AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You got the other one?” he asked Wes.
Wes glanced toward Sarah, who looked slightly unsteady on her legs. “Yeah.”
Lia jabbed a finger at his chest as she passed. “Be nice to her. She gave up her career for you and Marissa.”
Wes’s pulse raced as he frowned. What? As his friend and her husband left, he turned to Sarah. “What did Lia mean just now?”
Sarah stared at the wine bottle in her hands and shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He moved closer. “Sarah…”
Her body swayed slightly, and he reached toward her. Obviously now wasn’t the time to talk. “Hey, can I help you upstairs to your room?” The buzz from a full bottle of wine in an hour would take a little while to wear off.
She eyed him. “Fine, but don’t get any ideas, buddy,” she said, her words slightly slurred as she allowed him to wrap an arm around her waist. He bent to pick up her discarded heels and escorted her out of the cellar. The feel of her body next to him and the sweet smell of vanilla on her skin had his mouth watering and his heart thundering in his chest.
He probably deserved the warning, as he wanted nothing more than to get all kinds of ideas. The temptation to kiss her and hold her was strong, but she was definitely not in a consenting state or mood.
He helped her up the B&B stairs to her room and opened the door. She moved away from him as she entered. “I’m good from here,” she said as she lay on the bed.
Damn, he didn’t want to leave her. They needed to talk.
Now wasn’t the right time, but he hoped she’d give him the opportunity the next day when he came by to fix the cellar door. He’d been wrong, and Lia’s words had him questioning just how very wrong.
He set her high heels on the floor and reached for a blanket from the chair, then softly draped it over her as she hugged a pillow and her eyes flitted closed. His hand rested just a minute on her shoulder as he stared down at her gorgeous, sleepy face.
He was falling in love with her.
There was no doubt that she was the only woman he wanted to be with, wanted to be a family with. He’d screwed up. Could he make things right? Either way, he needed to know. “Sarah, did you walk out on your pitch meeting?” he asked softly.
She didn’t open her eyes as she nodded. “Yep. And I’d do it again,” she mumbled as she drifted off to sleep.
He swallowed hard, his emotions overwhelming him. She’d done that for Marissa. For him. He was more than a little touched by the gesture. He had to find a way to make things right.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“To a successful event,” Whitney said, holding her wineglass in the air on the outside patio of the inn the next day.
Sarah forced a smile behind dark sunglasses as she and Jessica raised their own drinks. Hers was sparkling water, as she never wanted to see a glass of wine again. “To not killing my client,” she said, but she was kidding.
She couldn’t claim to remember all the fuzzy details from her time locked in the wine cellar with Lia the night before, but they’d definitely put their past feuding ways behind them. She’d been actually a little sorry to see her leave earlier that morning.
The three friends clinked their glasses together.
“Seriously, Sarah, I’m so proud of you,” Jessica said. “Dove’s Nest looks better than ever.”
“Thanks, Jess,” Sarah said, sitting back and taking in the view of the ocean in the distance. The inn did look great…and more than that, it was starting to feel like home. One Sarah wasn’t sure she was ready to let go of.
Should she tell her friends about her out-there idea? She’d been mulling it over in her mind the last few days and that morning, and the more she thought about staying in Blue Moon Bay, the more her conflicted spirits lifted. She took a deep breath. “So, wild idea, but what if I kept the B&B?”
Jessica’s mouth dropped, displaying her obvious surprise, and for once, Whitney ignored her phone chiming constantly with new messages on the table as she lifted her sunglasses over her head and stared at Sarah. “For real? You want to run a B&B?”
“Honestly, no. Not in the traditional sense anyway. I was thinking more of turning it into an event center for special occasion rental and corporate retreats…that sort of thing.” Sarah didn’t love the idea of different guests checking in and out at different times and having to keep the place fully occupational year round, but hosting events once or twice a month wouldn’t be so bad.
Whitney nodded. “That could work,” she said slowly. “The property is amazing, and the structure of the inn is unlike any others we have here. The main dining room could hold at least a hundred people—perfect for smaller weddings, corporate events, especially with the twelve guest rooms. The Seaview Inn only has half the space you have. Your backyard is big enough for outdoor events, and the kitchen could easily accommodate large dining requests.”
Her friend was already designing the event venue brochure in her mind, Sarah was sure.
“But do you think I could generate enough business? Is Blue Moon Bay a place people will want to host events and retreats?” Sarah said.
