Page 16 of Reaching Little Robyn

Robyn wasn’t too far gone to realize Hayleigh’s mind had jumped to the wrong conclusion. “I’m in bed, all by my lonesome, and was asleep.”

“Asleep? It’s not even nine!”

Robyn rolled her eyes beneath her closed lids. “People in hotels usually check out by nine in the morning, and they don’t want to sit around drumming their fingers on the table waiting for their breakfast to magically appear. But it’s sweet of you to call to”—a huge yawn had her pausing before she managed to say—“check on me. Or did you need something else?”

“No, no, that’s fine. Go back to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay, tomorrow.” Robyn pushed the button to end the call and snuggled under her quilt again. With any luck she might be able to reenter the dream where she and an unnamed cowboy had been walking hand in hand down a country lane.

Singing some sappy country tune?

Rolling over, she smiled. “Why not, this is my dream and if I want to have my fantasy man serenading me, then that’s what he’ll do.”

Girl, you’ve got to seriously up the heat level of those fantasies of yours!

Of course, she’d have to be asleep in order to hear her cowboy crooning as well as enjoy other naughty, delicious things with him but when half an hour passed and she was still wide awake, she groaned and reached for her Kindle. If she couldn’t play a part in her own fantasy, at least she could read about others.

The next time she awakened, it wasn’t to the sound of her phone ringing, but of her doorbell buzzing. Glancing at her phone, she was shocked to discover it was 8:50.

“Shit!” She almost fell off the bed in her haste to climb out. “Hold on! I’m coming,” she shouted as she hopped on one foot while disentangling her other foot from the twisted bedcovers. Once freed, she raced down two flights of stairs and across the living room to yank the front door open.

“Wow! Is that what B&B owners are wearing these days?”

“Huh?” Robyn pushed back her hair to stare at Hayleigh, Sadie, and Wren who were standing on her front porch.

“You two start the coffee and I’ll try to do damage control,” Hayleigh said.

Sadie pushed past Hayleigh to pause beside Robyn. “I might not know much about the hotel business, but I think it’s safe to say that if you greet your guests wearing that, they aren’t going to be thinking about bacon or eggs.”

“Huh?”

“We’ll make it strong,” Wren said with a giggle as she entered the house.

Hayleigh stepped inside and closed the door before taking Robyn’s hand. “For someone who goes to bed before nine, you sure look like you didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

Words started making sense as she was practically pulled up the stairs she’d just run down. Still, it wasn’t until Hayleigh guided her through the bedroom and into the rather tiny bath that she was able to put those words together into a sentence. “This is your fault.”

“My fault? How can this be my fault? I just got here and I most certainly did not suggest you wear that for the open house.”

“Wear what?” Robyn asked and then caught the upper half of her reflection in the mirror above the sink. “Oh my god!”

“That’s just about the reaction we had,” Hayleigh said as she reached into the shower and turned on the taps. “Though, I gotta say I’m going to need to know where you got that outfit and warn you that if you don’t cover up a teensy bit more, those grannies aren’t going to want you to be serving anything to their hubbies.”

Robyn groaned as she looked down at herself. She’d always considered herself a bit more modest than most of her friends growing up. Well, at least on the outside. Even after arriving at the Ranch and feeling free to dress in cute Little clothing sometimes, her wardrobe as a B&B owner included morevintage-style clothing of the 50s. Regardless of whatever she wore on the outside, underneath it, she liked to wear sexy lingerie. That included the pink babydoll sheer nightie and matching pink thong she was currently wearing.

“Wait? You said we?”

“Wow, you really are out of it. Yes, we. Sadie and Wren wanted to come help and it’s a good thing they did. They are currently downstairs making coffee. How much sleep did you get last night?”

“Almost none. I mean I was having the nicest dream until you called and then I couldn’t find it again. Instead, I sat up and read a bit until I guess I finally fell asleep.”

“How long was a bit?”

“I don’t know. About five books worth?”

Hayleigh whistled. “That’s a lot even with how fast you read. I’m sorry about that. But we’re here now and still have time to pull this off if you get your cute little tushie in the shower right now.”

“Oh my god, today is the opening!”

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