and looking inside. “I’m thinking we’ll both have enough leftovers to keep us in food for a week.”
He liked her easy smile, the way she’d gone from not trusting him to confiding in him, and it was as if he already knew her. After hearing so much about her from Jock, he’d been wanting to meet her, and that was before he’d realized how gorgeous she would be. Not to mention he’d been expecting someone a little more...broken. Jessica might be in pain, might have almost died and ended her career, but she didn’t look anything close to broken to Nathan. The fiery blonde was all bent out of shape over whatever the lawyer had said to her, and he wanted to know more. Because if he could help, there was nothing he wouldn’t do, not when it meant helping the granddaughter of the man who’d brought him back from the brink and made him believe he at least had a future ahead of him. He had a long way to go, but life wasn’t as dark as it had seemed when he’d first arrived.
She held up the throwaway chopsticks and broke them apart then pulled a lid off one dish, expertly helping herself to noodles like she was as used to using them as he was a knife and fork.
“So what do you think of this place?”
Her question took him by surprise. “I wouldn’t have stayed so long if I didn’t love it.”
Her sigh made him look up, forgetting what he’d been about to eat.
“Why?” he asked.
She met his gaze, eyes dull as she opened her mouth to answer him. He tried not to stare at her lips, at the way they moved when she blew out a breath.
“Because from what the lawyer’s telling me, it’ll be on the market before the end of the month, so I might need a buyer. You interested?”
He put down his chopsticks. “You’re serious?” He’d realized things were bad, that Jock’s affairs obviously hadn’t been left in order, but to sell the place?
“Deadly,” she answered straight back.
He had no idea what to say. “You’re sure that’s something you have to consider?”
“Honestly?” She shook her head, tears making her big brown eyes look like they were swimming. “I hope not, but from what I heard tonight I don’t know what else I’ll be able to do.”
Nathan picked up a spring roll between his fingers and dipped it in sauce, slowly eating it as he digested her words.
“If it comes to selling, if it’s what you have to do, I’ll buy the place myself.”
She laughed. “Yeah, right.”
Nathan cleared his throat and looked up, not wanting to sound arrogant but needing her to know it wasn’t an empty offer. That he could buy it tomorrow and come up with the cash immediately if he had to. “I’m serious.”
Her laughter died, the uneasy smile wiped from her face. She studied him, eyes no longer full of tears—her gaze was serious now. “You could actually buy this place, just like that?” she asked.
He shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. A year ago, hell, a few months ago, he’d have had no problem letting anyone know what he could afford, but since coming here...he just didn’t want to be that guy anymore. Staying on the farm had given him the break he’d needed, and it had also given him a fresh start, even if he was going to have to face reality and head home one day soon.
“Yeah, I could. But if I did I’d need a manager, so there’s no chance I’d evict you.”
Jessica smiled, but he knew she wasn’t sure what to say or how to take his words.
“But it won’t come to that, so don’t even worry,” he assured her.
She took another mouthful of noodles and nodded, but he sensed the change in her, as if she was suddenly viewing him as a stranger when before she’d treated him like an ally. Money attracted a lot of women—the wrong women—but he doubted Jessica fell into that category, even if she was desperate for an injection of cash to save her assets. If she did, her eyes would have lit up, her smile would have become wider—he knew all the signs—and yet she’d looked more alarmed than anything else. She could just be good at hiding her emotions, but she’d been so honest about her grief that he doubted it.
“So you said you’re a banker, when you’re not traveling?”
“I was, back in London,” he said, taking the lid off another dish. “I managed a private hedge fund.”
“Ahh, I see,” she said, like finding out what he did told her everything she needed to know.
It felt like a lifetime ago to him, and in some ways it was. The guy he was here was nothing like the man he’d been for most of his adult life.
“So will you go back? To being a banker?”
It was something he’d thought about a lot lately, and he still wasn’t sure. “That life took everything from me,” he said, pushing the memories away that were trying to claw their way back in, the memories that so often took hold of him and refused to give him any relief. “I need to go back at some point, but right now I’m happy pretending to be someone else.”
The smile she gave him this time lit her eyes again, as if she was happy with his answer. “So does the person you are here have time to help me figure out what the hell happened to my inheritance?”
Nathan grinned. It had been a long time since he’d hung out and chatted to a beautiful woman—he couldn’t even recall the last time he’d chilled out and eaten take-out food with his wife. This was the type of evening he’d missed out on over the past decade, what he’d thought was overrated. Now he knew otherwise. And it had also been a while since he’d been able to really use his brain, and if he was honest with himself he kind of missed that part of his old life.
“It just so happens that I’m great with numbers, so if you need me to look at any transactions, bank accounts, anything, I’m your guy.”
At times like this, he knew his old lifestyle hadn’t been worth what he’d lost, the memories he’d have to live with for the rest of his life. He’d tried so hard to have everything, and all he’d done was lose what he’d spent years striving for. Jessica was like a breath of fresh air, even if she was in need of his help. So long as he kept reminding himself that she could be only a friend, he’d be just fine. Because not only was she Jock’s granddaughter, she was also an attractive woman, and part of being away from home was about keeping his life complication free.
Jessica was vulnerable right now, and he wasn’t going to take advantage of that. Although if there was something he could do to help her, he would. “So tell me what the lawyer said.”
She rolled her eyes and took another mouthful before leaning back in her chair, anger taking over her face again.
“You know, when I met you earlier, I told myself to be nice to you because you were a paying guest.”
He chuckled, curious. “And now?”
Her dark eyes locked on his. “Now?” she shrugged. “Now I think that I was a little harsh. I can’t be an island forever.”
“An island?” He had no idea what she was talking about, but
