Stop it.
She slammed the pot into its place with more force than necessary. There was no reason Adam would be interested in her as anything other than a charity case, which was reason enough to thank him again for taking one for the team and then move on with her life. She didn’t want charity from anyone.
She needed to stop trying to prove to Grant that she wasn’t pathetic. She shouldn’t even care what he thought—what anyone thought. She wasn’t a pushover. Her life was great…minus her failed attempts in the romance department. Otherwise, she saw what she wanted, and she worked hard to get it. She’d be totally content working Cups and Kittens until she was old and gray, living in the apartment above it with Aubry, and sitting out on the balcony and waving her cane at the teenagers in the street…
“Oh my God, I’m pathetic.”
“Talking to yourself is a sure sign of insanity.” Aubry spoke from the corner table where she was doing something on her massive laptop—probably plotting world domination. Or gaming.
She pushed the button to start the coffee brewing, breathing in the comforting smell and doing her best to get her crazy under control. “Wrong. There are studies showing that talking to yourself is a sign of intelligence.” Thank you, Facebook.
“Touché.” Aubry glanced up and her eyes went wide. “Incoming.”
Jules turned around in time to see Grant open the door to the shop. Her stomach took a nosedive. She spun back around, pretending she hadn’t seen him, and busied herself with the coffeepot to buy time. She’d bet her last dollar that he was here to call her out on faking Adam being her boyfriend. Grant had never been able to let stuff like that go.
What had she seen in that guy again?
Oh, right. Popular high school football player who had turned that golden charm on her sixteen-year-old self and made her feel like something really special.
Until he crushed her under his shoe as he left her in the dust.
“Hey, Jules.”
She couldn’t keep pretending she didn’t see him when he was trying to engage her in conversation. Jules turned. “Grant. What a surprise.”
He smirked. “There’s a bell over the door.”
“I was talking about you showing up in the first place.” She shot a look at where Mrs. Peterson had Cujo in her lap and wasn’t even pretending not to eavesdrop. Jules gritted her teeth. “Can I help you with something?”
“So this is your place.” He made a show of looking around. “It’s…quaint.”
She followed his gaze, trying to see things through his point of view. The shop was decent sized, with plenty of room for half a dozen tables and the long counter that she stood behind, as well as three elaborate cat towers. The walls were a cheery blue, and there were suns painted onto the tabletops. It was a bright and happy place and damn him to hell for trying to make her embarrassed of it.
Power through it. You can do this. “Would you like some coffee?”
“Oh, no, thanks. I’m heading to the Starbucks down the street.” He smiled his million-dollar smile. “I just came by to check the place out. And because I’d hoped you reconsidered that date.”
Fury temporarily stole her words. First the Starbucks comment, and now this again? He didn’t get to just waltz back into town and pick her up like she was a forgotten toy. She clenched her hands, forcibly reminding herself that assaulting customers wasn’t a good way to bring in business. Plus, she was nice. Nice girls didn’t smash coffeepots over the heads of their ex-boyfriends.
But even nice girls stood their ground. She lifted her chin. “As I think I made more than clear last night, I’m seeing someone.”
“Somehow, I’m not so sure about that.” He tipped an imaginary hat and walked out the door, still grinning.
She should have known pretending to date Adam would backfire. Now, not only was she quirky for staying in a small town and owning a cat café, but she was pathetic for pretending to date someone and it being clear to Grant and everyone else that there was no way Adam Meyers would really date her. Why would he? He was exciting and wild and hot. And she was Jules Rodriguez, local good girl and budding cat lady.
“I hate that Grant makes me feel like this. Still.”
Aubry opened her mouth, but whatever she was going to say was lost when she laughed. “Incoming two point oh.”
“Did I do something to anger the fates? Because this is freaking ridiculous.”
She braced herself for another go-round with Grant, but it wasn’t his outline darkening her doorstep.