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“That’s not—”

“Baby, you’re getting soup. So the only thing left I need to know is: are you an oyster cracker kind of girl or a saltine one?”

“I’m a big hunk of bread with my soup girl,” I told him, getting a smile out of him.

“Even better. Get out. That water is getting too cool now.”

Could he be occasionally kind of bossy?

Absolutely.

But, God, it was kind of hot to be bossed around by him.

Especially when he was not only taking care of me but my little girl as well.

If only it could last.

But I knew that sooner rather than later, he was going to be gone.

And we were going to be alone.

Again.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Zoe

In the end, we got three days with Coast.

But the second one, I spent so much time sleeping that I really only saw him when he was forcing me to wake up to take medicine and chug sports drinks.

By the time the fever and body aches subsided and the head cold part took over, it was time for him to go.

I mean, the guy had actually borrowed a beach wagon and pulled me and Lainey around while he also held the leashes of my dog-walking clients.

“Technically, you are doing the job. I’m just helping.”

Even just as a passenger, it had been miserable each time we had to take to the streets. What with me needing to blow my nose every two seconds, having a wicked headache from sinus pressure, and a wicked sore throat, and an equally miserable—but more on the mend—Lainey riding with me.

Coast, on the other hand, had been in a splendid mood, dragging us along, talking to the dog, occasionally regaling us with one of his crazy stories or breaking into a completely inappropriate song.

But after those walks, some more soup Coast seemed determined to force down my gullet, and a full night of sleep, I woke up feeling a lot more human.

And he was getting enough texts that I knew it meant his club president was on his case about getting back home.

Playing house was over.

As much as there was a sinking sensation in my stomach and a smushing in my chest at that, I knew it was for the best.

The last thing we needed was for myself or Lainey to get attached to a man who was bound to leave eventually.

Better for us to get back to our normal life sooner rather than later.

“Sure you got this?” Coast asked as I drove him to his friend’s very fancy neighborhood where his bike was still parked on the street.

“I’m sure. I know you don’t want to hear it, but thank you. Really. I don’t know if I could have done that alone.”

“You could have,” he assured me. “But I didn’t want you to have to.”