Page 132 of The Accidental Innkeeper

I didn’t. I folded my arms and thought for half a second. “It’ll be fine, Helen,” I said. “I’ll handle it.”

Helen blinked. “You will?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

I smiled. “I’ll get creative.”

Lola’s mouth curved into a delighted grin. “I love creative. Especially when it involves two men who know how to share.”

Dottie clapped once. “I’ll start planning breakfast for tomorrow. Something new. Something that’ll blow his mind.”

Helen stared at the three of us, her chest rising and falling. “You’re… not terrified?”

Hell no. I shook my head. “Nope. I say, bring it.”

This wasn’t my first surprise. Or my biggest. And honestly? It felt kind of nice.

“Tomorrow,” I said evenly, “we show him exactly who we are. And if he doesn’t like it, he can shove it.”

Lola choked on her coffee just as the door to the inn opened again, this time slower.

A gorgeous, tall, sexy male with a face that belonged on a magazine cover and a body sculpted by the goddess herself waltzed in.

Alex.

He took one look at the room—the wide eyes, Helen half-slumped against the front desk, Lola still recovering from her cough, Dottie rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet—and lifted a brow.

“What’d I miss?” he asked.

Helen straightened immediately. “The town is on the brink of ruin.”

Dottie nodded solemnly. “She’s having a heart attack.”

“I am not,” Helen snapped.

“Emotionally,” Dottie clarified, “which is worse.”

Alex’s gaze flicked back to Helen before moving to Lola and then finally landing on me. He held it there, steady and calm, like he was taking inventory.

“Town reviewer,” Dottie added helpfully. “Very fancy. Very judgmental. Likes towels.”

Alex considered that for half a second and then said simply, “Sarah can handle it.”

Helen sputtered. “Excuse me?”

“She can,” he repeated, his eyes still on me. “If anyone can.”

Something warm settled low in my chest, both annoying and welcome.

“Well,” said Lola, recovering fully now. “If the man with the shoulders and a tight ass says so…”

“Then it’s true,” I added, smiling.

Alex set his jacket down, rolled up his sleeves, and before I could say another word, he was there—his mouth on mine, hands steady, kiss soft and then not soft at all.

Oh. Yes. That. Mmmm.