Loathe at First Sight: A small-town enemies to lovers romance: The Lawsons: Book 1 (The Lawson's)

32. Remarkably Unhelpful

thirty-two

Liz

“Okay, beautiful, you have to tell me what’s going on,” Jack says. We moved into his bed where I got him naked to cuddle me.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Well, you show up here, soaking wet…in more than one way.” He winks. “And you tell me your car broke down, and then, you take off all your clothes. Mind you, I’m not complaining, but it seems like there may be an underlying problem.”

Without making eye contact, I say, “Esther officially decided to sell the inn.”

He rubs his hand over his face, starting with his eyes and ending at his beard. “Shit, Liz, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t even know why I’m so upset,” I admit. “I didn’t even really want this job. I took it because I had no other options. But then, I started, and it felt like maybe there was somewhere in this town that I still fit. That sounds silly.”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s okay to change your mind about things. You changed your mind about me.”

“True,” I manage to give him a small smile. “I just can’t believe the inn is closing. That thing’s been around longer than I’ve been alive.”

“Based on what everyone says, I’m surprised it’s not busier. Everybody seems to love it.”

“It used to be way more popular. When I was younger, guys would stay there long-term because they were working at the lumber yards. They’d rotate in and out for weeks at a time. But a lot of the surrounding towns built more housing, so it wasn’t needed as much. The workers just moved closer. At one point, a company came in to try to turn Lilly Leaf Falls into a cute little tourist town.”

“What happened with that?” He asks.

“People around here don’t like outsiders coming in to tell them what’s wrong with their town.”

“Even if that person is trying to help?”

“What if someone came into your shop and tried telling you how to run it? Even if they were just trying to be helpful?”

He gives a curt nod. “Point taken.”

“They wanted to come in and market it like a cute little Gilmore Girls town or something, but everyone was pretty quick to run them out of town. Every once in a while, the inn will get a slew of people, but not often enough to keep it afloat I guess.”

He pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head. I know that he has no idea what to say, but his just being here is nice.

“You know, we stayed there for a little while when I was a kid,” I say.

“Why? Didn’t you guys always live here?”

“Yeah, but our house was being treated for termites, and we couldn’t stay there for a couple of weeks while it was being tented. So, we all stayed at the inn. My sisters and I would pretend that we were princesses living in a palace. I fell in love with it back then.”

“I bet as a kid, it all seemed pretty grand.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I say in not much more than a whisper.

Not wanting to get too deep in my emotions, I say, “Speaking of my family, my siblings have asked me to have a sleepover tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“Well, Ronnie asked me to come. Mom and Dad are out of town, and she thought it would be fun to hang out at their house and have sibling time or whatever.”

“That sounds nice,” he replies. “I always wanted to have siblings that were close like that.”

“What were your siblings like?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t have any.”

“You’re an only child?”

He nods. “Yep.”

I scoff. “Well, that explains a lot.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, starting to tickle her.

Through her laughs, I squeal, “Stop! You’re going to make me pee!”

When he stops, I catch her breath and say, “You better be careful. I’m a biter.”

As if completely out of the blue, he asks, “Have you ever been to Miami?”

“Nope. Been to other places in Florida but never Miami. Why?”

“Well, next week, I was going to go down and surprise my mom for a short little visit. It’s her 60th birthday. Maybe you’d like to tag along?”

My mouth drops open. “You want me to come to Miami to meet your mom?”

“Well, that wouldn’t be the only reason for the trip,” he explains. “You and I could go sit on a beach for a couple of days.”

“I do like beaches.”

“Plus, I don’t exactly like it when I have to go back. Having you there would help, I think.” He takes one of my loose curls and tucks it behind my ear.

“Well, when you put it like that, I think it would be nice.”

“Really?” He looks surprised.

“Really. I know what it’s like having to go back to a place that feels…hostile. You feel like you just don’t fit in anymore. I get it. It was like that for me coming back here, but when you and I spend time together, it helps. You’re that person for me, so I will be that person for you.”

He pulls me in and gives me a soft kiss. “I can’t believe you and I are here right now. We were both so wrong about each other.”

“I don’t know that we were completely wrong,” I say.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m still hard-headed and difficult, and you are still on your way to becoming a literal lumberjack.”

“Oh, here we go.” He laughs.

“I’m just saying can we get rid of some of the flannel?”

He gives a smug, “Nope.”

“Why not? I can’t see all your sexy tattoos when you’re covered up with flannel.”

“Maybe I want you to be the only person who sees all my tattoos.”

My mouth wiggles back and forth as I ponder his comment. “Hm. I kind of like that.”

“Good.” He props his head up on his hand, trying to get more comfortable. “So, have you thought about what you’re going to do since Esther is closing the inn?”

“Nope. I’m hoping that if I ignore it, the problem will just go away.”

“That sounds like a healthy approach,” he says sarcastically.

“I’m just trying to avoid thinking about the idea of having to move back in with my parents. I think the embarrassment of having to do that twice in less than a year may just kill me.”

“You can always stay here if you need to.”

My head snaps to look at him so fast that I practically give myself whiplash. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”

“When you put it like that, it seems much more extravagant than it did in my head. I guess I could have asked it in a better way, huh?” He thinks for a moment. “But yeah. You could move in here if you needed to. It would be much easier for me to get you naked all the time if we were under the same roof.”

“Well, that may be true, and I’m flattered, but I think that I need to find somewhere else to stay.” Realizing that may have come out sounding mean, I add, “It’s not that I don’t want to stay here. But I am trying to rebuild my life. I think that some stuff, I just need to do on my own.”

I lean in to kiss him. “But thank you.”

“The offer still stands if you need it.”

“And I will keep that in mind. First, I just need to find a new job.”

He looks at me. “How much do you know about working on cars?”

“Hmm. I know that they take oil. That’s about it. I’d make a terrible mechanic.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “But you’d be fun to look at. By the way, what’s wrong with your car?”

“I have no idea. I spent way too much money on that car for it to be a piece of crap. At this point, I’m about to give up on it.”

“Just let me know where it is. Tomorrow, I’ll go pick it up and bring it back here.”

“Thank you…again.”

“You’re welcome.” His fingers lightly trail along my skin as he speaks. “If you could do anything in the world with your life, what would it be?”

I think for a minute because I haven’t given that question much thought. “I guess I would just want to be a business owner. That’s what I loved about my life back in LA. Yes, I was a realtor, which I enjoyed, but the part I liked most was running my own business. I got to set my own schedule and do things my own way. I guess I’d like to do that again.”

“What’s stopping you?”

I hold up my fingers to start counting as I list things off. “No money. No collateral to get any type of loan. No one will take me seriously after my previous failings. Besides, I have no idea what kind of business I would want to get into.”

I look up and point my finger at him. “Stop with that face.”

“What face?”

“The face that assures me you are thinking of ways to help. While it’s appreciated, I want to try to do this on my own. I’ve done it once, and I can do it again.”

He exhales a heavy sigh. “Alright, alright. I will be remarkably unhelpful.”

“Well, I could think of a few things that you could help me with.”

“And what would those be?”

“Most of them require me having multiple orgasms.”

With a wicked smile, he rolls over on top of me, beginning to kiss every inch of me. “I think I can definitely help with that.”