He chuckled. “Allow me.” He unclipped the strap and then lifted the helmet off her head.
“Thank you.” She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders. “I’m going to get changed and run to the grocery store. Need anything?”
He considered the question. “We’re getting low on eggs.”
“Anything else?” she asked, and he shook his head. “Okay then. See you later.” She gave him a little wave before heading toward the house with a spring in her step.
Cade placed the helmets on a shelf in the garage.
Bryant meowed and rubbed against his shin.
“I guess it’s time to feed you.” Cade and Bryant climbed the steps to the apartment, and just as Cade set the bowl full of cat food on the floor, his phone rang.
Roger’s name lit up the screen. “What’s up, Rog?” he asked.
“I could’ve sworn I saw you riding through town with a redhead on the back of your bike.”
Cade plucked a can of Coke from the refrigerator. “You following me?” He flopped down on the sofa and opened the can, which fizzed in response.
“You and Everleigh looked good on the bike together.”
Instead of responding, Cade took a long draw from the can. He wasn’t going to admit out loud just how much he had enjoyed having Everleigh on the back of his bike, feeling her pressed against him.
“I haven’t talked to you in a while. What’s new?”
“Not much. How about you?” He wasn’t sure it was time to share about Declan and the drama with his mother yet.
“Well, I’ve been out with Quinn a few times.”
“How’s that going?”
“Great.” He could hear Roger’s smile in his voice. “Have you had any bites on the place?”
Cade set the can on the end table. “A couple more developers came by, but Everleigh turned them down. That’s been it so far. I’m still hoping she gives up and tells me to run it while she goes back on the road.” Even as he said the words, he dreaded the idea of Everleigh leaving. That said, there was no way he and Everleigh could ever be more than friends. Any other notion seemed ridiculous.
“Did anything happen with that guy that was at the beach?”
“Which guy?”
“The one who was hanging around Everleigh?”
Cade frowned. “He was here the other night and helped her paint the sunroom.”
“Is she seeing him?”
The cat jumped up on the back of the sofa and rubbed his head against Cade’s shoulder. “She says she isn’t seeing him, buthe’sdefinitely interested.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Areyouinterested in her?”
“No.” Cade angled his body toward the cat and began massaging his fuzzy ear. Bryant relaxed over the back of the sofa and purred with his eyes closed. “Regardless of what happens with the inn, she’s not staying in town anyway.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“Just stating a fact. If the right buyer comes along, maybe we’ll sell the B&B. And if not, she’ll go back to working as a traveling nurse, and I’ll run the place myself. End of story.”