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“You can’t be in here,” I told her warily. “It’s a construction site.”
“Don’t worry. If I get hurt, I won’t sue you or James.” She gave me a sidelong look. She reached the middle and spun in a slow, thoughtful circle as she took in the surrounding disaster.
I saw beyond that disaster, but not everybody could.
It surprised me when she gave a thoughtful nod.
“I’ve seen your work,” she told me. “This place will look amazing.”
Frowning, I crossed my arms over my chest. “It will be beyond amazing. Why are you here?”
She glanced at me. “I wanted to meet you.”
“Why?”
She didn’t answer right away. She made it to the counter I hoped to save, covered with heavy drop cloths to protect it. Placing her elbows on the surface, she leaned back and met me eye to eye.
“To see if you’re worth it.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Crossing her legs at the ankle, she shrugged. “He’s torn up over you, you know. I’ve never seen him like this. It pisses me off. So…I wanted to see if you’re worth it.”
The words were a stiff jab, straight to the heart, and I looked away so she couldn’t see the effect.
But apparently, she saw damn deep.
“Seems like you got a thing for him.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, shaking my head. “We’re way too different.”
“There’s that old saying…opposites attract?” She pursed her lips as she studied me.
“This goes deeper than me being a morning person while he’s a night owl,” I snapped. “This bullshit article might ruin me. I’ve been working my ass off to keep my business going. I don’t think he gets it. My sister and I are at odds because of him. I locked down my social media after people called me a whore and sent me dick pics. How did he respond to all that? “He’s surprised I’m worried about what people think about me.”
“Okay, yeah. We have problems that guys won’t get…if we never tell them. Some will never get it…but James will listen if you explain.”
My misery was just as intense as earlier. “I tried that. To James, it’s as simple as not caring about public opinion.”
“I doubt it’s that simple.” Gianni sighed. “James isn’t great with words. But then again, he’s never had reasons to learn social skills.”
“And that’s my fault?” I glared at her.
She pursed her lips, then slowly smiled. “No. However, if you let James go because of his poor people skills and because you’re afraid to face obstacles in life, that will be your fault.”
“Excuse me, I’m not afraid,” I snapped.
“Aren’t you?” She shrugged. “Okay, my mistake. I guess James is the only one torn up over this.”
She shoved off the counter and started for the door.
“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I shouted at her back. “I’m doing my best to deal with it.”
She swung around and met my gaze. “You think James asked? Don’t you think he’s doing his best to fix this shit?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it and looked away. “His idea of fixing it is not to worry about what people think. Not even my sister! I’m terrified my parents will see that damn article. My dad will have a heart attack—a literal heart attack, and James just tells me I shouldn’t worry what people think!”
“Oh, honey…”