Page 42 of Me and Mr. Just Right

“Do what?”

“Take care of me.” She didn’t want to be a burden to him. Someone who crashed into his life unexpectedly and then took from him.

“Lia …” He paused as if gathering his thoughts. “Let me do this. Let us do this. It’s what friends do.”

“Friends?” A word had never cut so sharp while also sounding so exactly right. She didn’t know what was up or down in this conversation.

“Yep.” The main cabin came into view, and he pulled her to a stop. He hung his head down, and his cheeks were pink. “Look, Lia. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable this week, when I held your hand or”—he gulped—“kissed you.”

“Haydn, no—”

He interrupted before she could finish. “I didn’t know who you were, obviously, and I’m sure you get a lot of creeps coming on to you. I promise I won’t be one of them.”

“That’s not what this was,” she insisted. “I held your hand too.”

“Right.” He smiled wryly. “Anyway, friends?” He held out his hand for her to shake, and she wanted to push it away. She wanted to scream and cry and act like the person everyone thought she was when they saw the picture of her going crazy.

If she’d thought her heart had broken with Bo, she’d had no idea.

“Friends,” she said, her voice cracking.

He looked at her carefully as he shook her hand like he might shake the hand of his editor over lunch, and then dropped it just as quickly. He walked ahead of her into the house with square shoulders and didn’t look back.

She took an extra second to compose herself. Why had she told him who she was? Maybe they could have gone their entire lives without him realizing.

No, that was just wishful thinking. And it was better she told him. No more lies. Not to Haydn. Not to herself. And not to the world. It was time to tell everyone her side of the story.

But not yet. She still had one more night. She could be friends with Haydn. It was better than nothing. And she’d planned on letting things end tomorrow anyway. What was one day early?

Then why did it feel like she’d just lost the best thing of her entire life?

Chapter 19

HaydnfeltLia’sgazeon his shoulders as he set the table for dinner. His brothers kept shooting him questionable glances, and he knew they could tell that something had changed between him and Lia.

Aurelia.

Aurelia Halifax.

He was having a hard time wrapping his head around it. And how he hadn’t seen it from the beginning. Now that he knew, it was all he could see. He must have looked ridiculous to her, making moves on her. A woman like Aurelia could have any man in the world.

He closed his eyes and let himself remember for just a moment what it was like to have her fingers curl around his, like she’d wanted to be there. Like they belonged with each other. Nope. That was not reality. They didn’t belong with one another, and for more reasons than who she was.

They sat down to an awkward dinner. Lia sat beside Haydn, as usual, and he was torn between wishing she wasn’t so painfully close, and being grateful he didn’t have to stare at her all through dinner.

“Were the seals out today?” Bennett asked into the silence.

“They were,” Lia said. She pushed her food around her plate but hadn’t taken any bites yet. Haydn wasn’t faring that well, either. Bennett had cooked his specialty—grilled salmon with a teriyaki glaze served over coconut rice. It was one of Haydn’s favorite meals, yet tonight, it tasted like sand.

Once his brothers were done eating, Haydn popped up and took their plates, insisting he do the dishes for them. Lia didn’t offer to help this time. She went into the living room and grabbed her guitar from the case.

He expected her to go outside to play, like she usually did, but this time, she sat on the couch. “Do you guys mind if I play in here tonight? It looks a little windy.”

Haydn glanced out the window to where the trees blew wildly in the wind. He did mind hearing her play. How in the world was he supposed to keep his distance if she started to sing?

Just remember who she is and who you are, Haydn. That should do the trick.

Right. A backwoods Alaskan stuck in his ways and a massively talented worldwide superstar. He wanted to groan now, remembering some of their old conversations. How Bennett had bragged about him being a big deal because he had pictures in a local magazine. She’d been on the cover of countless magazines.

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