Page 61 of Resting Beach Face
“You must enjoy working there,” I said. “You’re a natural with my guests.”
“Do I sense a hint of annoyance in your tone?” Cash asked with a grin.
I huffed. “Well, it’s tough enough to get them to like me without you showing up like the damn guest whisperer and making me look bad.”
Cash lowered his beer bottle. “Shit, I was never trying to do that. I’m sorr?—”
“No, no.” I chuckled. “I made that sound like a complaint, but it wasn’t.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“I envy your ease with people, Cash. I admire it.”
“Oh.”
“And when you’re at breakfast, conversation is so effortless. I didn’t realize until you joined us the other morning. It was true, even when you were here with another guest. I’d forgotten, because—” I hesitated, but Cash’s gaze was fixed on me, so intent and interested in what I had to say, that I couldn’t hold back. “Because I didn’t like you being there for that reason.”
He grimaced. “I’m sorry.”
I squeezed his knee. “No, don’t apologize. You were free to sleep where you wanted.”
“But it’s your B&B. If you didn’t want me around, you should have said.”
“That’s not it, Cash,” I said, frustration leaking into my tone. “I always want you around, and that scares the shit out of me.”
Cash leaned toward me. “What? Declan, I’m?—”
He froze, face twisting as he let out a hiss.
“You’re in pain,” I said, setting aside my plate.
“Just a little sore,” he gritted out, raising his hand to hold his shoulder.
I rose and circled behind him, setting my hands on his shoulders. “May I touch you?”
“Yeah.” I gently squeezed his shoulders, and he groaned. “For future reference, you never have to ask.”
I pressed my thumb into a knot above his shoulder blade and he hissed again.
“Even when I hurt you?”
“Especially then,” he rasped.
My gut tightened at the tone. I recognized the sensation, though it had been a long time since I’d experienced it with anyone.
It made me nervous, and I turned my focus to working the knots out of his shoulders. His shirt bunched up, getting in the way. I reached down to tug at the hem.
“Is it okay if we take this off?”
“Now you’re undressing me too?” Cash murmured. “Naughty.”
I withdrew my hands. “Sorry. No. I?—”
Cash caught my hand as I retreated. “Kidding, Declan. Always. I respect your boundaries, and I always will, okay?”
I exhaled. “Yeah, of course. You’re such a flirt.”
He smiled sheepishly. “Guilty. Sorry about that.”
