Her gaze flitters all over my face, as if she’s trying to read my expression and can’t. When she hooks her arms around my neck, I exhale slowly and try to not get upset about her stupid decision to help me with my shithole cabins. And my pride is absolutely crushed that I can’t pay her for any of thework she’s offering to do. It isn’t right, and I’m not someone who takes handouts.
“Do you believe in love at first sight, Dean?”
If she’s about to tell me she’s in love with me, I’m gonna…. Fucking hell, I have no idea what I’ll do. “Why?”
“Because I fell in love with this place the instant I turned onto the road. The trees. The silence. The peace and beauty.” She looks around the torn-up countertops and tools lying around. “When I stepped into my cabin that first day, I felt so happy and content.” Grace meets my gaze again. “And when I woke up this morning to your note and Oscar sleeping by the fire, and coffee already brewed… the warmth of the cabin, the coziness, the quiet…” She shakes her head slowly. “I fell in absolute love with every bit of it.”
Why does that sound like she’s talking about more than the cabin and my dog?
“I don’t walk away from things I love, Dean.”
I can’t breathe. The pain in my chest is excruciating. “I can’t pay you for any of this.”
“I don’t need money.”
Of course not. She’s already loaded. “What is it youdoneed?” Whatever it is, I’ll make sure she gets it.
“This,” she whispers against my mouth. “Let me have this kind of happiness until spring.Please.”
My payment is to give her a taste of my heaven. My mountain.Me. I close my eyes and succumb to her wishes. “Okay.”
Grace kisses me softly. Sweetly. When she pulls back, her victorious smile shoots an arrow straight through my heart. “This is going to be amazing.”
Or devastating.
My hand trembles when I cup her cheek. “If you end up hating it, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Chapter 12
Grace
One of my best qualities is when I have an idea, I hyper fixate on it until it’s perfect. Time is of the essence and I’m not wasting a second of it. Especially if the snow is coming soon like Dean predicts.
Running into town, I leave Dean to finish up the grout while I go shopping. First, quesadillas to go. Second, Sindra’s Soap Shop. Third, a surprise. When I get back to the cabins, Dean’s loading his truck up with trash and debris. As cold as it is already, he’s out here in just a flannel shirt, jeans, and a beanie. I’ve got three layers, a puffy coat, hat, gloves, and the heat blasting in my car.
Oscar runs to greet me, jumping up on my car door.
“Oscar, no! Get down!” Dean storms over, scowling. She runs to him, then back to me, like she can’t pick her favorite human. “Here, let me help.” He snags my shopping bags and carries them to my cabin for me.
“I picked up breakfast while I was out.”
“Grace, you don’t have to keep feeding me like this. I have my own food.” He must see the disappointment on my face when I open the door for him, because he changes tone. “Thanks. That’s really sweet of you.”
He kicks off his boots and brings my bags to the table. The largest is from Sindra’s. “Holy crap, what did you do, buy her whole line?”
“Yup.” I strip out of my coat and gloves. “She’s got nice stuff, and I figured we can do giveaways with some of it.” I’ll be sure to run the promos soon, that way the impending snow he keeps harping about won’t impact the delivery. Although, I looked up the weather for this area and it says no snow for the next ten days. Not that I’m telling him he’s wrong. Weather apps aren’t always accurate. “Eat up so we can get started.”
“You want to recordtoday?” He doesn’t sound thrilled. “I’ve got too much work to do.”
“It can wait. While you’re busy hanging dry wall, your videos can be busy making you money.”
“You sound like Nick,” he grumbles and pops the top off his takeout container. “God damn.”
“Double egg with cheese and bacon on a croissant.” I pull out the next container. “Sausage gravy with biscuits.” The last container is all for me. “And the best one of all… Quesadillas.” I sit across from him and place a napkin on my lap. “I’m so glad the Salt Lick was open. That surprised me.”
“Yeah, they have long hours. Locals get thirsty early.” He laughs at me when I take the first bite. “You really stick with something when you like it.”
“Till I can’t stand to look at it ever again.” The cheese pull is insane. “It’ll hit me out of nowhere too. Once, I ate scrambled eggs for three solid months. Every meal was the same. It was divine. Then one day, mid-bite, I suddenly hated eggs. Haven’t touched them since. Not that my cook was sad about it. I think she was also ready to never see another egg again.”
