Page 102 of Resting Beach Face
Cash chuckled. “I know, right?”
“When are you going?” Brooks asked.
“Well—” Cash looked up from his phone and his gaze landed on me. “Declan?”
I held up his wallet. “You forgot this.”
“Oh.” He reached out. “Thanks.”
I slapped it into his hand with a little too much force. “I’ll let you get back to talking about that date with Danny.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, no, Dec. It’s not what you think.”
“It’s okay,” I said, though it definitely wasn’t okay. My throat was closing up and my insides had turned ice-cold. “This always happens. I’m used to it.”
“No, no, no,” he said as I turned away.
He caught my hand, tugging me back around, and raised his hands to cup my face. “It’s not a real date, Declan. It’s just a favor.”
“A favor? I don’t…”
“He wants to make Abe jealous. You know, Abe, at Hot Buns? That’s who Danny wants. He just needed a friend to play along. It’s only a fake date.”
“But maybe it should be real,” Brooks broke in. “Since you’re leaving Swallow Cove and Cash, anyway. There’s no real reason for you to be jealous, is there?”
“Brooks,” Cash said sharply. “I’d never go on a real date with someone else.” His eyes met mine. “For as long as you’re here, Declan, I am, too. I know you got that call about a job and you’re probably leaving soon, but until that happens, I’m withyou.I want every moment I can have with you, okay?”
It took me a minute to process everything. Cash wasn’t seeking out another man to date. He wouldn’t do that to me. He said so. But Brooks was right. I’d not given him any reason yet to think I was staying. In fact, that call from Leland had given him the wrong idea entirely. If Cashhadbeen making a real date, I’d have no room to be upset.
“Declan?” Cash prompted. “Do you hear me?”
I sucked in a breath. “Yes, but I’m not going to leave.”
“What?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk about at dinner. I’m going to stay in Swallow Cove. With you. If you’re sure you really want to tie yourself to me and not date other men? I know I’m not the easiest?—”
He threw his arms around me, cutting off the rest of my words. “Of course I want to be with you! Are youkiddingme? I’m batshit crazy for you.”
I laughed. “I’m a little crazy for you, too.”
He drew back, eyes bright as they met mine. “Just a little, huh?”
“A lot,” I confessed. “I can’t leave you. Not now.”
“But you don’t want the B&B.”
“No, I don’t.”
“And that call this morning?—”
“I’m looking for remote work,” I said. “I’m hoping I can do it from my home office here in Swallow Cove.”
“Took you long enough,” Brooks grumbled.
Cash shot him an annoyed look. “Can you stop?”
“No, he’s right. I should have talked to you sooner, but you had all that stuff going on with your dad, and I didn’t want to put more on your plate. I just wanted to be there for you, not make demands for me.”
