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I slowly scoot backwards and lie down. It’s not a huge bed, and my bare arm brushes Seb’s as I lie next to him. Tingles of electricity shoot up my arm and my gaze snaps to his. I can’t read his expression, despite his gaze holding mine.
“What do you think?” he asks, looking away and bouncing his body up and down on the bed. I squeal as his sudden movements almost cause me to fall off.
“Well, it’s… bouncy,” I tell him, laughing. He smiles at me, and I have no idea if it’s comfortable or not. I don’t seem to be able to string a sentence together when he’s this close, let alone know whether the mattress is comfortable.
“What’s going on?” Paisley asks, appearing in the doorway. I drag my gaze off him to look across at Paisley. I groan internally when her eyebrows rise in surprise and a smile forms on her face. “You two look cozy.”
“We’re just seeing if the mattress needs replacing,” Seb says, jumping up.
“And does it?” she asks.
“Does it what?”
She rolls her eyes. “Does the mattress need replacing?”
“No. It’s fine,” I tell her, climbing off the bed. She’s still grinning, and I discreetly shake my head, knowing she’ll try and play matchmaker at even the slightest hint at something between Seb and me.
“I can leave you two looking around if you want,” Seb says, making for the bedroom door. “I should get back to the bar.”
“I don’t need to look around anymore,” I tell him. “I love it. It’s perfect.”
He smiles. “Great. I’ll get the contracts drawn up. When do you want to move in?”
I screw up my nose. “Now?”
His eyes widen. “Now?”
I nod. “I can pay a couple of months up front and a security deposit.”
“That won’t be necessary, Taylor. I don’t think you’re going to be throwing wild parties and trashing the place.”
I laugh. “No. My wild party days are long behind me.”
“If you’re happy to move in before signing the contract, that’s fine by me. I’ll get it drawn up as soon as I can.”
“I don’t know how to thank you, Seb. This place is even better than the original rental I had in place.”
“Everything happens for a reason, Tay,” Paisley says. “This place is perfect. In fact, it’s so perfect, why don’t you live here, Seb?”
“I did for a while when I first bought the bar.”
“Why did you move out?”
“I needed to separate work and home life. As good as my staff are”—he winks at Paisley—“I knew if I continued to live above the bar, I’d never switch off, even when I wasn’t working.”
“That’s true. You are a bit of a control freak,” Paisley says, her voice deadpan.
“Hey! I’m not a control freak,” he says, feigning hurt.
“Really? So moving away from the bar worked and you don’t come in on your days off?” She grins at him and he laughs.
“Okay. Okay.” He throws his arms in the air. “I still come in on my days off. Iama control freak.” She bursts out laughing, and he rolls his eyes. “Do you two want some lunch before you leave?”
“Smooth change of subject,” Paisley says, linking her arm with mine as we walk through the apartment and down the steps to the bar.
“Your keys, Taylor,” Seb says, handing me the keys to the apartment. “Ask Paisley to give you my number in case you need anything when I’m not at work. Welcome to Eden.”
I grin as I take the keys from him. I knew moving to Hope Creek had been the right decision, but when things started to go wrong before I’d even gotten here, I did begin to question if I was making a mistake. Those doubts have gone now, though, and all that’s left is excitement at what’s to come.
