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“Cleo has a project waiting for her in Portland,” Nick said, his mind spinning with the details. The only thing worse than feeling obligated to stay up here was the idea that he’d have to do it without Cleo.
“Layla pushed the timeline back on that. Construction was behind anyway. The two of you have become a great team. Look at all you accomplished in the last month.”
“It’s been a long month,” Nick sighed. “I can’t answer for Cleo.” He looked at her apologetically. “But I’ll stay and do whatever we need to do. Just put a rush on the DNA test. Maybe the whole thing is a non-issue.”
“I’ll stay,” Cleo replied, trying to be loud enough for Brian to hear her over the phone. “As long as Layla holds that job for me.”
Nick nodded. “Can you confirm that with Layla? It’s a really great opportunity, and I don’t want Cleo to lose out.”
“I’ll follow up with Layla,” Brian whispered something to someone on his end of the line. “I really appreciate this. I know you were both ready to leave and get back to civilization.”
“We’re fine,” Nick said, tipping his chin back and feeling emboldened by Cleo’s expression of resolve. “We’ll get this done too.”
When he hung up the phone and tucked it into his bag, he looked at Cleo apologetically. “You didn’t even hear what he had to say, and you agreed to stay?”
“I got the gist of it,” Cleo exhaled. “And we both know you can’t be left up here unsupervised. Think of all the fist fights I’ve saved you from in the last thirty days.”
“It’s the other person in those fights you’ve been saving.”
“Either way, I’m in for now. I had a hunch someone would need to be chasing this down. Who better than us?”
“The dream team.” He clapped his hands and grinned.
“Never say that again,” she teased, pointing a finger at him. “It’s more like in your dreams.”
“I’m going to figure you out, Cleo Marie Gossage.”
“My middle name is not Marie,” Cleo replied with a smug expression.
“See,” Nick replied proudly, “I’m already narrowing it down. Cleo Darlene Gossage.”
“Darlene?” she asked through a laugh. “Not even close.”
He pretended to cross something off an imaginary list on his hand. “Another one down.”
CHAPTERTWO
Cleo
Leaving the airport was tough. They’d been so close to finally finishing. The job in Portland looming on the horizon for Cleo was a dream opportunity. Everything she’d been waiting for. But there had been something. Something she refused to name that had kept her partially engaged even when it was time to leave the farm. She’d tried to convince herself it was Sammy. The darling four-year-old was so excited about the horses. Or Ronnie, who looked like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders since she’d settled on the farm. The blossoming love between Ronnie and Carter was fun to watch. Who would want to leave all that?
She knew, however, that wasn’t what was making it hard to leave. Nick had been the exact dose of excitement missing in her life. It came in the way of bickering and challenging her every thought and idea. Their instincts were polar opposites. Where she was calculated, he was impulsive. Nick settled things with might, and she was quick to use legal channels.
It had been so long since someone had kept her on her toes like that. So the call asking them to stay wasn’t some terrible news that took the wind out of her sails. It was a bit of an answer to an unspoken wish. But there was no way in hell she’d let Nick know that.
“I can’t stay in the hotel anymore,” Nick said, leaning against the car as he scrolled through his phone. “I’ve been looking around, and there is a house for rent by the river. It’s a two-bedroom. Nothing fancy, but at least we’d have a kitchen.”
“A kitchen. Do you expect me to cook for you?”
“Not a chance,” Nick snorted. “I think we’ve established I’m not letting you anywhere near pots and pans. But I can’t keep eating out every night. If we’re doing Brian and Loch a favor, we might as well cash in on it. I emailed the owner. We can move our stuff in there today. It’s a vacation rental, and it’s open for the next three weeks.”
“You think we’ll be here that long?” She held her breath, trying to gauge how he felt about this new development.
“I don’t know, but if we are, I wouldn’t mind waking up by the water and having a decent cup of coffee I make for myself. The hotel sludge isn’t cutting in.”
“The two of us sharing a house?” She raised her brow and grimaced. “At least in the hotel, I can lock you out.”
“I’ll give you the keys so you can still lock me out if you feel like it. But don’t let me pressure you. If you want to stay in the hotel and miss out on my maple white chocolate pancakes, that’s your call. And there’s a grill. I’m making steaks tonight.”
