Page 35

Aside from the Trick-or-Treat event we had for the kids staying with us for the holiday, my only other plan was to cook myself a steak and try to fill my mind with thoughts of something other than trouble.

“Fall Festival is in town this weekend. You should come by. It’s too late to get a stall, but maybe next year?” she added hopefully.

“We’ll see, Ms. Annie.”

“Good,” she murmured and another smile coasted over my lips.

I lied. True, NoahandMs. Annie were the only people who got this side of me.

Annie Coltrane was knocking on seventy and refused to sit down and enjoy her retirement. I’d hired her as a favor to my father before the resort ever opened its doors.

She was as sweet as she was feisty and spent most of her days bossing people around rather than working. Which was exactly what I wanted.

She was past her prime, but I would never fire her because I knew her pride needed her to be the one to make the call.

We didn’t allow her to lift heavy things, work past 2PM or clean rooms alone. Luckily, the rest of the staff adored her and let her sit on the foot of the bed and dictate what needed to be done while she played Candy Crush on her phone.

This job filled her social well now that her husband had passed and her children had moved away. I had no plans of snatching that away from her. And whenever she finally retired, I’d send her home with a retirement package on top of what she already got from her previous state job.

“That cat is back out front,” Annie mused, feigning surprise.

“Because you fed it, Ms. Annie.”

She didn’t meet my eyes but smiled all the same. “Wasn’t no use in all that tuna going to waste.”

“Hmm. I’m sending her home with you if one of the guests tells me they’re allergic.”

The resort’s “stray” couldn’t really be called that anymore. The white cat had a pink collar and had gone to the vet twice since she decided to take up stalking our property.

Noah wasn’t helping, either. I was ninety-nine percent sure he’d been the one who bought her that damn collar. And I wasn’t convinced there wasn’t a tracker in it.

He couldn’t help taking care of things and people because it was what he craved his whole life. It made this thing with Trueeven trickier because I didn’t know how he was going to react if—whenshe left. He got attached easily and I used to think that was his downfall until I realized recently I’d fucked up and done the same thing. But how could being attached to True be wrong? She was perfect and she fit in with us so well it felt like she’d always been here.

My heart sank whenever I thought about her finishing her book and leaving Bliss Peak. Leaving us.

“Soon it’ll be too cold for her to be outside anyway. You should take her home. Cats are easy.”

That was a lie. My sister had a cat when we were growing up and he was the most high maintenance member of our family. I was convinced cats had spread the propaganda that they were easy pets so that by the time people figured out they weren’t, they were too attached to do anything about it.

Finishing the last of my coffee, I looked over at Annie’s serene face. “Then why don’t you take her?”

“Oh, please. I got too much on my plate. Choir rehearsal. The bingo hall. Zumba. Water aerobics. Thisjob,” she emphasized like we were working her to the bone. “That cat would never see me.”

I hummed noncommittally. I had enough on my plate with True’s unexpected arrival in my life. She wreaked plenty of havoc without trying. Then there was Noah. A cat would only add to the chaos I was already trying to tame at home.

Annie ran a hand over her silver hair and hummed, “I think you’re thinking about it.”

“And I think you’re crazy,” I retorted then looked at the clock, noting that it was five minutes before 8. “Come on, let’s do a walk through before this place wakes up.”

Annie hopped down from her stool behind the desk and hummed the same thing she always did. “Ain’t gotta tell me twice.”

I rolled my hips, pressing into the softness beneath me.

My moans collided with hers, hitting my ears at the same time while I ground deeper into her body, consumed with the scent of her skin, overwhelmed by the quickening in my chest.

I was falling into her scent, into her warmth.

My dick ached and my breath stuttered. I wanted this. I’d spent so much time fucking wanting this that my hips sped up at the thought, lost in a frenzy of their own making while my body jerked against her inviting give. She took me so easily, wrapping me in warmth, giving my whimpers a place to rest against her neck.