Page 57 of RomeAntically Challenged
“Are you breaking out in hives?” Annie turned to her friends. “Emmitt has adverse reactions to commitment, boring wine, and admitting he doesn’t have the proper skill set to get the job done.”
“Don’t forget the green olives.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “And you haven’t seen my skills because, if you had, you’d know I always get the job done.”
Goose bumps tingled over her exposed flesh while unadulterated thrills heated up everything else.
“It’s a chromosome genetic disorder thing,” Beckett was saying. “Ninety-nine percent of males suffer from it.” She drained her martini in one swallow. “Imagine an X and one of the legs breaks off. What do you have? Oh, a Y. World’s never been the same since. True story.”
“Then it’s a good thing I saw you,” he said to Annie. “Here I am with my broken X, when I see you looking like a Roomba trying to map the room, and it hits me. That book. The one that’s sitting on my patio? It was pretty extensive and detailed, leading me to think you have some serious planning skills.”
Annie swallowed hard, lowering her voice so the conversation was just between the two of them. “You looked at my wedding planner?”
“Hard not to when it’s wide open on my back porch. You’ve clearly got this event-planning thing down. I mean color schemes, napkin holders. Real thing, who knew napkins needed holders?”
“They’re called rings. And it was for awedding, not an event.”
“Thanks for the clarification. You’ve planned four, right?”
Annie looked over her shoulder, relieved to see her friends were engaged in conversation with the bartender. “It was two.”
“Two more than most.”
“I was nine the first time. The groom was Ricky Martin.”
“That explains the Copacabana theme.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You snooping through my things?”
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Tell me, did you intend to inviteallyour exes to the wedding?” he asked, seeming awfully satisfied with himself. “Before meeting you, I’d heard about women who stayed friends with their exes but, like most broken X’s, I’d assumed they were an urban legend. Kind of like serial brides.”
“Maintaining healthy relationships with one’s exes doesn’t make a woman a serial bride, it makes her mature,” she said, not sounding mature at all.
Annie had always taken pride in the way she maintained close friendships with her exes. Yet talking about it now, considering her proclivity from a fresh perspective, she began to question what it really said about her. Was inviting people who’d disappointed her and broken her heart to share in her special day a sign of maturity, or did it just make her a pushover?
Annie knew which side of the argument Emmitt would fall on, and last week she’d been positive where she landed. But after the irritating situation Clark had put her in, uncaring how it inconvenienced her and complicated her life, Annie realized she needed to do some serious soul searching.
“Well then, mature Anh, what do you say to helping a friend in need? And before you say no again, hear me out. I have an offer you can’t refuse.”
“You’re leaving Rome?”
“Better. I’m asking you to be my official roommate. You can stay at my place, rent free, until your contract with the hospital is up.”
“With you there?” She gave a dramatic sigh. “I don’t know. Right now I need to focus on my job and myself. That was my whole reason for coming to Rome.”
“Then moving should be out of the question,” Beckett interrupted with a grin. “Think of all the time you’d waste checking out new places, applying, credit checks.”
“Not to mention the deposit,” Emmitt said. “Did Boy Wonder ever get your money back to you?”
“No.” And since Clark hadn’t returned any of her calls, except with a text saying she didn’t need to bring a gift to the wedding because that might be awkward, she wasn’t counting on seeing even a penny until after the wedding.
She looked at Emmitt and felt her resolve falter. “Fine. I will help plan, but I am not doing anything the day of.”
“Does this mean you’re staying?”
“It means I’ll think about it.”
“Now who’s afraid of commitment?” He leaned in. “Come on, just say it, we’re good together.”
“You stole my pizza.”
