He nodded. “You did. Several times. I’m happy to help, Quinley.”
“Thanks—sorry. I keep apologizing because my brain is all over the place right now.”
Like the storm he’d just compared her to. Elias shut his laptop and stood from the couch. “I get it. Are you hungry? You missed breakfast.”
“I should be but no. I was thinking…wondering, what you wanted me to do now?”
He blinked at her, not following this change in topic. “What I want you to do?”
A careful expression blanketed her face. “This is your vacation, and I totally crashed it. I can’t say that I’m ready to go back to Carolina Cove, especially with your brother’s rental not being available yet and the statement just releasing today, but if you’d prefer it, I can…find another place to stay. I looked, but I didn’t book anything because I wasn’t sure how much of the wedding I’d have to pay for but now— I should find a cabin, shouldn’t I? Something like this that’s private since a hotel would be too public. Or I suppose I could have Axel take me back to Carolina Cove and see if Ana would put up with me the remainder of the week.”
She wanted to know if she should leave. If hewantedher to leave.
And while a part of him said yes—absolutely yes—another immediately went up in arms in protest. And her incessant rambling? “Do you want to go back there?”
“No, I don’t,” she said quickly with a firm shake of her head. “I’d scheduled off work for the next three weeks for the honeymoon, and while Ana would undoubtedly take me in until the house is available, she’d also drive me crazy with questions and her fussing. Plus, I’m sure therewillbe a few stragglers as far as the press goes, so I’d rather not subject her to that any more than she has been already.”
Ana’s neighbors would likely prefer that as well. As for himself… “You’re welcome to stay,” he said before he changed his mind. “Like I told your ex, the bedroom will go unused. It’s no big deal.”
Silence followed his words, the quietest she’d been since emerging from her room. Then she audibly swallowed and blinked.
“Are yousure? I’ve imposed on you an awful lot already. Dragged you into a nightmare. And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You seriously didn’t have plans to goout? There are some really nice restaurants and bars in the area. Lots to do. You didn’t want to try to…you know, meet someone? Bring them back here and…enjoy your vacation?”
He stood and walked toward the kitchen after leaving the couch. Along the way he ran a hand through his short hair and pondered her words.
When he’d planned his time away from the fishbowl of gossipy locals that made up Carolina Cove, he’d considered the potential of a casual hookup while away from prying eyes but then shrugged it off.
This vacation was more about taking a break from work, reducing his stress, while still formulating and figuring out his next steps in business. Sort of a one-person mastermind retreat. A working vacation, as it were, since technically his mind never stopped working. He liked it that way. It kept him from thinking too much about the unpleasant things life often offered, like a kick in the teeth.
Could he go and pick up a woman in a local bar? Did he want to? The thought held no appeal. He pursued those things when the need could no longer be denied but… “No, no plans. Just figuring out some things and maybe do some hiking.”
“I see. Well, if I stay here, I would like to repay you. Split the cost of the cabin.”
“There’s no need. Focus on doing damage control with your ex and Ana. On figuring outyourjob situation. You’ve got enough going on.”
“But I have to repay you somehow,” she said, her tone insistent and firm. Her face brightened. “What are you working on? Anything related to advertising? Social media? I might have some ideas. Remember, I’ve helped Ana with her boutique and Cole with the limo business.”
She had helped them, and her ideas had done well for both of them. Cole had implemented her plan, and bookings for the limo service had soared. “I’m agreeable to that. I have a new idea for a business, but I’m still thinking through details to see if it would be viable.”
“We can brainstorm,” she said, throwing the words he’d said to her on the drive to the cabin back at him. “I’m pretty good at my job. Despite,” she waved a hand toward the television, “that.”
He found himself smirking a bit at her wry expression. He liked that she could be self-deprecating. Liked that she was able to voice her mistakes, own them yet hold her head high because she knew she’d made the right decision for herself. “I’m going to make myself a sandwich and go for a walk. You want one?”
Her stomach growled loudly as if in response to his words, and he lifted an eyebrow at her.
That wry expression turned to pretty pinked cheeks and a wrinkled nose.
“I suppose that’s my sign that I do. Thanks. Let me help, though. I can’t sit here and let you do everything. If I’m going to stay, I’m going to help.”
“I thought penthouse princesses liked being waited on,” he mused softly.
All hint of humor disappeared from her expression.
He held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry, obviously that joke didn’t land. Too soon?”
