“C’mon, King. Just a marriage of convenience, on paper only, no strings attached. I get the bakery, and you don’t have to watch it fall apart and die because you’re juggling two businesses. This could work.”
“Maybe,” I reluctantly agree. It’s like she’s reading my mind, which is terrifying. “But that doesn’t mean I think it’s a good idea.” After today’s disaster of a morning, I wouldn’t mind selling the bakery and getting some space to breathe, even if selling feels like I’m stomping on Uncle Bill’s grave. I highly doubt Georgie can afford it, based on the look in her eyes when she first offered, but even if she could…
I’m not sure I could handle what she’s suggesting.
Sure, I haven’t seen this woman in a decade, but every minute I spend with her seems to hit me with a new memory. Another little tidbit about her that I worked so hard to forget. It’s not easy getting over a heartache as deep as mine, and apparently I didn’t do as good a job of forgetting her as I thought.
I can’t look at her without feeling like I’m being punched in the gut. The thought of being anywhere near her, let alone married to her, is making me nauseous and dizzy.
But how else am I going to keep the bakery going?
She leans her elbows on the countertop, fixing those big green eyes on me in a way that always used to get me to agree to anything she wanted. Even before we started dating and were just summer friends, she had a knack for getting me to jump into whatever idea popped into her head. Her passion and enthusiasm were what drew me to her in the first place, and she’s brimming with excitement the same way she used to. “King.” She punctuates my name with a tiny smile. “Please. I’m desperate here, and I just want something to go right in my life for once.”
You and me both. Honestly, my life was pretty good up until Uncle Bill got sick. I had the surf shop and the house I’ve been renovating for myself, and I was even thinking of taking some trips to get myself outside of the bubble that is Willow Cove. Maybe start dating again.
If the sheen of sweat on the back of my neck is any indication, I’m so not ready for dating if I’m still this hot and bothered by seeing Georgie Carpenter.
Selling the bakery to Georgie would cut my problems in half, but deep down I know it wouldn’t last. She won’t last. I’ll be giving up the last ties I have to my family, and she’ll bulldoze her way through to turn it into something else before she rushes off to do the next thing, leaving me completely alone. Uncle Bill has only been gone for two months, and already it feels like he’s disappearing every time I step into that bakery. The man raised me after I lost my mom at fourteen, and I can’t repay him by handing over the thing he loved most to someone who won’t respect it.
I fold my arms, swallowing the thick emotion that has decided to lodge itself in my throat. “I can’t marry you, Georgie.”
Something shifts in her expression as she studies me. “You already have someone in your life,” she guesses.
I’m pretty sure she knows how wrong she is. Now that Uncle Bill is gone, I have no one. No one except Prince Harry, the pool-loving llama. “I wish I could help you, but—”
“I get it.” Standing up straight, she looks around the shop in a way that tells me she’s not seeing any of it. Georgie has always had this habit of imagining the future, overthinking her current situation and envisioning the path she’s on. Usually with all the ways things could go wrong. She tries to control every situation so she doesn’t end up disappointed or hurt.
She got the same look when I proposed, and I immediately knew I was going to lose her, even before she ran. Or flew, technically. I can’t go through that again.
Before I can give her another pathetic argument, someone walks into the shop. “Hi,” the customer says, his eyes full of excitement. “I signed up for a surfing lesson this afternoon?”
He’s early, but I prefer that to being late. Still, I can’t leave the shop until my employee Brody gets here to handle any sales. He should arrive any minute, so I’ll kill some time and chat.
“You must be Sean.” Putting on a smile, I wave a greeting to my new pupil, but the shop phone starts ringing. What now? “Excuse me a second, will you?” I answer the phone, forcing some extra cheer into my voice. “King’s Surf Shop, how can I—”
“King!” Meg’s voice sounds frantic. “Any chance you can come back?”
I frown. “What’s going on?”
“Tour bus.”
I swear under my breath and look up at the eager student. This is my first lesson of the season, and I really need to start off on the right foot. “I can’t,” I tell Meg, hating every word. “The bus shouldn’t be around for long, so—”
“It’s full of old people, King, and apparently they planned this whole stop around coming to Kingston’s.”
I swear again, my stomach twisting into a knot. Nausea keeps building in my gut, and I’m starting to think it’s not all from Georgie’s visit. My heart is beating way too fast, and there’s a sort of ringing in my ears that is making it hard to hear Meg as she regales me with the full scope of what she’s dealing with at the bakery. The geriatric crowd tends to leave the most scathing reviews, and the selection of goods is already slim as it is.
My eyes jump to Georgie, who watches me with thinly veiled interest in her eyes. Bile rises in my throat, and I have the sudden realization that I only have a few precious seconds before crap hits the fan. Or vomit hits the floor, technically speaking. My stomach is positively roiling.
“Hold down the fort for a few minutes,” I tell Meg and hang up. Then I look at Sean and grimace. “Sorry, man, but something has come up, and I’m going to have to cancel your lesson. I’ll give you a refund, or we can reschedule for tomorrow.”
Thankfully, Sean doesn’t seem too disappointed as he reschedules for tomorrow afternoon, wishing me luck with whatever came up.
The moment he’s gone, I turn to Georgie. She’s not saying anything out loud, but her smirk is the same one she always got when she issued a challenge. And I could never resist one of her challenges. I don’t know what it is about her, but she gets under my skin in the most irritating way and makes me feel like I need to match her step for step. She’s like an addiction I just can’t shake.
Cursing again, I let out a groan and fold my arms. “I’ll do it.” I’m going to regret this, but now is not the time for overthinking. If I’m not careful and get her some real help as soon as possible, Meg will quit and leave me even worse for wear, and I already know I won’t be any help to anyone in a moment. Georgie is great at tackling tough situations. At least, I’m hoping she still is.
Georgie’s eyebrows fly high. “You’ll do what?”
“You wanna get married, let’s get married. You can have the bakery. I don’t—” My words are drowned out by my stomach deciding to do a double backflip. I barely make it to the garbage in time to unload the entirety of my leftover dinner breakfast, which does nothing to soothe the rolling sensation in my gut. Groaning, I grip the edges of the can as I wait for the world to stop spinning.
“King, are you okay?” Georgie’s question precedes her hand on my shoulder. Her touch is simultaneously burning hot and freezing cold. “Oh wow, you’re hot.”
“Under any other circumstances I would thank you for the compliment.” I moan, willing my legs to keep working instead of giving out beneath me, like they’re threatening to do. Whatever this is, it sucks. Probably food poisoning, but it feels worse than that. I feel like my body is trying to turn itself inside out.
“King, you need to go home.”
“Yeah,” I agree, but it’s not like the world is going to pause while I crawl my way back to my truck. And I can barely stomach the idea of driving all the way home when I can barely hold myself upright. “Can you…” I heave again, wondering how there’s anything left after the first time.
Georgie puts her arm around me. “I can help you get home, yes.”
“No.”
“What?”
“The…” I swallow and sink to the floor, tempted to lie down but knowing I’ll never get back up if I do. “The bakery. If you want the bakery, you need to go help. Right now.”
I’m vaguely aware of her face next to mine as she crouches, but I can’t keep my eyes open as my stomach continues to churn. “But what about you?” she says. “I can’t just leave you like this.”
