Page 82 of Driven Daddy

Now that was all gone.

FOURTEEN

“Rita?”I jogged down the hall to where she was.

She was turned away from me, her fingers limp at her side. Her phone was on the floor, and she looked like she was a minute away from falling over.

“Duchess, what’s wrong?” I tried again.

“Just leave me alone,” she said in barely a whisper.

“Absolutely not.” I moved around to face her, crouching a little to meet her gaze. Her sunglasses were still on, blocking her eyes. Uncaring, I took them off her and my stomach dropped at how hollow her eyes seemed. “Hey.” I cupped her face. “What happened? Did someone…” I was afraid to ask, leaving it open-ended.

She pushed my hand away. “Just my career crashing into the ocean while it’s on fire and exploding at the same time. It’s fine. What do you care? I’m just some silly romance author.”

“I wish I’d never said those damn words.”

They’d haunt me until the end of time, it seemed. Especially since the more I got to know her, the more it seemed like I’d been so very wrong.

“What does it matter if that’s how you feel?” She straightened and I literally watched her put herself back together. The painetched in her face smoothed back into that cool veneer I’d witnessed a few times now. “I’ll figure it out.”

Knowing she wasn’t in a place to believe me, I changed tracks. “What happened? Maybe it’ll help to talk about it.”

“Not with you.” She patted her pockets, then looked down to find her phone on the floor. She crouched to pick it up and shoved it in her bag, and then she brushed by me. “I should probably just go in and make my excuses and get out of here. Maybe I should just head back to the city. This was such a huge mistake.”

“No, you can’t.”

Where the hell had that come from? But it felt right to say it. Now I just had to convince her that it was the truth.

She tipped her head back, her exasperation fully on display. Her bag slipped down to her wrist, then it plopped to the floor. “How many times do I have to tell you it doesn’t matter what you want, Penn Masterson?”

“Well, first of all, the photographer pretty much kicked us all out. My brother and his ex kinda forgot where they were, I think. And that there were over a dozen people watching them.”

I did not need to know that much about my brother’s love life or his technique, thanks.

She tipped her head back down. “Pardon?”

“Let’s just say the chemistry is still alive and well between Trav and Brig.”

“I knew they had history.” She crossed her arms over her middle. The lost look was now submerged under that cool facade.

“Yeah, they have a kid and everything. Everyone in my family was surprised when they split, but having a kid definitely can change a relationship.

“That’s for sure.”

“Look, why don’t you come home with me?”

“I’m fine. I really need to go home and pack.”

“Home?”

She huffed out a sigh and bent to pick up her bag. “You know what I mean. The cottage.”

“Just give it a little time. If you really want to go back to the city, I’ll?—”

“What? Drive me? I have a car. In fact, that’s exactly where I’m going. To my car. And possibly to buy the biggest bottle of wine I can find at that little shop down the street.”

“We can get the wine. It’ll go perfect with my mom’s lasagna. Which is for dinner tonight. You know, as long as you’re not a vegetarian or something. You seemed into my shrimp scampi so…pescatarian?”

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