She looked at him then, and something real flashed in her eyes. Something vulnerable, and he wanted her confession more than his next breath because everyone knew who Erin Montgomery was, but no one, aside from maybe Finn, actually knew her.
CHAPTER 8
He’s not a quitter… Giovanni’s words hung in the air.
Erin couldn’t escape her next thought. Then why does everyone eventually quit me?
Finn had eventually given up. No matter how much he tried to stay devoted, the moment Mallory showed up, like a beautiful distraction, there was no challenge. His heart was stolen.
Erin stared at the wood-paneled wall, thinking back to the end of her and Finn’s relationship, recalling how terrible she’d behaved. She sabotaged the best friendship she’d ever had, all because she couldn’t bear the thought of loving Finn and him eventually abandoning her like everyone else she cared about did.
Her voice was hollow, devoid of emotion, as she stared at the knots in the pine paneling on the wall and explained, “I never wanted to stay in Jasper Falls and Finn was never going to leave. Our end was inevitable.”
“Because of the lumberyard,” Giovanni said with intimate knowledge of his family’s obsession with that business.
“Exactly. Colin was going to become a priest, Braydon wanted to be an architect, Luke had football, and that left Finn.”
“And Ryan.”
“Right.”
The lumberyard was owned by all three families. Now that the older generation was retiring, the sons were running the show.
She frowned, wondering why Giovanni hadn’t collected his share. The lumberyard made decent money, especially at a partnership level. “Didn’t you ever want to—”
“No,” he answered before she even finished the question. “Lumber doesn’t interest me—something my dad can’t seem to understand.”
Maybe that was why he wasn’t staying at home. “Do they support your dreams?”
Something uncertain flashed in his eyes as if he debated sharing anything personal with her. Anger bubbled inside of her as she considered everything she just shared.
“No, they don’t,” he confessed quietly. “My dad thinks I’m just wasting time. It’s like he’s literally waiting for me to run out of money or fail so I can come home and start my real life.”
“What about your mom?”
He shrugged. “She’s better than him, but neither of them sees comedy as a realistic career choice.”
Her head lowered. “I’m sorry I interrupted your show last night.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. You work hard at what you do. And I was being a drunk, disruptive brat.”
“Well, I shouldn’t have said what I said. It was mean and not my style. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
She couldn’t recall the last time someone apologized for hurting her, and she hated the way her eyes prickled from such silly sentiment. “I don’t even remember what you said.”
He studied her for a beat. “Yes, you do.”
Her gaze lowered as if she could shield the truth. She remembered, and he knew she remembered. “It’s just easier not to care.”
“About anything? I mean, we’re talking about you. You need to care about yourself, Erin.”
Why? No one else did. She blinked hard. “Pass me the M&Ms.”
He slid the candy to her. “What are you doing now? Where are you working?”
She appreciated the change of subject, but her career wasn’t anything exciting. “I worked for the mayor for a while, but that didn’t pan out.”
“Skylar’s husband?”
“That’s the one.”
Skylar was another relative of his who hated her. Not that she blamed the girl.
“Now, I’m just…”
She couldn’t even say she worked at the hardware store. She had nothing. No home. No job. No friends. No one to ask how her day was.
Breathing in a deep breath, she let it out in a sigh. “Do they have a minibar here?”
Giovanni grinned. “You lookin’ to get drunk?”
“What else is there to do in a blizzard when the electric’s out?”
“We could screw.”
She nearly choked on a peanut M&M. “Are you insane?”
“No, why? It’s not a crazy suggestion. We’re stranded in this dingy motel. No one knows we’re here. We’re both single. Worse things have happened.”
She poured out more chocolate and shoved a handful of M&Ms in her mouth. She was overeating because being this confined with anyone made her anxious. “I’m not having sex with you.”
“Because you find me unattractive?”
“Don’t be a jerk.”
“Why is that qualifying as being a jerk? I’m not above admitting you’re hot.”
Her cheeks flushed and she worried he was saying that to turn it around and somehow embarrass her. “Knock it off.”
He didn’t look like his gorgeous McCullough cousins, but he wasn’t unattractive. Giovanni always had a darker complexion and a sleeker, Italian look about him. He liked nice labels and fancy shoes. She never saw him in a pair of work boots and couldn’t recall ever seeing him in anything other than designer clothes.
But it was his eyes that held the most appeal. Deep and dark, like fathomless windows to the soul. His nose was hooked and a little big for his face, but his lips looked soft, like the kind that would feel amazing against a woman’s skin.