Harbor Master (Sweet Cherry Cove Book 1) by Cassie Mint
Author:Cassie Mint [Mint, Cassie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Cherry Publishing
Published: 2023-07-05T16:00:00+00:00
Six
Mac
Well, I canât claim to be Mister Experienced in the matter, but a woman running to throw up after your first kissâthat canât be good. And even worse, Cocoa wonât let me in the bathroom to hold her hair back. I give up knocking after ten long minutes, because Iâve always told myself: if she wants me gone, Iâll go.
The stairs rock beneath me as I head back downstairs. Iâve lived here for decades, but my cottage is suddenly all wrong, with crooked doorways and too-bright paint and sharp new corners of furniture to bounce off. Like walking through a fun-house.
What did I do wrong? Did I push her too fast? Freak her out?
She kissed me, right? Iâm not remembering that wrong, scribbling over the real events with my own wishful thinking. Cocoa started it. Lord knows Iâd never have laid a finger on her otherwise.
But maybe it wasnât what she expected. Or maybe it didnât feel good for her after all.
For me, it was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. Like sinking into a hot bath after a long, freezing day at sea, and feeling the prickles spread over my whole body, my nerves coming back to life.
âShit.â
Iâm lost in my own kitchen, staring at our half-made dinner like Iâve never seen a stir fry before. How do I switch the stove on? How do I hold a wooden spoon? My body takes over, fumbling through the motions, while my brain screams in the back of my skull.
What if I scared her off? What if she doesnât want to stay here anymore?
What if she thinks I expect things from her? That if she doesnât kiss me like that, Iâll make her leave?
My gut lurches. Now I feel sick. Have I given that impression? Christ, Iâve tried my hardest to hide this attraction, this constant gnawing need I feel around Cocoa, but it mustâve peeked through. Sheâs a smart girl. She must have sensed it.
âShit,â I say again, flipping the stove off for the second time. I canât eat like this, not with a hot ball of shame weighing down my gut, and Cocoa probably wonât be able to stomach it either. Guess weâre both on a buttered toast diet tonight.
I pack up the ingredients, methodical and dead inside. Maybe we can salvage this meal tomorrow.
If sheâs still here tomorrow. If she ever wants to be near me again.
Thereâs a high-pitched ringing in my ears.
* * *
My cottage has always been my happy place. Itâs quiet, calm, tucked away from the world. The sounds of the waves drift through the open windows, and every wooden beam in the ceiling, every door frame, is crusted with a fine layer of salt, no matter how often I clean.
This is where I hide myself away. This is where I stay sane, recovering from the nonstop nonsense of the outside world. Or it was, anyway.
Now itâs the tenth circle of hell.
When Cocoa finally comes out of the bathroom, sheâs ashen. Silent.
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