Here Comes Trouble Page 0,73
time, then it’s all worth it. You have many more winters to weather. I’m just helping you through this first one.”
“As leg ups go, it’s a pretty big one. I don’t know what to say.”
“I think we’re good on that score.”
She felt her eyes begin to burn a little, and she’d be damned if she cried in front of him every time things got a little emotional. She felt like an idiot for the whole shower thing yesterday. Sure, it had been a monumental moment for her, but he must have thought she was at least a little pathetic. And now, today, he was trying to rescue her. Again.
She felt, strongly, that this…relationship, if she could call it that, wasn’t anything like what she’d fallen into with Patrick. With what she’d allowed her life to become while being part of his. She tried, hard, to cling to what Brett had said, about finding opportunities and choosing to take advantage of them. He was here; he was willing to help. And whatever he got out of the deal would have nothing to do with her when it was all said and done. Totally, completely, different from Patrick. Not a rescue. More like a joining of forces. Because she was a force.
Even if, at the moment, she felt like a force on the verge of becoming a failure.
Brett finished brewing his coffee and she thought back over what he’d said. “The other players,” she said, thinking out loud, “you said some of them would come to support a good cause, but most of them are going to come to get a chance to play against you, aren’t they?”
He took a careful sip of his coffee, then turned back to face her. “Yes.” Neither humble nor arrogant. He’d said it like a simply stated fact.
“How long has it been since you played?”
“Long enough to make folks hungry.”
She didn’t push, but she was unabashedly curious to know more about his world. “You’ve really thought that part of this through? I don’t want you doing anything rash in the heat of the moment.”
“I’m very well aware of what I’m doing.”
She tilted her head. “That’s kind of a non-answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
So, she decided, this was how he was going to go with it now. He’d made his past fair game for her, but he was going to be all about the facts and just the facts, ma’am. She could hardly be picky. But it only served to make her more curious, not less. She decided it might be less awkward all around if she did her own digging on the subject of his career, get her own answers. And, if possible, do as he’d initially asked, and use what time they did have together to get to know him, outside of all that.
“What’s on the agenda today for you?” he asked.
“Cleaning the rooms.”
He lifted a questioning eyebrow.
“Yes, I’m aware the inn isn’t exactly overflowing, but the rooms have to be dusted, swept, polished, fluffed. I can’t have someone just stroll in unannounced and then make them wait in the foyer while I rush up to make sure there’s no dust on the furniture. I need to keep it guest-ready at all times.”
“I think about what the workload would be like if the place was full. Were you planning on hiring help? Like cleaning or cooking?”
“I was, during the busy season. But I planned on doing as much of it myself as I could, too. I like keeping busy—the busier the better. Less time to think.” She hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud, and when his gaze narrowed a bit on her, she rushed on. “It’s actually kind of fun, all the rushing around and making things right for my guests. I enjoy the noise and the general chaos of it all. It feels…vital. And I like being in the middle of all that.”
Brett’s gaze stayed quite focused on Kirby, and she realized she was holding her breath, waiting for whatever question he lobbed her way. She could hardly duck it, given the open stance he’d now taken with her where anything having to do with him was fair game. He already knew about Patrick, but all he understood was the basic context, that she’d been betrayed by someone who was supposed to have her best interests at heart. And she was good with that.
He saw a lot, too much, at times, so she was braced. Which was why what he did say came