“Don’t,” he muttered.
“I’m sorry,” she said, reaching out a hand toward him. “It’s just that you’re so cute when you’re falling for a girl who’s not falling back.”
“I’m not falling for her,” he muttered. “We’re just friends, and I wouldn’t mind adding benefits to the arrangement.”
“And how does she feel about that?”
“Good question. One minute she’s kissing me like she wants to have her way with me, the next she’s dragging me around the botanical gardens and talking about peonies, and the minute after that she’s making sexy eyes at Trevor.”
Jamie’s eyes were wide with fascination. “So. Many. Questions. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Here’s another one for you,” he muttered. “Mom invited her to Thanksgiving.”
Jamie barked out a laugh and slapped her hand on the table. “Oh my God, it keeps getting better. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be there.”
“Yeah well, you might not be missing much. Pretty sure she’s not coming.”
Jamie’s smile dropped. “Josh. Tell me you didn’t uninvite her.”
“No. Of course I didn’t. It’s just . . . we had a thing, and she’s not exactly pleased with me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What’d you do?”
“How do you know it was me that did something?”
She pointed downward. “Ovaries.”
Josh winced. “Gross. Don’t. Anyway, I didn’t do anything, precisely, I just sort of . . . snapped at her to stay out of my business.”
Jamie’s smile was all the way gone now. “Josh . . . does this girl—”
“Heather.”
“Does Heather know you were sick?”
He took a sip of his drink. Then another. “Nope.”
She gave a little sigh. “Josh.”
“It’s not relevant,” he snapped. “That’s my past.”
“Sure, but it’s shaped your present. And your future. And if you want this woman to be a part of either . . .”
Jamie broke off, and Josh rubbed his forehead. What did he want from Heather? He couldn’t think about her as part of his future. He didn’t let himself think about anyone in terms of his future. He wasn’t sure he had one.
But the thought of her not being a part of his life had him all sorts of irritable.
Josh sighed and glared at his sister. “Any chance we can skip the bit where you laugh at me and call me names, and just go straight to the advice?”
“Absolutely,” she said, surprising him by reaching across the table and patting his hand. “Okay, so here’s the thing. Did Heather say yes to Thanksgiving?”
He shrugged. “I think she feels awkward.”
“But she has nowhere else to go? Otherwise she wouldn’t even be considering it.”
Josh felt tense at the thought of Heather being alone. “Her mom’s out of state. I feel like there’s a story there, but I don’t know what it is.”
“So I’ve never met the woman, so this is a guess,” Jamie said, pursing her lips, “but is it possible she’s feeling as vulnerable as you?”
“Hey, who said anything about vulnerable?”
“Right, right, because you’re a big man,” his sister soothed. “But my point is, maybe this girl needs something different from your sexy smile and your crooning and your biceps.”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m not buying her flowers.”
Jamie smiled. “I think it might be even simpler than flowers. Cheaper, too. This woman’s on the verge of spending the holidays alone. Is it possible that what she wants more than anything from you . . . is just a little bit of kindness? To not be alone?”
Josh blew out a breath and sat back, irritated by how easily his sister had cut straight to the heart of the issue, when he’d been gnawing on it for days. “So what do I do?”
“Be her friend. Trust me when I say that for some women, there’s no better seduction technique. And, Josh?”
He rolled his eyes. “What?”
Jamie squeezed his hand and waited until he met her gaze. “I think maybe you need a friend, too. A real friend. One that knows everything.”