He gave me a wicked smile. "Me neither."
"I'm serious," I said. "You were so cool and distant. Do you realize, this is the first time we've even eaten together?"
"Not true," he said. "We had pastries on the plane, remember?"
"That doesn't count."
"I know," he said. "But we're here now, aren't we?"
I smiled. "Yes. We are."
"Speaking of which," he said, "there's something I need to say."
"What?"
"We can't do this. You know that, right?"
Chapter 44
Becka
I wasn't quite sure what he meant. From across the table, I said, "Sorry, I'm not following."
"This trip," he said. "It was a mistake."
And just like that, all of the warm, fuzzy feelings went straight out the window. I asked, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I saw the warning signs. I should've paid attention."
"Warning signs?" I shook my head. "What warning signs?"
"Like your roommate," he said. "I wanted to kill him."
I frowned. At that moment, I could hardly recall my roommate's name. "So?" I tried to laugh. "I can't say I blame you."
But Jack wasn't laughing. Unlike me, he wasn't even trying to. "Yeah, but I blame myself."
"For what?" I asked. "The way you treated him?"
"Hell no."
"Then what?"
Slowly, Jack reached out and smoothed a stray lock of hair from my face. His touch was electric, and I couldn't stop myself from leaning into it.
In a low voice, he said, "I don't want you as an employee."
His words were a caress, and I smiled in spite of the earlier tension. "What doesthatmean?"
"It means I want to see you, but not like this." He pulled back and said, "You shouldn't be here."
Suddenly, I was no longer smiling. "Here? At the restaurant? Or on the book tour?"
"The tour."
I was staring now. "So what are you saying? You're firing me?"
"Don't worry," he said. "I'll pay you for the full thing, make sure you get college credit, too."
