Page 44 of Playing With The Mountain Man

“Because people love it now, but what if it’s only because I’m the shiny new toy in town. The novelty anyone will try once.”

“You’re not,” I confirmed adamantly.

“You don’t know that,” Tillie countered.

“Yes, I do. And do you want to know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you offer something no one else in Wattle Creek does,” I pointed out.

“If you say blow jobs …”

Now it was my turn to be shocked. Never in a million years did I expect that to come out of Tillie’s mouth. I dropped her foot and floated over so I was crowding her.

With my mouth less than an inch from hers, I could feel the press of her tits against my chest and hear her breath hitch.

“Pretty sure I already told you I don’t share, so the only person you’d better be offering that particular menu item to is the one naked in the hot tub with you,” I reminded her before crushing my lips down over hers.

I felt her hand against my cheek, and now it was my turn to groan. I was hard as fucking steel beneath the water and wanted nothing more than to drag her into my lap and fuck away this day. But there’d be time for that.

When I broke the kiss, desperate for air, we were both panting hard, and Tillie’s eyes were dark black orbs staring back at me.

“You’re the only one who’s seeing me naked, Cody,” she assured me as she ran her hand through my hair.

“Better be,” I added before reaching down and finding her thigh.

Tillie’s mouth fell open as I ran my hand down her leg, picking up her other foot and retreating to the other side of the hot tub. A safe enough distance away that I wasn’t tempted to bury my face between her boobs and motorboat the fuck out of them.

“Now we’ve cleared that up, why do you think you’re a novelty?”

“Because I’m new. What if they get sick of me, and nobody comes? I’ve sunk everything I have into the diner. If it doesn’t work …”

I didn’t let her finish. “It will.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“I can.”

“Cody. Don’t be ridiculous. You know you can’t promise that. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. Not for me or not for you,” Tillie reasoned.

A wave of dread washed over me like ice water. Tomorrow would be here before I was ready, but right now, Tillie needed me to live in the moment. To be here with her. To assure her that she had nothing to worry about. And if I had my way, she never would again.

“I know you’re worried, and I’m not dismissing what you’re saying, but you have no competition. Dirty Boots serves burgers and fries. It’s loud. It’s not kid-friendly, and let’s face it, on a Friday and Saturday night, it gets rough.”

“True.”

“Then you have the Clever Cookie. Morgan does a mean cup of coffee, and her brownies are pretty much legendary, but it’s only baked goods. She doesn’t serve breakfast, and she’s not looking for the lunch crowd either. Besides, she closes at two, so if you’re late, you’re going hungry.”

“Her brownies are amazing,” Tillie added.

“They definitely are. The only other competition in town is Ember and Oak.”

“I haven’t been there,” Tillie admitted.

“Me either. I wanted to take you there but …” I reminded her.

“I know.”