Losing Ricky and becoming a single mother had been incredibly difficult for her to adapt to. Learning how to manage the restaurant took her months. But she’d found her way, found her groove. And it suited her. It had him seeing her in a new way. The thought of her losing it, losing more than she already had, left him feeling troubled.
“Have you thought about selling? Maybe if you found an investor, someone who bought the place but let you continue to manage it?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. What if they wanted to change the name? Or change the vibe of this place? What if some big shot investor bought it and changed everything?”
He hated the idea of that almost as much as she did. The only reason Davis ever went to O’Henry’s Bar and Grill was because Kelsey owned it, but even if she didn’t, he wouldn’t want some out-of-town investor swooping in and buying it. There was nothing worse than people coming from Denver, trying tochange their small town.
“I doubt the O’Henrys would let that happen, they’re locals. I can’t imagine them wanting O’Henry’s to change either.”
“Probably not.” Kelsey handed him a towel and he ran it over his head, attempting to dry his still damp hair.
Davis wanted to help Kelsey in any way he could. But if she hated change, she hated asking for help even more. And what could he do anyway? Buy O’Henry’s to assure nothing would change with the bar?
Wait, could he actually do that? His skin tingled and his pulse kicked up. Kelsey would never agree to it. She’d assume he was only doing it for her. But what if this idea was exactly what he needed as well? A way to get out of renewing his contract with HGTV.
After toweling her own hair, she sat back on her hands and shrugged. “I have to hold onto hope the O’Henrys will want to buy back the bar. Or at the very least, help me get back on track until I can afford to take over the payments again.”
Had she just admitted to needing help?
Davis gazed at her. She rarely looked exposed like she did in that moment, not only with her dampened hair and dressed in his fitted tank-top, but in her demeanor. She appeared abnormally shy, and it did something in his gut. Lately she’d been opening herself up to him in a different way, this vulnerable side to her caused an unwanted hunger to build. For her, of all people. And it made absolutely zero sense.
Maybe it was a combination of empathy for her and her situation along with his lack of food intake that day. He and Garrison had skipped lunch because they’d been too busy trying to get their latest job ready for filming the next day. They’d argued over their wardrobe of all the hellish things they could’ve possibly argued over. The producers were trying to change things. Change him. And he wasn’t about to stand for it. This new prospect of possibly buying out the O’Henrys could be exactly what he needed.
Or maybe, this ache he was feeling was because he’d caught her checking him out—for the first time in, well, forever. And the idea of that not only scared the hell out of him, but it excited him.
Kelsey kept her eyes fixated on him as this weird sort of desire expanded within him. He fidgeted with the towel in his lap, resisting the urge to pull her in close and embrace her. They were friends, sure. But they’d always been better at bantering with one another rather than hugging.
The silence had grown uncomfortable, and it sat between them for too long.
Say something.
“Kelsey O’Henry, did you really just say you’re gonna ask for help?” he teased.
Her lips curved into a delicious smile until she rolled her eyes and came after him with a decent punch to the shoulder.
He chuckled, rubbing at the now tender spot before standing and reaching a hand to her.
“Thank you, as always, for lightening the mood,” she said as he hiked her to her feet.
“That’s what I’m here for. And to be your handyman, apparently,” he added with a smirk.
“I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”
She hadn’t let go of his hand yet, and he was so focused on the detail of the fact that he nearly missed her fixed stare on his face, specifically on his lips. Impulsively his lips pulled at one corner, and he sucked in a breath. With trembling fingers, he tightened his grip, and pulled her closer, his face drawing near hers. For a brief wild moment, he considered kissing her.
But she yanked her hand away, taking a step back and giving him a sheepish smile, before saying, “I should probably close up.”
He cleared his throat. “Right. Yeah…I need to go. Early day tomorrow.”
“Thank you…again.”
“Anytime.”
And then he left the bar, his mind cloudy and his hormones on overload.
CHAPTERTHREE
KELSEY
