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“Easy,” he says and gets up.
I’m so stressed I’ve spent this conversation pacing back and forth, wringing the end of my apron. Jesse grabs my arms and captures me with a gaze.
“Easy,” he says. “Your ideas are good. And as for me being a businessman, I’m not going to pretend I’m a professional, but Idabble in investments. I’ve got money saved up. If I didn’t, going on the campaign trail for sheriff would be difficult.”
“What are you saying?”
“That I think there’s another way we can excite the locals,” he says. “So, hear me out. The problem is that you don’t get as many tourists in the diner during the slow periods, right?”
“Right.”
I’m stubborn, and I’ve still got my doubts about Jesse, but I want to hear what he has to say.
He sweeps his hand over the back of his neck, then adjusts his neat uniform shirt. For a second, I picture stripping it off him.
“So, that means we need to get more locals interested, and not just Heatstrokers. I’m talking about people from Prickle Poppy Bay, Yonder, Santa Elena, the whole damn county. You could still do the burger eating contest, but what about outreach to those towns?”
I tap my chin.
“I like that. I feel like it would cost a lot of money, though.”
“I’ll help you.”
“Taylor.”
He draws up straight, his blue eyes narrowing.
“You’re my wife, fake or not, and I’m going to make sure I hold up my end of the bargain. That means making sure the guy who’s responsible for threatening you pays, and that your diner flourishes. I’m not going to take no for an answer when it comes to helping you with this. It’s not charity. It’s what we do for each other.”
I’m not used to leaning on anyone else, so the relief of what he’s said is foreign to me.
“Thank you,” I manage.
“Anything you need, Angel. I’ve got your back.”
And then he squeezes me into a hug that lights me up from the inside out.
Nothing has changed between us. He’s still the asshole who arrested Billy and who made my life hell growing up, but at the same time,it’s different.
And it scares me.
Twenty-Three
JESSE
I’m obsessedwith the way she smells. She’s got this gentle coconut thing going on this evening, and she comes out of the en suite bathroom with her hair wet, but fully clothed. We’re due at Ganny’s soon, and we haven’t discussed last night.
Probably better that way.
I’m convinced that if we talk about it, I’m going to lose it, push her up against the wall, and fuck her until she screams my name over and over and over?—
“Taylor?”
I blink up at her.
“Yeah.”
“You going to sit there, staring into space? Or are we going to get this show on the road?” She pulls a face. “I can’twaitto lie to your grandmother, who’s literally the only motherly figure I’ve ever had. Fun.”
