Page 60 of Always Be Mine

“How do you know the right thing to say?”

“I certainly don’t.” Craig shook his head. “But I do have two sisters, and I’ve seen my share of situations like this.”

Lucy sniffed and tried to stop the tears, but they weren’t done falling.

“I’m so sorry. This job is…well, I absolutely adore Meri. I’m really grateful you gave me the opportunity. To be honest, I never could have imagined that I’d be doing this and spending my days with a little girl, but I think it’s exactly what I needed and?—”

He stopped her with a hand on her cheek. “You’re exactly what we needed, too.”

Lucy blinked and looked at him through a blurry veil of tears.

“I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, Lucy. And I can see that you’ve had a lot going on before you moved here, I feel really awful because I would hate to think that I added to that stress with this whole mess of making you move in…well, the last thing I want to do is scare you away. Meri adores you, too.”

She swallowed hard and her stomach flipped as she stared into Craig’s eyes. He watched her with an intensity that should have scared her, but it only pulled her closer to him.

He leaned closer at the same time she leaned in.

Every part of her knew it was wrong, but it also felt perfectly right.

“Would it be okay if I kissed you?”

His breath hit her lips in warm, gentle puffs of air. Lucy swallowed hard and answered him with a slight nod.

The kiss was gentle. His lips were soft and almost soothing to her frayed nerves. A sigh escaped her lips, and she leaned in as they deepened their connection together.

It was over too soon. Craig sucked her lower lip gently as he pulled back.

He wiped away one last tear and cupped her cheek gently.

“I’m really glad you’re here, too, Lucy.”

ChapterFifteen

Craig feltlike he hadn’t slept more than a few hours a night in the last month. Between the new chocolatier taking over his kitchen at the Sugar Shack, the uptick in business as winter was finally left behind, and of course the not-so-simple matter of trying to avoid his growing feelings for Lucy, he was exhausted.

After their shared moment in the kitchen the night of the family dinner, and the kiss he could not stop obsessing about, his feelings for her had only become more intense. They hadn’t kissed again, but the lingering touches, the hugs good night in the kitchen that lasted a bit longer every evening, and the stolen glances across the room only increased his need to get her alone again.

But his brother’s comments were still very much in the forefront of his mind. He couldn’t screw things up with Lucy. There was more at stake here, and he needed to remember that, even if it was getting increasingly harder.

If Lucy was watching TV in the living room in the evenings, Craig made excuses to go to bed early, or putter in the garage until she’d gone to bed. As much as he wanted to spend time with her, he no longer trusted himself to keep things professional.

Instead of driving to work, Craig had opted to leave his car at home and walk the short distance to the plaza in the warm June sun. There hadn’t been anymore late late-season snow storms, so the grass had a chance to green up, and the leaves were popping on the trees in vibrant shades of green while the gardens of the little houses lining the streets were starting to fill with colorful blooms, too.

It was his favorite time in the mountains, when the weather was warm, but before the summertime crowds once more descended on their little town.

Not that he’d ever admit how much he enjoyed the shoulder seasons in town, not when his own business relied on the influx of tourists for its survival. Still, he enjoyed the slower pace while he could.

Including the opportunity to get a cup of coffee at the Bean Bag, his favorite coffee shop, without waiting in long lines.

The fresh aroma of roasting coffee drew him into the little shop on the corner of the plaza. Another shot of caffeine would definitely not be a bad idea.

No sooner had he ordered his dark roast with milk and turned to lean against the counter than he was recognized.

“Hey there, Craig.”

He scanned the room to find the source of the voice, nodding a greeting to a handful of others he knew before his gaze landed on Krysta. “Hi.” He accepted his coffee the barista handed him and made his way across the room toward the woman. “It’s been awhile,” he said when he approached.

There was a selection of product catalogs, dusted in muffin crumbs, spread out on the table in front of her.

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