Page 250 of Show Me

I blink. “I was.”

“No.” Bella crosses her arms over her chest. “You weren’t.”

Jake watches me over the rim of his beer. “What happened?”

I hesitate. “There was a woman at the bar. She walked up to Xavier.”

Bella’s eyebrows lift as she tilts her head. “And?”

“He shut it down. Didn’t flirt. Didn’t leave room for interpretation. Then he walked away.”

Bella uncrosses her arms and leans back into the cushion. “Huh.”

Jake nods once. “That’s a good sign.”

“I know.” The words come out before I can second-guess them. All three of them look at me. “What?”

Bella grins. “Nothing.”

“Shut up.”

Jake chuckles. “I told him you were going out with the girls. He showed up to make sure you were okay.”

My chest tightens. The fact he followed me here should irritate me, but it doesn’t. He didn’t interfere. And I can’t blame him for wanting to see me because seeing him made my heart skip a beat.

I miss him. I miss our friendship. The bantering. His touch. His stupid dimples. I miss everything about him. About us.

Emily smiles. “And he didn’t come over afterward to make sure you noticed.”

“Or say, See? I told you I was all in,” Bella adds. “He’s letting you decide what his actions mean.”

I look toward the door Xavier disappeared through. And that's what gets me. He isn’t trying to convince me anymore. He’s showing me. The house. The pigs. Giving me space when I asked for it. And tonight, shutting down another woman without knowing whether I was watching.

None of it feels like the Xavier I was afraid would wake up one morning and decide we’d gotten too serious. It feels like a man who already made his decision.

“I think I believe him,” I say.

Bella goes completely still.

Emily’s smile softens. “Yeah?”

My heart skips a beat. I rub over the spot as warmth flows through me. “Yeah.”

The admission should scare me more than it does. Instead, something inside me settles. I’m not ready to pretend everything between us is fixed. There are still things we need to say. Things I need from him.

But for the first time, I’m not waiting for Xavier to prove he’ll leave. I’m starting to believe he intends to stay.

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Nine

Xavier

The office phone starts ringing at seven-thirteen in the morning. I know the exact time because I’m already glaring at the payroll spreadsheet Ruby managed every week without losing her mind.

“How the hell did she do this?” I mutter.

The computer freezes again. I jab the mouse harder than necessary.

The phone keeps ringing. Then a second line lights up too. Jesus Christ. I snatch the receiver off the hook. “Cole Construction.”