And so I ran.
I buried myself in anything that wasn’t my office—he’d look there first.
Instead, I restocked the breakfast room pantry, reorganized the old supply closet, folded stacks of towels that didn’t need folding, and made lists and lists of everything I’d need to buy and do once the inn fully opened.
Anything to keep my hands busy and my work louder than my heart and the turbulent thoughts that kept surfacing.
Which was difficult because my body ached in the sweetest way. Every movement reminded me of the night before, of Sebastian—the soreness between my legs, my swollen lips from our kisses, the echo of his hands and mouth everywhere on me.
At some point, I texted Evangeline.“Can we meet at your place tonight for girls’ night?”
Her reply came seconds later.“Of course. You okay?”
“Sure. Totally fine.” I almost added that I just might need somewhere to sleep that wasn’t the inn—even with agazillion empty rooms, there was nowhere to hide from myself or what I’d done.
“Tonight. My house,”Eve dropped a message in the group chat.
Late in the afternoon, as I snuck toward my cottage to shower and change, I passed Dave on his way to his truck. He looked uncharacteristically cheerful. “Hey, we’re making great progress. And I told your engineer friend about the great discount I got you at the paint warehouse. Told him it’d help the budget and that you were impressed with them yesterday.”
Not with their customer-facing skills.
“You picked a good one,” Dave went on. “He asked which warehouse, in case he could get their price drop even lower.”
I plastered on a smile to hide the pang his words sent through my gut. “Thanks, Dave.”
The sun was dipping low, the inn was quiet again, long shadows stretching across the path to my cottage, along with the thoughts I’d tried to outrun. Thoughts about last night. About Sebastian still being here. Still helping.
Still doing for me more than anyone else ever had.
He deserved more. More than I could give him. More than me.
It had to stop. I couldn’t take more from him than I already had.
I couldn’t let myself spiral any further.
32
Sebastian
THE REPAIRS WERE COMINGalong better than I’d expected.
The crew had reinforced the roof structure on the main house, and the sagging section looked solid again. One of the exterior walls that had suffered water damage was drying out properly, and the new support beams were already in place.
I helped carry the last few insulation rolls.
“You’re making the rest of us look bad,” one of the workers called.
“Just here for the heavy lifting,” I replied.
“Give up NASA yet?” his friend chimed in.
“Depends,” I called back. “You hiring?”
They laughed, and I smiled despite the twinge inside. Another day or two of good progress, and I’d be ready to sign off on the permit. That meant leaving and going back to Houston.
I was determined to resolve things with Ruby before then. I still carried her marks on my skin—a faint hickie on my neck, a few scratches down my back, a round imprint on my shoulder. And a gouge in my heart.
Thinking back to what Dave had told me earlier, his mention of the warehouse finally clicked—the honeysuckle I’d caught a whiff of at the café hadn’t been my imagination.
