Page 29 of Love to Prove You Wrong

“I have no clue, but they always do. And when it happens, I have to suck it up. It’s part of being in the public eye. And I have a lot to thank these fans for. Without them, I’d still be doing regional commercials. Anyway, I don’t expect you to understand.”

His words sucker-punched me straight in the gut. “Why? Because I’m a clueless small-town girl and you’re some Hollywood hotshot?”

“That’s not what I meant, jeez. Besides, them showing up and checking out the place could be good for business, no? Maybe some of them will want to stay here in the future. You can thank me later,” he said with a shrug.

This was unbelievable. I didn’t need Justin’s so-called business help and I certainly didn’t need his attitude.

I clenched my jaw. “Make sure they’re all gone in half an hour. Or go somewhere else and take them with you, I don’t care.”

I turned on my heel and stormed out of the kitchen. Maybe I was overreacting, but I’d be damned if I was going to let Justin Miller ruin another one of my projects. I was so done with him.

Chapter Ten

Isucceeded in avoiding Justin for the next five days. Whenever I spotted him coming down the stairs or pulling into the parking lot, I scurried away, attending to some not-so-urgent-but-I-don’t-need-him-to-know-that business.

I was happy that the rest of the grand opening had gone down without any additional troubles, but I still couldn’t believe Justin’s attitude.I don’t expect you to understand.Ugh. As if I was dumb and clueless about the world. I understood perfectly. The one thing I didn’t understand was Justin himself. When would he come clean about why he had really returned to Old Pine Cove? Asher’s wedding was the obvious reason, but I suspected there was more to it than that. If the festivities were Justin’s sole reason for heading back home, he’d have arrived a couple of days prior to the wedding, not an entire month in advance.

Secretly stalking him on Instagram hadn’t made me any wiser either. Checking out his social media posts every hour had to stop, though. He had wandered into my dreams more than once. Completely uninvited, of course, as always. But no matter how frantically I waved an imaginary “do not enter” sign around in my head, my subconscious skillfully kept ignoring me. I’d even printed out a picture of him and put a big red cross over his face with permanent marker. Didn’t help one bit. I still couldn’t get him out of my head.

I closed the door to my office and strolled over to the reception desk. I was almost finished for the day, which put me in a good mood. Even though I loved my job, I was in serious need of some R&R. The thought of lounging on my couch in sweatpants, with my favorite ice cream guys positioned in my lap – Glen and Barry, obviously, considering my love life was nonexistent and the real thing was a bit too expensive at the moment – and watching some brainless reality show filled me with joy.

“Everything okay here? Any urgent matters to take care of before I head home?” I asked Carter.

“Justin called about a malfunctioning television in his room. He told me he’s gone out for the night, but there’s no point in postponing the repair, right?” he said in a careful tone. He looked at me as if the mere mention of Justin’s name would make me spontaneously combust.

“No need to call someone. I’ll go check on it myself,” I said, a bit too eagerly.

Damn you, brain. We’re trying to avoid the guy, not barge into his room and mess his television up even further.

Oh, who was I kidding? I was dying to go up there and inspect every nook and cranny of his sleeping quarters. It would be such an inappropriate thing to do, but the idea made my pulse race with excitement.

Carter’s eyebrow shot up. “Oh, okay. I wanted to tell you I could call someone. I didn’t realize you knew how to fix electrical appliances.”

I waved my hand at him as if he’d said something silly and I had everything under control. “Well, you know. I picked up some knowledge here and there.”

As long as Carter didn’t ask me to fix anything for him as well, I’d be good. I sucked at anything remotely technical, even with a user manual right there next to me.

I walked up the stairs to Justin’s room and knocked on the door. Good, no answer. The coast was clear.

I pushed the door open and tiptoed inside. The television was mounted to the wall at the opposite side of the bed. I glanced at it, then decided I wasn’t going to touch the thing. I’d just tell Carter that the problem was so severe we’d have to call someone after all. It was better than risk getting electrocuted.

As I looked around the room, my ears worked overtime, trying to catch every sound. The last thing I wanted was Justin walking in on me.

I traipsed around the room, not even sure why, or what I hoped to find in there. On his desk was a script for season three ofIn Dire Need. I reached to open it, but right before my fingers got ahold of the stack of papers, I let my arm go limp next to my body. This was wrong on so many levels. I shouldn’t be snooping, no matter how curious I was. If Justin found me in his room, he could probably even sue me.

The basket with snacks that the inn provided to guests stood untouched on the desk. I rummaged through it and took a packet of peanuts out. It wasn’t technically stealing if I replaced it first thing tomorrow, right?

I walked over to the bed and sat myself down on the edge. It was getting dark outside and I wondered what Justin was doing right now. Probably being chased by a fresh horde of women, and flashing his gorgeous smile in their direction.

I kicked off my shoes and carefully swung my legs onto the bed, tearing open the peanuts. After propping up one of the pillows, I let my head rest against it, taking stock of the room.

I knew the layout of the room by heart since I had decorated every single one of them. There was a snow globe on every nightstand, no matter the season. Old Pine Cove housed the oldest snow globe factory in the state after all. The bathroom door was positioned right next to the desk, and the closet had plenty of room for clothes and even skis.

I nibbled on a handful of nuts. So this was the view Justin had every night. The room where he did who knows what and studied his lines. The bed was so comfortable, I let myself sink deeper into it. It clearly had been an excellent idea to replace the inn’s mattresses last year.

My eyes fluttered shut, but I forced them to stay open. I didn’t want to risk getting caught sleeping in Justin’s room.

Then again, Carter did say Justin had left for the night, and a fifteen-minute power nap was exactly what I needed.

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