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When she’s free, she cradles my face in her hands and kisses me sweetly.
I could fall in love with this woman.
I’m not. But I could.
She stares at me with crystal-clear blue eyes. I can’t read the look in them. Maybe she’s thinking the same things I am.
“Do we have any ice cream?” she asks.
“Probably.”
“Excellent.” She climbs off the bed and heads for the door. “I’m getting some.”
“Naked?”
“Why not?”
I hurry after her. Why not, indeed?* * *“I’m not ready to go back to real life,” Lexi says the next day as I pull into the driveway of my house and cut the engine. “I don’t want our weekend to end.”
I don’t want any of this to end.
But I don’t say it out loud because that’s not the agreement.
“We can go back next weekend,” I remind her and take her hand in mine. I kiss her knuckles. “We can go back any time you want.”
“Okay. Next weekend works. If we weren’t working at the pub, we could just hole up there and finish the project.”
I nod, thinking it over. “If Keegan would get his head out of his ass and hire a damn full-time cook, we could do that.”
“It’s okay,” she says quickly. “I’m not complaining. I enjoy the pub.”
“You didn’t come to Washington to slave away in a hot kitchen,” I reply. “But I’m grateful you don’t mind going because I like having you there.”
“And I like being there, so it works out.” She smiles and then opens the car door. “Let’s get this stuff inside. Then maybe I’ll take a run on the beach. I can’t go far because I don’t have great running shoes, but the sneakers I took to the cabin will work fine.”
“I can take care of this,” I say, waving her off. “Go for your run.”
“I don’t mind helping.”
We’re standing at the rear of the car, and I pull her to me, wrapping my arm around the small of her back as I kiss her long and slow.
“Go for your run, Lexi.”
She licks her lips. “Okay. Thanks. I won’t be long.”
“Be careful,” I yell after her, then start unloading our things from the car. It doesn’t take me long to get everything inside and put away, even getting the dirty laundry into the wash. I’ve just stowed my suitcase in the closet under the stairs when the doorbell rings.
Maybe Lexi is back from her run already. But why would she ring the bell?
I hurry to the door and open it to find not Lexi, but Taylor.
Fuck my life.
“Why are you here?”
The expression on Taylor’s pretty face falls into a pout. “Don’t be mean to me, Shawny, I just wanted to come and see you. Cheer you up a little.”
“I don’t need to be cheered up. I’m cheerful without you, thank you very much.”
I turn to walk away and shove the door closed, but she catches it and follows me into the house.
“What is with you?” she demands. “I’ve been throwing myself at you for years. I’m hot, I have a good job, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with me, Shawn.”
“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with you.”
“Then why don’t you respond to me? You could fuck me seven ways to Sunday any time you want, I’ve made that clear. And, nada. Nothing. Do you know how many men would love to get a piece of this?”
“Then let them have it,” I say, frowning at her. “Because I’m not interested. I tried to be nice about it for a long time because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but now I’m just fed up and embarrassed for you. I. Don’t. Want. You. I can’t put it any clearer than that. You’re just not for me. Go find one of those men who would kill to get his hands on you.”
Her lip quakes with anger. Her hands are in fists at her sides. She wants to hit me, to throw a fit, that much is clear.
But it won’t matter.
I don’t want Taylor.
“If you send me away now, I won’t give you any more chances.”
I laugh and rub my hands over my face in frustration. “For the love of God and all that’s holy, Taylor, go. Get out of my house and away from me. I don’t want any more chances.”
She stomps her foot like a four-year-old and then whips around to walk out the door. A minute later, the tires of her car squeal as she speeds down my driveway.
“Who was that?”
I turn at Lexi’s voice, surprised to see her standing next to me. She’s pulling earbuds out of her ears as she catches her breath. I’ve never been so happy to see anyone in my life.
“Taylor.”
She blinks rapidly. “Taylor the bimbo?” she asks.
“The same one.” I cross my arms over my chest. “I think she’s mentally unstable. I had to get mean with her, and I didn’t enjoy that. But she hasn’t taken no for an answer for five years. It’s fucking annoying.”
