Maybe We Will (Silver Harbor) Page 6

  “Skinny-dipping alone? What fun would that be?” He reached for the phone, his hand engulfing hers, and he stepped closer. The woodsy scent of sandalwood embraced her, and his piercing stare rooted her in place as he said, “I bet you’re excellent at skinny-dipping and getting your groove on.”

  His seductive tone brought a rush of desire.

  “I have to admit,” he said, holding her gaze, “I like the idea of you living by my side for the next few weeks.”

  Me too.

  “The only way to check these things off my list is to prove it with a picture. Would you mind if we took a selfie together?”

  She couldn’t resist teasing him. “How do I know you won’t use it for some other purpose?”

  “Because I don’t need a picture for that. I’ve got the image of you in those skimpy shorts etched into my mind.”

  “Oh boy, you are good at the flirting thing.” And she loved it!

  “Good to know, because I rarely do it. Is that a yes?”

  She nodded. “Why not?”

  “Not the hell yes I was hoping for, but I’ll take it,” he joked. He pulled up the camera on his phone, slipped an arm around her waist, tugging her against his side, and said, “Smile, gorgeous.”

  He smelled delicious. His body was firm and broad, and they fit together as perfectly as a puzzle, like she belonged at his side. How could she do anything but smile?

  “That should make your sister happy,” she said.

  “The heck with my sister. That one’s mine.”

  She tried to ignore the quickening of her pulse and poked his ribs, feigning a scowl. “You said it was for your sister.”

  “It is, I promise. I just wanted to get a rise out of you because I love your facial expressions. You wear your heart on your sleeve, like Olive, and that’s a rare and delightful quality.”

  Her heart stuttered. “But you said you were worried about her because of that.”

  “Because I don’t want her to get hurt. I’m not worried that I’ll hurt you, Abby.”

  Abby wanted to believe that, but her mother had lied to her so often, she was hedging her bets.

  He pocketed his phone and said, “Why don’t I open the shutters and those barn doors so we can air this place out.”

  “You don’t have to help.”

  “Didn’t we just agree that I’m helping you today and you’re sticking by my side for the duration of my vacation, helping me with all those things on my list?”

  “You’re serious?” She wanted to do a happy dance, but she couldn’t believe he was willing to give up his vacation time to help her clean the filthy restaurant.

  “Do you think I know how to fly a kite or where I can go skinny-dipping without ending up in jail?” He pointed at her with a devious glint in his eyes and said, “A person’s word is gold, Smiley. That’s the first rule of good business, so think twice before backing out on me.”

  His endearment only made her smile harder. “Are you kidding? It’s a win-win for me. I get the use of your muscles to help clean up this mess, and I get to have fun doing things I haven’t done in years with a guy who knows how to pull coffee favors. I’m in. But do you want to go change or something? That’s a really nice shirt, and it might get ruined.”

  He looked down at his shirt and shrugged. “You’re probably right.” He began unbuttoning it, revealing a dusting of chest hair and lickable pecs.

  Lust pooled low in her belly. “Wait! Stop. You . . . um . . . Don’t do that. Button up. I’ll buy you a new shirt if it gets ruined.” Her words came out too fast and flustered, causing him to laugh. “Don’t laugh at me. You’re like one giant distraction! How would you like it if I took my shirt off?”

  A wolfish grin appeared, and he said, “I definitely would not tell you to stop.”

  She rolled her eyes, but she loved his sense of humor. As he rebuttoned his shirt, she said, “You are not some regular guy here on vacation. Regular guys don’t look like you, carry around imported coffee beans, and set up breakfasts fit for a queen.”

  “Aw, come on, Abs. I’m a regular guy who has a touch of class and likes good coffee.”

  Abs? No one had called her that since she was a little girl, and she loved it. Guess he didn’t think of her as a stranger, either.

  He rolled his shoulders back and said, “And I will reiterate my earlier sentiments. You need to raise your bar on your man standards. A beautiful, smart woman like you should be used to being treated like a queen.”

  “Maybe we should take a picture of me blushing and send it to your sister to prove how well you flirt.” She motioned toward the back of the restaurant and said, “Let’s go, Coffee Guy. You need tools to take care of the shutters.”

  With the windows and folding doors open, the brisk sea air swept through the restaurant, clearing the musty smell and bringing back the scents of Abby’s youth. Hours passed with chatter and laughter and the sounds of classic rock making their hard work feel more like play. Aiden was funny and charming, singing along with the songs just as she was. When he walked by, he’d take Abby’s hand and twirl her around, do a dance step or two, then go back to scrubbing a table or chair. She’d learned that his parents had listened to oldies in the car when they’d taken family trips. They talked about tourist attractions on the island and how different it was from the city, and she made him laugh with stories of temperamental cooks, persnickety customers, and the trials and tribulations of working in upscale restaurants in the city.

  She looked across the room, where he was hard at work wiping down the legs of a table, and she felt happier than she had in a very long time. It made her giddy. He was so easy to talk to. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun. He looked up, catching her watching him, and she couldn’t help but smile, and then went back to cleaning. She kept her eyes trained on the chair as he headed in her direction, her pulse quickening with his every step. He walked past her, and just as she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, he swatted her ass with a rag. She squealed and darted away. He chased after her, swatting her again.

  She dodged the hit and hollered, “Don’t you dare!”

  She spun around to retaliate, laughing so hard she slipped and stumbled forward, landing against his chest. His arms circled her, strong and possessive, and that wolfish grin returned. Their eyes connected, silencing their laughter. Neither one blinked. She wasn’t even sure she was breathing. The air around them electrified, her thoughts urging her to throw caution to the wind, go up on her toes, and kiss him.

  “Um, Abby?”

  Abby’s head whipped to the side at the sound of Cait’s voice. Cait stood in the doorway, her eyes wide as saucers. Abby tried to step back, but for a split second Aiden held tight. Just long enough to let her know he didn’t want to let go. Then his hand slid down her back, lingering there, as she said, “Cait. Hi.”

  Cait looked warily at Aiden. Her eyes narrowed, finding Abby’s again, and she said, “Everything okay?”

  No. My heart is racing. I nearly kissed a man I barely know—and I wish I had kissed him because now it’ll be all I’ll think about for the rest of the day. Abby bit back those words nervously and said, “Yeah, of course. Come in.” She glanced at Aiden. His expression was as intimate as the kiss she wanted. Swallowing hard, she tried to focus on Cait, and said, “This is Aiden. He was helping me clean up.”

  Aiden’s hand slipped from her back, and he said, “Hi. You must be Cait. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He crossed the room and offered his hand.

  Looking tough in her leather jacket, jeans with tears on one thigh, and black Converse sneakers, Cait glanced at his hand, but she didn’t shake it. She lifted a cautious gaze and said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “I like your ink.” Aiden nodded toward the tattoos on her neck.

  Her arm snaked across her middle, as it had yesterday, and she leaned her other elbow on her wrist, touching her neck tattoos with her fingers, nodding a silent thank-y
ou.

  Aiden’s gaze shifted to Abby, and that zing of electricity returned. “I should get out of your hair and let you ladies get acquainted. Thanks for letting me help out. I had a great time.”

  She didn’t want him to leave, but at the same time, she wanted to get to know Cait and figure out why she was so cautious. “Thanks for breakfast and for helping me clean up.”

  “Do you think a particular owner of this place would have an issue with me leaving my table and chairs out front in exchange for breakfast tomorrow? I still need to get that finger foodie picture.”

  A shiver of delight skated through her. “I think she can handle that.”

  Appreciation shone in his eyes. “Excellent. Then I’m off to buy a book and a kite. If you two get bored around four or five o’clock, I’ll be the guy wrestling with the kite down the beach.”

  Abby watched him leave, her eyes traveling from his broad shoulders to his slim waist, lingering on his perfect butt until he was out of sight, wishing she could wrestle with him on the beach. Her body tingled in anticipation of seeing him tomorrow morning.

  “Need some ice water?” Cait teased.

  “No.” Yes! Abby hugged her, noticing Cait returned her embrace this time. “Thanks for coming. I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “Me too. Was that your boyfriend?”

  “No. I just met Aiden yesterday. We had breakfast together today, and then he showed up with breakfast for you and jumped in to help me clean.”

  Cait’s brows knitted. “Breakfast for me?”

  “Yeah. Nice, right? I mentioned you were meeting me, and he showed up with coffee and a blueberry Danish for you. The Danish is over there.” She pointed to a clean table. “But I drank your coffee. Sorry.”

  “No worries,” she said as Deirdra walked in.

  “Did you guys just get a delivery or something?” Deirdra asked. “Because I saw one fine-looking man walking away from here toward the Silver House with his arms full.”

  “That was Abby’s date,” Cait said.

  “He wasn’t my date,” Abby insisted, and Cait arched a brow. “Okay, fine. I guess he was my breakfast date, but then he showed up to help me clean. He’s a new friend, a—”

  “Guy you want to have your way with?” Deirdra asked, sending Abby’s body into a needy frenzy at the thought. “Because if you don’t, I wouldn’t mind working off some stress with him.”

  Abby narrowed her eyes and said, “Hands off, Dee. What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you had to work.”

  “I do, but I felt guilty leaving you guys with this mess.” Deirdra looked down at her jeans and T-shirt and said, “I’m ready to work. Had I known you had a hottie on your hands all morning, I’d have kept working.”

  “They looked like they were ready to christen these tables when I walked in,” Cait said, snagging the Sweet Barista bag off the table.

  Abby gasped. “We did not!”

  “Then you’re not as smart as I thought, because I definitely would have,” Deirdra said. “Cait, did you go to Keira’s?”

  “I have no idea who Keira is, but Abby’s guy brought this for me. Want to split it?” She held the bag out to Deirdra.

  “No, thanks,” Deirdra said. “I already ate about half a Bundt cake that someone dropped off at the house. So, what’s the scoop with the guy?”

  “No scoop. His name is Aiden, and he’s here on vacation.” Abby wanted to gush about their fancy breakfast, how easygoing he was, and how much fun she’d had, but she wasn’t ready yet. Her body was still humming from their almost kiss, and she wanted to enjoy that before facing any more of an interrogation. She went to get the broom and said, “We can talk about him later. Let’s tackle some of these dust bunnies.”

  Deirdra looked at Cait and said, “That means there’s something juicy going on between them, but she doesn’t want to share.”

  “How can you tell?” Cait asked.

  “Because when little Miss Warm and Fuzzy avoids people, she’s holding secrets. How long can you stay, Cait?”

  “I have to go back Sunday for work.”

  Abby looked up from where she was sweeping, glad Cait could stay a few days, and said, “You can stay with us at the house. As I mentioned, there’s an apartment above the garage. It’s fully furnished and even has a kitchen, although I’d rather you ate with us so we can get to know each other.”

  “And we can ply Abby with alcohol to make her spill her secrets,” Deirdra said, earning a genuine smile from Cait.

  Deirdra and Abby had talked last night about Cait. They had a million questions, but they agreed that if she showed up to help today, they wouldn’t grill her. Instead, they’d try to get to know her a little at a time, to help put her at ease.

  Abby was surprised to see Deirdra jumping in to help clean, especially since she’d made several rhetorical remarks about having an offer on the table to sell the Bistro as is, but she was thankful just the same. They talked as they worked, tiptoeing around each other’s lives and breaking only to eat the pizza they’d ordered. They learned that Cait had worked at Wicked Ink for the last few years, had grown up in Connecticut, and hated pepperoni. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

  Hours later, Deirdra collapsed into a chair and kicked her feet up on the chair beside her. “I’m fried. I haven’t done this much manual labor in forever.”

  Cait leaned on the mop handle, looking as worn out as Deirdra.

  As a cook, Abby was used to being on her feet for hours, but she’d forgotten how long it took to clean a restaurant. And this one needed deep cleaning. Some of the grime was so caked on, she wondered if her mother had ever wiped down the furniture after Abby had moved off the island. It was taking forever to clean between the grooves on each of the intricately carved café chairs. But it was worth it. The tile floor sparkled, and the warm wooden tabletops gleamed.

  But that was only the tip of the iceberg. The grout in the floor needed repointing, the wallpaper needed to be scraped off, and the whole place needed to be painted. They hadn’t even begun tackling the windows and rafters, much less the kitchen, office, and bathrooms—although they did scrub one stall of the ladies’ room so they could use it. That morning she’d noticed that the patio needed repointing, and some of the stones needed to be replaced, too. The siding needed to be repaired and replaced in a few areas, and the whole building could use a good power washing. The overgrown bushes and broken fencing were projects in and of themselves. But none of that deterred her joy of watching the restaurant start blooming to life like a seedling finally seeing the sun.

  “I feel like I have grime from head to toe. I want to take a shower and flop on the couch to get some of my work done. What do you say, Cait?” Deirdra asked.

  “I’m good with that,” she said. “I’d like to lie down and read for a while. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

  “I don’t think any of us did,” Abby said. Her thoughts had bounced between her sisters, their mother, and Aiden all night. She should be exhausted like they were, but she felt invigorated and far too excited to flop on a couch. She pulled out her phone to check the time—4:40—and wondered if Aiden was still flying a kite. “I rode my bike here, and I’m not ready to flop just yet. Can I catch up with you guys in a little bit?”

  “Going to find Aiden?” Deirdra waggled her brows.

  There was no stifling her smile. “Maybe.”

  “Abby, how do you know you can trust him?” Cait asked.

  The question took Abby by surprise. “Well, he raised his younger sister, so that says a lot about him. And I highly doubt a creeper would set up breakfast on that patio out there with a white linen tablecloth and real china.”

  Deirdra’s eyes opened wider. “He did that? See, Cait? I told you she had secrets to tell.”

  “No secrets, but yes, he did. And then he jumped in to help me clean in his nice clothes. I don’t really know what to make of him yet, but there’s something about the way he listens and the things he says that
make it easy to trust him. He’s in finance, so he has that kind of personality, you know? A little tightly wound and very much a gentleman. But I could tell there was a lot more to him. He knew the lyrics to all the songs on Dad’s favorite station, and he danced a little, twirling me around, and . . . I want to get to know him better and strip back some of those layers to see who he is. It’s not a big deal,” she said more casually than she felt.

  Deirdra barked out a laugh. “I bet you’ll find a very big deal after you strip the layers off that man.”

  Abby rolled her eyes.

  “Whatever you do, be careful,” Cait said softly. “Lots of men know how to act to gain a woman’s trust while they spin a web around her. Once they’ve got her where they want her, that’s when they show their true colors.”

  “I hear ya, girlfriend,” Deirdra said.

  The warning in Cait’s eyes worried Abby. Had someone hurt her? Was that why she had scrutinized Aiden so closely? “Sounds like you’ve run into a few bad guys.”

  Cait put the head of the mop in the bucket and said, “Haven’t we all?”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  AIDEN WAS ALL knotted up, like the damn kite lying in the sand beside his chair. He’d gotten so frustrated trying to get the kite to catch wind, he’d given up—and he was not a quitter. He was used to going after what he wanted, overcoming every obstacle, and surpassing every goal. The trouble was, he didn’t give a damn about the kite. The only thing he wanted to go after wasn’t a thing at all. She was a beautiful free spirit with the most stunning green eyes he’d ever seen. When Abby had stumbled into his arms, he’d gotten lost in those emotive eyes, swept up in the flecks of gold and amber in them, like sparks of hidden treasures, which was what she felt like in his arms. He wanted to bask in Abby’s carefree nature, get caught up in it and go wherever she took him. Before meeting her, he’d been this close to telling Remi he was done with this charade of a vacation and was heading back to work. But the prospect of spending time with Abby changed that.