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So that explained why her aunt had never married. “Being alone is better than hurt and broken in two,” Kim said, her chin raising. Rose’s revelation had confirmed that belief quite well. Staying uninvolved romantically was the right path.
“So true, so true,” Rose agreed, her eyes reflecting a lifetime of sadness. “And I don’t want to see you get hurt again.” She stood and started cleaning up the kitchen.
Kim sat back, gripping her mug of tea. Who would have guessed they had so much in common? Her aunt was more like her than she’d realized.
“Oh, I forgot,” Rose said, picking up a large manila envelope from the counter. “This came in the mail for you today.”
Kim took the envelope, scoping out the return address, her heart skipping a beat. “It’s from the community college in Seattle.”
“Are you still planning on taking early education classes there?” Rose asked, gathering up the empty tea mugs.
“Yes, in time.” Kim had put her dreams of becoming a teacher on hold when Dylan had been born, choosing instead to stay at home with him. She didn’t regret that decision at all, but it was time to follow her dream.
“But not right away, correct?” Rose asked. “I’m not ready to lose you and Dylan just yet.”
Kim smiled. “No, not right away.” But eventually, she was moving to Seattle to be near Grant and to take advantage of the early education program at Seattle City College, which wasn’t available anywhere near Moonlight Cove. For sure.
Rose picked up her glasses and put them on. “Oh, good. I’ve been lonely. It’s wonderful to have you two around.”
“It’s nice to be here, Aunt Rose,” Kim said, meaning it. She stood and started helping Rose clean the kitchen.
Rose shooed her away. “No, let me do this. You go ahead and relax. You need to rest.”
With exhaustion pulling at her as if she had a rock around her neck, Kim agreed and headed to her room. She walked by Dylan’s door, shivering when she thought of the courageous, handsome man who lay in there, asleep.
Unbidden, a vision of Seth’s eyes gazing at her danced through her head, and her heart stuttered. She’d wanted to lose herself in those eyes, let down her guard.
But she couldn’t.
She needed to be smart. She needed to take her aunt’s poignant story of her broken heart, blend it together with her own botched romantic history, and never forget the picture they painted.
If she did, pain was sure to follow.
Seth woke up a couple times during the night, kind of wishing he’d taken the doctor’s offer of pain meds. His head hurt, period. But he was determined not to go down that road. He’d gut it out as best he could.
He’d dreamed that Kim was in his room at one point during the night, with the moonlight shining through the window on her face as she gazed down on him. He even dreamed that she touched his forehead, her soft fingers a gentle, soothing caress…
Finally he awoke and it was light out. His head had calmed down quite a bit. He had no idea what time Kim and her aunt got up, but he needed to be out of bed. Laying around just wasn’t his thing. Besides, it was Monday, and he needed to get to the store and open up.
He’d gone to sleep in his board shorts and the T-shirt Drew had loaned him, so he threw the covers back, got up and blinked the spots away. When he was steady, he folded the quilt he’d slept under and straightened the bed as best he could. Then he padded over to the wooden door and opened it.
A boy with sleep-messed blond hair, dressed in bright red pajamas, stood in the hall, looking up at Seth. The kid appeared to be around the age of six or so, but Seth didn’t have much up-close experience with children, so he could be wrong.
“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. My mom told me not to bother you, so I’ve been very quiet,” the boy whispered.
Okay, this was Kim’s son. “Well, you did a very good job.” Seth held out his hand. “I’m Seth.”
The boy put his small hand in Seth’s and pumped it. “Oh, I know who you are.” His eyes went wide. “You’re the hero who rescued my mommy.”
“Uh…well, yeah, I helped her out of the water.” Seth had a feeling that, unfortunately, the dubious title of “hero” wasn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon. Great.
“I’m Dylan,” the boy said. “Dylan Hampton.”
“Nice to meet you, Dylan,” Seth replied.
Just then, Kim came down the hall. She was wrapped in a long, fuzzy pink robe over pajamas and had on fluffy white slippers. Her hair flowed in a dark river of waves over her shoulders, and her amber-colored eyes dominated her heart-shaped face.
His breathing snagged. He’d realized yesterday she was pretty, but here, like this, looking bright and relaxed, and not like a drowned cat, she was downright stunning. Pink was definitely her color, although he guessed she’d look good in ugly mud brown, too.
“Hey, now, Dyl,” she said, her voice warm with a mother’s love. “I told you not to bother Mr. Graham.”
She moved closer and Seth could smell her scent, which reminded him of a clean ocean breeze, light and fresh. He finally managed to find his voice. “He didn’t wake me up. He was as quiet as a little mouse.”
Kim rubbed Dylan’s narrow shoulders. “Good. He’s been dying to meet you, so I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just barge in and wake you up.”
“How did you like my bed?” Dylan asked. “Comfortable, huh?”
In the haze of his pounding head and exhaustion last night, Seth hadn’t realized he’d been put in Dylan’s bed. It made sense now, but his mind hadn’t been firing on all cylinders.
“Very comfy,” he agreed. “Thank you for letting me borrow it.” A thought occurred to him. “Where did you sleep?”
“With my mom.”
“Don’t worry,” Kim said. “He loves sleeping in my bed, which I suspect has something to do with the fact that he can watch TV in there.”
Seth chuckled. “Not surprising at all. I always wanted a TV in my room, too.”
“Auntie Rose made waffles—with chocolate chips,” Dylan said, his voice full of excitement. “Because we have a guest.”
Seth sniffed the air. He widened his grin. “I can smell them, buddy. Why don’t you lead the way?” Actually, he was really hungry. Food would do him good right now. He needed fuel to get moving.
Dylan scampered off. Seth moved to follow, but Kim stopped him with a gentle touch to his arm that felt much warmer than he expected.
“How’s the head?” she asked, gesturing to his bandage. “I checked on you a couple times in the night, and you seemed to be sleeping well.”
Oh. So she’d actually been there, bathed in moonlight, touching his head. It hadn’t been a dream.
He made himself focus on her thoughtfulness. “Thank you for that,” he said softly. “But it wasn’t necessary.”
“Yes, it was. I had to make sure you were okay.” She gazed at him quizzically. “Are you okay?”
“I feel more human this morning than I did last night.”
“Great. Are you hungry?”
He stared into her eyes, losing himself for a moment in their topaz depths. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
Kim blushed. “I asked if you were hungry. There are waffles in the kitchen,” she gestured for him to follow her. “Aunt Rose loves to have people to cook for.”
Fantastic. As a bachelor, no one had been cooking or caring for him lately.
He took her lead and walked down the hall, trying not to breathe in her appealing scent. He’d had enough of being light-headed. “Sounds good,” he said. “Then I can get moving and get to work.”
Kim stopped cold and Seth bumped into her, accidentally pressing his nose against her soft, fragrant, obviously freshly washed hair. He jumped back. Oops. Way too close for comfort.
She turned quickly around to face him. “What did you say?”
He paused. “That breakfast sounded good?”
“No the other part.”
“About going to work?”
“Yeah, that,” she replied, peering intently at him, two cute little creases forming between her delicate eyebrows.
He shrugged. “What about it?”
She crossed her arms. “No way are you going to work today.”
Okay. So she was the bossy type. He didn’t usually like that, but on her, bossy looked good. Go figure. “Why not?”
“You suffered a concussion and had stitches put in your head yesterday. You shouldn’t be working.” She pressed her features into a stern expression. “You need to rest. The doctor said so.”
Him kicking back and resting were as likely as making it to the big league with a wife and two kids. “Well, I have a business to run, and I’m the only one who can run it.”
“Isn’t there anyone else you can call?”
“Nope. My mom, who usually helps at the store, is out of town. And my dad…can’t help out right now.” More like wouldn’t help out, but there was no need to get into the dirty details. “It’s me, or no one.”
She chewed on her lip. After a few seconds of thinking, she said, “Why don’t you let me go in for you?”
“No. Absolutely not. I can’t ask you to do that.”
“Why not? I need a job, and you need someone to help out.” She smiled, her dimples peeking out. “It’s the perfect solution.”
He forced himself not to stare at her fascinating dimples. No, it wasn’t the perfect solution. It was a terrible idea. She’d already done enough; they were even. Period.
Before he got words out, she added, “Besides, the doctor said you weren’t supposed to be alone for twenty-four hours.”
“It’s a busy place,” he replied levelly. “I’ll be surrounded by people all day long. I’m guessing I won’t be alone at all.”
She shook her head. “You never know. Why don’t you let me come with you? I could help out, and keep an eye on you at the same time.”
“No,” he said. “You’ve done enough.” More than he’d wanted, actually. It was time to disengage.
She paused, gazing at him from underneath her long eyelashes. “Actually…you’d be doing me a favor, too.”
He narrowed his eyes. Uh-oh. She needed a favor. “How so?” he asked cautiously.
“Well, I’ve been saving to take classes, and only need a bit more for one term of college, so I really need a job. You need someone to help out while your mom’s gone. If you let me work for you, we’ll both benefit, right?”
He let out a breath and looked at the floor, stalling. Oh, man. She needed a job. And he needed someone to help out if he was realistic about his limitations at the moment. The Sports Shack was a two-person operation, no doubt about it. He needed an employee.
Kim was right. Her offer made sense. And, really, how could he say no without seeming like an ungrateful, heartless idiot?
He rubbed his jaw, wishing he had more time to think all this through. He didn’t usually make important decisions on the fly. Unfortunately, the store had to open on schedule—if he remembered correctly, he had a delivery coming this morning. He didn’t have a lot of time to be cautious.
“All right,” he said, hoping he didn’t regret his decision. “You can come help out…for now.” He’d leave it at that.
“Great,” she said, beaming. “Perfect.”
He mumbled his agreement. Her working for him was mutually beneficial; he’d be providing Kim with something she desperately needed, and vice versa. The solution sounded ideal….
So why in the world was he so conflicted about working with her?
He looked at her, trailing his gaze over her face. She was smiling broadly at him, her gorgeous golden eyes sparkling, her clear, fresh-scrubbed skin glowing. She looked happy. And full of life. And so beautiful he could barely breathe.
The truth belatedly smashed into him. The reason he hadn’t wanted to agree to Kim’s deal was as difficult to ignore as a grand slam when the score was tied.
He wanted to casually date the appealing Kim, not be her boss. He gave a mental groan. Yeah. It was going to be a long couple of days.
Chapter Four
Kim spent her first morning at The Sports Shack rearranging displays and unpacking and shelving various sporting goods items that had just been delivered.
Seth, on the other hand, hadn’t come out of his office once since they’d arrived and he gave her brief, general instructions on how to manage the basic running of the store. He’d even told her that he preferred not to be interrupted unless it was an emergency, mumbling under his breath that he wasn’t feeling up to par. Of course, he waved off her concerns about his concussion.
No, he hadn’t even ventured out to see how she was doing with the job, although maybe that merely expressed his confidence in her ability to handle things by herself. Fortunately, she had been able on her own to help the five or six customers who’d wandered in from the quaint, flower-lined boardwalk.
Despite Seth’s standoffish ways, she’d made it a point to stick her head in his office a few times to make sure he hadn’t fainted dead away from his concussion. He’d been a bit terse, though civil. But other than the contact initiated by her, he’d stayed sequestered, uninvolved with the sales end of the business. And her.
Guess he left the people part of the store to his mom most of the time…?
The bells over the door rang, and a tall, thin gentleman dressed in a multi-pocketed vest, some kind of pants with straps over the shoulders and a battered fishing hat walked in and went directly to aisle four.
Per Seth’s instructions, she headed over to the customer. “May I help you?” Kim said to the older man.
The older man turned and gave her a rueful smile. “Probably not.”
She pulled in her chin. “What do you need?”
He sighed. “I’m looking for the new Fish Master 1000 surface lures that were supposed to come in today.”
“Fish Master 1000?” In reality, Kim didn’t know one lure from another. Who would have guessed there were so many ways to catch fish?
But she had unloaded some kind of lures in the shipment this morning. They’d been in a green and white box. “What color is the package?”
The man laughed. “Don’t rightly know.” He looked around. “Is Seth here?”
