Page 26 of I Could Never
The latter.“Last I heard they had no leads, but I’ll follow up with them again.”
“Sure you will.” Josh’s mouth spread into a smile. “Your hair looks nice, by the way.”
His smile and unexpected compliment warmed me all over. What was going on with me? I must be damn lonely if I was reacting toJoshlike that. He hadn’t done anything but smile and tell me my hair looked nice, and I was turning into a pile of mush. A genuine smile and a compliment aimed at me were rare things from him, though.
“Thank you,” I finally said, clearing my throat. “I ran into an old friend of yours today.”
“Who?”
“My hairdresser. Her name is Bianca DiLoreto. You dated her sister in high school.”
“Oh.” He scratched his chin. “Nicole’s sister. Hardly a friend, but yeah, okay.”
“Anyway, she offered me a job doing makeup for weddings on Saturday mornings. That was my news.”
“Yournudes.” He winked.
“Right.” I chuckled. “Anyway, I didn’t want to accept without checking in with you since you’d have to stay with Scottie while I’m out.”
He didn’t hesitate. “That’s no problem at all.”
“Really?”
“Did you think I’d have an issue with that? It’d be good for you to get out. And why not make some extra cash for yourself?”
“Thank you.” I nodded. “I agree.”
“It’s good for your sanity, too.”
Hmm...It surprised me that a man I’d originally worried would make meinsanewas concerned for my sanity. I must’ve stared at his ridiculously perfect face for too long as I pondered that.
“What?” he asked.
“I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop with you,” I admitted.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You’ve been patient, fairly respectful aside from busting my balls, and generally nice to me. There’s not much to hate as of late.”
“Are youlookingforreasons to hate me?”
“Not at all. This process is much easier if we’re getting along.”
“Maybe you drew the wrong conclusions about me from the get-go. Did you ever think of that?”
“Maybe I did…about certain things. Although, the truth is, we’ve been living together for a couple of weeks now and getting along just fine. But at the same time, I still don’t feel like I know you. Who we are when we’re living in this situation and who we are outside of here are probably two different things.”
“Getting to know each other isn’t a requirement of the job, Carly. But I don’t have anything to hide. You can ask me whatever you want.”
Ask him whatever I want.That was an invitation I couldn’t refuse. I took a deep breath and unleashed the question that had been eating at me for years.
“What was it about my face that bugged you?”
Josh’s eyes widened, then fell to the ground. “You went right for the jugular there, I see.”
My blood was pumping. “You think I’m ugly or something? Is that why you said it?”
“No,” he replied immediately. “Absolutely not.”