Page 11 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

“I’m late, I’m late...” Lexi finally found a parking spot, jumped out of the truck, and ran up the block to the senior

center building where Ashley taught her drawing class. The class Lexi had promised to help with.

It’d been a few days since the Margo Debacle, as she’d been calling it. True to her word, Ashley had appeared to move on from

being angry and upset at Lexi.

Her sister was a far better person than she was.

She stifled a yawn. She hadn’t slept well, trying to figure out how to get Margo to accept Daisy’s money.

So far nothing had come to her.

Until today. When she’d lost her job, she’d been told that an internal investigation would be forthcoming.

Being innocent shouldn’t be this terrifying, but although there were no legal requirements in regards to becoming an appraiser, there were professional associations in the field.

And each and every one of them required members to comply with an ethical standard called the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

In addition to the USPAP, members were required to pass tests and provide proof of continuing education, which she’d done faithfully.

But depending on the outcome with the investigation, she could face losing her good standing in the industry. For the most

part, denial was her friend. But the worry and anxiety had a way of jumping out at her when she didn’t expect it.

Like when she tried to fall asleep.

Or stay asleep.

Or every waking moment of the day...

She’d been applying for jobs back home, while also trying to connect with people looking for estate assessors—something she

realized she could do here for the rest of her time in Sunrise Cove. Working for herself appealed to her far more than going

to work for a big appraisal firm. Actually, it appealed to her more than anything she could think of.

She’d even taken a call earlier from a potential client that had gone shockingly well. She’d marvel over that later. Working

for herself had been a secret dream of hers for a long time, one she hadn’t quite had the nerve to seriously consider. But

she wanted it now more than ever, to start up her own business, be her own boss, so that she’d never again have to put her

security and future into someone else’s hands.

But to do that, she’d need capital. A fact that put a whole bunch of pressure on her to finish this thing with Ashley and

hope like hell that whatever money was left for them at the end would be more than ice cream money.

Which was getting ahead of herself.

She and Ashley had been spending the evenings going through Daisy’s things. They had three piles going. One for donation,

one for the garage sale Ashley planned to have when the whole house had been done, and another for the dump.

They’d spent that time steering clear of difficult subjects, sticking with what worked for them.

Turned out that even as different as they were, they had things in common.

Their guilty pleasure TV shows, deliciously smutty books, their love for tacos and ice cream.

Full-fat, full-dairy ice cream. The difference there was that Lexi regularly gave in to her dairy ice cream cravings. Ashley was stronger.

They did have something else in common, something they’d mutually decided without a word to not discuss at this time. When

Ashley was a toddler, her mom had peaced out and never returned, and with her dad having been killed in a car accident five

years after he’d married Daisy, they were both effectively orphans.

Now, as she ran to the front doors of the senior center, she tried to catch her breath. She’d gotten a text from Ashley saying

she had things to do before the class and that she’d meet Lexi there. She’d left the truck for her, which had been a surprise.

If the situation had been reversed, would Lexi have been as thoughtful as Ashley?

The drive should have only taken her five minutes, but she’d hit every light in the entire town, all four of them, so Lexi

entered the building fifteen minutes late, skidding to a stop at the reception area. “I’m looking for Ashley Fontaine. She’s

teaching a drawing class. I’m... her assistant.”

“Oh, you must be her sister, Lexi,” the woman at the desk said kindly. “She speaks so fondly of you. Down the hall to the

left, dear. Class is full today. She’s so popular here, everyone adores her. It’s so kind of her to do this for free.”

That Ashley could barely rub two pennies together and yet was giving away her time did not surprise Lexi in the slightest.

The art room was large, and indeed filled to the gills.

Easels were set up in a semicircle, with a stool at each.

Ashley was saying something about the eye of the beholder, but that wasn’t what caught Lexi’s attention.

Nope, that went to the man standing at the center of the half circle, wearing a black T-shirt, faded Levi’s, and battered work boots.

A woman on a stool directly in front of Lexi leaned close to the woman sitting next to her. “I give his butt a ten out of

ten.”

Lexi would’ve given the model a twelve out of ten, but she recognized that ass, and he already had enough of an ego. “Maybe

an eight,” she said.

The women turned to look at her.

So did Heath, his eyes filling with promised retribution.

“Eh, maybe even a six,” she added, holding his gaze.

He gave a slow smile. “If it’s only a six, why can’t you stop staring at it?”

Damn. Note to self: not ready for prime time with Heath Bowman.

“Class, let’s take five,” Ashley called out.

“Excuse me, honey,” one of the women said. “You’re what, maybe... eighteen? But we’re all old and need longer than five

minutes to even get to the bathroom.”

Ashley smiled. “I’m twenty-three, but thank you for making my day. Take all the time you need.” Then she moved to Lexi’s side.

“You’re late.”

“Sorry, I got caught up with work...” She knew Ashley would assume Lexi meant the job she was supposedly telecommuting

to. Probably, she’d tell Ashley the truth. Eventually. Maybe after she’d made a successful go at working for herself. “Hit

all the lights too. Thanks for leaving me the truck, but you didn’t have to do that.”

“No worries, I got a ride with Heath. Last night, I had a dream you got a job here in Sunrise Cove and stayed.” Ashley took in whatever Lexi’s face was communicating, likely far more than she meant to show. “I’m manifesting it.”

Lexi thought of the woman she’d met on the plane, Summer, the professional manifester. “Has that ever worked for you?”

Ashley smiled. “You’re here, aren’t you?”

Heath slid Lexi a look she didn’t have to translate. Don’t break Ashley’s heart . Got it. These two were close friends, even family. And she wasn’t. Not really. “I’ll keep an open mind.”

“All I can ask.”

A few minutes later, people started to file back into class. Every single one of them stopped by their little group and struck

up a conversation. With Ashley, with Heath, and also with Lexi. It surprised her, the easy acceptance, but what surprised

her even more was that she’d indeed learned something from her world back east, and that was how to relate to people, draw

them out. She listened as Mrs. Spencer regaled her with tales about some mysterious Mr. Chen—who turned out to be her cat.

She listened to Mrs. Morales talk about her poor roses, and how Mr. Westmoreland had ruined them by getting drunk and peeing

on them. This had greatly disappointed Mrs. Morales, who’d been dreaming of a man who opened doors for her but also smacked

her ass as she walked through. Apparently a man who peed on her roses was out.

Oh, and she also heard all about Ashley’s love life from Mrs. Jackson, who called herself a romantic at heart. “None of us

know very many lesbians, but we’ve got a large network of wonderful people. We’ve simply got to help her find her HEA,” she

told Lexi. “She deserves the moon.”

Lexi nodded in agreement. “She does.”

Ashley blushed as Mrs. Jackson walked away. “You didn’t have to say that.”

“Why?” Lexi asked. “It’s true. You deserve the moon. What do you need from me?”

Her sister blinked in surprise. “Besides you moving here? Maybe a little less assuming that we’re going to fight over every

little thing and a little more smiling?”

“I meant today in this class,” Lexi said dryly. “But I’ll work on it.”

“Oh.” Ashley smiled. “Sorry. I really just needed your presence and support. There’s an empty easel. Mrs. Stonewell couldn’t

attend today. So if you could join the class and participate, that’d be great.”

“You just want me to draw?”

“That’s the definition of participating in my drawing class, yes.”

So Lexi walked over to the only empty easel, which like all of the others had a direct view of Heath. She gamely sat down.

Ashley stood behind her. “Concentrate on his face.”

Lexi forced herself to look at him. Those blue gray eyes shone with amusement—at her expense, of course. Given his tan, he’d

been in the sun recently. He hadn’t shaved today, probably not for several days. He could have no idea that she secretly loved

the scruff, found it sexy as hell, but just in case, she rolled her eyes at him.

He smirked.

“Come on, really concentrate,” Ashley said. “Not pretend concentrate. And if you keep rolling those eyeballs, they’re going

to fall out.”

“Daisy used to say that.”

“Yes, Mom did. Now, take in all the deets. His eyebrows, his eyes... Eyes are windows to the soul, you know.”

Lexi usually did her best to avoid looking at his eyes, instead focusing right between them, or at his mouth. But his mouth

was a problem because he had a really great one. She already knew he was a great kisser, damn him—

He winked at her, and she jumped, covering it up with a glare.

Thirty minutes or thirty days later, it was hard to tell, Ashley finally clapped her hands. “Class over, great job everyone.”

Heath rolled his neck, then lifted his arms and stretched, and for a single beat, a strip of his stomach was revealed above