CHAPTER 12
Sara’s eyes watered as another yawn claimed her. She shook her head slightly, scrunched up and then stretched out her face, hoping it would help wake her up.
It didn’t.
Squinting, she tried to read the fuzzy numbers in the spreadsheet on her computer screen. Her vision was blurry thanks to lack of sleep, and the task was made even more difficult since she’d dimmed the light so it wouldn’t disturb the munchkins, who were sound asleep beside her in the king-size bed. All she could make out were blurry little black lines.
She had at least another solid hour of work before she could call it a night and, at the rate she was going, it was going to take her three times that long to finish.
“This is ridiculous,” she mumbled under her breath as she shut her computer.
Closing her eyes, Sara let her head fall back against the padded headboard as exhaustion pulled her under like quicksand. Today had been a marathon, and she was so close to the finish line. After her hormonal explosion at the mere sight of a sweat-covered Austin at breakfast, she’d made the executive decision that she needed to avoid contact with him at all costs. Her hope was that some time away from his pheromones—which were pretty much the equivalent of a lust magnet to her hormone metal—would give her the chance to clear her head. Get back on track. Regain some footing on ground that was not built on Austin Stone.
It hadn’t worked.
The entire day, her brain had been on a constant rotation, replaying every single look, touch, and moment they’d shared in the very brief, but arousal-filled, time that they’d known each other.
Sara had always prided herself on being very self-aware. She knew her strengths and weaknesses. She freely admitted that she was a control freak, and that was definitely in the weakness category. But she also had an uncanny ability to compartmentalize things, which she placed firmly in the strengths column.
If she didn’t have time to feel sad or upset about something, she could easily place it in a mental folder, file it away, and go on with her life. If she was scared about something but had to face it, she’d tell herself fear was not an option. And, like magic, the trepidation would vanish.
So the fact that no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop herself from obsessing about a certain tattooed former Marine who had somehow managed to hijack her mind, body, and soul was beyond disconcerting. It was terrifying.
And it wasn’t as if she hadn’t given it the old college try. She had.
She’d stayed away from the B&B all day. Whisper Lake was a small town, and if she and the kids stayed in the city limits, they were liable to run into him anywhere. It was a proven fact.
So after the day camp they made a trip to the nearest Walmart, which was about thirty minutes away, to pick up a few things that Sara had forgotten to pack, then they’d had dinner at a Cracker Barrel. They’d taken the scenic route and even got out to walk on a few lovely trails, including one next to a gorgeous river.
When the sun had set, they’d headed back into town. They’d come back to the B&B to find it quiet and, from what she could tell, Marine-free. She’d given Charlotte a bath, Trevor had taken a shower and, after PJs and a book, they’d both fallen fast asleep.
The good news was that meant Sara could get some much-needed work done. The bad news was she was falling asleep and not being at all productive.
Forcing her lids open, she pushed off the bed and grabbed the monitor, which was one thing she had remembered to pack. Whenever she traveled alone with the kids, she always brought a baby monitor. That way she could keep an ear on things when she was in the bathroom showering.
On tiptoe, she made it across the room with moves she was sure even ninjas would be impressed by, avoiding dolls, Legos, cars, and suitcases. At home, she’d never have let the kids go to bed without cleaning up, but they were on vacation, and Sara was trying to tip her scales toward go-with-the-flow.
The door squeaked as she opened it, but thankfully, it didn’t wake her sleeping angels. She held the doorknob turned all the way open and then slowly released it after the door was shut again. When she heard the click of the latch and the monitor was still quiet, she knew she was home free.
She briefly debated whether she should head into the dining room or kitchen. The dining room had more space, but the kitchen was closer and it held a coffee maker that Karen had said she was free to use. Decision made, she started down the hall toward the room that held the promise of caffeine.
As she walked past the room Austin was staying in, her mouth watered and a shiver ran down her spine. She rolled her eyes at her traitorous body’s reaction. First of all, she didn’t even know if Austin was behind door number one. Secondly, it didn’t matter if he was. She had no plans on having a mid-life-crisis fling with the hot, B&B-owning Marine.
Or at least, she wasn’t going to act on that plan.
The corner of Sara’s lips turned up in amusement at the ridiculousness of even entertaining the idea of going all Stella and trying to get her groove back as she pushed open the swinging door into the kitchen. When she stepped inside, her smile dropped. Or more accurately, her jaw dropped. If it could’ve hit the floor, it would have.
Apparently, she wasn’t the only one with the bright idea to do a little late night work in the kitchen. Austin Stone sat at the wooden table with papers spread out in front of him. Shirtless.
Yep. No shirt.
Instead of Stella, she turned into Elsa and froze in place.
Austin appeared equally as shocked to see her.
“I’m sorry…I was…just going to…I’ll just…” Sara stumbled over her words and her feet as she tried to back out of the room.
That grin that could only be classified as bad boy spread on Austin’s face as his gaze ran up and down Sara from head to toe. “You look adorable.”