He didn't repeat himself. "I'm sorry,Katie."
I pushed the tea away. "And you didn't tellme?"
Martin scoffed. "Do contractors normally get into their client'sbusiness?"
"Contractor?" I screeched. "You don't think that after all this time that we might be more thanthat?"
His stare was steady and unyielding. "Are we, Katie?" He lifted a hand and swept it across my house. "I've been here for months. I've worked steady here every day and we barely say more than a few words to eachother."
"You carried me tobed."
His jawtightened.
"You gave me water and ibuprofen to help myhangover."
"That's because I'm a decent humanbeing."
Tears shimmered in my eyes. "You knew all along," I whispered. "Even after knowing what I'd gone through, you still allowed me to go out withhim."
He let out a harsh breath. "Allowed? Katie, this is ridiculous. I can'tallowyou to do anything. This Harry thing was none of my business. The most I allowed myself to do was mention it hoping you'd take thebait."
I stared at Martin, the handsome tilt of his lips, the strong jawline, the serious eyes. "So we aren't friends. Is that what you'resaying?"
Martin looked away from me, his jaw clenched so tight I could practically hear his teeth grinding. "You've never given me any indication you wanted to befriends."
"I made you cupcakes," Iwhispered.
"Because you wanted your kitchen doneearlier."
"I made youbreakfast."
"Because I took care of you and you were embarrassed." He shook his head. "Don't you see? You gave me these things because you felt you owedme."
I gave my head a hard shake. "Ididn't."
"Youdid."
I shut my eyes tight so the tears wouldn't fall. "I think you should finish up and leave for the night,Martin."
"Katie -"
"It's Ms. Harper," I said sharply. "Our contract implies nothing personal. Since I do not consider you a friend, Mr. Roma, I would prefer you address me as Ms. Harper. I would also like you to remove yourself from these premises at precisely six p.m. eachevening."
His next words were through clenched teeth. "You can expect the job to takelonger."
I merely lifted an eyebrow as I took a slow sip of my tea. "Your contract implicitly states the drop dead date for your work to be completed. When, and if, we come to that date and you are not finished, I will most likely take it upon myself to renegotiate your services or find another contractor willing to step in." I stood from the table and poured my tea down the sink. "I trust you can see yourselfout."
"Goddammit, Katie," Martingrowled.
I turned to him, stone in my voice. "Ms. Harper," I hissed. I headed to my bedroom willing my shoulders back and my head to stay straight. The only thing I wanted to do was cry, but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of it. I quietly shut the door behind me and sank to thefloor.
13
The next morningI woke up much later than usual. The first thing I did was contact Kristoff and cancel our date. He was concerned but didn't pry when I said I didn't want to talk about it. Martin showed up bright and early, letting himself in with the key. He was by himself today and only nodded to me when I padded into the kitchen on bare feet to make a cup of coffee. I returned the nod and ignored him. I was furiously angry with him. Even if I wouldn't have known someone that well, if I knew they were dating someone married, I probably would have told them. It was just the way I operated. For Martin to have watched me go on multiple dates with someone like that and never say a word rattled me. Maybe we weren't friends. But weren't we something? I cast a couple of glances his way, but he was too involved in his tasks to noticeme.
I whipped up some scrambled eggs and turkey bacon for breakfast and spent the next eight hours wearing noise cancelling headphones and catching up on all the Netflix goodness I'd missed over the last several weeks. Martin never bothered me. Good withme.
Aweek later,a knock on my door finally got me off the couch. The loiters seemed to have finally realized I wasn't interested in anyone or anything. Kristoff had contacted me once just to see how I was, but I'd blown him off. I pulled open the door ready to snarl in someone's face when I realized it wasn't asuitor.
