Page 3 of The Roommate Remodel

He moved closer to me and snapped, “There’s nothing you could do, dumb woman.”

A flicker behind me caught my eye as a tall man stepped forward, dressed in a sharp wool coat, his eyes as hard as stone.

“What did you call her?” he asked in a commanding voice that made the businessman flinch. His brow pulled into an angry frown, his eyes narrowed, and a muscle in his jaw twitched.

“You know her?” Cal asked.

“Yes,” the tall man snapped, wedging himself between me and the town grinch. “She’s my girlfriend. And you won’t speak to her that wayagain.”

I coughed, and coffee nearly spurted from my nose.

Cal’s face turned the color of old paste. “I didn’t know that.”

The tall man gently placed a hand protectively on my shoulder, and the shock of his touch reverberated down my body. “You will apologize to hernow,” he snarled in a menacing voice. “Or else you’ll get to experience firsthand what I do to my opponents when I smash my fist into their faces.”

Cal’s wide eyes flicked to his curled fist. “Fine,” he huffed before looking at me like I was a soggy piece of trash he was beingforced to pick up at gunpoint. “I’m sorry,” he grumbled before spitting out a forced, “Enjoy your drink,” and rushing out of the shop.

The tall man dropped his hand from my shoulder, and put it out for me to shake instead. “Brax MacPherson. A pleasure to meet you.”

His menacing tone had changed into something totally different. Something warm and kind, and his face reflected the same softness. It was such a startling transformation from the guy who’d just offered to smash in a stranger’s face for me.

He cleared his throat. “Sorry for pretending you were my girlfriend without asking first.”

I shook his hand, and the same jolt I’d felt before was now spreading through my arm, quickening my pulse. Instead of saying something, I kept shaking his hand until it became awkward. My brain felt sludgy, and the caffeine still hadn’t hit my bloodstream yet. My face burned hot before I finally blurted, “No apology necessary.”

“And you are?” he asked finally dropping my hand.

The green pools of his eyes were striking in the winter light.

“Jazlyn Summers. My friends call me Jaz.”

“Good to meet you, Jaz.” He smiled, and my heart did a tiny, swooning flip.

Then he grabbed his coffee and turned to go.

“Wait... did you say your last name is MacPherson?” I asked as he was halfway out the door. “By any chance, are you related to Mia?”

He gave me a mischievous smirk before leaving. “See you at the mistletoe festival.”

Turns out, I did see him again. Mia forced her twin brothers to help with the Christmas festival, which gave me every opportunity to watch the unreasonably handsome hockey player hang up mistletoe and wish I was under it with him. How bad could it be to indulge in a harmless little Christmas crush?

It couldn’t last. I don’t live in Vermont. He’s a hockey playerwho traveled too much. Mia warned me he’d already sworn off committed relationships. When I said goodbye after Christmas, I never thought I’d see him again. He’d get traded to another team, most likely.

Until I showed up for the wedding preparations, and he magically appeared in a smoky charcoal suit, looking like he’d stepped off the cover of a billionaire romance novel.

Same green glint in his eyes. Sameknock ’em deadsmile. My heart was doomed.

Which is why I should escape out the back door of the wedding reception rather than hide in a storage closet.

I’m yanked back to reality by Brax, appearing with a stack of overflowing plates and a disarming grin. “Ready for our getaway?”

Energy bolts down my spine. He’s loaded up with every appetizer from the buffet. “You brought enough for a zombie apocalypse.”

“I’m exceptional that way,” he says with a knowing smirk that makes my heart tumble. “And I don’t cross a hangry bridesmaid.”

He somehow balances three plates, like a circus act. “I saw a closet back here earlier,” he says, leading me into a dark and empty hallway.

“You planned this from the beginning?” I ask, shocked.

---