Romancing the Grump (Appies, #4)

by Jenny Proctor

“I don’t mind that you’re walking with me,” Nathan finally says, and a tiny ribbon of happiness unfurls in my chest. “I just didn’t want to give the guys the wrong impression.” Oh. Oh. My happiness quickly fizzles. I hate to ask, but I also have to ask. “Impression about what?” “About us,” he answers quickly. “After the Dominik thing, and then when I sat with you on the bus, I think—” He shakes his head and pushes his hands into his coat pockets. “All that stuff about you being off-limits because you work for the team? They made that up. I think they’ve decided you’re off-limits because of me.” Disappointment settles over me, and I force a deep breath, doing my best to squelch it so it doesn’t show up in my words. “Right,” I say, my tone a little too cheerful. “And that would be the wrong impression because that’s not what’s happening,” I manage to say. “Right.” Nathan’s voice is unwavering. Perfectly resolute. “It’s not.” “You were just being nice.” “Demanding Dominik be respectful.” “Which I appreciated.” “And which you deserved.” We reach the hotel, and Nathan opens the door for me, holding it open while I step inside. I brush past him, and it’s all I can do not to linger and breathe in a lungful of Nathan-scented air. But that’s the last thing I should do, especially now that we’ve very firmly established there is nothing going on between us. The trouble is, the more time I spend with him, the more I want there to be something going on. I actually didn’t care when Dumb...