“It’s really no big deal.”
And it wasn’t. I was an old hand at mending, having acquired much of my wardrobe from second-hand shops over the years. I knew how to sew a hem and replace a seam and re-attach a missing button. Most of my clothes looked far more expensive than they were because I’d hand-tailored them to fit my exact measurements.
“It’s a big deal to me,” the woman said, carefully setting down the pincushion in the corner of her desk, as though terrified any sudden movements would cause the needle to spontaneously un-spool. “And it will be to my son as well. You’re saving the entire inn from a full-blown Martian meltdown.”
I shrugged, feeling suddenly embarrassed. “Well, we wouldn’t want an intergalactic incident on our hands.”
She laughed and her whole face lit up in the process. “Anyway… Now that you’ve solved my problems, what can I do for you? Are you checking in?” For the first time since we’d arrived, she looked past me to the man hovering at my back. Her eyes widened as she took in his tall form. “Oh! Detective Hightower! I didn’t even see you there.”
Was I mistaken, or were the pretty receptionist’s cheeks turning pink at the mere sight of my handsome cop?
Not that he wasmine.
He was just?—
I cut off the train of thought before it could further develop, but there was no shaking the unpleasant feeling that settled in the pit of my stomach as I studied the admiration in the receptionist’s eyes — no longer directed my way, but shining like a spotlight directly on Cade Hightower.
“Georgia,” he greeted her, stepping up beside me. We were so close, our shoulders were almost brushing. I fought the urge to sidle away. “How are you doing?”
“Oh, me?” Yep, her cheeks were definitely pink — and growing pinker by the second. “I’m fine, just fine.”
“And the boys?”
“They’re good.” She looked back at me. “Or, they will be, thanks to your girl, here.”
“I’m not his girl,” I said immediately.
“Glad to hear it,” Cade said, his words muffling mine.
“So…” Her gaze shifted back and forth between us. “You’ll be needing a room for two, then?”
“No!”I practically screamed.
The receptionist flinched, startled by my yell.
“We don’t— We aren’t together!” I forced myself to speak in a (slightly) more reasonable tone. “We just met, like, twenty minutes ago. He’s practically a stranger.”
“Okie dokie,” the receptionist said slowly, looking at me like I had a few screws loose. “Room foroneit is…”
Cade seemed to be choking down laughter. “Thanks, Georgia. I’m just here making sure she gets settled in all right.”
I turned to face him. “And you’ve done so. See? I’m settled. Now, you can go.”
He planted one hip against the reception desk and leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest, looking for all the world like he was modeling for some kind of police department fundraising calendar. (October had never been so sexy.)
“Georgia,” he said, addressing her even though his eyes never shifted from me. “What’s the going rate here at The Sea Witch, these days?”
“Standard rooms start at one-twenty a night.”
A chill swept through me.
One-twenty a night? For this crappy old place on the outskirts of town? I’d be flat broke before the week was out! And that wasn’t even factoring in whatever my car repairs were going to cost. The tow alone would set me back. Contrary to the detective’s assurances that Puck the auto-whiz owed him a favor, I had no intentions of accepting charity. I’d been paying my own way for a decade. No reason to stop, now.
Cade was watching me closely. He seemed to read every bit of anxiety on my face as easily as he would the page of a book. The furrow was back between his brows and thoughts were working in his eyes. His voice went low — so low, I could barely hear it. “Is that good with you?”
He was, by some small mercy, kind enough not to ask his real question. (Which was,Can you afford this place or should I find you somewhere even more run-down?) I swallowed my mortification and nodded. “Of course it’s good with me.”
The furrow between his brows deepened. There was no humor in his eyes. None. Not even a trace of a smile twitched at the corners of his lips. He totally knew I was full of it.