Opposite Attraction (8 page)

Change of plans, he decided.

He continued down the street and headed toward home.

The truck had come to a stop, and Simone quickly realized her eyes were closed. She jumped up in her seat and when she looked at Curtis he was smiling at her.

"
I 'm sorry. " She widened her eyes and tried to gather herself back up.

"
Why? You must be tired. " He was still smiling.

She took account of where she was and why she was with him. Certainly she couldn 't be dreaming. But when she looked out the window and saw his apartment building she knew she had to be.

"
I couldn 't think of a thing for dinner, " he said. "But I have a 1steak defrosted in the fridge. I could start up the grill and throw down a salad if you 're up for it. "

She nodded, not quite sure what he 'd said, but it meant he 'd brought her home and was going to spend enough time with her to feed her. She 'd take that and she 'd do whatever it took not to make him want to throw her out.

The apartment was just as she 'd remembered it. Small. Dark. Dusty. She felt right at home knowing he was there with her.

He must have realized how dark it was. He went directly to the windows and the sliding doors that led to the patio and opened the blinds and curtains.

"
Sorry. It 's usually daytime when I 'm sleeping. I didn 't realize this place never saw the sun, " he hurried around the room picking up odd pieces of clothing and dirty dishes.

"
Please do not worry about it. You do not have to tidy on my account. "

He gave a grunt and stopped. "You seem different. "

That small statement had her hands shaking. Did he know already? She held her hands behind her back and squared off her shoulders. "I do not understand. Why do I seem different? "

He gave a shrug. "I don 't know. You seem quiet, as if… " he shook his head.

"
As if what? " She didn 't want to raise her voice, but it teetered on the edge of annoyance. If he knew something he needed to say it. Did it seem as though she were keeping a secret?

"
Nothing. I 'll get dinner started. Can I get you a drink? I have some wine -I think. "

Simone tried to relax. "I would love some water. "

"
Really, I can go get some wine. "

She drew her fingers into her palms and forced sincerity into her voice. "I said water would be lovely. "

He nodded slowly. "I just want you to be comfortable. "

"
I would be more comfortable if you would stop fussing. "

He laughed. "I am fussing. I look like my mother. " He set the plate in his hand on the counter. "You1 make me nervous. "

That wasn 't a positive comment. She could jump all over that, but if she did everything would go poorly the rest of the night and she 'd be back to square one. "I am sorry you are uncomfortable around me. I certainly do not want that. " She clasped her hands together. "Again, if you would prefer, I could call a taxi. "

Curtis rubbed the back of his neck. "No. I do not prefer, " he mimicked her accent. "I just don 't want us being awkward around each other. "

The pace of her heart began to ease. "I do not want that either. "

"
Good. I mean I know things between us are going to be strained. We shouldn 't have acted like horny teenagers and let that night at Carlos 's wedding get so out of hand. We 're adults who share many of the same people in our lives. We need to get along. "

His words had sliced into her heart. They were said so matter of face, as though he 'd never considered them as more than a one night item.

She agreed, for the most part, that they needed to get along, they did share a great deal of people in their lives. But she certainly didn 't want him to think that their time together had been wasted. She could fix this all with one statement.
I 'm pregnant!
And she could risk him throwing her over the balcony too.

No. He needed to be okay with her before she told him she was carrying his baby. Even if he never loved her, which she hoped he would, she wanted him to like her. And no matter what he was saying she wasn 't quite convinced he did.

Curtis backed up as the grill flamed. The hair on the back of his hands might have caught the last flame that shot out from the grill, which could certainly use a cleaning.

At this point there was enough of a crust on the steak he didn 't know if the inside was bloody or overcooked. All he knew was the French heiress that broke his heart was standing only feet from him staring off into the woods from his balcony nursing a glass of water.

Something was different about her, but he couldn 't peg it. But wasn 't that the way with women? They didn 't actually want to tell you what was on their minds, but they sure as hell wanted you to suffer trying to figure it out. Well, he thought as he pulled the lonely steak from the grill, he didn 't care.

There was nothing Simone Pierpont could be thinking that had any effect on him. He had his home. He had his job. And by God, he was going to keep 1his sanity.

He watched her as she lifted her hand to her hair and brushed her fingers through it. Even with her mind preoccupied, she was graceful.

What could she ever have seen in him, he wondered. He didn 't wear suits, or have a Rolex watch. Before he met her, the only boat he 'd been on, besides his father 's fishing boat, was a river boat down from down town to Opry Land. The thought made him laugh. What would she think of that?

He pulled the stake off the grill and slid it onto a plate. "C 'mon. I 'll cut this up and we 'll have a salad. Then if we 're still hungry I 'll hit a
Ben and Jerry 's
on the way out to Zach and Regan 's. "

She smiled, but she didn 't laugh. This much he knew, if she was humored, or even pretending to be, she 'd toss that raven hair behind her shoulder with a flick of her wrist and roll her head back with a laugh. She did neither. Oh, something happened to her to make her leave the posh life she 'd been used to and take some clerical job. There was a great amount of certainty that she wouldn 't tell him why she 'd moved to Nashville, but he figured he could get Zach to spill it.

Simone followed him inside.

She set her water glass on the table. "What can I do to help? "

Where did he begin? She could let go of the grip she had on his heart for starters. Instead, he handed her the bag of premixed salad. "Just throw some on plates. "

As he turned to reach for a knife out of the drawer she reached above him to the cupboard where he kept his plates. Their bodies brushed against each other 's. He 'd been so close he felt her breath hitch, but she hadn 't moved back, and neither did he.

He couldn 't risk hurting again, but what did it matter? She 'd be gone soon, no matter what she said. Simone would never live in Nashville and work for a clinic forever.

But he already hurt having her so near, smelling her scent, feeling her breath on his cheek.

Curtis rested his hand on her hip, just to steady each of them. When he looked at her, her eyes were closed. Was she taking in the moment too? They were touching. There was heat.

He could see the pulse in her neck beating rapidly. It would be easy to drop his head and kiss her. Just kiss her senseless until they wound up in a tangled mess on the floor as they had months ago.

But 1when Simone opened her eyes there was fear in them. That seemed more normal. She probably thought he was just some common man she could play with when she was in town.

Curtis shoved past her, took the knife out of the drawer, and stepped back. He wasn 't going to make the same mistake twice.

The steak was cooked to his liking, but Simone hadn 't touched hers. She 'd picked at her salad, and drank three more glasses of water. On her third yawn, at only seven-forty-five, he decided to head toward his sister 's house and take her home.

Curtis navigated the dirt road that lead to his sister 's house. The ride had been too quiet. Though he had only his brief time with Simone, he knew that her recent bouts of silence weren 't normal. He couldn 't take it any longer. He had to talk.

"
Cynthia really likes working at the clinic. Marsha is nice too. " He thought he sounded pathetic.

"
It will be a nice change of pace in my life. I am done with teas and dinners in fancy hotels schmoozing the money hungry hounds. Maybe I can do some good somewhere. "

He 'd opened a can of worms. "Most people want the schmoozing life you have. "

She chuckled and that was more like Simone, especially when she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Turning to him, she angled her head, which he was sure had been practiced a million times to show her good side.

"
You told me, when we were together, " she said and her tone softened, "that you hated dressing up and having to go to fundraisers for the hospital. "

"
Can 't say that 's wrong. I usually end up in the corner all night drinking too many drinks served on trays. " Not unlike the charity work he 'd done at Carlos 's weddings.

"
Then, perhaps even only a little, you understand. "

"
I understand just that little part. But c 'mon, you 'd rather be here, " he raised his hands to encompass all of Nashville as he saw it in his mind, "than on a jet flying to Spain for the weekend, or heading up to the Queen 's for a polo match. "

She stifled the next giggle. "I have never been to the Queen 's. " She let out a long sigh. "This is what I want. " She raised her hands in the same manner as he had, only there was poise to it. But then she set them back in her lap and her fingers gripped all togethe1r until her knuckles were white. "Now all I have to do is secure a place to live and ensure I can pay for the lease on my car. "

Worry flashed in her eyes. Something didn 't match up. How was it that Simone was worried about paying for things? The thought of Cynthia giving her uniforms didn 't settle with him either. Then he reminded himself he wasn 't supposed to care. She wasn 't his problem.

It struck him that he should just pull to the side of the road and see if she could find her own way back to Zach and Regan 's house. That would be fitting. He 'd had to do that from the middle of the fricking ocean.

His fingers tensed around the steering wheel as they had earlier as he 'd driven around town, and he forced himself to relax. That was over. He needed to move on and forget about it. Without letting out the laugh that brewed inside of him the thought about the day some little kid would throw up on Simone at work. Even the office personnel didn 't always escape the patients. That would certainly send her packing to Paris.

Zach 's office on the front of the house was illuminated as he parked the truck in the circular drive in front of the house. Good. He 'd have to answer some questions since Curtis had driven all the way out there to drop off the Parisian princess, and she really hadn 't given him more information than she didn 't like stuffy parties..

She reached for the bag with the scrubs she 'd gotten from Cynthia and climbed out of his truck. Curtis watched her move quickly as though she wanted to escape. "Thank you for dinner and for driving me out here. It was very thoughtful of you. "

Her prim and proper ways annoyed him. Maybe she should stay in Nashville long enough to inherit a twang, yeah, that would have her posh friends freaking out.

"
My pleasure, ma 'am. " He lifted his hands toward his head and tipped his imaginary hat to her. She smiled and her perfect teeth sparkled in the dim light as the sun set beyond the trees. But still, her smile didn 't reach her eyes.

"
I 'll walk in with you. I wanted to talk to Zach for a minute. "

Simone nodded, shut the door to the truck, and led him into the house.

Zach stood in the doorway of his office. "I didn 't expect to see the two of you together. " His eyebrows raised and Curtis shook his head. The slightest sign of a smile on Zach 's face had Curtis itching to remove it.

Simone stepped forward to him and kissed him on the cheek. "You were always watching out for me. "

"
It always seemed to be my job, " Zach smiled down at her.