Curtis shoved past her, took the knife out of the drawer, and stepped back. He wasn 't going to make the same mistake twice.

The steak was cooked to his liking, but Simone hadn 't touched hers. She 'd picked at her salad, and drank three more glasses of water. On her third yawn, at only seven-forty-five, he decided to head toward his sister 's house and take her home.

Curtis navigated the dirt road that lead to his sister 's house. The ride had been too quiet. Though he had only his brief time with Simone, he knew that her recent bouts of silence weren 't normal. He couldn 't take it any longer. He had to talk.

"Cynthia really likes working at the clinic. Marsha is nice too. " He thought he sounded pathetic.

"It will be a nice change of pace in my life. I am done with teas and dinners in fancy hotels schmoozing the money hungry hounds. Maybe I can do some good somewhere. "

He 'd opened a can of worms. "Most people want the schmoozing life you have. "

She chuckled and that was more like Simone, especially when she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Turning to him, she angled her head, which he was sure had been practiced a million times to show her good side.

"You told me, when we were together, " she said and her tone softened, "that you hated dressing up and having to go to fundraisers for the hospital. "

"Can 't say that 's wrong. I usually end up in the corner all night drinking too many drinks served on trays. " Not unlike the charity work he 'd done at Carlos 's weddings.

"Then, perhaps even only a little, you understand. "

"I understand just that little part. But c 'mon, you 'd rather be here, " he raised his hands to encompass all of Nashville as he saw it in his mind, "than on a jet flying to Spain for the weekend, or heading up to the Queen 's for a polo match. "

She stifled the next giggle. "I have never been to the Queen 's. " She let out a long sigh. "This is what I want. " She raised her hands in the same manner as he had, only there was poise to it. But then she set them back in her lap and her fingers gripped all togethe1r until her knuckles were white. "Now all I have to do is secure a place to live and ensure I can pay for the lease on my car. "

Worry flashed in her eyes. Something didn 't match up. How was it that Simone was worried about paying for things? The thought of Cynthia giving her uniforms didn 't settle with him either. Then he reminded himself he wasn 't supposed to care. She wasn 't his problem.

It struck him that he should just pull to the side of the road and see if she could find her own way back to Zach and Regan 's house. That would be fitting. He 'd had to do that from the middle of the fricking ocean.

His fingers tensed around the steering wheel as they had earlier as he 'd driven around town, and he forced himself to relax. That was over. He needed to move on and forget about it. Without letting out the laugh that brewed inside of him the thought about the day some little kid would throw up on Simone at work. Even the office personnel didn 't always escape the patients. That would certainly send her packing to Paris.

Zach 's office on the front of the house was illuminated as he parked the truck in the circular drive in front of the house. Good. He 'd have to answer some questions since Curtis had driven all the way out there to drop off the Parisian princess, and she really hadn 't given him more information than she didn 't like stuffy parties..

She reached for the bag with the scrubs she 'd gotten from Cynthia and climbed out of his truck. Curtis watched her move quickly as though she wanted to escape. "Thank you for dinner and for driving me out here. It was very thoughtful of you. "

Her prim and proper ways annoyed him. Maybe she should stay in Nashville long enough to inherit a twang, yeah, that would have her posh friends freaking out.

"My pleasure, ma 'am. " He lifted his hands toward his head and tipped his imaginary hat to her. She smiled and her perfect teeth sparkled in the dim light as the sun set beyond the trees. But still, her smile didn 't reach her eyes.

"I 'll walk in with you. I wanted to talk to Zach for a minute. "

Simone nodded, shut the door to the truck, and led him into the house.

Zach stood in the doorway of his office. "I didn 't expect to see the two of you together. " His eyebrows raised and Curtis shook his head. The slightest sign of a smile on Zach 's face had Curtis itching to remove it.

Simone stepped forward to him and kissed him on the cheek. "You were always watching out for me. "

"It always seemed to be my job, " Zach smiled down at her.

"I 'm going to head to bed. " She turned back to Curtis. "Thank you again for the ride. "

"Sure. " Both men watched her ascend the stairs and when her bedroom door shut, Curtis looked at Zach. "Pour me a drink and let 's talk. "

Curtis closed the door to Zach 's office as Zach poured him a brandy. As soon as Zach handed it to him he threw it back and let it warm his throat.

Zach watched carefully. "She 's driven you to drink. "

"On more than one occasion. " And that had been the truest statement of the night.

Zach secured the lid on the brandy and set it high on the shelf. "Regan said she went job hunting with Cynthia. How 'd she end up with you? "

Curtis shrugged his shoulders and fell into the couch below him. He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and rested his head back. "Can you believe she got a job at the clinic? "

Zach didn 't comment right away. He sipped his brandy, set the glass on his desk, and then took the seat across from Curtis. "Simone has a job? "

Curtis dropped his feet to the floor. "Not only does she have a job, she works in a federally funded clinic. When I headed over to Cynthia 's today she was there trying on scrubs Cynthia was giving her. "

"She has a job and a bag of hand-me-downs? "

Curtis threw his hands in the air. "Exactly. "

Zach leaned back in his chair. "She must be more pissed at her father than I thought she was. "

"I was hoping you shed some light on that. What 's up with her? "

This time Zach shrugged. "I flew her here. She called me two days before Carlos and Madeline 's wedding and said she needed to be here, in Nashville. She needed a place to stay for a while and she said she wanted to be on her own. It 's not the first time she 's said she 's going to be independent, but she 's never followed through, not this far at least. "