“I . . .”
Nerves pricked at his skin. “Just say it,” he told her, recognizing that her hesitation meant nothing good.
“Macy called. I had a visitor at her restaurant. Someone looking for me here in Serendipity.”
Sam narrowed his gaze. “Okay . . . I’m sure you told people at home where you were going, so why would a visitor be a surprise?”
“Umm, there’s two parts to that answer,” she said without meeting his gaze. “One, I told my parents where I was going, but there’s a good chance they didn’t actually hear me. They aren’t interested in anything more than me staying home and not messing up their plans.”
“What sort of plans?” he asked, suddenly edgy.
She bit down on her lower lip. The same lower lip he’d been suckling on minutes before. “I was engaged.”
The word echoed around the room and slammed into his brain.
“I broke it off before I left Manhattan and moved here to start over,” she said, her words coming out on a rush.
Only one word stood out in Sam’s mind. “Engaged,” he repeated.
“Was engaged.”
“So there’s an ex-fiancé out there,” he said, and as he spoke, he realized just who was in town, causing her to panic. “And he’s the one who’s here.”
She nodded, eyes wide.
“But it’s over between us. I’ve told him it’s over. I haven’t been taking his calls because I don’t want to give him the wrong impression. So I have no idea why he’d come.” She rubbed her hands together, her panic and nervousness obvious.
Which were weird reactions, if he thought about it, but beyond having to confess to an awkward omission, he couldn’t understand why she’d be so flustered. Then again, what did he know about the relationship between her and her ex-fiancé? He’d learned long ago not to think he knew people—Sam had set up one of his best friends with what he thought was a stand-up guy, only to find out once they were married that he was nothing of the sort.
Sam rubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion and frustration suddenly claiming him. He couldn’t believe this night had done such a one-eighty.
But he only had one focus, one part of this story that involved him. “If the guy was your fiancé, chances are he had good reason to have the impression that you loved him,” he said with bite, because he’d been in that ex’s shoes and he knew what it felt like to have a woman break things off.
In Sam’s case, left at the altar was an accurate statement, so he understood being blindsided. He didn’t want to feel bad for the guy, who was probably here to try to talk Nicole into coming back to him. But hadn’t he done the same thing? Right after Jenna ended things, he’d tried to get her to remember the good times, the plans they’d made. He’d tried to understand when she’d changed her mind—and why he’d been too blind to see it. To this day, he didn’t have a clue.
“I thought I loved him,” Nicole said, interrupting Sam’s mental trip into the past. “And then I realized I didn’t,” she continued.
He swallowed hard, wondering just how easily she’d walked away from her ex. And how fickle would she become with him after a while? He shifted uncomfortably, this whole situation too sudden and way too close to his past. It had him questioning his own judgment when it came to Nicole, and he needed time to think.
The doorbell rang, giving him a reprieve, and he went to accept the delivery. When he returned, Nicole was looking at him with wary eyes, a far cry from the heavy-lidded, desire-filled gaze of earlier.
“Are we okay?” she asked, running her hands up and down her bare arms.
“We’re fine,” he said, knowing he was lying.
He needed to sort through his tangled emotions, which were clearly confusing Nicole and bringing up a past he wanted to put behind him. He wasn’t sure how to accomplish that feat.
So they ate in awkward silence, and eventually Sam drove Nicole back to her apartment over Joe’s. When she got out of the car, he didn’t mention their planned date tomorrow night after the softball game.
And neither did she.
Nicole paced her apartment, not easy considering how small an area she had to walk, but she couldn’t sleep. Nerves, anxiousness and not a little bit of panic raced through her. Not only because she’d clearly messed things up with Sam, but also because Tyler was in town. And that made no sense at all.
She’d dumped him. Most men’s egos would prevent them from calling, texting, or begging for a reconciliation. Initially after the breakup, he’d gone silent, as she’d expected. It wasn’t until she’d arrived in Serendipity that he’d begun to call her.
Now he was here. Which raised the question, why the shift? What was he doing here?
Unable to settle her stomach, she still had to try to sleep. She didn’t. At least, she didn’t think she did. She tossed and turned, awakening early the next morning.