Page 44 of Sweet Somethings

Frowning, she wondered why he'd given her the brush-off.

Was it because of Doug? Had he seen them talking together? Was he jealous?

A shiver ran down her spine as she debated what to do.

She should let him go…shouldn't she?

* * *

Juliette was interested in Doug.

That pissed Roman off more than he would have imagined. But seeing Doug with his hand on Juliette's arm, giving her that smooth smile that so many people fell for, made his blood boil.

He'd been a fool to come to the movie fest, to go looking for her, but after lunch he'd thought about her all the damn day, and he just hadn't been able to stop himself from seeing her again.

"Roman, wait."

He heard her voice behind him and picked up his pace.

"Roman, stop," she called again.

The last thing he wanted to do was stop and talk to her, especially since he was behaving like a damned idiot. But he could hardly keep going with her chasing him down and calling his name every other minute. The people nearby were already looking in his direction.

So he stopped and waited for her to catch up. "What?" he asked shortly.

"Why are you running away from me?"

"Do you have to talk so loud?" he countered, moving away from the moviegoers and deeper into the trees. "People are trying to watch the movie."

"And you didn't answer my question. What's going on? Why the cold shoulder?"

"You were busy; I didn't want to bother you."

"I wasn't busy; I was talking to Doug, but you saw that."

"Are you going out with him?" The question left his mouth before he could stop it.

She hesitated. "He did invite me to dinner tomorrow night."

"And you said yes?" He shook his head. "Okay, fine, do what you want."

"I will do what I want," she snapped back. "But why are you so mad?"

"I told you about the fire—about the way he hung me out to dry."

"You did tell me your side of the story. I'm curious to hear his."

"So you can decide if I'm lying? I thought you believed me." He'd been crazy to think she'd taken him at his word.

"I don't think you're lying, Roman, but it sounds like there are things you don't know."

"You mean things you don't know. You always have to stick your nose where it doesn't belong. This isn't your business, Juliette."

She frowned. "If you could stop seeing red for a minute, you might be able to hear me when I say that my real interest in having dinner with Doug is to ask him about the fire and the rumors floating around about you. Do you really want to live in this town with a cloud hanging over your head?"

"I'm not going to be here that long, and while I am here, I'll deal with it. This isn't your fight, Juliette."

"You're my friend. I fight for my friends."

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