Page 18 of Pinch of Love

I chuckled and shook my head. “I hadn’t really thought of my observations as issues.”

“I’m a grown man who can’t let go of my pets.” His brow arched into a sexy smirk. “That’s got to be some sort of fodder for analyzing mental health conditions.”

Shaking my head, our eyes connected, and it felt like every cell in my body electrified with hope.

Hope for what? I had no idea. I slid my suddenly moist palms down the skirt of my dress and hoped for the best.

“I just think you’re sentimental and sweet,” I promised.

“Even if I’m a grump?”

“Jury is still out on that assessment.” I winked at him, feeling less embarrassed. “But I must tell you that you have impeccable taste in wallpaper and décor.”

Cash’s beautiful smile stayed on his lips as I finally let out the breath I’d been holding deep inside that had felt trapped between my ribs.

“Was it Rob who made you cry?” he asked, his smile turning tender.

“He said some nasty things. Some things that scared me, actually.” I straightened, thinking back to his parting words.I’ll make you pay in more ways than you can imagine. I’ll expose you for the fraud you are, and that’s if I don’t bury you alive first.

Cash studied my features, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy to hide the truth from him, but I was embarrassed.

Embarrassed that I’d let myself fall into this kind of abusive relationship. Embarrassed that I almost married the man who dealt the verbal blows. And embarrassed that I’d cried over a man who enjoyed hurting me.

I looked into Cash’s eyes and squared my shoulders. No, I wouldn’t be telling Cash what Rob had told me. Buttercup Lake was about starting over to get a fresh perspective on life. My attorneys would handle Rob and the business side of that catastrophe. I would handle the doomed relationship.

“So, I’m guessing you won’t answer his next call or text?” Cash asked.

“Definitely not.” I shook my head. “I actually took the bait. He sounded somewhat rational in the last text and voicemail, so I thought I’d give him a call. But the truth of the matter is that he just wants my business.”

“Which is therapy?” Cash clarified.

“A little more than that.” I cleared my throat and cocked my head at this near stranger, wondering why I could speak so freely with him.

I mean, the view didn’t hurt as I looked at him and spoke, but there was definitely more to it than that.

My cheeks blushed, and I looked down at the floor when I realized what it was.

Cash made me feel safe.

“I, umm... I developed an app for therapy that lets people access a licensed therapist anytime they need. Mental health doesn’t just wait for Monday mornings at eight o’clock.”

Cash folded his arms across his broad chest and didn’t take his gaze away from me. “No, the brain doesn’t wait for office hours.”

I nodded, seeing a glimmer of something surface behind his gaze.

“Things tend to go to hell in a handbasket around Saturday night at around eleven, judging by the cars in the bar parking lots,” he added.

“Exactly. When we need a little extra encouragement or someone to listen or guide us, it might be on off-hours. So, my app has done really well filling that void, and Rob wants to take it all away from me.” I sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“He sounds like a real jerk.” His jaw ticked, and I hid a smile.

I nodded. “He’s been that way since I met him, but I just kept thinking it was me.”

Cash furrowed his brows. “You kept thinking that you were the jerk or that you were making him the jerk?”

When he said it that way, I chuckled. “I guess that I was the one making him be a jerk.”

“Impossible.” He let his arms hang down. “Anyone who lugs around polka dot luggage can’t be a jerk, especially when the bags are red.”

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