Page 91 of Forget Me Not

“Where are you going?”

He looks pissed off, but why would he be? We both got what we wanted . . . right? Suddenly, I can’t look at him.

He told me no romance. Don’t let my expectations get too high. I can say I didn’t all day, but the crushing reality is that my hands are shaking. My legs are sore. My heart is beating way too fast and like an idiot, I can’t stave off the disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong. The sex was next level.

The silence after? I’d really rather do without.

“I’m tired and I need a shower,” I mumble, tugging at his hand around my wrist. Reid slips from the bed, his gaze hot on my face. To my horror, a tear slips down my cheek.

I knew I couldn’t do casual sex.

I wait for him to reprimand me for the tears. Only . . . I keep waiting until silently, his thumb comes up, catching one as it slips down my face. Then, those fingers move to cup my cheek and he pulls my lips up to his.

It’s both gentle and haunted. As if maybe, something about tonight didn’t feel quite as casual as he would have liked, either.

Pulling back, he slips his hand in mine and pulls me towards the bathroom where he doesn’t say a word as he cleans me up. Nor when he washes my hair in the shower like I’m made of glass.

Nor when he slips between the sheets with me and pulls me back against his chest.

“Sleep, little bird,” he murmurs, voice rough and low against my ear.

So, I do, closing my eyes and drifting off in the arms of the man who claims he doesn’t do romance. Who claims this is nothing more than a quick fuck to him.

And who claims he doesn’t want me.

“A little to the left.”

I move the painting to the left a solitary inch. “Good?”

“No, that was too far.”

So, I move it back to the right.

“That’s perfect.”

Right where I had it the first time.

I chuckle, marking the spot on the wall and grabbing a nail from my pocket. Nova’s gran is something else. I can see where Nova gets her fire from. She’s been having me help her with little odd tasks all day and despite my desire to run off and hunt her granddaughter down, I’ve done every one.

Gran is nothing like my grandma. Where Nova’s is feisty, but maternal, mine was cold and distant. She cared for me after Mom died, only because without her, I probably would have been dead. If living with Dad was hell, living with Mom’s mother would have been something like purgatory.

In the week since Nova’s parents were here, Gran and Pap started taking an interest in what I’ve been doing around the inn. Some days, pap will join me on the third floor, supervising, as Nova would say, telling me stories from out on the water.

I haven’t told Nova. I think he’s lonely. It’s just one more thing for her to have to worry about and with Tara and Manto’s wedding in a couple weeks being held at the inn and the end of tourist season bringing more guests than usual, she’s got enough on her plate.

I manage to get all the busted floorboards on the third floor replaced, as well as rip out the section of wall where a pipe’s been leaking, getting it patched up, too. Nova is ecstatic and I can’t say I’m not proud of my own work, seeing how big of a relief it is for her.

After Saturday night, I told myself I’d back off. Start removing myself from her life, but then I woke up Sunday to her soft and sweet and grinding against my cock. Then, Monday, I found myself searching her out because I couldn’t get her out of my head. Tuesday, we ended up going for a walk down the beach and somehow, it ended up with her on the sand underneath me, my fingers buried inside her and my lips swallowing the sounds of her moans. Wednesday, I gave up.

Now, I’m trying to fix the heat because Gran said she was cold this morning.

I fucking hate this boiler.

“She got you working off a debt or are you that whipped?”

I don’t have to look up to know Manto has just joined me in the little basement alcove that doubles—according to Nova—as a portal to hell. She’s convinced it’s haunted, though the only thing that’s been scary so far has been a spider the size of my fucking fist, just lurking in the background.

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