Page 65 of Must Be Love - Irresistible Bachelors

I should tell AJ that he’s hurting me by never going out in public with me. But what if he thinks I’m being stupid? I don’t want him to give up on me because I have some insecurity issues.

It’s better to keep this to myself. After all, I’m sure it’ll resolve itself. AJ won’t always keep our relationship hidden. He’s warming up to me, that’s all. We’re getting to know each other.

AJ comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.

“That went well,” he says, kissing my head. “I really like your friends.”

I smile up at him. “They like you, too.”

“Mission successful,” he grins.

Yeah, it was. Except now, I’m not so sure the mission was a good idea.

20

AJ

Amber’s body feels stiff against me. Her words don’t match her body language. Did I misunderstand the entire evening? I thought I did well with Nicole, Daisy, and the guys. They seemed to warm up to me. I made them laugh. I impressed them with my movie theater.

Was it all a lie? When I took the guys to the other room, did Nicole and Daisy express concerns about me?

“Is everything okay?” I ask Amber.

She pulls out of my embrace and faces me.

“Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?”

I know better than to answer that question honestly. If I tell her she seems mad, she’ll get mad if she isn’t already.

“I don’t know. You’ve been quiet all night.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I just wanted to make sure everything is okay.”

“Yeah, definitely. You talked enough for the both of us, anyway.”

Her words aren’t malicious, but it feels like a jab. Is that the issue? I talked too much?

I have a tendency to dominate conversations, especially when I’m nervous. I wanted to make sure Amber’s friends liked me. That meant asking them a ton of questions and keeping the conversation flowing. I didn’t realize I would offend Amber by talking too much.

“Sorry. They’re your friends; I should’ve let you run the night.”

“No, no. It’s your house. Obviously, that’s your job.”

I clench my fists in frustration. Why can’t Amber just say what she’s feeling? I shouldn’t have to guess why she’s upset with me.

She changes the subject before I can say anything more. “What are you up to this weekend? Going out anywhere?”

“I’ll probably stay in and get some work done. We had an issue with purchase orders at the factory, so I want to go over the numbers and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“Got it,” Amber says.

Apparently, that wasn’t the right response either. What does this woman want from me? I can’t read her mind.

“What are your plans for the weekend?”

“I have a girls’ night tomorrow night, but nothing besides that.”

Is this where I’m supposed to ask her to spend the weekend with me? It doesn’t seem right, though. There’s too much tension between us right now. Something is wrong, and if we don’t talk about it, it’ll fester until one of us explodes.

“The movie was funny,” Amber says, changing the subject once again. “You chose well. And the popcorn was delicious. Did you put something special on it?”

“A little bit of sugar mixed in with the salt and butter. Not quite kettle corn, but sweeter than regular popcorn.”

“Nice. I really liked it.”

Silence falls between us. It feels like the beginning of our date last weekend, when it seemed like we had nothing to say to each other. I know we can do conversations better than this. We’ve proven it multiple times.

We just need to get over whatever hump we’ve reached so we can get to the other side where things are normal.

“Speaking of food, we left a mess in the dining room. I’ll help you clean up.”

I start to say she doesn’t have to do that, but I stop myself. Is her offer to help a sign that she’s not quite ready to leave? I don’t want her to think I’m pushing her away. Even with this tension between us, I like spending time with Amber.

In the dining room, the pizza boxes sit still open on the table. The chips and dips are mostly gone, but the cheese and crackers remain barely touched. I wanted an assortment so there was something for everyone. Now I have a better feel for what people want if we ever do this again in the future.

The pizza was a hit, thank goodness. If they’d hated my favorite pizza joint, I would’ve kicked them out of my house.

Not really, but considering I eat at that restaurant more than anywhere else, it would’ve been disappointing. In my opinion, they make the best pizza in New York. I obviously haven’t been to every pizza place in the city, but I’ve been to enough to know what is worth eating and what isn’t. Gio’s is definitely worth eating.

Amber takes the bags that still have chips in them and rolls the tops to keep them from going stale. I put the cheese and crackers back in their containers. Between the two of us, it doesn’t take long to get the table cleared off. All that remains are the pizza boxes.

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