Page 20 of #Resort Love (Lakeview Harbor #1)

“I never considered myself a coffee connoisseur. I never got into going to Starbucks or needed any kind of specialty coffee. But this? This is something I’d travel to get.”

“I’ll get more shipped for you,” he said simply, and while it was a sweet gesture, Harlow kind of took it a different way.

“Is that my consolation prize?” she quietly asked, staring down into her mug. “Like…thanks for your interest in the resort; here’s some coffee for your trouble.”

For a moment, you could have heard a pin drop.

Beside her, Walker twisted in his seat and faced her with a small sigh.

“That wasn’t what I was doing at all. You said you liked it, I knew you couldn’t buy it anywhere around here, and I figured I could get it for you.

There’s no ulterior motive here, Harlow.

” He shrugged. “It’s just something I do; it’s part of my job, but it’s also what I do in my everyday life.

If there’s something someone wants and I can get it for them, I do. ”

“Oh.” She let out her own sigh before looking at him. “Sorry. I guess I’m still a little…”

“Defensive? Yeah, I get it, and I completely understand.” He took a sip of his coffee before going on. “I guess it was a lot to ask for us to completely forget about the whole resort deal.”

The mirthless laugh was out before she could stop it. “Um, yeah. Especially since we’re sitting here right in the middle of the resort.”

They both grew quiet, drinking their coffees.

“For what it's worth, I do feel bad about the whole thing. I didn’t when I figured out who you were,” he admitted. “You’ve really upset my grandmother with your persistence. She gave me a fairly stern warning not to trust you.”

Her eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously. I mean…come on. You were essentially badgering an old lady. How did you think she was going to feel?”

She hadn’t given it much thought. “Every time Peggy and I talked, she was always very nice. But so was I! And there were never any harsh tones or snarky comments, but she was always a little…I don’t know…she never sounded like her no was a final no. Does that make sense?”

“Sadly, it does. My grandfather and I just talked about this the other day. He said how she’s not overly assertive with you and the other realtors who’ve reached out and that she comes off sounding a little wishy-washy.”

“I never thought of Peggy as sounding wishy-washy. She was always very gracious. She always thanked me for my interest and promised to call if she ever changed her mind.” Pausing, she sighed. “If she told me to fuck off, believe me, I never would have called again.”

Beside her, he chuckled. “I essentially said that to you when you showed up here and you still came back.”

Tilting her head, she said, “Um…no. And let’s be honest, part of your attitude was because we’d slept together and then you found out that I was in real estate and thought I was using you.”

“That’s fair. But my mother also raised me not curse at women.”

It was adorable how he almost blushed while admitting that.

“That’s kind of sweet, but I think if someone were seriously baiting you, she’d understand.”

Walker grinned and he looked so damn good that she almost leaned in and kissed him.

But she didn’t.

Instead, she finished her coffee and stood. “I should get dressed and go. I’m sure you have a lot to do today.”

He slowly got to his feet. “There’s no rush,” he told her. “I was just going to do another walk-through on the cabins and work on some plans for them.”

“That’s okay. I still should…”

“And we haven’t had breakfast,” he went on. “I didn’t make anything while you were in the shower because I wasn’t sure what you liked. I’ve got some cereal, some frozen waffles, eggs, bacon…”

Once again, her stomach spoke for her.

Traitor.

Walker made his way around and into the kitchen. “Personally, I was thinking about the waffles. They’re large—like Belgian waffles.” He grinned at her. “And I love to warm up the maple syrup and put butter on them. What do you say?”

“I say that sounds like way more than I normally eat for breakfast.” It wasn’t a total lie.

“Then consider it brunch,” he reasoned. “And if you’re still worried, you can walk the property with me to work it off.”

Just the thought of it made her laugh. “Are you crazy? I’m not going to walk the property with you. I’m not dressed for it.”

“You’re dressed better than you were the last time you were here,” he teased with a wink before pulling the box of waffles out of the freezer. “The jeans and boots are fine, and I can lend you a t-shirt. It’ll be fun!”

Without a word, he walked past her again and went into the bedroom. Harlow couldn’t see what he was doing, but she also didn’t want to follow him. When he came out a minute later, he was grinning from ear to ear.

“There’s a variety of shirts on the bed. Go ahead and get dressed while I make breakfast,” he said confidently. “How about a second cup of coffee?”

The smart thing to do was to thank him, but decline—the shirt, the coffee, the waffle. But apparently where Walker was concerned, she was borderline stupid.

“Yes, to the coffee, and I’ll be out in a minute!” she said cheerfully while blocking out all logical reasons why this had disaster written all over it.