“Nah, don’t do that. It’s a party. Join us. Have fun.” I shrugged like it was no big deal, but it was, because I was effectively inviting her into the inner circle I’d spent the last two weeks shoving her out of.
Her nose wrinkled, and she looked at me curiously. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be in your way.”
“You won’t be.”
She narrowed her eyes.
I raised my hands in surrender. “Okay, so maybe I have told you a few times you’ve been in my way, but I’m inviting you, so this is different.”
“More than a few,” she countered, glaring at me.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “If you don’t want to come, don’t. If you do, then great. Do whatever the fuck you want. I don’t care.”
I turned away from her and stormed outside to supervise the table set-up. It was really an excuse to get out of the house away from Ari.
“I want that over there,” I barked at one of the workers.
The guy’s fear-filled eyes lifted to meet mine and he hurried to correct his wrong.
For a brief second I felt bad for my harshness. I knew my intensity and rash demeanor was off-putting, and I used it to my advantage to keep people away. I’d been doing it for so long that it had become second nature.
I paced around the backyard, checking out everything that had been set up so far. There were a few tables for sitting and one long one where food would be placed. All the exciting stuff was being set up on the beach. My yard wasn’t big enough for a real party.
I tipped my head at the guy I’d yelled at, hoping that it counted as some sort of an apology, and headed inside to make breakfast.
I was surprised, although I shouldn’t have been, to find Ari already making breakfast. The past two weeks she’d made almost all of our meals—at least, if she wasn’t working.
“Let me do that.” I stepped up behind her.
She jumped, and a gasp tumbled from her lips. She turned around so fast that our bodies collided, and we both went tumbling to the floor like a pair of bowling pins.
I caught the brunt of our fall, but her knee smacked against the floor, and she hissed between her teeth.
“You okay?” I asked, holding onto her arms.
She nodded her head quickly, ducking her head to hide her gaze. She scurried out of my hold and quickly stood. I stared up at her from where I was still sprawled on the floor. She was jumpy, her eyes darting around the room.
“You need to stop sneaking up on me,” she finally muttered and returned to stirring the eggs.
I shook my head, completely confused by her. “Yeah, sure, whatever.”
Straightening her shoulders, she said, “You can toast the bread.”
I nodded, fighting the urge to smile as I gathered myself from the floor and then moved to grab the bread from the drawer.
Ari had gradually become more comfortable, growing a bit of a backbone and biting back when I snapped at her, just as she had the moment before. Don’t get me wrong, there were still those times when she just about jumped out of her skin—like when I surprised her just then, but I’d seen enough to know that she was no harmless kitten. Nah. She had teeth and claws and wasn’t afraid to use them. When she remem
bered she had them, that is.
I stuck the bread in the toaster and pushed the button down. Turning my back to it, I stretched my arms behind me to rest on the counter.
“Where are you from, exactly?” I questioned her.
Her awe of the ocean and palm trees was enough to tell me she wasn’t from California. She glanced up from what she was doing, her lips parted in surprise. A dark curl fell over her forehead, and she blew it away with a puff of air.
“I thought we didn’t talk about personal things.” Her eyes were steel. Unyielding.
“We don’t.” I tilted my head to the side. “But I don’t consider where you’re from that personal. Now your bra size, that’s personal, but I’m guessing a B-cup.” I eyed her chest.