Page 5 of Resting Beach Face
“No.” I stood. “Come with me. You can stay in my room.”
His eyebrows shot up and a cocky grin spread across his face. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“To sleep,” I said firmly.
Cash followed me down the hall and into my private quarters that included a small sitting room, office, bedroom and attached bathroom. It was essentially a full apartment minus a kitchen. With the full house kitchen so close, it seemed silly to add in a kitchenette.
The B&B had been my aunt’s pride and joy, and she’d loved cooking and always joked that she had no desire to do it in miniature.
I still wasn’t sure why she’d left me the B&B in her will. I had fond memories of the place, of course, but I wasn’t the most social butterfly. Still, Aunt Millie loved it, so I tried to love it too.
Tried being the operative word there.
“You can sleep on the couch. I’ll get you a pillow.”
Cash tucked his hands into his pockets. “Thanks.”
I went to the closet and pulled out a sheet, a light cotton blanket, and a pillow. When I returned, Cash had taken off his shirt and was unzipping his shorts.
He was objectively gorgeous everywhere, then.
I averted my gaze as I placed the bedding on the end of the couch. “Do you need anything else?”
“Maybe just one thing.”
I turned, and Cash cupped my face in his hands.
“A kiss?” He leaned in, eyes on mine. “If you want it?”
My heart thundered, catching me off guard. Did I want a kiss from him? From anyone? Normally, the answer would be an easy no. But something about this man, so casual with his affections and yet weighed down by worry, captured my attention.
But he was so very casual with his affections.
He probably believed this was a suitable way to thank me. Just one more way he was finding to avoid going home.
I didn’t want to be that. Didn’t want to be an excuse or a crutch or whatever the heck Cash’s conquests were to him.
He inched forward, and I couldn’t bring myself to move or speak. Not until his lips brushed over mine, so warm and soft. My breath caught, and for a moment, I could almost understand the fuss everyone else made about sex.
I stumbled back, shaking my head. “N-no. That’s not why I said you could stay here.”
His smile was small, a little questioning. “Would it be so bad?”
I pointed at the bedding and said sternly, “Go to sleep, Cash.”
He chuckled. “Okay, but I’m not giving up on you.”
“Lord help me,” I muttered as I went to my bedroom. There was no chance I’d sleep a wink with a mostly naked Cash in the next room.
I curled up with a crossword until morning. Then I woke Cash and told him I was going to Tastes Like Grandma to pick up biscuits and gravy for my guests. I only served a full, home-cooked breakfast on the weekends to save my sanity.
When he invited himself along, I didn’t protest. Which was unlike me.
We ordered breakfast for ourselves while we waited for Rosie to whip up the larger to-go order, and I paid the tab.
“This is great,” Cash said once we sat down with coffee and breakfast plates. “But you do know I can buy my own breakfast, right?”
“Well, I don’t know how you do things, but when a man spends the night with me, he gets breakfast.”
