Page 56 of Sinfully Shameless Chef

“Good.” She shifts her attention from the glasses back on me. “Now that that's settled, let's talk about Isabella.”

I sigh and walk away from her as fast as the crowds in the store will allow, but Rach is quicker than she looks and weaves her way around people to get in front of me, blocking my path. I grab her upper arms and move her to the side easily. “There's nothing to say.”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be running away from me.”

Shit. That kind of backfired on me.

Relenting, I stop and turn back to her. “We messed with each other a little bit, played a few pranks. Hooked up once, and that's all there is to it. Please, just let it go.”

She props her hand on her hip again and raises her eyebrows at me. “All there is to it, huh?”

“Yep.” I snag the wine glass from her hand and make my way over to the counter to ask the checkout person if they can box up a whole hell of a lot of these.

“It didn't feel like that was it last night.”

The truth of Rach’s words eats away at me as we stand in line.

It didn't feel like that for me, either.

Not when we were together in her kitchen. Not when she was in my arms in mine. Not when I tasted her on my lips or when she sagged gently back against me.

But what she said was pretty clear—her words still ringing in my ears even now.

“Didn't you hear her? She said we were just business acquaintances and neighbors.”

“Wow.”

I peek down at Rach and find her wide-eyed.

Well, fuck.

I may have put a bit too much emphasis on those words. My anger and frustration might be showing a little more than I would like. It makes it really hard to convince people you don’t give a shit when you act like you do.

Rachel laughs as we shift forward in the line. “You're an idiot, Jameson.”

Despite the frustration I’m feeling—not to mention the annoyance at her sisterly persistence—I chuckle and glance at her. “You’re not the first woman to tell me that.”

“I'm sure I won't be the last, either. That girl is most definitely not done with you. I don't care what she said. Or why.” She taps her finger to her chin. “Maybe it was because she was overwhelmed with all of us at the table. Or maybe she didn't want to assume something more was happening between the two of you that she wasn't sure about.” She tosses up a hand. “Either way…I definitely got a vibe.”

“A vibe? What the hell does that even mean?”

She scoffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “You don't believe in the vibe?”

I narrow my eyes on her. “Is this the same vibe you managed to miss between you and Flynn for five years?”

Her mouth drops open slightly, and she snaps it shut in a huff. “Totally different situation.”

Yeah, right…

I bark out a laugh, and the people in line in front of us turn to glare at me. Ignoring them, I lean over to Rachel to try to make our conversation a little more private. “Really? Because we all saw it.”

“Well, I see it here. You need to talk to that girl, Jameson. Figure it out.”

“There's nothing to figure out. I'm about to open a restaurant. Not only is my reputation on the line but also a hell of a lot of my own money, plus Grant’s money.”

“Grant has plenty of that.”

She isn't wrong, but that's irrelevant. Just because he agreed to partner with me and has money to spare doesn't mean I can flush it down the drain by not concentrating on what's important right now—that's getting my place open, not my sexual attraction to the girl next door.

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