Free Return of the Jerk (Sweet Life in Seattle, Book 2) by Andrea Simonne Page A

“Only, I burned everything. Finally, they got so tired of my charcoal dinners they took it upon themselves to teach me how to cook.”
    Blair can’t help her laughter. “They did a good job. From what I remember, all you could make were peanut butter sandwiches.”
    “Yeah, that was my repertoire, all right.” Road grins. “Only, you can’t find peanut butter in Hungary or if you do, it’s too expensive.”
    “How long did you live there?”
    “About six months. Right before I moved to London.”
    “You’ve been leading an adventurous life.”
    Road shrugs. “Some might say that.”
    Blair thinks about how Lori once told her how he got his nickname—why they started calling him Road instead of Nathan. She said he kept trying to run away when he was a toddler, that even then he had a hankering for the open road.
    There’s a mewing sound and Blair looks down to see Mr. Maurice twining around her ankles. He lets her pet him a little, but then quickly goes over to Road and jumps on his lap.
    “Hey, buddy.”
    “I swear you’ve hypnotized my cat.”
    Road scratches under Mr. Maurice’s chin. “He’s got good taste, is all.”
    Blair is watching the two of them when she hears her phone playing “If I Knew You Were Coming I’d’ve Baked a Cake” from inside her purse. She gets up to answer it and sees on the display it’s Graham.
    “Hi.” Her eyes flash over to Road, who is still petting Mr. Maurice but watching her with interest. “Let me go find someplace private to talk,” she says pointedly.
    Road raises an eyebrow.
    “I haven’t heard from you in a while,” Graham says in a friendly voice. “Just thought I’d check and see if you want to get together for a movie or something?”
    “Uh, sure.” She heads toward the deck, but then suddenly remembers her purse. Isadora’s keys are inside. She makes her way back over. Road is still watching her as she grabs her purse off the chair, his eyes calculating. “A movie sounds great,” she tells Graham.
    Blair goes out onto her deck and closes the sliding glass door. She can still see Road inside. He’s petting Mr. Maurice, but then he gets up and starts clearing the table.
    Graham is telling her a funny story about someone he works with and she laughs at all the appropriate places, but she can’t take her eyes off Road. He’s putting the food away now. It surprises her. She can’t remember him ever clearing a dish in his life. He’s always been a terrible slob. And even though she wants Road to leave, there’s this odd pang of longing in her chest as she sees him standing in her kitchen. Ironically, despite their ‘marriage,’ this is the most domestic they’ve ever been with each other.
    When Graham is done with his funny story, Blair invites him to her mom’s gallery event. He tells her he might be in Bellingham for work, but he’ll try to make it.
    They hang up and when Blair goes back inside, she doesn’t see Road anywhere.
    Unfortunately, she already knows where he is.
    Sure enough, she finds him in her bedroom, though unlike the last two nights, he isn’t asleep but sitting in bed reading from a Kindle.
    “Who was that you were talking to?” he asks when she comes into the room.
    “You’re not seriously staying the night here again.”
    “Answer my question.”
    Blair goes over to stand by the end of the bed. Road is wearing a white T-shirt, but the rest of his body is under the duvet. He definitely looks like he’s planning to stay. “This is crazy. You can’t just move in here.”
    “Was that your boyfriend?”
    “Would you at least sleep on the couch? Could you do that much for me?”
    Road goes back to his Kindle. She notices Mr. Maurice curled up beside him, her traitorous cat. Quite the cozy pair. “Can’t sleep on the couch, babe. It’ll kill my back.”
    Blair scoffs. “Since when do you have a back problem?”
    “It’s a recent thing.”
    “I don’t believe that. You’re making it up.”
    “Believe