Page 15 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

“She’s got it. And my vet is on her way now to check them both out.” She clapped Heath on the shoulder. “I’d hire you on as

a ranch hand anytime.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He was surprised to find the sun setting as Judy led him back to the house.

He found Ashley and Lexi in the living room, each with a cat in their lap, sipping tea. None of them covered in God knew what,

like he was.

Lexi gestured to his hair. “You’ve got a little something...”

He pulled several pieces of straw covered in sticky stuff he didn’t want to think about from his hair.

“Thanks for having us today,” Ashley said to Judy. “I’ll definitely come back when the kittens are old enough to leave their mama. Can’t wait to adopt one.”

“Your mom would have loved that.” She looked at Heath. “How about you, cowboy? Want to adopt a calf?”

“Not this time.”

She grinned, then looked surprised when they all headed to the door. “I take it none of you have seen the news over the past

few hours?”

They looked at each other and shook their heads. “Why?” Lexi asked.

“Fog moved in over the Summit and caused a twenty-car pileup. The Eighty is closed in both directions, and it’s estimated

it’ll stay that way until morning.”

Shit.

“Is there a hotel you recommend?” Lexi asked.

“Honey, the closest is a rinky-dink old motel, and that’s fifty miles in the wrong direction. Plus, there are less bugs in

my fields than there are in those beds. You can stay here.” Her cell phone buzzed. “Excuse me a moment.”

When she’d left the room, Lexi said one word. “No.”

“But we could sleep with kittens!” Ashley exclaimed. “Judy’s a saint for doing what she does.” She glanced at Heath. “She

told me she thinks you’re—”

“An adorable nerd,” he muttered. “Yeah, I know, she told me too.”

Lexi snorted, but Ashley shook her head. “I was going to say steadfast, capable, and reliable, but adorable nerd works too.”

He sank lower in his seat.

“At least she didn’t say sexy,” Ashley said. “Sexy nerds are in right now.”

This didn’t make him feel any better.

“I’m betting it’s the nerd part that’s getting him,” Lexi said.

It didn’t escape him that she took pleasure in his pain.

“But the nerd part is the part that’s true,” Ashley said.

Lexi actually laughed at that, and he turned to her, unable to keep himself from enjoying that smile on her face, even if

it was at his expense. “Let me guess,” he said. “You’ve got a better description.”

“Oh, I have several.”

“And?”

Her smile turned feline, but before she could respond, Judy came back into the room, arms full. “I’ve got a two-man tent left

over from my music festival days, along with a few sleeping bags. Plus there’s the couch. Feel free to divvy it up however

you’d like.”

Ashley clasped her hands together beneath her chin and looked beseechingly at Lexi and Heath. “Camping! I love camping! We’re

staying, right?”

Heath looked at Lexi, certain she’d put a swift end to the insanity and agree with him that they should get on the road, go

as far as they could, and take their chances at finding a hotel at the base of the Summit. A hotel with each of them ensconced

in their own room.

Not sharing a tent or a couch in far too close quarters.

But Lexi just stared at Ashley, an expression on her face he’d never seen before—soft and... yearning . Was there also dread? Most definitely. But Ashley clearly wanted to stay, and just as clearly, Lexi didn’t want to disappoint

her.

And he knew they weren’t going anywhere.

Ashley threw her arms around Lexi and hugged her hard. Lexi stilled for a beat, then her arms came up and patted Ashley awkwardly on the back. “I mean, it’s just sleep. It’s not like I gave you a car or anything.”

“No, it’s better than a car!”

Lexi shook her head, but a smile peeked through. “You have got to get out more.”

Heath didn’t have the heart to veto the stay, not when he hadn’t seen Ashley look this excited at anything since Daisy’s death.

Well, except for when Lexi had shown up, but Ashley had been down for a while. He wouldn’t take this from her, even if the

thought of staying overnight with a thousand cats—one of them with a sharp mouth and sharper honey-brown eyes that saw so

much more than he wanted her to—made him want to run screaming into the night.

“I’ve left some things out in the bathroom for you,” Judy said. “Extra towels and a stack of some spare clothes left behind

from other guests over the years. Help yourselves. I’d suggest the tent and camping out under the stars in the back. It’s

going to be a beautiful warm night.”

The three of them went outside and decided on the wild grass patch at the edge of the property, overlooking a small meadow

that had a creek running through it. Heath spread out a tarp and started to put the tent together, looking over in surprise

when Lexi dropped to her knees at his side and helped.

“What?” she muttered when he stared at her. “I’m handy too.”

And helpful. He was starting to get that it wasn’t that she didn’t care. No, it was the exact opposite. She cared, too much,

much more than made her comfortable.

When they were done, they all looked at the tent, smaller than he’d imagined it might be. Still, it brought him back to long-ago nights when he and Cole would escape their angry household—i.e., their drunk father—and go as deep into the woods as they dared to camp out.

At the time, life had felt... hard.

But they hadn’t a clue, not really. Because life being hard, really hard, had come later.

He gave a grand gesture for them to inspect inside.

Ashley sneezed three times in a row. “Ruh-roh. I think I’m allergic to the wild grass.”

Lexi crossed her arms. “Really.”

“Yes, and...” Ashley clasped her hands together over her heart. “Okay, so the truth is I wanna sleep with the kittens.

You guys don’t mind if I take the couch, right?”

Lexi opened her mouth, but Ashley hurried on. “Tonight’s going to be epic! And you know what would make it better? Group hug.”

“I don’t hug liars,” Lexi said, but Ashley just laughed and pulled her in tight, along with Heath.

He was completely unprepared for the sensation of having Lexi against him. If Ashley had caught sudden allergies, he’d most

definitely caught something far worse—feelings. Feelings he had no idea what to do with, because he knew Lexi wouldn’t be

open to them.

And was he? Open to them?

More than he wanted to admit.

“Thank you,” Ashley whispered, kissing them both on the cheek. “Thank you for doing this for me. It’s going to be so fun.”

“Fun,” Lexi repeated with a forced smile.

She was so full of shit that he very nearly laughed, but she was doing this, trying hard, for her sister, and it sent another

feeling through him. Pride. But he couldn’t resist teasing her, just a little. “ Fun? ” he mouthed over Ashley’s head.

She glared at him, made him grin as he crawled inside the tent to unzip the two windows to get some air flowing, since it had the faint scent of... summer festivals.

When he backed out of the tent, Lexi stood there alone, and he was pretty sure she’d been staring at his ass. “You were staring

at my ass.”

“Of course I wasn’t. That would be sexist and rude.”

“Uh-huh. Should I go back in and then come out again so you can stare for longer?”

“You’re such an ass.”

“Or... you like my ass.”

She rolled her eyes. “How do you get through any doorways with that big fat head?”

He laughed. “I manage. So, you ready to be all outdoorsy?”

“I’m not outdoorsy. I’m...” She waved a hand, clearly looking for the right word. “Outsidey. Do I want to sleep in a tent?

Absolutely not. Do I want to stare up at the gorgeous night sky before going home to a real bed? Sure. Bathe in an icy stream?

Nope, no thank you. But roast a marshmallow? Yes, please.”

“Maybe Judy has marshmallows.”

She looked around them uneasily. “Do you think she also has bears?”

He eyed the open land, the green meadow, the rushing creek, the pines soaring toward the sky, all framed by the rocky hills

in the distance that probably held caves for a multitude of wild animals, including bears, mountain lions, bobcats, deer,

coyotes... “I think there are a lot of things out here.”

She bit her lower lip. “Things that eat people?”

“Depends on how you taste.”

She gave him a shove, and he grinned at her.

But when she moved ahead of him to go back to the house, he let his grin fade.

In order to keep people at arm’s length, in order to protect a heart he wasn’t sure even worked anymore, he’d worn an easygoing facade for a long time.

So long that he wasn’t even sure he could let it go.

Not even when he wanted to. It’d been forever since he’d even thought about it, but he was thinking now.

Thinking far too much—specifically how, now that he was starting to know her, he could see the cracks in her own armor.

Cracks and glimpses of the real her that made him want to let her see the real him in return.

Apparently they had far more in common than he’d ever realized, and he wasn’t sure that was a good thing.

The three of them took turns showering in a bathroom so small, his elbows kept bumping into the walls. He went last, which

meant he got sixty seconds of hot water before it got icy, turning him into a soprano. Pushing the shower curtain aside to

climb out of the tub, he nearly tripped over no less than five cats staring up at him, judging him as he dried off.

Lexi had helped Judy make a stack of grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Judy grabbed one for herself and waved it at them.

“Well, kiddos, I’m off to meet my friends to discuss how I can get some time away and use Daisy’s gift. You all be good, now.

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

And then she was gone.

Ashley finished her sandwich, then stood and stretched, yawning wide. “I’m exhausted. Gonna hit the couch and get some sleep.

Night.”

“And you’re sure you don’t want to sleep in the tent?” Lexi asked.

“And miss out on my top bucket list item of sleeping with a colony of kittens?”

“Uh-huh,” Lexi said dryly. “I thought your top bucket list item was to sleep with Margot Robbie.”

“The kittens and Margot are tied for first.” Ash smiled. “You two have fun, now.”

And then she was gone.

Lexi stood still, face solemn. Worried. He knew he could rile her up without trying, which he’d always done just to watch

her come to life. But annoying her was no longer his objective. No, he wanted something else entirely and was smart enough

to understand he needed to come at her in a different, softer way if he wanted her to really see him.

And he did want that...

No matter how bad an idea it might turn out to be.

Lexi was still watching the doorway where Ashley had vanished. “You do realize what she’s up to, right?” she asked.

He nodded. “Classic Ashley.”

“She’s set you up before?”

Heath washed the pan she’d used to make the sandwiches. “She thinks she’s got a degree in Matchmaking 101.”

“Hate to break it to her, but her plan, whatever it is, even combined with your sexy charm and killer smile, won’t work on

me.”

He arched a brow. “You think I have sexy charm and a killer smile?”

“ Everyone thinks that, including yourself.” She took in his smile and pointed at it. “But neither are going to work on me.” And with

that, she grabbed one of the sleeping bags and let herself out the back door.