Page 85 of Resting Beach Face
My brows drew together. “Why would…”
“Maybe it enabled you to let down that iron-clad guard of yours. Obviously, you like Cash.” He hesitated. “Right?”
“Of course I do!” I lowered my voice as we passed Margie Owens. She’d shamelessly tell half the town my business if she heard a peep of this. “I more than like him, Hudson. He’s really great. I kind of feel stupid for pushing him away for so long, but I haven’t had the best luck in that department.”
“I can relate.” His smile went sappy. “It took me too long to pull my head out of my ass with Fisher. Don’t be like me.”
I snorted. “You were hopeless even in denial.”
“Thanks.” He motioned to me. “Pot.” Then to himself. “Kettle.”
I pulled a face. “Okay, but my situation is complicated. With relationships, I mean. I’m…well, I’m kind of ace, I guess.”
Hudson nodded. “I thought so.”
I drew back in surprise. “Why?”
“Eh, little things. You didn’t always pick up on flirtation. You didn’t seem to know Cash was crashing your B&B to getyourattention.”
“No. What?” I thought back to those days over a year ago when he’d regularly hooked up. “No, that’s ridiculous.”
“I don’t think he even understood what he was doing, but yeah. The friends talk, and Fisher tells me Cash has crushed on you for ages. I don’t think you’re just a casual interest for him, Declan. He cares about you.”
That tracked with what Cash had told me last night about giving up hookups while he waited for me to see the possibility between us.
I raked a hand through my hair. “Why couldn’t I have figured that out before I was leaving town?”
Hudson paused at the end of the Outdoor Market. He would need to turn left to go to the bait shop where Fisher worked, and I’d need to head right to pick up my order at Hot Buns. “Maybe you don’t have to leave?”
I shook my head. “The B&B isn’t for me.”
“So sell it. You can find other work here.”
“The financial analyst industry is just booming in Swallow Cove,” I said dryly.
“Are you really telling me you couldn’t work remotely? Maybe fly in for the occasional meeting?”
“Well…”
“If you really care about Cash, you can figure something out.”
“We’re not even dating properly yet. Is it smart to plan my future around a possibility?”
“I think you should plan your future around your happiness, Declan. What will make you happier? A job in the city or a life here with a chance at love?”
Well, when he put it that way, it didn’t seem like a difficult choice.
But I still had to deal with Nathan’s reaction. I’d be pulling the plug on the development deal he found meandasking to change the terms of the job offer, too.
He’d gone out on a limb for me, and I hated to disappoint him. He was my only friend from the city. But the friendship I had with Cash—themorethan friendship we were developing—was worth seeing through.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Cash
I knockedon the door of the Dogwood Room until I heard a muffled, “Go away!”
I let myself in and perched on the side of my sister’s bed, ruffling her hair and making her duck farther under the blankets.
