Jude asked, dubious. Rushing home to cook at a massive discount to make the pub look busy didn’t seem like a good reason to race off, not when the room was paid for until noon, that glorious bed with its soft sheets calling to him like a siren.
A robin landed on Rob’s wing mirror, red chest as puffed up as Rob’s when he said, “Some of my networking must have paid off. The bookings are for two tables of brand-new customers.”
“Paying ones?” Jude narrowed his eyes.
Rob winced and tried to change the subject. “Buckle up, buttercup,” Rob said as he refastened his seatbelt before coming clean. “Okay, okay. They’re not exactly paying.” He gestured for Jude to hurry up as he keyed the ignition, the lovely roar of Betsy’s engine almost muffling his explanation. “One table’s booked for a local festival committee, and the other is for the farmers’ market collective.” He started to back out of their parking space, serious again as he frowned, thoughtful. “There’s no harm in giving them a free meal if that means they’ll consider adding us to their rotation. I put out some feelers that day we went out to breakfast,” he added. “Seems like they might be interested in giving Porthperrin a trial.” His incisors dug into a lower lip still reddened by Jude’s kiss, a paler indent remaining when he glanced in his direction. “Even if it’s only a couple of times in the summer, it could bring in a lot of trade that usually bypasses the village.”
They left the hotel behind, winding their way back to the main road.
Jude couldn’t help looking over his shoulder as the cove diminished.
He’d come back in a heartbeat.
“That’s what I want,” Rob said quietly, his gaze sliding Jude’s way after stopping the car at a junction.
“What?”
“For people to only leave the Anchor with that look on their faces. You’d do pretty much anything to go back right now, wouldn’t you.”
“I had a good time.” A hard time as well, but worth it for this outcome, even if it left his chest feeling cracked wide open. “Didn’t you?”
“The best,” Rob said simply. “I wouldn’t have missed a single minute.” He pulled out, slotting Betsy between RVs, caravans, and cars crammed with vacationers’ luggage. “But I’m not actually made of money, these days.” His gaze slid sideways again. “I saw how much they charge per night for that suite. Staying for longer is out of my budget.”
“Sure, Mr Fancy-Pants sports car,” Jude grumbled.
“Hey, don’t mistake me for my dad. Cut off, remember? Besides, someone talked me into investing all my winnings and then some in an amazing hotel you might have heard of. A place called the New Anchor? I heard it’s got the best new chef in the country, and”—he tapped the walnut of the dashboard for luck—“it might not get completely eviscerated by Guy Parsons.” The thick, dark sweep of Rob’s eyelashes shouldn’t have been so appealing as he fluttered them Jude’s way. “You thought that hotel in St Ives was something? The New Anchor’s going to knock your socks off.”
Jude would have appreciated Rob’s confidence if it wasn’t for a few facts: they’d yet to take any money, and Guy Parsons’ review might still hamstring them. He held Trevor’s postcards close to his chest as they crawled back, none of the traffic taking the Porthperrin turn-off, all heading for vacation spots that had much more to offer.
“Hey,” Rob demanded a few minutes later. “Are you listening to me, fish face?”
Jude tuned back in as Rob negotiated the last tight bend before returning to Porthperrin’s empty car park. “Yeah?”
“I said, there’s one more reason why we needed to get back in a hurry.” Now, with his car safely parked, and this car park private for very different reasons to the one they last kissed in, it was Rob’s turn to unfasten both their seat belts and lean into Jude’s space. His kiss was sweet and slow and drugging. “Will you do something for me?”
Something?
After finding Trevor for him and Lou, he’d have done anything Rob wanted.
“Well, two things, actually.”
The first request was sobering. Rob slid his hand from Jude’s shoulder to press the postcards more firmly against Jude’s chest. “Can you warn Marc that Lou’s going to need him when she reads these?”
“Can’t you?”
“Yes, I can,” Rob said. “But I’m not going to. You are. And you’re going to act happy about it.”
Jude couldn’t help the sigh that slipped out. He wasn’t unhappy exactly; being