Page 72 of Dandelion Sighs

She grunted. “He should be respectful. You’re his bread and butter.”

“I do a lot more than butter his bread.” I chortled, mortified I’d said that to her and in front of a guy who’d known me since I was a baby.

She huffed out, and Carlton pretended nothing had happened as he rang me up.

I went through my transaction pretending the interaction didn’t bother me. The resort was Jasper’s bread and butter, but he had other options. He just wasn’t pursuing them. Was he waiting for something better? Or just coasting through life until I got tired of supporting him? He gave as much as he got. That was the difference.

But the commitment was missing. From him or me?

“Thanks,” I mumbled when Carlton handed me the bags of supplies.

On the way back to the resort, I couldn’t stop evaluating my relationship with Jasper. He wasn’t using me, and I could not let that woman put doubt in my head. I knew where I stood with him, and we weren’t pretending any differently.

He worked for me, and whatever his plans were for his life were not my business. We messed around. That was it. He wasn’t interested, and no matter how good he was in bed, how supported I felt, I could not go back on the promise I’d made myself when I left my ex to move here.

I wasn’t settling for less. I wanted a partner in everything, not just in the bedroom. Jasper was helping me with Bishop’s Landing, but he wasn’t committing to this job or even to Coal Haven. Not to me.

Jasper was my fun. My release. My friend. Nothing more.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jasper

I entered the side door of the resort with my haul from Rattler’s. The room Sheridan was using tonight was the same one I’d remodeled after the rain damage.

The weather report about possible storms tonight came through the door. I knocked. The sound went quiet, and her feet shuffled on the other side. I held up the to-go container from the restaurant so she could see through the peephole.

She cracked the door open. “I told you that you didn’t have to.”

“I know.” I had told her earlier I’d bring by a celebratory meal. She’d moved out and cleaned out the house. It was as ready as it would ever be for guests, and tonight there was a family of four renting it out for a whole week.

She stepped out of the way, and I went in.

“Nice pajamas.” They were pink-and-white-striped.

“I was catching up on admin stuff, and I wanted to be comfortable.”

“No complaints.” Not when the shirt molded around her tits the way it did, and her shorts rode higher on her thighs.

The blinds were closed, and her suitcase was open on the little table. Her laptop was open on the nightstand. The rest of her belongings and what she kept of her mom’s stuff was in the shop.

“Let me move that.” She closed her luggage and put it on the desk.

I set our food down, but a sour taste was filling my taste buds as I looked around. “It’s going to be a long week in this room.”

She shot me a smile as she retrieved two bottles of water out of the little fridge. “Are you saying these rooms are stifling and uncomfortable?”

After a week, yes. “They’re nice, but living and working out of them is different than staying for vacation.”

“It won’t be for the whole week.” She handed me a water and sat on the far side of the table. “We’re full tomorrow night, so I’ll sleep in my office.”

“The hell you will.” I pressed my hands on the table to emphasize my point. “You can stay at my place.”

“I can’t,” she said plainly.

“I have a bathtub.”

She opened her mouth and snapped it shut. The rooms had bathtub-shower combos, but it was harder to soak in a tub that needed to be cleaned and dry before guests checked in. “That’s a strong bargaining chip.”