Chapter Nine
Chad lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling.
It was early. Or late. He supposed at two in the morning, it could be either.
And he wasn’t sleeping. His mind wouldn’t turn off.
Last night had been ... perfect. His mom decided she wanted to play gin rummy, and so he’d gotten out the cards and he, Britt, and his mom sat down to play. One game became two, which became five.
Britt turned out to be a ruthless competitor, which was kind of a surprise because she didn’t exude a merciless vibe.
She was generally easygoing and kind of quiet.
But when it came to winning the card game, she didn’t hold anything back.
And she gloated when she won too. In a good-natured way, but it was clear she wasn’t about to let anyone win just to be nice.
It had been a long time since Chad had seen his mom so relaxed.
When she began yawning, he’d encouraged her to head off to bed.
He and Britt had stayed downstairs, moving to the couch to watch Deadpool on TV.
It was her suggestion, which once again was a surprise.
He supposed he was stereotyping, but that was probably the last movie he would’ve assumed she’d pick.
When it was over, they talked. About his childhood, about growing up in Maine and on Lobster Cove.
Some of the shenanigans he and his brothers got into.
She encouraged him to tell her more about his dad, and it felt great to share how much the man had meant to him.
It wasn’t until after he’d been talking for what seemed like forever that he realized she hadn’t reciprocated.
She hadn’t opened up about her own family.
When he’d asked and she’d abruptly changed the subject to this morning and the birthday-breakfast surprise they were planning for Evelyn, Chad let it drop.
If she didn’t want to talk about her mother, he wasn’t going to force her.
But it made him all the more determined to make her stay here at Lobster Cove a good experience.
When they decided it was late and they should get some sleep so they could be up early to make breakfast, they’d ended up standing outside her bedroom door together for a long moment. It had felt an awful lot like walking a woman to her door after a date.
And it hit Chad that he wanted to kiss her. Wanted to take her in his arms, push open her door, and lay her out on the bed.
Which wasn’t too surprising. From the moment they’d met, and especially since they’d practically been living together, he’d definitely noticed their attraction.
And he hadn’t seen one thing about her so far that turned him off.
She didn’t gossip about people behind their backs.
She was insightful, considerate, positive.
She didn’t let little bumps in the road that came with running a business throw her off.
Britt was great with the guests, taking care of their questions and concerns without needing a lot of guidance from him or his mom.
And while cleaning the cabins between guests wasn’t anyone’s favorite thing to do, she certainly did a thorough job.
Didn’t cut any corners, wanting each group to feel as if they were getting their money’s worth in the hopes they’d come back the next summer.
She wasn’t perfect, which would’ve been a deal-breaker for Chad anyway. He didn’t want a Stepford wife. He wanted someone who could laugh at her mistakes, who wasn’t afraid to get dirty, who didn’t expect everyone around her to cater to her every need.
The first time he’d gotten a glimpse of Britt before she was showered and ready for the day, she’d come downstairs for some coffee in a pair of sweatpants with holes literally all over them.
They were ratty as hell and obviously several years old.
Her T-shirt wasn’t much better. Her hair was sticking up, and she had a mark on her face he assumed was from her pillow.
She looked like she’d just been on a weeklong bender.
Instead of being mortified that he’d caught her looking like that, she paused when she spotted him, then simply shrugged and made her way to the coffeepot.
He’d gaped at her as she chatted with his mom for a minute, seemingly unconcerned that she was looking ... less than her best. She was so comfortable in her own skin—which was a huge turn-on for Chad.
More than that, he loved how she looked people in the eyes when they spoke, giving them her entire attention.
How she pitched in to help with just about any job at Lobster Cove.
How, when she’d been sprinkling salt on a bowl full of eggs and the top popped off, ruining the food, she hadn’t had a meltdown, just laughed and immediately started a new batch.
All that was small stuff, though. It was how she treated people that earned Chad’s respect.
Walt, Barry, Camden, the little neighbor boy, Kash, Chad’s mom and his brothers, the guests .
.. it didn’t matter who it was, Britt went out of her way to be respectful.
To be kind and helpful and compassionate.
It might be her retail background, but Chad had a feeling it was simply who she was at her core.
Even when she didn’t particularly like someone, like Otis, she didn’t talk smack about him, was always polite and considerate.
Oh, she got moody. There were a few evenings when she’d been antisocial, going to her room after dinner instead of hanging out. But overall, she was easy to get along with.
So when Chad stood with her in front of her door a few hours ago, he couldn’t stop wanting to kiss her. Even after they’d said a somewhat awkward good night and he’d gone to his room, he could see her lips in his mind. Could see the interest he was feeling reflected back in her eyes.
She was an employee. Was living in the same house. It would be wrong to take advantage of that. But it was extremely difficult to see her day after day and not let her know how much he was coming to care about her. How attracted he was to her.
A loud clap of thunder shook the house, making Chad jerk on his bed. He knew there was supposed to be a big storm sometime during the night, and now it sounded as if it was almost on top of them.
The longer he listened, the louder the wind howled. Chad couldn’t remember when he’d been through a stronger storm. True, he hadn’t lived in Maine for a while, but even while growing up, he didn’t remember the storms being this crazy.
Since he wasn’t sleeping anyway, he got out of bed and went over to the window and peered out.
It was dark, so he couldn’t see much, but the light that his mom kept on all the time over the back door illuminated just enough of the yard for him to see the pine trees around the house swaying ferociously back and forth in the wind.
The rain was coming down almost sideways, and he winced, regretting that he and his brothers hadn’t been able to get the roof replaced before this particularly vicious summer storm decided to come through.
He was thinking about everything that would need to be done tomorrow—well, later today—to clean up.
There would be branches all over the yard.
He prayed none of the trees around the property fell onto any of the vehicles waiting to be fixed at the auto body shop.
He’d need to check out the roof of not only the main house but the guesthouses as well.
And hopefully the kayaks weren’t blowing away right that second.
Chad was still lost in thought about all the work ahead of him when a noise at his door caught his attention. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw someone in his doorway. For a second he thought it was his mom, and concern shot through him ... but then recognition set in.
“Britt?” he asked, turning to face her.
Before she could speak, a bolt of lightning lit up the room, and immediately afterward came a deafening clap of thunder. The raging storm was right on top of them.
Britt clapped her hands over her ears with a grimace, then, without a word, she rushed into the room and headed straight for him.
She flung her arms around his neck and buried her face against his throat.
Instinctively, Chad’s arms wrapped around her, holding her tight. He could feel her trembling almost uncontrollably. “Britt?” he asked again. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“S-storm,” she stuttered, the warmth of her lips and breath seeping into his skin.
It was then Chad realized he wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of boxers, and Britt had on only the ratty T-shirt she apparently always wore to bed. Her legs were bare, and he could feel her soft thighs pressed against his own as she plastered herself against him.
His first thought was how good ... how right ... she felt in his arms.
His second was ... Oh shit, this is totally inappropriate.
She didn’t even seem to notice their states of undress. Another bolt of lightning lit up the room, and he felt her stiffen against him right before the thunder cracked. A tiny cry escaped her lips, and he didn’t think it was possible, but she managed to burrow even closer.
It finally dawned on him then. She was utterly terrified . Of the storm.
Wanting nothing more than to comfort her, Chad backed her up until they were away from the window, then slowly turned to sit on the edge of his bed.
To his surprise, instead of sitting next to him, Britt literally crawled into his lap.
She straddled his thighs and pressed her chest against his.
It was as intimate a position as he’d ever been in with a woman, but it wasn’t because she was horny.
She was still shaking like a leaf and seemed honestly freaked out.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, attempting to scoot backward so he could lean against his headboard. A task made all the more difficult because Britt was deadweight against him. She was holding on to him so tightly, not one inch separated them.