Page 42 of Forget Me Not

Okay, it’s not that bad.

“I swear it’s like I’m not even speaking,” Nova grumbles.

“Well, you won’t ask for help, so the rest of us have to do it for you. You can’t keep letting that place go. The AC doesn’t work and the boiler’s been broken. It’s going to get cold in a few months and you know how Gran gets in the cold.”

“Of course, I know my own grandma, Sophie,” Nova snaps, but Sophie doesn’t even seem to notice.

“You do, which is why it needs fixed.”

That shuts Nova up.

“Let me take a look at the boiler. I’ll get it running.”

Nova just shakes her head.

“You’re a good man, Reid.” Sophie nudges Nova. “Right, Nova?”

“Yeah,” Nova grumbles. “The best.”

I hold back my chuckle when Sophie pats me on the shoulder, her fingers slipping down my arm. Nova shoots daggers at her back as she walks away.

“Little bird, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re jealous.”

That earns me a look.

“I am not jealous. Why would I be jealous?”

“No reason,” I smirk, and she rolls her eyes.

Oh, little bird, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.

“It’s not a big deal, Nova. The place needs a couple things fixed. I doubt it’s cheap to have people come from the mainland to fix the place.”

“You have no idea,” she murmurs, taking a slice of mushroom and pepper pizza—her choice. “I called for a quote on just getting some painting done in the rooms to remove that awful wallpaper and they said thirty-five thousand. I nearly laid an egg.”

“Thank you for that image.”

She gawks at me, shoving at my leg with hers under the table. Heat swells in my cock, but I try to ignore it with visions of elderly bikini contests, famous baseball moments, and boxing matches throughout history.

It doesn’t fucking work.

Her phone starts buzzing on the table between us and instantly, she’s picking it up and looking at it, her brow furrowing. I’ve noticed it goes off all the time and it’s always someone at the inn needing something. Needing to know where something is, needing to know how to do something.

“Don’t you pay people to know how to do their jobs?”

She finally puts it back down after typing out a long message.

“Yes, but people need guidance. I apologize, I won’t look at it, again.”

Bull.

Sitting forward, I cross my hands in front of me on the table. She sits back, probably due to how close we are, but I don’t let it stop me.

“Nova, people should be able to handle things on their own. You should be able to leave for a couple hours without them hounding you.”

“They aren’t hounding me,” she argues, rolling her eyes and as if they’re listening, her phone vibrates, again.

I eye her, challenging her to pick it up.

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