Page 19

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Declan

“What do you think?”

Cash stood back from the wall we’d just finished painting, stretching one arm over his head, triceps bulging as it flexed. His T-shirt—the Shore Daddy one, which he kept wearing to tease me—came up a few inches, revealing a dark fuzzy trail over a flat stomach.

“Is your shoulder sore again?” I asked.

He lowered his arm and shot me a flirty grin. “That depends. Will it get me another massage with a happy ending?”

I rolled my eyes. “I guess you’re fine.”

“I am fine, ” Cash agreed. “And so are you.”

I turned to the wall, taking in the textured cream paint and knotty-pine wainscoting. After sanding down the salvageable sheetrock and replacing two panels, we’d spent the week painting, and it looked pretty great. Along with the pine paneling on the bottom third of the wall, pine window frames and solid beams running across the ceiling, the room was the perfect mix of modern and rustic. The floor still needed work, and the kitchen remained gutted, but I could see so much potential.

“It’s beautiful.” I smiled as I did a turn, taking it all in. “Aunt Millie would have loved it.”

“Well, I love that smile you’re rocking, Mr. Sullivan.”

I was smiling, wasn’t I? I couldn’t stop. After getting this glimpse of what The Roost could be with a little TLC, there was no way I could ever let someone tear it down to manufacture condos.

“Thank you, Cash. For pushing me to do this.”

He drew closer, smiling too. That wasn’t unusual for Cash. He always brought so much joy to everything he did.

Impulsively, I grabbed his waist and tugged him closer. His eyes widened, but he came into my arms. “You’re something special,” I murmured into his ear.

“You too, sugar bear.”

I drew back, bemused. “Sugar? No one’s ever accused me of being sweet.”

“Well, then they don’t know you very well, do they?”

I didn’t have a response to that. I gazed into his eyes and let myself imagine, for the first time, that I could have a partner like Cash, someone who liked to make me smile and called me sugar bear.

“Cash.” I wet my lips. “Do you think?—”

A sharp ring cut through my words.

“Hold that thought,” Cash said as he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He checked the screen. “It’s my sister.”

“Go ahead and take it. We’re done here, right?”

“With the painting, sure. With us? Maybe not.”

Heat rose to my face as he turned and answered the phone. The same old worries tried to surface: What if I was creating expectations I couldn’t fulfill? What if I was leading him on?

But then Cash’s words began to register and I forgot all about my silly internal angst.

“Why the fuck are you in Swallow Beach?” he exclaimed. “Shit. I’ll come for you. Just try to figure out exactly where you are. Get an address from someone and text me, okay?”

His whole body went rigid a beat later. I moved close enough to hear the blast of music and words coming from his cellphone.

“Don’t worry, my man, I’ll take real good care of your girl while she’s here.”

There was laughter, and a girl’s voice shouting in the background.

“Listen, asshole, you lay one finger on her?—”

The guy laughed, and there was something nasty about the tone of it.

I snatched the phone from Cash, speaking into it.

“That girl is fifteen years old, so I suggest you give her the phone and keep yourself out of jail, all right? We will be there in fifteen minutes, and if Katelyn isn’t perfectly happy when we arrive, the cops will be right behind us.”

“Shit, all right, we were just having a little fun.”

“Go have fun with someone over eighteen.”

“Yes, sir. We don’t want any trouble.”

The phone was handed off, and Katelyn’s voice came back on the line. “Cash?”

“No, this is Declan Sullivan, over at the Treehouse B&B. Hang tight. Your brother and I will come for you right now.”

She sniffed. “Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. I’m sorry.”

“That’s all right, Katelyn. Just be safe. Don’t drink anything, all right? Don’t go anywhere with anyone. Text Cash the address, and wait for us.”

“I will. Thanks.”

I handed the phone back to Cash. “Sorry for taking your phone like that.”

He surged forward, diverting at the last second to press a firm kiss to my cheek. “Thank you for backing me up.”

I cupped his face. “Did you want to kiss me for real?”

“God, yes. Always.”

“Then kiss me. You don’t have to ask anymore.”

Cash’s mouth was on mine instantly, his tongue teasing along the seam of my lips. I opened tentatively, half afraid he’d try to maul me, but I should have known that Cash would seduce, not bulldoze. He tugged my bottom lip with his teeth, then gently flicked his tongue along mine. He kissed like some people danced, starting slow and building a tempo, graceful and sensuous.

My hands tightened in his hair, tugging, and he groaned against my mouth. “Fuck, you kiss so good.”

“I think that’s all you,” I murmured against his lips.

“Maybe it’s both of us,” he said, eyes flicking up to meet mine. “We’re good together.”

My heart lurched. Now was not the time to consider whether he could be right. Maybe we’d work out, or maybe once the kissing escalated and Cash wanted more than me, we’d implode like all my relationships. Right now, we had more important matters to worry about.

“Come on. We’ll take my boat.”

By the time we’d untied and boarded the boat, Cash had received the text from his sister. He relayed the address to me, and I tapped it into the GPS. It took us ten minutes to cross the lake. The Lake of the Ozarks was long, but it was relatively skinny, which meant we got to Swallow Beach in good time, but then we had to cruise northeast for a while.

“There!” Cash pointed toward a private dock cluttered with expensive boats. Light and music poured from the open doors of a huge house. As we approached, I could see a crowd of people on the deck, along with a few smaller clusters on or near the boats.

Two girls on the deck of a mini yacht flashed Cash, lifting their tops and squealing with laughter as we passed. I cut my gaze toward him, but he was too busy scanning the party scene before us to notice the breasts on display.

The relief that hit me was ridiculous. Like Cash hadn’t seen all the breasts he could handle already. Like he couldn’t still get a taste of that anytime he damn well pleased.

I slowed to a crawl and edged past boats worth ten times the amount of mine, squeezing into a space in front of the yacht and a sporty speedboat that cost upwards of half a million dollars.

Cash vibrated with impatience, and I half expected him to leap onto the dock and leave me behind. He was obviously worried about his sister, alternating between checking his phone and scanning the partiers for a sign of her.

“Where is she?” he muttered. “C’mon, c’mon… There. I see her.”

“Go,” I said.

He hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, go! It’ll be easier if I don’t have to tie up.”

Cash stepped up onto the edge of the boat and jumped down to the dock, landing with an ease that reminded me he was a hell of a lot younger than me. He skirted past the vapers and broke into a run.

I kept an eye on him, following his path through the crowd. If he ran into any trouble, I’d have to tie up the boat and join him, but I was hoping that wouldn’t be the case. Cash reached his sister and turned to talk to a couple waiting with her. I held my breath until he shook the guy’s hand and then started back toward the boat with Katelyn in tow.

“Hey, sexy Daddy!” a voice called out.

I glanced up on reflex, and there were the topless girls. One of them was waving her pink bikini top. At me? I glanced around as if there would be some other sexy Daddy for them to call out to.

“You here to party?” the other called, her voice flirty.

“Uh…no. Sorry.”

“Awww,” the first crooned, tossing her bikini top toward me, the white straps fluttering in the breeze before it landed at my feet. “Are you sure we can’t change your mind?”

Before I could assure her that there was nothing she could offer that would interest me, Cash’s voice cut through the night.

“Get your own sexy Daddy,” he called. “This one is mine.”

The girls—well, young women, as I sincerely hoped they were well over eighteen—squealed with delight. “Ohmigosh, that’s so hot!”

Cash ignored them as he helped his sister aboard. I decided to follow his example. “Everyone ready to go?”

“Yep. Unless you want to flirt with those sorority chicks some more?”

I scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

He grinned. “They’re not wrong. You are a sexy Daddy.”

“Ew.” Katelyn scrunched up her nose. “Can you guys stop flirting? It’s weird.”

“Kat,” Cash scolded. “Declan is doing us a favor by being here. How about you not act like a brat?”

She ducked her head, looking sheepish. “Sorry. I appreciate the ride. It was stupid to come over here.”

“Hell yes, it was,” Cash said emphatically. “Why would you do something like that?”

Katelyn glanced uneasily in my direction, so I turned my attention to getting us out of dock and out to open water. The engine noise and wind snatched away a lot of their words, but I heard enough to follow along well enough.

“…broke up with me,” Katelynn said. “And Dad said … what I deserved.”

“What the fuck?” Cash exclaimed loud enough I didn’t miss a single one of his words. “That asshole. Jesus.”

“He’s just so…”

I could fill in those blanks easily enough, even though I missed her soft words.

“He sure as fuck is,” Cash said, fuming. “When we get back, I’ll talk to him, okay? He can’t say shit like that. I don’t care if he’s drunk or hurting, it’s not fucking right.”

“No, don’t,” Katelyn said. “You’ll just make it worse.”

“But—”

“Please, Cash! Just… I don’t want to deal with him. I—I don’t want to go home. That’s why I went to the party. I just needed to get away. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Cash said.

There was a sob and a sniffle, and I glanced back over my shoulder to see him holding her. He caught my eye and grimaced. I turned forward to give them some privacy, pushing the throttle and speeding up as we left the party behind.

My heart ached for them. Cash was in his twenties. He should be out at parties like this having fun, not working his ass off to pay the bills and comforting his sister because their father broke her heart.

I thought back to that night a year ago when I’d found him sleeping on the couch in my B&B. Who comforted Cash? Who fought for him?

The siblings talked in hushed voices I could no longer make out. A few minutes later, Cash dropped into the seat beside me.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

He swiveled the seat toward me, his knees brushing my thigh. The small contact was reassuring. “Yeah. I really appreciate you helping us out tonight.”

“No problem,” I said, glancing toward him. “It’s the least I can do after all the help you’ve given me at the B&B.”

“That’s not the only reason, is it?”

“No, of course not,” I said softly. “I wanted to be there for you.”

“Good.” He smiled. “Katelyn doesn’t want to go home, so?—”

“Stay at the B&B.”

He blinked. “I was going to text Brooks and Skylar about getting a room at the resort.”

“Oh. Well, of course, if that’s what you want. You’re coming back to the B&B in the morning anyway, though, aren’t you?”

Cash nodded. “Yeah, I am. Are you sure…”

“I’d be happy for you both to stay,” I said. “I’ve got one room open. Your sister can have it.”

“Okay. I guess that means I’m stuck on the couch in your quarters again?”

I hesitated. If he went to the resort, he’d surely get a comfortable bed. I should offer him the same, shouldn’t I? It had nothing to do with the fact that I couldn’t bear the thought of Cash sleeping on a sofa feet from my bed. Or that I wanted him close all the time.

“Declan?” he asked with a chuckle when I didn’t reply. “You okay? If you want me to sleep somewhere else?—”

“My bed,” I blurted. “You can sleep with me.”

His eyes met mine. There was a long beat as I questioned my sanity. Was I really inviting a man into my bed again? Hadn’t I learned my lesson yet?

“Okay,” Cash said.

“Okay?” I repeated.

“Yeah.” He smiled slow and sweet. “I thought you’d never ask.” I flushed, but before I could say anything else, he leaned across the aisle and brushed a quick kiss over my lips. “Just sleep. No shenanigans. I promise.”

For once, it was a promise I didn’t need.

Cash wouldn’t push for anything I didn’t want to give, and tonight? I wanted to give more than I had in a long damn time.