“I think you might because things are about to get awkward.”
Before she could ask him what he meant, Joe swept her up in his arms and kissed her. It wasn’t shy or tentative. He was sweaty and tasted salty. She kissed him right back.
And then he let her go and looked her straight in the eye. “See…things could get awkward.”
“I like awkward. Now get back to work. This hotel won’t renovate itself.”
Goldie turned around. She had no plan on where she was headed, but she knew she needed to have a cute exit.
She walked through the kitchen, out the side door, and out into the grounds.
She’d been in dozens of romantic movies, in several real-life passionate love affairs, but Joe Cassidy, contractor, in a tenth of a second, had blown away some of the most famous heartthrobs on the planet in the kissing department.
“Well, all be darned.” She looked back at the hotel.
Where was she going to say she went after she walked away from his kiss?
She hadn’t thought that far ahead as she made her adorable exit. For the first time since she didn’t know when, she was flustered by a man.
Since the utter disappointment of her relationship with Drake, she hadn’t been interested in anyone. Nor did she “put herself out there” for dating. Besides, most people used apps these days, and she barely knew how to update her phone.
Wow, though. That was some kiss.
She looked down at her phone.
That’s it. That’s what she could do to act like kissing Joe Cassidy wasn’t the only thing on her mind all of a sudden. She’dcall someone and act like she had Hollywood business to take care of.
After all, soon she should start hearing from all the country stars she’d invited to Irish Hills.
She’d spent the morning reaching out. They were literally just up the road. She’d invited them all to come to have the best meal of their lives at Hope’s Table.
She was an A-list actress, and people responded to her texts. They answered her calls.
There was a smattering of responses. But all from personal assistants. Could Goldie Hayes not even get a return message these days?
Was this fallout from the VSU thing?
Or were they just too busy?
That was possible. Goldie was going to have to go further out on a limb to help Irish Hills.
She walked back into Two Lakes.
She did not want to do this, but she was going to.
“Joe?”
“Yeah, in here.”
She walked into the tight space that was the ancient laundry room. Joe was handsome. That was just a fact. It distracted her for a beat.
“You come back here to slap me retroactively?”
She shook her head. “No, two things. One, I need a ride to North of Nash. I’m going to help Irish Hills my way, and that means I’m going to have to call in a favor.”
“Okay, sure, we can go there. The traffic’s a bear, but I know a guy who might be able to get us through a back way.”
“Great.”
