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Josh sighed and tapped a finger on the steering wheel.

“Do you want the long or short story?”

“How long is the drive?”

Josh laughed. “Okay then, buckle up.” He’d try and keep his explanation light and vague. No over-sharing.

“Short story, Tabitha, Patricia’s daughter, and I used to be together. We split a while back, and Patricia wishes we hadn’t. She wants us back together as long as we’re both single.”

Kitty stared at him, her eyes slightly narrowed. Josh held his breath, waiting to see if his explanation would be enough.

“Well, that’s very unsatisfying,” Kitty said. “What’s the long story?”

Josh’s knuckles turn white on the wheel.Fuck.He really didn’t want to go into detail, but then, he didn’t want Kitty questioning his calling her a colleague. Not to mention all the passive-aggressive chat from Patricia about him and her daughter.

Josh took a breath. “We were getting married.”

Kitty’s eyebrows lifted, and the pitch of her voice lifted. “Oh, well, that’s different.” She waited a few seconds. “What happened? How long were you together?”

His earlier thought echoed around his head.Keep it light and vague.

“We were dating through high school. Tab was talented, beautiful, and fun. I adored her. She was all myfirsts. We split up before university. We were heading on different paths. It devastated me, but you know, wild oats and all that. I mended, but I didn’t forget her.”

“You didn’t speak at all? Didn’t you run into each other during the holidays?”

“Not really. She travelled a lot, and I kept myself occupied. I’m not a monk, Kitty.”Well, he wasn’t back then.

“But you’re both so good-looking. I can’t believe either of you is single,” Kitty murmured.

Josh’s gut tightened, and his cheeks burned hot as he stared straight ahead at the road.

“Oh, shit, sorry,” she said. “That kind of just came out. No filter.”

Josh snickered. “It’s okay. I’ll take the compliment. When I took over from Dad, Tab was at her folks’ place.”

“Why was she back?”

“Well, that’s where it gets interesting. She wanted to launch her own label but needed her dad’s money to fund it. They’re loaded, by the way.”

“I noticed,” Kitty muttered.

“He refused to bankroll her unless she cleaned her act up. She had a pretty wild lifestyle. When I came back, she must have seen me coming.”

“What do you mean, saw you coming?” asked Kitty, turning in her seat to face him.

Josh looked out the window over the rolling fields of corn, smiled, and shook his head.

“We hung out a lot, and I fell straight back in love with her. She fell into more of a ‘reliable old Josh will impress my dad to get the cash’ kind of love.”

“Oh. Wow.”

Her voice was low, and a wave of nausea swept over Josh at the pity in it. She’d see him as weak and foolish. It was how he saw himself. He wanted to stop. Box his feelings and the story of him and Tabitha back up. But now he’d lifted the lid, he couldn’t shut it again, and the words kept coming.

“Yeah. It worked too. With me as part of the package, she got her money. She planned this big launch party and a move to London. I could see her slipping away, so I panicked and proposed. I mean, it was naïve of me, but I was so in love with her. I really wanted it to work.”

Josh grimaced. He was officially oversharing.

“She said yes?” Kitty asked.