Page 6 of An Inconvenient Plan
“You were a boring braggart. And the portions at that restaurant—”
“Were too small.”
“Yes.” She quieted for a moment, remembering the event two and a half years ago. She and Josh had a long strange history. “And I didn’t appreciate that you tricked me with that twin switcheroo to teach me a lesson. All I learned was not to trust you.”
He blew out a breath. “It was stupid, I guess. Sorry.”
“You don’t sound very sorry.”
He groaned long and loud like an obnoxious beast.
She huffed daintily. “Obviously we have a history. We’ve been fighting for years. Still do.”
One corner of his mouth curled up in a classic Josh smirk. “More like razzing each other.”
She pursed her lips. “I got very worked up.”
“Bah. I told you before I was just playing with you.”
She sincerely doubted that. There had definitely been some heated words between them in the past. “I took up yoga because of you…briefly.” That was before Clarissa the yoga nut breezed into town. Not that Hailey would’ve spent the money on classes. She’d watched some YouTube videos. Everything she earned was either saved or funneled back into her business. Her goal was always a stable foundation.
Josh’s eyes twinkled with good humor. “That sounds rough.”
“I couldn’t hack it,” she admitted. “I couldn’t stay still long enough.”
“It’s boring as hell.”
She stared at him, surprised he thought so. She’d heard he’d gotten way into yoga with Clarissa. “It is!”
He smiled, his brown eyes crinkling at the corners. A genuine smile. “Look at us getting along.”
She softened toward him. Maybe she should take that shoebox of money off his hands and let bygones be bygones. Then she remembered the last disastrous time she went through this with him six weeks ago and decided to handle it another way.
“You know what, Josh? You keep the money. Put it toward your bar. I don’t care about it anymore.”
“Yes, you do.”
Back to arguing with her! It was always a fight with this man, even when she was trying to be the bigger person. This was exactly why she kept getting sucked in! He pushed all her buttons all the time!
“It’s fine,” she assured him through gritted teeth. “Really.”
He smirked. “You’re just afraid to go back to my place.”
“I’m not afraid!”
“I admit last time was a complete disaster.”
She looked away. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Me either. This time will be different. Keep your dress on and everything will go fine.”
Her lungs constricted. Time seemed to stop. The words hung in the air between themkeep your dress on. His casual comeback cut deep. After her meltdown today, after his stinging rejection while she stood there naked and vulnerable, after she’d started to warm to him again—it was all too much. How dare he bring up that humiliating night like it meant nothing!
She leapt from her seat. “You beast!”
“What’d I say this time?”
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