“It’s okay,” he murmured gently.
Another wave of pain hit me and I gave up, my head falling back against the headrest as he buckled me in. I squeezed my eyes shut as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“I’m so mad at myself,” I blurted out, wiping away hot tears.
“Accidents happen. You didn’t do this on purpose.”
“It shouldn’t have happened.” My head pounded as he pulled onto the street and floored it. I kept my arm carefully balanced in my lap, keeping the burn from touching anything. My bones felt like they were made of lava.
“The good news is that I’m a doctor,” he chuckled. “You’re in good hands.”
He was right. Iwasin good hands. Probably in the best hands in Whynot.
“We’ll get you all fixed up. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Yeah,” I snorted. “So long as those two don’t burn down my bakery.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Nick
Not much had changed in Whynot.
It was still hot as fuck in the summer, the town’s population had roughly stayed the same, and Austin Whynot was as much of an asshole now as he had been in high school.
I knew I’d have to deal with him eventually by moving back here, but I didn’t expect him to be the first person I ran into. Especially not when trying to stop by Evie’s bakery.
The thing was, I didn’t even care about him. He could hate me all he wanted. The dislike was mutual.Whatever.
I cared abouther.
For two months, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that night. Running into her had been the last thing I’d ever expected to happen to me. I never planned to take her back to my hotel. Never planned to have sex with her or spend the night cuddling until we fell asleep.
I never even got her phone number.
I could have messaged her on Instagram or something. I’d certainly been stalking the fuck out of her online. But, instead of doing that, I’d completely changed all my building plans and decided it was time to go back to Whynot.
The spa and resort was exactly what this town needed. It would be popular with tourists when they visited. For locals, I’d run discounted prices so everyone could enjoy the amenities. I’d invest in local artists by having their work on our walls. It would bring more jobs to the area.
My initial plan was for this spa to be built right outside Odessa, but Evie changed that.
I was here because of her.
Basically, one night with her made me change my entire life plan. So Mr. Bigshot Whynot was going to have to get over it. I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Could you fucking move?” he grumbled under his breath.
I looked him directly in his puppy brown eyes. “No. What do you need?”
“Some space. For you to leave. For you to take your cat and get the hell out of town.”
I glanced at the carrier. Lucky was staring daggers at me, but only because he didn’t like being in that thing. He was a leash cat, not a cage cat. “Once again, I’m not going anywhere.”
Austin may have been tan from being out in the sun, but his cheeks were cherry red as he reached past me with tongs and grabbed three croissants, putting them in a box for the customer in front of us. I tried not to focus too hard wondering if Austin was red from being angry or if he was blushing. I beamed at the customers as I rang them up, and we sent them on their way.
The case was getting sparse again already. I’d upsold to four people so far. Even Lucky had sold two items simply by being cute. Austin had tried with three customers and failed. Possibly because he had the aura of a wet napkin.
I stole another glance at him. He had some silver glinting in his dark brown hair, which was sort of a surprise. We weren’t that fucking old. He even had bags under his eyes.
