Lia tapped his shoulder as she passed, following the little girl outside. “I’ll bring her to your place later and we’ll catch up tonight, Wes.”

As they left, Wes turned to Sarah and cleared his throat. “So, other than the remaining decks…the last thing we need to finish is the staircase leading to the cellar. I want to refinish the concrete to prevent chipping. My crew is busy and I don’t want to forget about it, so I thought I’d just do it myself.”

“Great—thank you.”

His gaze locked with hers, lasting a few seconds too long. The silence echoed around them a little too loud, and there was an odd energy circling her that she’d be a fool to read too much into. But her pulse raced, and when his gaze lowered to her mouth, she knew he had to be thinking about their kiss, too.

He glanced out the window toward Lia and Marissa, breaking the moment, and she remembered to breathe.

“Anyway, I should get going,” she said quickly.

“Yeah, I should get to work.”

Heading outside, she took a deep breath of fresh air as she headed toward her rental. There was one place in Blue Moon Bay that always cheered her up, and if no one needed her at the inn that day, that’s where she was headed.

…

Using a chisel and wire brush, Wes removed the loose concrete on the winding stairs leading down into the wine cellar. Sweat pooled on his lower back in the heat of the dimly lit stairwell. It was actually kinda creepy being there alone, so he picked up his pace as he applied the concrete re-surfacer to the top of each stair.

Seeing Sarah that morning hadn’t provided any of the clarity he’d been hoping for. Over the last few days, he’d had time to digest and process what had happened, and he’d thought things would be fine. It was just one impulsive kiss. It didn’t have to mean anything. People had casual hookups all the time…

Unfortunately, the moment he’d seen her that morning, there was no way he could write off the kiss or the attraction between them as casual. It was anything but.

She’d looked so beautiful in a long, flowy sundress that hugged her waist and displayed the swell of her breasts so perfectly. Her dark hair in a high ponytail, no makeup on, it had taken all his strength not to take a chance on a do-over on that kiss.

And the look of jealousy on her face when she’d watched their interaction with Lia had made him want to reassure her that she was just as important to them. It had also told him how deep his feelings were. It was more than just physical attraction for both of them.