Page 29 of RomeAntically Challenged
Again with the shrug.
“Does your ex have a name? Because it would break my heart if, when Clark talked about me, he referred to me assheorher.I’d hope that after sharing so much, he’d call me by name and not a pronoun.”
“Carmen.” He nodded gently. “Her name is Carmen. And you’re right, I never thought of it that way.”
“Can you see that maybe she did?” Annie asked, becausehello?What was he thinking? “You knew she was upset seeing you and you left, but you took the girl you’d just met? That’s shitty.”
“Is this some kind of girl code thing?” he asked, and she caught a glitter of amusement in his eyes. “You stick up for each other even if you’ve never met?”
“I’m not sticking up for her,” Annie said, thinking back to the day she’d found out about Molly-Leigh. The humiliation she’d felt after spending the entire day doing rounds, talking to colleagues, catching awkward glances from her peers, clueless that Clark had announced to the world that he’d finally found love. Meaning he’d never loved Annie in the forever kind of way. “I’ve been her and it sucks.”
“I have always been straight with women, Ann.” His words were spoken softly but delivered with conviction. “I’ve never cheated or lied, and I don’t make promises I can’t keep. I don’t know what you went through, but I know it crushed you and that pisses me off.”
She was so lost in what he was saying, she didn’t even see his hand until it was resting on her upper arm. But there it was, palm flattened against her skin, his fingers gently brushing back and forth in a soothing pattern.
“You know what else gets to me?”
Annie swallowed and shook her head. A slow heat started at his fingers and wound its way up to the hairs that were brushing the back of her neck. Each follicle sparking with sexual awareness.
“The idea that you think I’m a bad guy. I’m not saying I’m a good guy, and maybe I could have handled it better, but the bottom line was that Carmen needed me to be someone I’m not, and pretending isn’t my thing. I felt awful that our first time running into each other happened the way it did, but it wasn’t intentional.”
Deep down, Annie believed him. Trusted that he’d never intended to hurt Carmen. He wasn’t callous or mean. In fact, in the short time she’d known him, he’d proven himself to be a warm and genuinely caring person. Yet his thoughtless decision had hurt Carmen in a way that had probably shaped the last few years of her life, and Emmitt wasn’t seeing the big picture.
“When I saw a photo of Clark and Molly-Leigh on social media just weeks after our breakup—”
“I’m not Clark,” he said sharply, a little defensive for someone who claimed to have “left things on good terms.”
“I’m not saying you are,” Annie said calmly, noticing that even though he was a little prickly, he hadn’t moved his hand. In fact, it was now resting on the curve of her neck, his thumb sliding behind the curve of her jaw. “I’m only trying to explain how she might have felt. I knew Clark would move on quickly—he doesn’t do single very well—but when he posted that he’d foundhis personso soon after our breakup, it was like I had to relive the breakup all over again. Friends called to console. My parents hovered. I saw Clark at work every day and he’d never told me he was seeing someone seriously. It hurt almost as bad as his breakup text.”
“He broke up with you by text?” Emmitt’s hand tightened. “Now that’s shitty.”
“It was.” Annie laughed. It was easier to joke about it now, but at the time it had caused her to question everything about her life. “But so is leaving a bar with a virtual stranger in front of your very recent ex.”
Emmitt leaned back against the wall and ran both hands down his face. “Jesus, I should’ve just called it a night and headed home alone. I really screwed that up, didn’t I?”
“Maybe you should tell her that.” Annie placed a hand on his arm. “It sounds like Carmen invested a lot of herself in you and your relationship. Maybe all she wants is for you to acknowledge what you both lost. I know it would have helped me.”
“I’m not a good investment, Annie,” he said quietly. “I’ve never hidden that from anyone.”
Chapter 9
When someone stated who they were, Annie had learned it was best to listen. Which was why she made a mental sticky note and stuck it front and center in her memory.
As sad as his statement was, he clearly believed it and was determined to live his life as if it were the truth. So no matter how fiercely her heart argued that he was wrong, Annie’s head was telling her to steer clear. Which left her with only one option: She had to find a way to get her wedding deposit back so she could rent a new place.
After a quick stop at Holy Cannoli—the best Italian bakery this side of the Vatican—where she picked up a piece of limoncello pie, Annie headed toward the nurses’ break room. She’d barely turned the corner when she became aware of excited chatter and energy in the air right outside the door.
Informally called the Fortress of Solitude, it was the only place nurses could go—besides their car or the bathrooms—to escape the noise, the headaches, and the doctors.
Surgeons, PAs, and doctors were persona non grata, with Annie being the exception. Sometimes being the exception came with perks.
The nurses took pity on the floaterandnew girl, awarding her temporary membership. Sometimes, Annie wondered if it was just because they needed someone to clean out the fridge every Friday. Either way, she was grateful.
Annie opened the door and was immediately waved over by Beckett Hayes, Rome’s personal concierge who specialized in getting shit done. She also specialized in training emotional support companions and was a regular in the pediatric ward.
She had short choppy hair, a shorter temper, and the biggest heart of anyone Annie had ever met—one of the many reasons she was Annie’s closest friend in Rome. She was also Team Ride or Pie’s founding member.
Today Beckett was dressed in a superhero shirt, a frayed denim skirt, and Doc Martens. Today’s hero of choice was Captain Marvel. Her boots were fire engine red with mismatched socks peeking out the top, and her chestnut hair was pinned into short pigtails.
