The thought made it hard to breathe.
“Haley,” I said.
“Hi, Tessa.” She scrambled down and skipped to me.
Ro gave me a smile, sipping his coffee. “I’ll shower.”
Haley hugged me and as Ro passed by, he pressed a kiss to my temple and then ruffled Haley’s hair.
“Bye, kiddo.”
“Bye, Ro!”
“I’ve got to get to work, Hay-bear.”
Her nose wrinkled. “I know. I just wanted to say hi.”
I looked down the hallway where Ro had disappeared. Haley did too.
“I like him,” she said like she was sharing a secret. “He’s handsome and he smells good.”
I bit my lip. “He does.”
“And he’s your boyfriend.”
“No, baby. Ro isn’t staying in Windward. He’s just a friend.”
She frowned. “But he’s staying here. And sleeping in your bed.”
“I know.” Totally not a conversation I wanted to have with my eight-year-old cousin.
She cocked her head. “You should ask him to stay.”
Oh, to be eight years old, when life was so simple. “Go on, get back to your brothers. I’ll see you later.”
She hugged me again. “I’m glad you’re better. It was scary when you were in the hospital.”
“I know, pretty girl, but I’m fine now.”
She skipped out.
I picked up the coffee Ro had made for me and sipped. Then I moaned. He wasn’t wrong, he was good with coffee.Almostas good as Mountain Brew.
He appeared in a dark blue suit that I instantly wanted to tear off him.
“Tessa? Tessa?”
He was looking at me. From the look on his face, I guessed he’d been calling my name a few times while I was ogling him. I sipped the last of my coffee. “I’m ready.”
We both grabbed our bags, and then headed out to the sleek SUV parked at the curb. Ro had driven the Maserati here last night. I settled on the leather seat. It was fancy.
“Still want a Mountain Brew?” he asked.
“Your coffee was really good, butyes. I feel like I haven’t had one for ages. Do we have time?”
He shot me a smile. “Yes.”
I clapped my hands together. “Thank you. As soon as you’ve had a Mountain Brew coffee, you won’t regret it.”
