“You all caravanning?”
“So, I’m Cara,” Cara continued. “And I would love to be pointed in the direction of the bakery. You don’t have to take me there right away if you don’t want, but I’m excited to see it. And then of course, I’m not staying here, I bought a house in town, I think it’s about fifteen minutes away?”
“I don’t know where your house is,” he said.
She pursed her lips together. “Sure. But I meant town. In general.”
Marlowe was not talking, and it seemed to him that her sister-in-law was talking a little bit too much.
“Yeah. About fifteen minutes.”
“That’s just perfect. I’ve been working at a bakery in Vermont for years, and it takes me forty-five minutes to get there, and honestly, the mornings are just so early.”
“Cara,” Marlowe said. “It’s fine.”
“Oh,” she said.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Well,” Marlowe said. “You might have noticed that we’re missing somebody.”
“I had.”
“I’m really sorry, and I probably should’ve told you. Butbelieve me, it was a surprise to me too. I… My… Well, there’s no easy way to say this, my husband told me that he was having an affair right when we were packing up our things to come here. And that he wanted a divorce. So I know that you expected a couple, but it turns out it’s just… me.”
Chapter Three
Marlowe was so breathless she was dizzy. She wanted to stand there staring at that man forever, and she wanted to go running from the building — screaming for dramatic effect — and into the woods, never to return.
Cody was even sexier than his voice.
Hotter than hell.
Gorgeous enough to break through a devastating marital betrayal and a cross-country road trip of heartbreak.
He had to be six foot five. The answer to the question:Is he hot or is he tall?was a resoundingyesin his case.
A solid wall of muscle, it was obvious, even without her crossing the lobby to get closer to him. He was wearing a cowboy hat, inside, and it shaded some of his features, but she could still see that they were angular, rough, and perfect. He had dark stubble on his jaw that was halfway to being a beard, and it made her fingers itch, wondering what it would feel like.
And also made her want to run away because the last thing she wanted was to think about feeling another man’s beard.
Much less her boss’s beard.
It was a forbidden beard.
Painted Ridge was a lifeline. She had nothing left. She didn’t have a lease, she didn’t have a house, and if she didn’t take this job, she had no money.
They had put everything into this move. And now she was here by herself, needing it to go ahead even without Aiden. Because if she didn’t have this, she really didn’t have anything, and the last thing she needed was to find her boss hot, especially when she was in such a precarious position. So she was ignoring the hotness, as best she could.
She looked past his shoulder, through the immaculate lobby – it was gorgeous, pictures didn’t do it justice – toward the window at the back, and the view there.
“So, I’m really sorry. Icando this by myself.” She forced herself to drag her eyes to his. She ignored the low, simmering heat in her stomach. “I’m very sorry, I didn’t realize that this would happen. But when I tell you, I have been the one who has been mainly running things for most of our marriage, believe me. Aiden was very good at guest services, but so am I. I was the one who managed all of the organization. Guest satisfaction, things like that.”
“Well…” He seemed speechless, and he looked angry that he was speechless. It took him about thirty seconds to say anything. “If you think you can handle it, I don’t really have time to look for anyone else. We’re supposed to open. We’ve hired staff. Not just you. We have reservations. We are supposed to open in a month, and I need you here. But if you feel like you’re in over your head, you’re going to have to ask for help. And I don’t have the time to help you.”
He wasn’t being placating, that voice was just as sexy as it had been over the phone, and just as uncompromising.
It was clear that he wasn’t going to baby her. Which was fine. She didn’t need to be babied. She didn’t need anything like that at all.
