Chapter Thirteen

A knock awoke Stephanie the next morning. At first she thought it was a part of her dream—a tornado had been spotted, and Kayla was running door to door in the inn, warning people to go down to the basement. But then she called out, “Steph? Are you in there?” and her voice sounded so much like a man’s…

“Steph?”

More knocking. Close by. And Miles’s voice.

Her eyes flew open, and her room at the inn came into view. Gone was the lightning-streaked black of night, replaced once again by brilliant sunlight doing its damnedest to sneak around her mini blinds. Today, though, the sight seemed far less annoying. “Just a minute!”

She sat up in a panic and caught her reflection in the mirror over her room’s decoupage dresser. Good Lord, she looked like a drowned rat that’d washed up on shore and been left to dry. Stephanie’s hair stood out in a million directions, but darn if she didn’t have a healthy glow about her today.

Burning the midnight oil with a certain insatiable Mr. Masterson will do that to a girl.

The thought—or thoughts, rather—drew a smile to her reflection’s face.

“Steph?”

“Spontaneity is what vacations are all about,” she whispered as she scurried from her bed.

“You know, if you make me wait too much longer Ruby may well put me to work.”

She grinned at how light-hearted he sounded today. Maybe they both needed a day of fun. Stephanie paused at the door, her hand on the knob. “So, I might have overslept a bit.”

Something thudded against the other side of the door. “Ugh. Women.”

“Can it, buddy. I’m gonna unlock the door and make a run for the shower. You make yourself comfortable—I’ll hurry, I promise.”

“How about I grab us some breakfast?”

“Excellent idea. Here.” She swiped a plastic key from the coffee table and slid it under the door. “Now you can let yourself in when you get back.”

“Will do.”

Stephanie hurried for the shower, eager to start their day of goofing off together. And goofing off is all it would be. This was Miles, after all. No commitment, just fun.

Which was exactly what she needed.

All she had to do was make sure her heart didn’t do something stupid like try to kick-start itself while they were together. Because that wouldn’t be his fault, not with her knowing what he was all about. No, whatever she felt after today would be all on her. But no threat of heartbreak was going to deter her from a much-needed day of play. Stephanie was a big girl, and she could handle this.

Totally. No problem. Piece of cake.

At least that’s what she told herself as she turned the shower on, ignoring the fact that the thought of spending a day with Miles made her feel giddy as a schoolgirl.

…

After Miles indulged Ruby and Maddie with a courteous amount of small talk in the dining room, his grumbling stomach served as the perfect excuse to slip away. So he piled up a huge plate of food from Maddie’s always amazing breakfast spread, grabbed a large to-go cup of coffee, and sauntered back toward the Chippewa Suite. Well, tried to saunter.

Hard to do when you’ve got one Stephanie Johnson Fitzpatrick on your mind.

Lord, that woman was going to be the end of him. She still wouldn’t let him get serious last night, refused to talk about their upcoming charity event. Instead, they’d lain chest to chest, plotting their day out together. Now he couldn’t help but wish they’d planned to spend it in bed…

“Miles.”

He turned to see his cousin step into the lobby behind him, an easy smile on his face. Brent had a thermos in his hands, probably on his way out to play Bob the Builder for the day. All that manual labor wasn’t Miles’s gig, but it fit his cousin to a T.

“Hey, cuz, what’s up?”

“Kayla mentioned last night that you had something you’ve been meaning to tell me?”

Miles worked to keep his face smooth. “She did, did she?”

“Yeah, something about a phone call?” Brent lowered his voice. “You in some kind of trouble or something?”

No, but Kayla will be. “No, no, nothing like that.”

Miles looked around to make sure Ruby and Maddie weren’t within earshot. Both women were on the other side of the room. The only people nearby were a few guests, but even their tables weren’t within eavesdropping distance. A good thing, as there was no way Brent would let this go, which meant it was confession time. Miles scrambled to think of how he could put a positive spin on the story.

“Look, I got a call from Freddie the other day. You know how he and I go way back and all. And—”

“Freddie? Boering? Isn’t he a headhunter now?” Brent’s countenance cooled. “You got a job offer, didn’t you?”

“No, though I did interview for one. And before you start in on me about it, just hear me out. I hadn’t planned on leaving after business picked back up, but this offer.” He shook his head. “Brent, I’ll probably never see another one like it. I’d be a fool not to try.”

“Or a fool to think of leaving.” Brent frowned. “Does Ruby know?”

“No, I haven’t told her yet. Didn’t want to upset her for nothing in case this doesn’t pan out.”

“Wow, man.” Brent rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Things are just starting to turn around at the inn. I sure didn’t see this coming.”

“Yeah, the timing sucks. But I’m sure we can find someone else to do the books for Ruby. Heck, Kayla can probably help pay the bills. But I’ve got to do this—it might be the best chance I have to get out of town. To see the real world, find my own version of happy.”

Brent snorted, his gaze shifted to the plate in Miles’s hands. “Whatcha got there?”

“Huh? Oh, I offered to grab Steph some breakfast.”

“Steph?”

Miles responded with a wide grin.

“Finally.” Brent gave him a fist bump. “Look, it sucks to think you might not be around anymore. And as much as I want to beat some sense into you right now, I won’t. But don’t stand there telling me you’ve got to do this to find happiness, because you’re staring right at it and can’t see the forest for the trees.”

“What are you—”

Brent shook his head with a sigh. “Good luck with the job offer. And that search of yours.”

Miles watched him go, totally confused. Staring right at it? Clearly his cousin was seeing life through rose-tinted glasses now that he was head over heels in love. Mount Pleasant had nothing left to offer Miles. Nothing. And this fling with Stephanie was precisely that. A fling. She’d soon accept her job offer and end their fake engagement. Hopefully by then he’d get the nod from Rozario and be heading off to Columbus to start anew. Two great starts to new careers and better days for them both.

Because better days were coming—he could feel it. Though, that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy today. And today’s agenda had Stephanie’s name written all over it.