“You’ll be paid, of course.” He divided the food onto two plates.
“I … Yeah. Sure.”
“Okay, so that creates some logistical issues. Don’t want people thinking we’re living together or seeing you coming/going and connect some dots, so I suggest using the kitchen backdoor to get to the café. Try to avoid Inspector Pellet, who’s staying to spy on me.”
First. Her brain was still catching up to the little fact she was supposed to stay with him in his home. Second. He was okay with it.
Well, not okay-okay, but … okay. But why wasn’t he throwing her out on her rump?
She should feel bad, yet she couldn’t help but hope this could give her a chance to prove to him that she was no longer Lizzy, the girl owned by Ladomer, the escort who serviced clients.
The thought made her skin crawl. Only ten days and she couldn’t stand the thought of being trapped in that again. Please, God …
“We clear?” He set a plate in front of her with eggs, bacon, and a slice of toast?—no butter but slathered with jam.
Just the way I like it.
He’d remembered. The thought drew out a tremulous smile.
“That a yes?”
She started. “Yes.”
He hesitated, taking her in. “You look like you’re about to cry.”
“I …” What could she say? How was she to explain what she was feeling??—that she’d never expected to have this again, that she was awestruck being here in his home, him talking to her in a manner reminiscent of their past. Did he have any idea what that smirk and blue eyes did to this girl? But it couldn’t be that he was forgiving her. That … it’d never happen. “Why are you being nice to me?”
Stone tensed, his lips tight amid that thick, trimmed beard. “Because,” he said with a huff and planted his hands on the island. “I can either fight this or I can roll with the punches and get on with it.”
Fight this. Punches. Exactly what was he fighting? “Get on with what?”
“This. You here. In my life.” He shrugged, grabbing his own plate and fork. Keeping the island between them, he started eating. “Besides, Cord’s coming back in two days. We just have to survive till then.”
Survive. So. He did want her out of here. She felt foolish now for seeking comfort from him. Should’ve known better. He was out of her league. Always had been.
But that kiss … his promises to protect her … Did all that expire at “midnight”??—with Cord showing up??—like Cinderella’s carriage and coachmen? Why had she gotten her hopes up?
But that kiss she thought for the millionth time. The way he’d held her last night. Maybe to him she was just a bad habit. An addiction. She’d serviced men like that. But she hadn’t thought Stone would be one of them. Hope died among the pile of eggs and bacon.
He’d said something wrong at breakfast. Had no idea what, but the change in her was like night and day. Maybe it was his mention of Cord’s return. Had to admit, that thought had even rankled him. Just as she was starting to wonder how to make peace with what happened, how to let her back in … He’d messed it up. And dang, if he didn’t want that door of conversation between them opened again.
After a shower, he found her sitting at the island, using his laptop. “Have you ever thought of opening a water park?”
Stone faltered. “Here?”
“Yeah,” she said, nodding over her shoulder. “You could do it on the north side of the pool. Enclose it. Keep the water shallow and you eliminate risks.” She spun it toward him. “There’s a lodge a few hours south that does something similar.”
Taken aback at the suggestion, that she was even thinking about the Bexar-Wolfe, he palmed the granite and the back of her chair as he bent toward the laptop. “I’d looked at that facility for ideas, but never considered a water park.”
“It’d draw families??—and parents that can leave their kids to a program while they ski are more likely to come. There are also families that will want to come together, so maybe have an adult slide or two as well.”
“It’d be big, gaudy.”
“Possibly,” she said with a shrug. “If you find a good architect, it could blend in.”
Stone studied the pictures, clicked through and noted not only the equipment but the people. “Crowded.”
“And crowded means more money to do something else, like maybe start a program for veterans.”
