Page 4 of Pinch of Love
I don’t need a rebound guy.
I stood and pulled the biggest suitcase up and glanced at Cash, who’d somehow managed to stack two on each of the remaining ones and started toward the truck with them all.
“You did such a great job of telling me the door code and where I could find everything and sending the map to the town, and then I still show up at the wrong house.” I followed Cash to his Jeep, but I sensed him smiling in front of me. The first one of the day, and I didn’t get to see it. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not the first time, and I’m sure you won’t be the last.” He shoved two of the suitcases into the minuscule trunk and placed the others in the backseat before turning to mine and plopping it on top. “That should do it.”
And I realized Becky was right. He might be a little bit on the salty side.
I tried once more. “Again, I’m so sorry. You didn’t sign up to be my cab service and—”
Cash’s head tilted sideways slightly, and he studied me for a split second. “You don’t have anything to apologize for. My job is to take care of the guests who rent my properties, and I had nothing better to do.”
The way his gaze lingered on mine made me wonder what was going through his head. I couldn’t tell, and I was usually really good at reading people.
Well, maybe not that great since my fiancé-slash-business partner stood me up at the courthouse altar, but generally, I could tell what people were thinking.
And I knew what thoughts were pummeling through me.
He was a towering male with a muscular build, and I’d just been put through the wringer of emotions and humiliation. Cash seemed like the perfect distraction. Except that I’d never let myself have a distraction until Buttercup Lake. And the lake was supposed to be my distraction, not the property owner.
Cash opened the door, and I smiled as I climbed into the passenger seat of the Wrangler when he noticed my knee.
“Ouch. That’s gotta hurt.” His gaze rested on my knee, and I looked down to see my left knee all scratched up and bloody. “We should get something on that right away.”
I shook my head. “I’m totally fine. I’ll worry about it when I get to the house. I must have gotten tangled with the zipper or something. My sister can bring something over.”
“Your sister?”
I nodded. “She and her daughter live here and rented a place temporarily.”
His brows slightly rose as he circled the hood of the Jeep to get to the driver’s side. “Is Grace your sister?”
“Yup.”
Cash shook his head and climbed into the seat. “It’s a small world. That’s one of my properties.”
I laughed and glanced in his direction. “What did you do? Buy up the town?”
His gaze caught mine, and he nodded. “As a matter of fact, I did.”
Cash turned on the Jeep and put the SUV in reverse as he looked behind him. “So, you love Minnie Mouse, huh?”
My brows scrunched, and I shook my head. “I don’t know why everyone keeps saying that.”
He pulled onto the road and pointed his thumb to the backseat. “Probably because all your suitcases are red with white polka dots. It’s a signature Minnie style.”
I snorted and glanced out the window as the warm wind ruffled my hair. “Well, that explains it.”
“Did you just snort?” He eyed me.
“Suppose I did.” I turned to him. “Why are you such an expert on a mouse?”
He shrugged. “It’s pretty much common knowledge.”
My brows rose. “Oh, yeah?”
“Just sayin’.” A smile almost touched his lips.