“That’s what friends do.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Friends.” One tight smile, and she returned to her mother.
Before she could leave, he grabbed her arm and tugged her back. “You’re staying at the café all day, right? You’re not going anywhere by yourself?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be fine, Joel.”
He sighed before going back to the guys.
The rest of the day was a blur of returning to base, trailhead checks, and patrolling common areas. When he got home, Saint was right there to meet him at the door.
“Miss me? Or just hungry?”
She sauntered to the kitchen and straight to her bowl.
He laughed. Guess that was his answer.
He fed her and took a quick shower. He’d just thrown on a shirt and sweatpants when the doorbell rang.
He wasn’t expecting anyone. Maybe it was a neighbor?
He opened it to find Polly on his doorstep, bag in hand.
“Hey.” He frowned. “I was just going to message you. Is everything okay?”
Without a word, she stepped into his house, toed off her shoes, and kissed him. Her tongue dove straight into his mouth, and she kicked the door closed behind her.
For a second, he lost himself. Then a crumb of sanity came back and he lifted his head. “Polly, what’s going on?”
“It’s been a really shitty day.” She tugged his head back down and kissed him again. “My mom got marriedagain.” She jerked up his shirt. “I don’t love Jonah.” With his cooperation, the shirt hit the floor. “And I wondered if every customer who came into Bloom was the killer.” She pushed him against the wall.
“That does sound shitty,” he murmured between kisses.
“Sex and Chinese. It will turn my shitty day right around.”
His lips twitched as her lips brushed down his chest. “That’s a dangerous combination, Sunshine.”
“Just sex then?”
“No, the Chinese is definitely needed. You’ll need your energy to keep up with what I have planned.”
She yelped as he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her to the bedroom.
13
An entire month of sleeping with Joel. Thirty days. Twenty-nine nights.
This was bad.Reallybad. And the worst part was, every day she woke up and told herself that the night before was the last time. She’d repeat those words all day. At work. In the car. Then, where did she go at the end of the day?
Straight to Joel’s house.
This was how addictions worked, right? She was addicted to Joel Dawson.
Al gave her a tight smile as he set the last of the flowers down before rushing out of Bloom. He’d been doing that every delivery since her little rant a few weeks ago, almost like he was afraid of her small talk.
Great. She was scaring off her suppliersandsleeping with Joel Dawson.
Her gaze shifted to her mother and Jonah on one of the sofas. They’d come early because they wanted coffee before their day trip to Bozeman for a hike. She didn’t blame them for not wanting to hike here. Not many people were risking it at the moment.
