Free Just a Summer Fling by Cate Cameron

at her boobs. “Just a snack?” she suggested. “Something for the road?”
    “I’ve eaten. So, if there’s nothing else you need . . .” Then he stopped and looked behind her.
    Ashley turned to see the chef—Josh’s damn cousin—standing by the kitchen door, smiling neutrally. “Appetizers in here or on the deck?” she asked.
    Josh stared at her, then back at Ashley. Everything was fine, Ashley assured herself. She’d
said
she was expecting someone for dinner. Her story still held. But then Josh turnedand squinted at the sink. Then he turned back to Ashley, and she knew that he knew.
    “Sam Curran’s a good guy,” Josh said quietly. Ashley couldn’t tell exactly what emotion was simmering beneath Josh’s still surface, but she was pretty sure whatever it was would boil over if she wasn’t careful. “He trusts me. I assume he trusts you. I wouldn’t want to bill him for something that was . . . something that didn’t have anything to do with his house.”
    She stared at him. “Bill
me
!” she blurted out. “I’ll pay for your time. I’m sorry. I just . . . I thought . . . there
was
water!” But he just looked at her, and she had to drop her eyes. “No,” she admitted. “Sorry. There wasn’t water.”
    She heard the chef easing back into the kitchen, retreating from the tension. But Josh didn’t retreat. He stepped forward, closer to Ashley, close enough that she could smell him, soap and wood and other things she didn’t recognize but wanted to understand. She could practically feel the heat of his body and she felt herself swaying toward it.
    “Stop it,” he said quietly.
    She looked up at him and felt like a little girl being scolded by her teacher. Her hot teacher.
    “There’s lots of people up here who’d like to spend time with you. Lots of men who’d like to take you to bed, if that’s what you’re looking for. Find one of them.”
    “I found you,” she said. It seemed stupid, but it was true. She’d found him, and she didn’t want to lose him.
    “I’m not interested.” He bent down and picked up his toolbox. “I’m not playing this game.”
    She had her mouth open to argue, but then she shut it. Had she really been going to claim she wasn’t playing a game, when she’d lured him over to the house on false pretenses? When she’d maybe made a bet about sleeping with him? “I’m not . . . I’m not doing it on purpose,” she managed.
    He snorted. “Fine. It’s all an accident. Just have your accidents with someone else, okay? I’m out.”
    And then he left. His broad shoulders, his tight ass, the shaggy hair that would give her a great grip for controlling where his mouth went . . . She watched it all walk away. And there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening.

Six
    “YOU BACK AT it, Joshy?” Abigail was Josh’s cousin, and they usually got along. But she had a wicked tongue and as much of a love/hate relationship with summer people as he did. “Hanging out with the rich and famous?”
    Josh had known it was coming. He’d thought about buying his lunch somewhere else, but he knew he’d have to deal with her sooner or later, and Abi’s café had the best sandwiches in town. So he’d come in before the lunch rush and braced himself. Now he said, “I was there to repair a leak.”
    “Was it a leak in her
heart
?” Abi asked with exaggerated concern. She snorted. “Mom and Dad say you should go for it. They can’t keep her DVDs on the shelves at the store ever since she came to town. They want to know how long she’s staying so they know if they should order more.”
    All summer, Ashley had said, but Josh didn’t think his aunt and uncle should be making business decisions based on that report. “Don’t be so stingy with the turkey,” he said instead, frowning at the sandwich Abi was making him.
    “It’s a careful balance, Joshy. For the flavors to blend properly, ingredients need to be kept in proportion.” But she