“But they don’t stay together.”
A stubborn look crossed my friend’s face. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you when you aren’t looking.”
My heart pumped a little harder. “How does he look at me?”
“Like he’s been standing in the middle of a thunderstorm, and you’re the sun breaking through the clouds.”
I blinked.
Allie meanwhile had been silent all this time. “You two are not actually that different.”
“What?” I said incredulously.
“Your lifestyles differ, sure. But you’re both intelligent, driven, you care about this hotel. I thought he’d be an asshole, but he isn’t.”
“I’mnotfalling for Ambrose Langston. It’s against the rules. We agreed to have fun, that it was temporary.”
Allie shrugged. “Rules are made to be broken. And you don’t want to fall for him because you’re scared to fall in love.”
I felt a wave of something not entirely comfortable wash over me.
Allie’s face softened. “Babe, you lost your parents and?—”
I shot to my feet. “This has nothing to do with my parents.”
Both my friends fell silent.
“It makes sense to be scared to love someone,” Sierra said slowly.
“I love people. I love Emily, my cousins, you two, Jazz. I’m not closed off or broken.”
“We aren’t saying that,” Allie said.
Sierra grabbed my arm. “We love you, Tessa. We want you to be happy. Sometimes, we worry you avoid that because you’re scared to lose it again. You’re always so busy, taking care of the hotel, the staff, the guests, your family… When do you take care of you?”
I shook my head.
Sierra sighed, then reached out and hugged me. “I need to go. I’m running a yoga class and it starts in ten minutes. Love you.”
Then Allie yanked me close. She didn’t say anything.
After dropping these bombshells, my friends left me there stewing.
They were wrong. I wasn’t afraid to love.
I rubbed my chest.
Ro and I agreed to enjoy each other. Casual, no strings, no complications.
I shook my head again. I had work to do.
Chapter28
Ro
“So far, everyone checks out.”
I saw Caden’s frustration on his face and heard it in his voice. He was uncovering rocks, but so far, no poisonous saboteur had scurried out.
