Page 120 of Knockin' Boats
By then, Grandma Rosie had our food ready to go so I grabbed our plates and Ash carried two glasses of water. We’d skipped the coffee since we’d be hitting Just The Sip when we were done here.
Ash took a seat across from me, his knees nudging mine under the table. “This is cozy.”
For some stupid reason, my face heated. “It’s just breakfast.”
Ash dug into his shrimp and grits, groaning in appreciation. “Hell yeah, Grandma knows how to cook.”
“Of course she does,” I said, offended. “Do you really think I’d take you somewhere that wasn’t good? I know you’ve got discerning tastes.”
“Mmm. I do, don’t I?” He ran his foot up my calf, making it clear he didn’t just mean good taste in food.
I reached under the table, catching his ankle and giving it a squeeze. “Maybe we both do.”
He grinned. “Does that mean you’ll let me try your hoecakes?”
“You’ve got three things to eat already,” I exclaimed.
He laughed. “What can I say? I can never get enough.”
I pushed my plate forward, and he cut a bite and sampled it, his eyes fluttering shut. He swiped his tongue over his lips with a sigh. “That’s good, especially with the dark syrup.”
“Yeah, everything here is great, but I can’t ever seem to pass this up to try something else.”
“Well now’s your chance.” Ash cut a bite of the biscuit with chocolate gravy. Instead of just handing it to me, he leaned forward. “Open up.”
Heat flared through me, but I obeyed, powerless under his heavy gaze. He slipped the fork through my parted lips, and the rich flavor of the gravy burst on my tongue.
I ate it slowly, savoring the taste. “No wonder that’s Fisher’s favorite.”
“It’s better off my fork though,” Ash said with a wink.
I chuckled, glancing toward the other tables. Everyone seemed to be immersed in their own conversations, so I didn’t think we’d stirred up any gossip.
My feelings for Ash were conflicted enough without half the town asking me if we were boyfriends.
I didn’t know what we were. What we could be. But I knew now that I wanted to find out.
CHAPTER 26
Sawyer
I took my last bite of the lobster mac-and-cheese I’d ordered at the resort restaurant—a good counterpoint to the lobster-mac souffles Ash served on the boat, though he’d probably given them a punny name like Lobster MacDaddy by now— and checked the time on my phone.
“Damn, I have to go soon.”
“Booze cruise duty calls, huh?” Brooks said from his place across the table with Skylar. Poppy and Cash were squashed between the table and the wall.
I’d grabbed a quick bite with my friends since I would be working too late to hang with Ash, but Grandma Kitty had taken one look at the packed dining room and decided to order room service instead.
“Yeah. I’ll be glad when Hudson gets back tomorrow.”
Even though Heath had turned up on Wednesday as promised—crabby but sober—and taken the tours I gave him, there was no way to avoid this booze cruise.
Heath had seemed a little abashed when he heard about it. “Guess it’s my fault you’re stuck doing it, huh?”
“Partly,” I said, then tossed him a bone. “But I might have ended up doing it this week anyway. The schedule was tight. Doesn’t mean I plan to volunteer in the future.”
He’d nodded. “Yeah, you’ve done more than your fair share of those runs.”
