“Oh. I haven’t met the owner yet. Just the cleaner yesterday when I checked in.”
When I arrived and saw the woman bent over and searching the closet, I nearly lost my mind. My hands reached forward of their own accord to grab hold of her perfect heart-shaped ass. When she landed on her ass in the hallway and looked up at me, I discovered she’s gorgeous in addition to sexy.
Despite her obvious embarrassment, her bright, green eyes sparkled with humor while her plush lips I want to taste kicked up in a half-smile. Add in the freckles across a slightly upturned nose and she has the appearance of the girl next door all grown up. What fun it would be to dirty up her fresh faced appearance.
“Should we tell him?” Cayenne asks and ruins my daydream of dirtying the woman up.
“No way. It’ll be more fun for him to figure it out for himself,” Clove says.
My curiosity is piqued. “Figure what out?”
They mimic zipping their lips. I raise an eyebrow at Forest. “The cleaner you met yesterday is Ellery, the owner.”
“Forest! You numbskull. We weren’t going to tell him!” Sage smacks his shoulder.
Shit. I feel my face heat as I recall the things I said to her yesterday. I was being a bit of an ass. In my defense, I was already nervous about today’s meeting and hadn’t expected to be confronted with the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever seen. The combination of nerves and arousal had me spouting off from the mouth like a complete jerk.
I inhale fresh air and push my embarrassment away. I’ll apologize later. For now, I need to get this meeting back on track.
“Shall we go over the drawings we’ve prepared for the bid?” I ask Forest.
“If they’re going to talk shop, I might as well go back to work,” Feather says.
“But I want to hear how he’s going to make it up to Ellery.” Petal does an honest to goodness pout and sticks out her lower lip.
“I need to get back to the station anyway,” Sage says and wanders off. The women follow her.
“Let’s get a cup of coffee and go through the drawings. I have questions.” Forest marches off in the direction of the bakery and I rush to follow him. I expect the staff to protest him bringing a pet squirrel inside, but no one says a thing.
For the next hour, I answer all kinds of questions about the drawings. I don’t lose patience, although it’s tested when the squirrel jumps on the table and starts nibbling on the drawings. Forest merely chuckles and pets the animal in response while I resist the urge to Google squirrels and communicable diseases.
“Here.” The waiter plops a bag down on the table on top of the drawings.
“I didn’t order anything.”
He winks. “Trust me. Ellery loves these cookies.” The owner of the inn Ellery? “They’re still warm. Rowan took them out of the oven a minute ago. They’re chocolate chip cookies made with oat flour.”
I have no idea what oat flour is, but these smell delicious. “Thank you.” I think. I’m still confused. Is he helping me apologize? How does he know I need to apologize?
“You’re welcome. I’m Bryan by the way. I’m here to handle all of your bakery needs.” He flounces off before I have the chance to introduce myself.
As soon as my meeting with Forest ends, I go in search of Ellery to apologize. She’s behind the reception desk when I enter the inn. When I observe her this way, it’s hard to understand how I could have ever confused the professional woman she obviously is with a cleaner. Her hair is in a tight bun and she’s wearing a white blouse and black, pencil skirt. Her appearance screams professional, although the outfit does nothing to detract from how sexy she is.
“Ellery?”
She smiles as she glances my way. The smile dies when she realizes it’s me. If there was any doubt as to what kind of first impression I made with her, it’s cleared up now. It wasn’t good.
“I need to apologize.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and my gaze dips to the hint of cleavage revealed. I catch a glimpse of white lace. My blood heats from the tiny view. I wrench my gaze away from her chest. I’m here to apologize not leer at the woman.
“I’m waiting,” she says, the amusement clear in her voice.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were the owner when I arrived yesterday. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“You know what they say about assumptions,” she sings.
I offer her the bakery bag. “I brought an apology gift.”