Home Sweet Home by Bella Riley Page A

architectural styles and the surrounding buildings on Main Street.”
    “Now the truth comes out.”
    There was none of the warmth that had crept into his voice anymore.
    “I knew there had to be an ulterior motive here somewhere. Ten years have gone by, and you haven’t wanted to catch up on old times. I’m such an idiot. I should have known there had to be a reason you wanted to get together now. You knew I could never say no to you. Hell, you probably thought you were going to walk in here and charm me into rubber-stamping these plans, didn’t you?”
    The breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding whooshed out of her as if he’d sucker punched her in the gut.
    Because he just had.
    “No! God, no!” She couldn’t believe he’d said that to her, that he was accusing her of trying to use an old relationship to suit her own purposes. Not wanting to let herself believe that he was at all right, either, she said, “How can you even think that about me?”
    His jaw was tight, and his eyes narrowed in anger. She knew that look, had never been able to forget it when that was her very last memory of Nate, burned forever into the back of her mind.
    “What the hell am I supposed to think, Andi? You come in here looking like that—”
    “Looking like what?” She gestured down at her simple black dress still covered in yarn. She hadn’t had time to go home and clean up, to get even the slightest bit pretty. She couldn’t have dressed less provocatively.
    “—All of your curves on display in that dress, and those high heels that make your legs look a hundred miles long to mess with my mind and distract me when you start saying you want to clear up things from the past—”
    “I wasn’t trying to distract you!”
    “—And then you hit me with”—he moved his hand in the direction of the drawings, making them flutter and scatter across the old wooden table top—“this garbage.”
    The word garbage was a gauntlet that had her anger finally rising to meet his. “My project isn’t garbage, Nate.”
    Each word came from between her teeth, but even though she was seeing red, she knew this wasn’t the way to get him to see reason. She needed to calm down. They both did.
    “Look, why don’t you take these with you tonight? We can talk more tomorrow after you’ve read through my entire plan.”
    He shot a disgusted glance at her presentation. “I’ve already seen enough.” He threw some money down on the table as a tip. “Good to finally catch up on old times with you, Andi.”
    Forgetting all about the importance of never, ever touching him again if she wanted to hold onto what was left of her sanity, she grabbed his arm as he got up to leave.
    Heat scalded her palm, searing between his skin and her hand. He stared down at her hand on his arm, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
    “Please, Nate, at least hear me out. I don’t want you leaving now making assumptions. Just give me five more minutes.” She was panting as if she’d just sprinted around a track. There just wasn’t enough oxygen in the room anymore, barely enough to say, “Please just let me explain.”
    Her entire career rested on the success of this project. She couldn’t fail now. Especially not with Nate, not when her relationship with him was already her biggest failure to date.
    Finally, thank god, he shifted back into his seat. “I’m listening.”
    “I was looking at some pictures my mom had sent on my phone when I realized just what an incredible spot the carousel is sitting in. No one even uses it anymore. I’ll bet parents are afraid to let their kids goof around on it like we used to because they don’t want them to get hurt on a shard of metal or risk the chance that it might collapse altogether. But the land it’s on is the perfect spot for families who want their children to know what it’s like to grow up playing on the beach and fishing in the lake. It’s the perfect spot for couples who are finally ready to relax