Easy This Time - JH Croix Page 0,26

a bit accomplished. It was just one story, but I felt like I was at least getting my equilibrium back. I might not know where I was going to land as far as where I lived, but I had a job that could travel with me, and I would sort out this mess created by Brett.

After I finished my call with Gabby, I reached out to a few other places from the email she sent with recommendations. I also spent a little time online doing some preliminary research on other inns. Lastly, I followed up and finalized my most recent assignment and sent it off to my editor.

I leaned back in the chair at the small round table off to the side of the kitchen with a satisfied sigh when I hit send on my last email. My life might have been turned upside down in some ways, but it felt good to get my bearings again.

When it came to my career, I’d kind of stumbled into my online journalism job. During college, I’d ended up working for one of the college newspapers mostly because I had a crush on a guy who worked there. He turned out to be an asshole—I seemed to have an excellent radar for assholes—but he left his job at the paper, and I stayed on. It wasn’t great money, but it was enough for me to cover my bills and much more flexible than many other jobs. Although my brother was loaded now, back then, we were both scrambling just to get by.

After that, I’d gone on to get my graduate degree in journalism. It certainly wasn’t the most lucrative field, but I enjoyed writing. My current job gave me a lot of flexibility. I could travel and had my pick of subject matters to explore for the most part—and when you add to that I had a supportive boss, it was a great fit. Maybe I was close to broke at the moment, and maybe I needed to figure out what the hell was next, but I had work. For the moment, I also had a place to stay.

The second I thought about just how temporary my living situation was, my mind spun onto dueling tracks of anxiety. I needed a plan because this wasn’t a long-term prospect. There was plenty to worry about in that category. Then, there was Nash. It was sooooo not smart to be crushing on him. It didn’t seem to matter if it was smart. My body and heart weren’t getting the memo. I was totally crushing on him. Hard.

Merely thinking about our kiss had me leaping out of my chair and pacing restlessly in front of the windows. I didn’t even know what to think of his misplaced chivalry. I definitely knew what I thought about him worrying about what my brother might think. For God’s sake, Max had too many opinions about my love life. It stung a little bit. My pride had taken a big hit to the chin with Brett.

How the hell could Brett figure out where I was staying? That bothered me. A lot. I’d already changed my passwords on every single account I had. I just hoped he hadn’t done something I couldn’t find.

As if the universe was mocking me, my phone rang, the vibration on the table loud from where I was pacing back and forth in front of the windows. Striding back to the table, I glanced down at the screen. An unfamiliar number flashed there.

All worries about Brett aside, I never answered unknown calls. The deluge of robocalls, often masked, was exhausting and had trained me to be highly skeptical. Returning my phone to the table, I waited to see if whoever called left a message. Once the banner showed a voicemail, I hit play.

“Hey, babe. It’s Brett. This is a temporary number. I don’t know what the deal is with you and Nash Reynolds, but we need to talk. Call me as soon as you get this.”

I almost hit delete before considering that perhaps I should save the message in case anything weird happened. Setting my phone back down on the table, I muttered, “I’m not your fucking babe.”

There was no way in hell I was going to call Brett.

Chapter 11

Nash

“What did you find?” I asked Trent.

Trent leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingertips on the leather armrest as he regarded me. “You’re not gonna like it.”

Narrowing my eyes, I replied, “Just hit me.”

“You already know all