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“That’s what friends are for,” she said, echoing what he’d told her earlier.
“Exactly.” He just had to be careful. He couldn’t get close to Jack, either. Letting her brother stay was risky. But the dude was probably so caught up in his own misery that he wouldn’t pay much attention to Bo. And if he started getting too inquisitive... Bo would just have to figure out something else. Hopefully, Honey would be gone by then and Jack could move to her place. He couldn’t make the poor guy pay nearly four hundred dollars a night when he had an empty room.
“What do you think Remy will say when he learns Jack is staying here?” Ismay asked.
“The Windsors may own this place, but it’s up to me what I do with it—within reason, of course. Taking on a roommate should be within my prerogative.”
“But my brother of all people?”
He swallowed his food. “Maybe it’ll shame Remy into doing the right thing and inviting Jack to stay at the cottage.”
“That would be nice, except even if he did, he’d just resent it, and I’d certainly be aware of the big favor he was doing for me.”
Bo stopped eating and leaned back. “Why are you even with Remy?”
“He has his good traits,” she said, immediately defensive.
“And they are...”
She pushed her food around her plate with her fork. “He’s clever, driven, smart, talented, handsome, funny—”
“Rich?” he added, watching her closely.
She scowled at him. “That has nothing to do with it. Honestly.”
He studied her for several seconds. Then he said, “But can you live with all the things he’s not?”
She’d just opened her mouth to answer when a knock sounded at the door.
Bo got up and peered through the window. He was expecting the restoration company, but he couldn’t see their truck in the drive.
“Who is it?” Ismay asked, holding her wineglass loosely.
When Bo reached the door, he caught sight of a slim dark-haired man through the peephole and cursed softly. “It’s Bastian.”
15
Ismay held her breath as she heard Bo and Bastian at the door. She didn’t want to let on that she was in the house again—and yet, if she didn’t speak up and Bastian later realized she’d been there, it wouldn’t look good.
She sat warring with herself for several seconds and eventually decided she had to get up and say hello. But she couldn’t make herself do it. Bastian would almost certainly get the wrong idea when she popped up behind Bo at the door. That he kept finding them together would make them appear to be far closer than would seem justified by the length of time they’d known each other. She knew that because he’d insinuated she had no right to be at Bo’s when he caught her here the last time. So if there was a chance her presence could slip by unnoticed, she should probably take it. Why open herself up to Bastian’s judgment all over again? Remy’s brother might even be offended, like he was before, that she’d chosen to spend her time with Bo instead of him, a decision that would be hard for her to defend to Remy, especially since it kept happening.
Once she’d sunk back into her seat at the table, she scooted lower to hide herself a little more, should he peer in the window before he left—she wouldn’t put that kind of nosiness past him; since his family owned the bungalow, he’d feel entitled—and could only hope that Bo wouldn’t say anything about her being there. It wasn’t as if she had any way of communicating her thoughts to him at this point...
“My mother’s been trying to reach you and hasn’t heard back,” Bastian was saying.
“I’ve been up on the roof, haven’t had my phone on me,” Bo responded. “I’ll give her a call after I eat. Or...is this some sort of emergency?”
“It’s not an emergency. She just wanted to see if your house was okay. The restoration company called to tell her they can’t get out until tomorrow.”
“Not sure why they bothered her. I had it all lined up. But I’ve been wondering why they didn’t show.”
“They probably called her because she’ll be the one paying their bill, right?”
Ismay bristled at the arrogance in Bastian’s tone. Did he have to be so rude to Bo?
“I work for my compensation, and this house is part of it,” Bo stated, obviously feeling some antagonism himself.
“Whoa! No need to snap at me,” Bastian said. “You asked why they’d call her. I was just pointing out the obvious.”
