I’m terrified at how much I liked every single second that I spent with her in the past two days.
“Elizabeth’s leaving Monday.” Cricket gestures to a new bag of coffee beans on the counter. “She sent these over as a thank-you gift. Apparently one of her cousins owns a small coffee farm in Hawaii. I used them to make coffee this morning.”
“Thank you.”
“I meant downstairs. Just for me. I know you’re attached to your dark roast from that place in Foxwood, so I didn’t want to assume I know better than you on what you want.”
If that wasn’t going for the kill, I don’t know what was.
And the way she delivered it with a friendly smile and not an ounce of snark in her voice for calling me out on being terrified of what I want—she’s fucking good.
“Lav’s still sleeping, and Fluffy’s behaving herself.” She points into the living room, where my cat is sprawled under the coffee table, looking like she found a stash of catnip overnight and needs to sleep it off now. “I’ll leave you to it. Hope you have a nice day today.”
“Cricket.” Shit.Shit.
I don’t want to talk about it.
But now she’s looking at me expectantly.
Not rambling.
Not fidgeting with her hands.
Just—just poised.
Confident, like she is in all of those lifestyle segments I watched on my phone until I fell asleep last night.
Waiting, letting her own silence pressure me.
And now I’m sweating. “Have you left the winery since you got here?”
“Nope.”
Say it, I order myself. Just fuckingsay it.
But I don’t want to.
Except I also do.
Did she give me her nervousness? What the actual hell is wrong with me today?
I swallow hard, and then I shut off my filter, and my words come out in a rush. “Whenever you’re ready, there’s this bar in town. You’d like it.”
She leans a hip against the counter and folds her arms over her breasts—dear god, the gorgeous way they jiggled yesterday—nope, not going there.
“When you’re ready to leave the property,” I repeat.
“Are you telling me to go there, or asking me to go there with you?”
Why is it so hard to swallow?
And where’s Lav?
If she came in, I wouldn’t have to answer this question the way I need to.
The way Iwantto.
The way I’m terrified to.
