I bend and grab Zen’s backpack while Sabrina and her dog hover.
“Thank you,” I say crisply. “You can go.”
She doesn’t break eye contact. “If I’d known who you were in Hawaii, I would’ve told you who I was. I just want you to know that. The café isn’t a game to me. It’s my life.”
God, she’s pretty.
How the hell does she have the right to be that pretty? And why the fuck can’t I quit noticing?
“And I’m sorry I lied when I said I was coming back,” she adds. “I don’t know what your relationship is with Chandler, but mine’s pretty shitty. I just didn’t knowhowshitty until that day. Family and friends are everything to me, and I’d just lost two of mine. I was in a bad place. I won’t—I won’t lie to you again.”
“But you’ll gossip?”
“Bean & Nugget is mylife. It’s myhome. Name your price and I’ll buy it back.”
“Not for sale.”
She swallows as she stares up at me. “Please don’t ruin it,” she whispers.
I don’t have a fast answer.
She hovers, waiting, just long enough for me to know she knows I’m not that quick on my feet.
The worst part, though?
The worst part is when she blinks rapidly like she’s on the verge of tears.
It makes me want to wrap my arms around her and hold her tight and protect her from the bad things in the world, the same way I wanted to when we were in Hawaii.
Except I’m the bad. I’m the bad in her life right now.
“I can help you with anything else you want here,” she says. “But please don’t ruin my home.”
She turns away, reiterating her offer of a steak dinner to Jitter with her voice almost normal, and I stand there.
Just stand there.
I should go inside.
Shower in scalding hot water.
Eat. Put on seven layers of clothes and get warm.
Instead, I stand there and watch Sabrina stroll away, the swing in her hips subtle enough that I only notice because I can’t take my eyes off her ass.
The dog whines one last time, licks my gloved hand, and then trots after her while the little girl on the porch calls his name and holds up a dog treat.
“Aspen?” a woman calls from around the corner.
“I’ve got her, Marley,” Sabrina calls back. “She wanted to say hi to Jitter.”
Zen’s watching me with the front door propped open. They’ve already gathered the luggage and shoved it inside while I was busy staring at a woman I shouldn’t want and will not have. “She’s already figured out you’re changing things?”
“She’s a gossip.”
“And you like her.”
I don’t answer.
