wasnât that they purposely made him feel left out, he just was . âI donât think I can tell you anything helpful, sorry. Just hit your mark.â
She looked at him in confusion.
âWhen they tell you where to stand for the camera shot, be sure to get it right or theyâll have to shoot it again. That can make them cranky.â At least that had been his experience. âAsk Kyle about itâhe was always the star of the show, and look at him now.â
She nodded. âGood idea.â
They fell silent, and Hayden figured theyâd run out of safe, mundane topics. Time to go before he said something stupid like, âWhat did you and my mom talk about over dinner?â
She pushed away from the doorframe. âIâm going to hit the shower and then maybe watch an episode of Sherlock . I just started it recently, and itâs very addictive. Do you watch it?â
He shook his head. âI have, but not in a long time. I havenât been watching much TV the past year. Too busy.â
âI can imagine. It must be cool to experience another culture like that. Howâs your French?â
He grinned at her. âTrés bon.â
âNow, thatâs sexy.â She sounded playful, joking, but there was something in her gaze that rekindled a desire he preferred to suppress.
And just like that they were on the edge of the danger zone. This shouldnât be possible. Sheâd dumped him and never looked back. Heâd finally moved on. What was thisâresidual attraction?
âEnjoy your show. Maybe Iâll see you tomorrow.â He turned and headed for the back stairs.
Knowing she was a short walk from his bedroom gave him all sorts of inappropriate ideas. So he wasnât in a committed relationship. That didnât mean he wanted to take up with the woman whoâd broken his heart.
He frowned, growing angry with himself for forgetting, even for fifteen minutes, what sheâd put him through. He walked into the kitchen and poured a beer.
He exhaled and let his ire fade. It wasnât fair of him to put all the blame on her. Heâd caused that damn accident, and if he hadnât, she never wouldâve left. The baby wouldâve kept them together. Maybe. But then Hayden wouldnât be where he was today, making wine, following his own path.
He just wished he knew where that path was leading. Fantasizing about that winery with the Westcotts had made him second-guess his desire to stay in France. Heâd spent the evening researching winemaking facilities and thinking about how a year from now he could be watching his first vintage grow fat on the vine.
It was tempting as hell. Just like the woman upstairs.
B EX â S FIRST BATCH of beer for the day, an IPA, was already in the fermentation tank. Next up, she planned to make a blonde ale and add some loganberry puree.
Last nightâs almost-platonic conversation with Hayden had made her feel good about taking this job, especially after talking with Emily, who clearly hoped she and Hayden still had a chance. But they didnât. As soon as things had gotten the teensiest bit flirtyâthanks to her inability to keep her mouth shut after heâd spoken Frenchâheâd bailed. Who knew two little words uttered in a foreign language could be so unbelievably sexy? It wasnât like heâd said anything flirty. Her French was practically nonexistent, but she knew heâd just said, âvery good.â As in heâd learned to speak French quite well.
Even though sheâd only heard him say two words, she didnât doubt his skill for a second. One thing about Hayden, when he put himself into something, he went all inâheart and soul.
How had she turned her back on that? More important, why?
Because sheâd been young and shortsighted and emotionally stunted. Hopefully she was making progress on the latter. Her conversation with Emily had shown her that she
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