Page 3 of Awake in Cheshire Bay

“No, not that.” He retrieved some cash from his wallet.

“Seriously, Eric, put it away. Don’t make me cause a scene.” I cocked an eyebrow as he knew I’d do it too.

“Thank you.” He focused on the VIP. “How do you get back to the airport, or should I come and pick you up in a bit?”

It was a good question. Was the airport going to be this guy’s service? That was far above good friendly island service, in my humble opinion. I waited for an answer from Mr. Welsh. Was he expecting Eric to be his chauffeur?

“I be fine. I sure Miss Ember can provide number to local taxi.”

Amber, but close enough. Providing a taxi was within my services.

Mr. Welsh shook Eric’s hand. “Thank you for hospitality. You very gracious host.”

It took Eric by surprise. At first, he wore shock, and then a smile appeared. “My pleasure. If there’s anything we can help you with, please let us know.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Eric waved and walked out the door.

I faced the handsome guy and tipped my head to the side as I studied him.

He tapped the paper with the motel listings. “Which better?”

I took the list from him, slightly – and accidentally – grazing my fingertips over his. It was electric. And foolish. And cliché. So friggin’ cliché. I wasn’t in a Hallmark movie, this man wasn’t going to ride in here, or fly as it was, and change my outlook on men. This was real life.

Men as a whole sucked, and truly all the good ones were gone. All that were left were the assholes who believed you owed them a good time if they so much as bought you a drink. No, thank you. Not for me. That’s why this pub was my home. I poured everything into it, blood, sweat and tears, and as sole owner it was all mine. Since it was also paid for, no one could take it away from me either.

Mr. Welsh tapped his long finger on the paper. The nails were perfectly filed, and it made me wonder just how VIP this guy was? Clearly, he wasn’t just a run of the mill executive, this guy was high-level. He had a crew to fly him around, not just a random pilot, he specifically said my crew, so he had money. He was tight-lipped too, not giving away anything with his one-word answers.

“Miss?” But his voice was soothing, and it called out to me like I was lost at sea and he was the lighthouse, pulling me in.

I shook my head from the dirty thoughts suddenly floating through my brain and stared down at the paper. “If you want an ocean view, then I would select Bay Western. I believe they have a suite on the end facing the bay.”

But I could only assume as I wasn’t a frequent guest.

Mr. Welsh sent me a smile, the kind to melt the ice around my holey hardened heart, and an expression that pulled me in like a tractor beam. Oh dear. If I continued to sit with him, I was going to be in big trouble. I’d already had enough of troubling men to last me a lifetime. Best to leave him be and get back to work.

“If you need anything, flag me down.” Before he had the chance to vocalize a sound, I was out of my seat in a flash, back over to the bar where I continued to watch and study the foreign man temporarily trapped in our community.

So what if he was handsome? Lots of guys were. And yes, his accent was killer. Big deal. But damn if there wasn’t something mesmerizing about him, and as much hospitality as I could offer, I highly doubted it would be enough to satisfy this guy. He was light-years out of my league, and men like him were never interested in gals like me.

Chapter Two

Mr. Welsh was a man of few words and not much of a conversationalist either. Just as well. His phone occupied his attention as it rang constantly and pinged even more. It was borderline annoying to me, and the patrons in my pub would look over at him every time it made a sound too. We were just more relaxed around here – no one was glued to their devices. Probably part of the appeal of a small town with an amazing ocean view.

Since Mr. Welsh was still here, and no one had come to retrieve him, I called over to the airport.

“Hey, Cedar.”

“Amber.” Her voice sang out. Guess she didn’t look at the display. “How’s our guest?”

“Still hanging out. What’s going on over there?”

“The captain and first officer are still filling out paperwork. Apparently, a crane’s going to lift the nose of the plane up, and they will manually push out the landing gear so they can tow it off the runway. Should be quite exciting to watch.”

“I’ll take your word on that.”

“How’s the VIP?” If I didn’t know her better, I’d swear she was wiggling her brows.