject.
“I’m starving. How about you? I feel like it’s been forever since we’ve gone out.”
“That’s because we don’t really go out like a traditional couple.” She laughed. “We tend to spend all our time here, working on the house.”
He made a face. “Sorry about that. Most of my money has been going toward fixing this place up. But now that you have all that financing from the gallery, I bet that will change.”
She stopped him before they got to his truck, clutching his wrist. “I want you to know that it doesn’t matter to me if we go out or stay in. I just like to make sure we have time with each other. That’s what’s important to me.” Rose studied him, watching him closely to make sure her statement sank in.
No one knew better than she did that money could be a touchy topic. She tilted her head giving him a reassuring smile but didn’t see what she’d hoped to see in his eyes. He’d understand eventually. All he needed was a bit of proof.
Mike pulled open the truck door and motioned for her to get inside. Rose did so. Their lunch was a good sign that Mike wanted to put whatever this was behind him. She should be willing to let him do that.
There was only one problem. She couldn’t get one thought out of her mind.
Mike had never resolved the issue with the tools that Ethan had found. It would be nice to have that cleared up. Then perhaps she could smooth the rough edges of the friendship between her brother and her boyfriend.
The drive was quiet—too quiet. Mike seemed lost in his own thoughts just like she was. Rose continued to mull over how she could ask Mike her burning questions but couldn’t come up with a tactful way to bring it up. She was just going to have to let it spill. That was it.
They arrived at the restaurant, took their seats, and Mike immediately stared at his menu. He glanced up at her over the edge of it several times but only smiled at her. Rose left her own menu on the table and traced the words with her finger.
“I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you did at the show,” he murmured.
“You already said that.”
“Yeah, well, it’s true.” He grinned. “I owe you for what you did. I hope you took the money from your paintings so you could put them toward something special.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t do that. The money belongs to you. The paintings were made with your grandmother’s paint—all of her materials.”
“I can’t—won’t take advantage of you. You earned every cent.” Mike tore his gaze from her.
It was strange, how distracted he was. It was almost like he had something he wanted to tell her but wasn’t willing to bring it up. Well, she wasn’t going to let his distraction pull her away from what was important.
“Mike, I wanted to ask?—”
“Where do you see your future?” he cut in.
“What?” Rose blinked. “My future?”
“Yeah. You’re not working for the restaurant anymore. You still have talent where your art is concerned. Where do you want to be?”
“I don’t… know,” she admitted. “I haven’t really thought about it.”
“Well, you should. There’s a lot of interest in your art. We saw plenty of that at the event you organized.”
