Page 13 of Mine to Hold
That didn’t mean she couldn’t lease his pool house.
“I have one more question about your rental,” she said as they approached the walkway back to the main house.
“What’s that?”
“Is it fully furnished? I have nothing and that would be helpful.”
He laughed. “If you call a bed, a desk, a table, a couch, and a big-screen TV furnished, then yes, it is,” he said. “Oh, and it doeshave pots, pans, plates, and all that. Whatever it doesn’t have that you need, I’ll be happy to provide.”
“I don’t need much, so I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She tugged her hand away. The last thing she needed was anyone seeing that. She wasn’t sure why she allowed it to last as long as she had. Giving him the wrong impression wouldn’t be a good idea if she were to rent his pool house.
He pressed his hand on the small of her back and guided her back onto the pool deck. “Looks like some of my family has left.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
He shrugged. “I see them almost every day. It’s not the end of the world.”
“I should get going.” She tugged her shirt closed, fastening the buttons. “Thanks for showing me the beach. It was lovely. I’ll see you tomorrow after the lunch shift. I get off around four.”
“Let’s exchange numbers. I’ll still be on duty, so it’s possible something could happen that could cause me to be late. If that’s the case, we can meet at my place, but I wouldn’t want you to think I was standing you up.” He pulled his cell from his shorts. “Why don’t you put in your number and text yourself?”
She did as he requested. “We can meet later, if you’d like.”
“It’s fine. I’m working an overnight for my brother. Whenever any of us works a double like that, my mother forces us to take a couple of hours rest. Technically, it’s not until a little later, so I’ll need to leave my radio on in case a call comes over. But I can spare a couple of hours to show you the place and I’ve got to eat dinner anyway.”
“All right.” She handed over his phone. “I better be on my way.” She snagged her bag from behind the bar. “It was nice seeing you again and I look forward to checking out the pool house.”
“Drive safe.” He squeezed her biceps.
She nodded, turned on her heel, and made a beeline for the side entrance.
Hopefully, he’d be good with a three-month lease, because that’s all she intended to give this town. Save up a little money, have a few adventures, and then she’d be on her way south. If she didn’t like Miami, she’d check out the Keys.
Then make her way north through the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Vermont, Maine, maybe even New York.
There was still so much to see and experience.
She paused at her new vehicle—well, new to her—and glanced over her shoulder. The big house on the ocean stood tall and proud. In all her years, she’d never been inside anything so beautiful. Not even when she cleaned houses in a posh neighborhood outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. She sighed, dumping her bag into the passenger seat.
Lighthouse Cove certainly had been an unexpected stop that filled her gut with butterflies.
Something she hadn’t experienced in years.
Emmerson snagged a beer and strolled across the pool deck toward Jameson and Miles, who sat at the shallow end of the pool with their feet dangling in the water.
Jameson was the baby of the family, but he’d managed to pump out two little ones already. His oldest, he adopted shortly after she’d been born. His two younger ones came right after.
Miles was still single and he liked it that way. He was forty and had not a single prospect for a girlfriend in sight.
Neither did Emmerson.
Well, he was hoping Rumor had increased those odds.
“How’s it going?” Emmerson joined his brothers, easing his feet into the warm water.
“We should be asking you that.” Jameson laughed. “Did you get yourself a date?”
“I wouldn’t call it that.” Emmerson took a long slow draw from his beer.
