Page 13 of Honey Bee Library
A huge, colossal mistake, and one that I was determined never to make again.
Desperate to keep that man out of my thoughts, I made a point to avoid running into Cole during the brunch rush. I kept to the far side of the diner and made sure to count to five before I pushed through the door to the kitchen, just in case he was on his way out.
By the time the dining room cleared out, I was exhausted and needed a nap, which was ironic since these last two nights had been the first time I’d slept well in what felt like forever. The bed had been so soft and so warm, and as soon as my head hit the pillow each night, I was out.
Apparently, I’d been so dead to the world that I never heard Jasper leave.
“You okay?” Breia asked.
I startled and turned to see her tucking her order pad and pen into her apron. I was standing in front of the kitchen door on my tiptoes so I could peer through the small window at the top. “What?” I asked as I dropped down and forced my brain to process the correct response to her question.
She raised an eyebrow. “You okay?” she asked again, this time slower and more drawn out. “You look like you’re hiding from a serial killer.”
I blew out my breath and attempted to relax the muscles in my face. “I do?” I asked as I rolled my shoulders and stepped away from the door.
Breia nodded as she followed me. “Yeah, you do.”
I reached up and massaged my cheeks. “I’m just stressed,” I finally said as I dropped my hands to my side. “Cole being here stresses me out.”
Breia glanced over to the kitchen door and rose up onto her tiptoes before she returned her heels to the ground. “I get that. He stresses me out, too.” She fiddled with the bottom corner of her apron. “Has he told you how long he’s expecting to stay?”
I shook my head. “No.” There was so much about Cole that he kept hidden from me, and I hated it. Especially since he knew so much about me. He got to see me when I was at my most vulnerable. And in those moments, he’d taken care of me. He made me chicken noodle soup and he’d brought me back to his home when I had nowhere else to go. But then he would snap at me when I asked him questions about his life and had waved a contract in my face, demanding that I give up half my diner.
Cole Watkins was the male embodiment of hot and cold. And I never knew what temperature he would be.
“If you’re going to hide from him for the foreseeable future, can I join you?”
I gave her an exasperated look. “No.” I sighed. “I just…need a few moments away from him.”
Suddenly a knowing look passed over her face. “Ah. I think I know what’s wrong.”
“What?” I narrowed my eyes as I drew the word out.
“You like him.” She started nodding.
“No.”
She kept nodding. “Yes, you do.”
“No, no, no,” I repeated as I reached out and grabbed her arm in an attempt to get her to stop nodding. “I do not like him. He’s just…hard to read.”
Breia stopped nodding, but her lips were pursed in a knowing expression. “Sure.”
“Breia,” I said, my voice desperate. The last thing I needed was for her to entertain this theory and run wild with it. She wasn’t the best at keeping secrets, which meant it was only a matter of time before she shared her theory with anyone who would listen. With the way my luck was going, that moment would happen when Cole was in earshot. “I don’t like him.”
She studied me. I knew I was going to have to give her something more.
“I spent last night at his house.”
“What?” Breia yelled before she slapped her hand across her mouth. Her eyes were wide. “You did what?” she whisper-yelled at me.
“Listen, I’ve been…homeless the last few nights. Cole found out and offered his place to Jasper and me.”
“You’ve been homeless?” she asked.
“Yes.” That wasn’t the point of this conversation.
“What happened?”
