Page 29 of Trusting You
“I understand. I really like working here. And I’m committed to seeing things through to the end of the year.”
“Exactly. We have a ton of work to do together.”
“Yes, so much work.”
We both stood there nodding at each other like idiots. She took pity on me and broke the silence first. “And I just got out of a long-term relationship. And I’m not staying in Havenport. So there’s no point in exploring this further anyway.”
“Yes. Of course. And I need to be focused on saving my business right now.”
“Of course you do.”
This was good. We were acting like mature, responsible adults. We were going to crush it at work and ignore whatever this was between us. I could control my lust and be a good boss and friend. No problem. Crisis averted.
Cece took another huge bite of her taco. “Oh my God, this is delicious. She is cute and can cook. You should marry her and have lots of babies.”
“I can’t do that. I am not into her.” I paused, willing the words to stay in my mouth, but they escaped. “I’m into someone else.”Shit. Stop. Wrong thing to say. Walk it back. Shut it down. Stop flirting and get your head on straight. We just established that we can’t do this. Stop fucking it up.
I needed to pivot out of this conversation. “And I can’t date her, or I’d weigh four hundred pounds.”
“Oh, please.” She dramatically gestured to my torso. “This is natural-born hotness. A few tacos won’t make a difference.”
I laughed. “You know how much beer I drink. This,” I said, mimicking her gesture, “is hard to maintain.”
At least we were both laughing. I guess the sexual tension had been diffused. I finished my taco and looked at her. She was just so damn pretty and funny. The next few months were going to be torture.
“Well,” she said, wiping her hands on a napkin. “We’d better get back to work.”
I looked at her face. There was a bit of salsa verde on her bottom lip.
“Here,” I said, taking a step toward her. “You have something on your lip.”
I reached out with the pad of my thumb and gently wiped the salsa from her plump pink lip. Pure fire shot through my veins. I stood there, unsure what to do next. She met my eyes, and I saw undiluted lust mixed with defiance. It was unbearably hot. Before I knew what was happening, she opened her mouth and gently sucked my thumb, releasing it with a pop. My body froze, and for a second all I could feel was her wet tongue and her plump lips. Every ounce of blood in my body rushed south while my vision began to blur.
“Thanks,” she said, licking her lips. And then she turned and sauntered out of the kitchen, hips and ponytail swinging.
This woman was going to kill me. And I was going to enjoy every fucking second of it.
17
Liam
It had been another long,but productive day at the brewery. Things had really picked up in the last couple of weeks with the expanded weekend hours, which left me behind on a lot of maintenance projects. We had cleaned and sanitized all the lines in the keg room, and I was inspecting everything when I heard a scraping sound in the taproom. I peered around the corner and saw Cece, sitting at the bar with her laptop, looking super focused. She looked at home at my bar, at peace. She was clearly engrossed in what she was doing, but she also seemed serene and less jumpy than when she had first started. It was late, after seven, and I couldn’t help but notice how the low light made her look like an angel. Her curly hair was wild in a halo around her face, and I could see her long, dark lashes casting shadows on her freckled cheeks. She really was beautiful, and I was hoping that one of these days I would stop noticing. I could not afford to be distracted.
“Whatcha working on?”
She looked flustered. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize you were still here.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m always here. I don’t want to disturb you.”
“Just finishing up some things. I’m editing some of the photos I took on my laptop and I didn’t feel like driving home yet. I can get going.”
That was the last thing I wanted. The pull to keep her here with me was so strong. “No, stay. It’s nice to have company. I’m just cleaning and dealing with some paperwork.”
I walked around to where she was sitting. “Show me what you’re working on.”
She blushed and broke eye contact. “Just some shots I took last week.”
I stepped behind her and leaned over her shoulder, placing both my hands on the bar around her. From this angle, I was hit with the lavender smell of her hair and the warmth of her body heat.
