“Your weekly stipend is on top of room and board and enough food to feed an elephant,” Aiden said, his tone all business. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed the extra amount on this week’s food order, Beck. Just because Everly’s staying with you doesn’t mean we’re footing the bill for her, too.”
“He has a point,” Addison said. “It wasn’t a big deal when it was just coffee, but now we’re paying for her meals, too? If we don’t want the resort to slide back into the red, we really need to watch these kinds of things.”
Ford glanced my way, and I knew we were thinking the same thing—sure, they didn’t notice that I’d been dropping off a shit-ton of food each week for the past ten years to Cottage Thirteen, butthisthey noticed.
Before I could tell them to fuck off, Aiden dove into the numbers—more for Addison’s benefit than anyone else’s—effectively making my eyes glaze over until the bells on the door jingled.
Everly slipped inside, a grin on her face as Aiden continued boring everyone to death. “Hey,” she said, a little breathless from her run.
Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her cheeks flushed, and I wanted nothing more than to remove the tiny scraps of fabric she called running clothes, bend her over the counter, and feast on her for breakfast.
Instead, I handed her the coffee I’d already prepared and studied her face, looking for any tells that she was nervous or apprehensive about her first day of house calls.
When I didn’t find any outward signs of unease, I asked, “You good?”
The grin she shot me could’ve powered a rocket for all it did to my heart. She needed to figure out how to bottle that shit and sell it. “I’m good. First appointment is in an hour, though, so I better run. I’ll swing by around noon to let Chuckanut out.”
“I’ve got her. Don’t worry about it.”
“You sure?”
“Yep. Your lunch is in the fridge.”
“You made me lunch? What is it? No, wait. Don’t tell me. I want it to be a surprise.” Her eyes brightened, a smile lighting up her face. “I’ll call you later and let you know how it’s going.”
“Good.” Without thinking, I leaned in and kissed her, our lips barely touching before we both froze.
She pulled back, staring at me with wide eyes that very clearly said,Did you seriously just do that?
And, yep, I seriously did just do that. In front of my entire fucking family. A pin dropping could have been heard, considering the silence that descended on the diner. She breathed out a laugh and shook her head, then turned, leaving me to deal with the fallout all by myself.
“I’ll see you tonight. Bye, everyone.” With a wave, she pushed through the front door and strode outside, past the wall of windows and toward the stairs that led to my apartment.
And even when the bells on the door stopped jingling, silence still reigned.
Avoiding the elephant in the room, I pulled out my wallet, plucked two dollars from inside, and held them up. “Here. Happy?” Then I stuffed them in the register to more than cover Everly’s coffee.
Unfortunately, that didn’t get so much as a peep. No one said anything for a solid minute, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence. Not when the nosy bastards would want to know everything about my relationship with Everly, and the truth was, I…didn’t know. I didn’t know what this was between us. She’d slipped and called me her boyfriend at the farmers market, but that was as far as it’d gone. Was that what I was? I could admit now I wanted to be a whole lot more than that, but the label didn’t matter to me as long as she wasmine.
Finally, Aiden cleared his throat. “Like I was saying, profits are up, and if bookings remain steady, then—”
Addison slapped her hand down on the table, loud enough to make Ford jerk upright from where he’d been resting his head on his folded arms.
“What the fuck, Addison?” he grumbled. “Don’t make me pay attention to this. You know I’m not a numbers guy.”
“How am I the only one freaking out about this?” she asked, her tone about five octaves higher than usual.
“About what?” he asked.
“Aboutwhat? Are you serious?” She stared at each of us, mouth agape. “Oh, I don’t know. How about the fact that Everly just strolled in here to get her morning coffee, and Beck kissed her like it was no big deal?”
Ford shrugged. “I already knew.”
“You alreadyknew?” she spat, each word an accusation.
“Same here,” Brady said.
Addison whipped her head in his direction. “What?”
