Hope on the Rocks (Rainbow Cove)

Oh. His logic was so simple that I had to chuckle at my ability to twist my brain in knots. “I guess I tend to overthink things.”

“Yup. But you’re cute.” Squeezing my shoulder, Adam steered me toward the paint department desk. “Have them mix up your paint while we go grab the lightbulb. I’m getting extras to try to avoid a repeat trip.”

After conferring with Adam about how many gallons I needed, I gave the young clerk the paint chip I’d chosen, and they promised it would be ready in a few minutes.

“Do you need to install the lightbulb tonight?” I asked Adam as he loaded the cart with fluorescent tubes and some regular ones too. I was glad they covered up the pillow I was apparently buying. It was soft and pretty and would match the paint, but I still wasn’t used to so easily discussing my kinks with another person.

“I should. Should only take about five minutes if you want to swing by the place on our way back into town.”

“Sure.” I could be flexible since I was off the next day as well. “I still intend to feed you at some point, even if it’s a late dinner. It’s already in the fridge. A chicken and rice salad from a new recipe that looked perfect for June.”

“Sounds good. You do love your veggies, don’t you?” His tone was joking, but I’d already picked up on Adam’s belief that all meals started with the protein and lots of it.

“They’re good for you. And tasty. Eat your broccoli tonight, and I might let you talk me into trying venison.” I teased him right back, but now I was the one making future plans, acting like we were a couple who shared more than bedroom time.

“Deal.” Adam’s ready acceptance of my offer made me want to be as laidback about all of this as he was, simply accept this summer fling for what it was and stop with my incessant overthinking.

“Bring the meat on Sunday?”

“You know I will.” He added a leer that had my skin heating almost as much as it had at the pillow display.

We kept things light and flirty on our drive back, no more serious talk like Adam’s earlier story about high school. I couldn’t imagine being outed like that while I was still in high school. Being the bookish nerd who never quite fit in had been hard enough for me. He’d brushed it off, but he’d showed seriously impressive character by staying in town and channeling an undoubtedly deep wound into a successful business.

Seeing the more vulnerable side to Adam made him even sexier to me. His complexities made him less of a fantasy and more someone real, someone I enjoyed talking to a great deal. For all that I kept balking at growing too close to him, anyone would be lucky to have someone like him as a friend.

“Turn here.” Interrupting my musing, Adam gave me directions to the rental, which was down the street from the B&B and close to the other rental that Adam was living in. The small white house had a beachy feel to it without being cheesy.

“This is a nice place. It has character.” I parked in the driveway, leaving enough room for us to walk around to the garage door. Adam quickly entered a code to raise the garage door.

“Yeah, Mom’s amazing at finding run-down rentals and seeing their potential. She flips them with tourists in mind and is able to turn a profit.” Pride dripped from Adam’s voice. He kept the door open, allowing in enough outside light to work. “She inherited the B&B house initially, but all her properties have a lot of sweat equity. It’s not all me either. She does a lot too. Taught me how to use a drill and how to paint. This one here took gallons of cream paint for the interior. It had birds in the kitchen—literal birds—until we got through with the rehab.”

“That’s awesome. Maybe I should have looked harder before I signed on my condo. I wasn’t up for a big remodeling project, but you can’t beat the personality of these older homes.”

“Or the value.” Adam nodded sagely as he retrieved a small ladder tucked into a corner of the spotless garage. As he set it up under the light fixture, I had to appreciate the flex of his muscles, the way his broad back stretched his shirt and his thick thighs made me want to be between them again.

“Have you ever been tempted to get your own place?” I asked to distract myself from my growing arousal while he opened the lightbulb package. This better be quick. The little peck of a kiss he’d given me earlier had done nothing other than make me more parched for the real deal.