Page 18 of Save Me
“About the eminent domain stuff? Yesterday morning, while we were touring the course. You didn’t know anything about it?”
“He never mentioned it, but Henry always has a dozen projects on the go, with a hundred fires to fight. I don’t know how he keeps up with all of it.” She’s quiet for a moment, likely digesting what I’ve detailed—which is everything since the moment I stepped into the Sea Witch—while she scoops out jam from a pastry’s center with her index finger.
The longer I watch her do it, the more my base needs return to the forefront. “Seriously, can you eat that like a normal human being?”
Her finger pauses midway to her mouth to lick the jam off. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re killing me.” I may be laser focused on Sloane, but I’m, well,me, and I’ve imagined Abbi’s mouth doing that exact thing to my dick on more than one occasion. It’s a little distracting, to say the least.
Her eyes widen with understanding as they shift from her finger to me, down to the growing bulge in my pants. “Seriously? I’m a sweaty beached whale right now.”
“Shut up.” I chuckle.
Thankfully, she abandons the treat on the plate between us. “So, Henry actually banned you from this woman.”
“Basically, yes. And Belinda threw in her own threats.”
“And then you slept with her anyway.”
I open my mouth to argue in my defense, but she holds her sticky hand up.
“I’m not saying they had any right to make demands like that.”
I heave a sigh, relieved she’s not automatically taking Henry’s side.
“But this is a mess, Ronan. You know how Henry gets when it comes to business decisions and especially when someone’s trying to stop him.”
“Can you blame her for fighting it? That’s been her home all her life! Imagine if some massive company decided to open up next door to your parents’ place.” I’ve never been to the farm in Pennsylvania, but even Henry has admitted it’s beautiful countryside. “Or if Henry lostWolf Cove for whatever reason. That place means more to him than anywhere else. Especially his grandparents’ cabin.”
“That would devastate him, and he would fight it, tooth and nail,” she agrees. “But I don’t see how this will end well for Sloane.”
“I guarantee you all this eminent domain bullshit wouldn’t be a topic of conversation if he hadn’t lobbied for it.” Henry himself said the local government will do anything to please him. If he told them he doesn’t want an access road next door to the hotel, I’d bet they’d listen. “There’s got to be a way to change his mind.”
The pained look on Abbi’s face isn’t hopeful.
“I need your help. Sloane already wrote me off in the beginning because I worked here. I think she’s coming around, but she won’t want me within a hundred miles of her when she finds out about this, and I can’t lose her.” Not that I have her yet. But I’m fucking determined.
A soft smile curves her lips. “You really like this one, huh?”
“I can’t stop thinking about her,” I admit. “And when I’m with her, it’s like …” I struggle to find the right description. “Time stops, and I don’t give a shit about anything else. Does that make sense?”
“You’re such a romantic,” she teases.
“I don’t know what I am, but I haven’t felt like this about anyone since …” My voice fades
“Since Tasha,” she finishes, incorrectly.
I avert my gaze as I mumble, “Right.” Abbi never did seem to pick up on how I truly felt about her. Sure, at first, I was still hung up on my ex, but thosefeelings quickly faded as she took on a prominent place in my life that summer. I didn’t let on, though. I knew she was in love with Henry. Once they reconciled, all I cared about was keeping her in my life.
“Okay.” She reaches out to collect my hand in hers. “I don’t know how I can help, but I’ll try. I’ll do whatever I can.”
I hold on tight so she can’t pull away. “You’ve got to keep this between us for now.”
“Of course.”
“Henry figured out that I hooked up with her, but he thinks it’s the usual. He can’t know I have feelings for her. Not yet anyway.” All he cares about is his precious fucking business plans, and he’ll see this as an obstacle he has to crush. “I mean it, Abbi.” I never use her real name.
She nods emphatically.
