She shook her head.
“Hear me out, Cassidy.”
“No, Cash. I’m not interested. I don’t even know how long I’ll be staying around here.”
He squinted at her.
“What do you mean? You planning on moving somewhere else?”
“I don’t know. I just might not be able to stay too long. I have some things to take care of, and I don’t like to stay in one place too long.”
“Why not?”
She raised her voice. “Stop asking me questions.”
“But I want to get to know you, and that’s what people do to get to know one another.”
“That’s all great, except I’m not interested in getting to know anyone, date anyone, fool around with anyone, or whatever else. I’m just trying to survive and figure out my next step. So if you could please just leave me alone, it would be greatly appreciated.”
He was silent a moment, and she felt guilty for being mean to him. She was no better than Stryker, but how could she allow Cash to get close to her? He could get hurt. She had this constant fear that Blaze was looking for her, and the fact that he’d harassed Lynn bothered her.
“No,” Cash suddenly stated. He opened the gate and walked toward the can of stain and the bag with the gloves and rags.
“I am helping you. It’s the right thing to do.”
She was shocked but also grateful. She felt bad for being mean to him just because his brother pissed her off. They worked side by side and finished the porch in no time.
* * * *
Cash followed Cassidy around the back of the cottage to the front. They were both sweating and in need of something cold to drink.
“Would you like a bottle of water or iced tea or something?” she asked.
“Whatever you’re having is fine with me.” He checked out the job she’d done on the front porch.
“This came out great.” He slid his hand along the railing.
“Thanks. I hope Red likes it. That way when he rents it out after me the person or people will love it.”
He didn’t like how she talked about leaving and being here only temporarily. It upset him. He liked her, was attracted to her, and so were Coast, Memphis, and Orlando. He almost felt as if she was making such comments on purpose to push him away and make him stop his efforts.
Cash walked into the cottage and followed Cassidy to the kitchen.
“It looks great in here.”
He looked her body over, liking her curves and the toned muscles in her back and shoulders. He noticed the tear on her tank top and what looked like a cut. She turned to hand him a bottle of water. He placed it on the counter and reached for her shoulder.
“Did you cut yourself on something? I see a tear and some blood on your shoulder.
She turned her head and reached her hand back. “I don’t remember. Maybe I did.”
He gently tuned her. “Let me see.”
He slowly moved the strap of her tank top to the side, and sure enough, there was a cut there.
“You must have. It’s bleeding a little. Looks like a scratch,” he told her as she held her arms by her sides. He stood behind her. Being that he was much taller, he could see over her shoulder and to her breasts. The tank was lower, giving him a great view of her cleavage and abundant breasts. He inhaled her shampoo.
“It’s fine. I’ll take care of it later,” she said, and he felt her slightly tremble in his hold.