Page 129 of The Accidental Innkeeper

Blast off!

I tackled him like a pro wrestler with poor impulse control, and we collapsed onto the rug laughing, naked limbs tangled.

Alex grabbed me and pulled me beneath him. The feeling of his weight on top of me, the weight of a man, triggered something feral in me, and I pressed tighter to him. His rough, callused hands slid over my body, caressing me and sending shivers through me. I’d felt so empty for so long, and now I wanted to be full of him. I ran my hands over the cords of muscles on his back, pulling him to me.

And just like that, every lingering insecurity packed up and left town.

What followed was a blur of closeness and laughter mixed with heat, of kisses that made my toes curl and moments where I forgot how words worked entirely. He knew exactly what he was doing, and worse… he seemed very pleased about it.

I clung to him, kissed him, and pulled him closer, determined to stay right where I was. Wherever this was. With him.

And when we finally moved together, completely and without hesitation, I let myself stop overthinking and simply feel. Which, it turned out, was very much my new favorite thing.

Okay. Now I was ready to celebrate. Fully. Enthusiastically. With a man I cared about who thought I was hot.

And for the first time ever, I didn’t want the lights off.

I wanted them on. All of them.

28

SARAH

By eight-thirty in the morning, someone had already complained about the coffee, the stairs, and the lack of almond milk.

I considered this a win.

“Just so you know,” said Jules Hollands, the woman in room 205, who’d dyed her upper-lip mustache blonde in a misguided attempt at camouflage. It didn’t. She clutched her mug like it was giving off a chemical smell. “The coffee tastes… aggressive.”

“That’s because it’s strong,” I said. “It has to carry us emotionally through the day.” I laughed. She didn’t.

Which was fine. Not everyone appreciated humor before caffeine. Or just my humor.

“It gets better after the second sip,” I said. “Less aggressive. More supportive.”

She took a sip, nodded once, and wandered off toward the dining room, already distracted by a basket of carrot muffins.

I turned and leaned back on the front desk, mentally ticking through my morning list. Sheets swapped. Breakfast mostly survived. The east hallway window was still sticking, but at least it wasn’t whistling like a haunted teapot anymore. Two stairs near the top floor still wobbled, but they wobbled in a predictable way now, which I could live with.

I opened my laptop and pulled up the booking app. It had been just about a month since the first time I stepped into this inn. A month ago, this list would’ve sent me into a spiral. Now, glancing at it, it just meant I needed more coffee.

Progress.

Progress also looked like I’d finished the first draft of my new paranormal romance. I still needed maybe three weeks to edit before sending it off to Margarette, but I was ahead of my deadline, which basically made me feel like a responsible adult. Briefly. Even better, I knew, deep in my gut, that this book was the best thing I’d ever written. Oh, and I’d already plotted two more in the series.

Margarette was not emotionally prepared for this.

The sound of heels coming down the stairs pulled my attention around. “Darling, I like that top on you,” said Lola as she came around the front desk. “It makes your breasts fuller.”

“Why thank you.” Yup. I could always count on Lola to cut through the bullshit.

She had on a beautiful peach floral dress that hit just below the knee. Her blonde hair was in loose, modern waves. On her arm was a man around her age, which surprised me. But what didn’t surprise me was that he was handsome and muscular like he bench-pressed trees for fun with short gray hair and neatly trimmed beard in a blue suit that moved like liquid water.

“Hope we didn’t keep you up last night,” she purred, running a hand over the man. “Henry here has the stamina of a bull.”

Oh, boy.

Henry grinned and leaned to whisper something in Lola’s ear. She pushed him away playfully and said, “I’ll see you later. Oh, and Henry, you better kiss me with that dirty mouth of yours.”