“Do you have more jobs lined up?” he asked curiously.
“Just the cleaning services on the Peninsula, but I think I can find more jobs. I just started looking.” She fidgeted, and her eyes looked troubled.
Micah stood. “Then don’t leave, Tessa. Stay here. It’s not like I’ll be here long, and I’ll need somebody to watch the property.” The words left his lips impulsively, but Micah knew he’d never wanted anything more. Tessa wanted work, and he wanted to give it to her . . . in more ways than one.
What faster way was there to get to know a person than if they were living in a house that he owned, that he could visit whenever he wanted? It was a perfect situation, and Micah wasn’t the kind of guy to miss out on an opportunity.
Life was too damn short, and he wanted to shake off his desperation to fuck Tessa Sullivan once and for all.
CHAPTER 2
“What? Stay here? Why?” Micah had signed it. He’d spoken the words. Still, Tessa couldn’t quite believe that she completely understood what he was asking her to do.
“I want you to stay. I’ll be here in Amesport for a few weeks, but I’ll put myself up in Jared’s guesthouse. You can still function as a caretaker. I could use some help finding my way around. I don’t know the area or the property. And I’ll need someone to watch my property when I leave.”
Oh, God. I can’t stay here now that the house belongs to him.
Not only was it ridiculous to think he needed help, but she knew Liam would go ballistic. Her brother had mentioned that he thought Micah found her attractive, and he’d made it totally clear to her that she needed to stay away from this particular Sinclair. She’d rolled her eyes at her brother and walked away. Like some billionaire Sinclair was going to be sexually into me? She had been a little concerned that Liam was delusional. Micah might flirt, but Tessa had no doubt that he flattered every woman he came in contact with, even the deaf ones.
“I’m willing to pay you very well,” he remarked casually. “Now that the property belongs to me, it’s my responsibility to pay a caretaker. It’s a lot of land. I’ll need somebody who will stay on after I go.”
He named a monthly figure that made Tessa go weak in the knees. Even if he only kept her through the winter, it would help her do a lot to improve the restaurant. It had been in their family since her grandparents had started the eatery decades ago. The restaurant meant everything to her.
“My brother hates you,” she admitted.
Micah grinned. “I know. But I’m not asking your brother. I’m asking you.”
Liam wasn’t her keeper, but he thought he was. She wasn’t afraid of rebelling and doing as she liked. She was more concerned about not hurting her only sibling in some way. Her brother had been by her side when she’d gone deaf, and then again after their parents died. He hadn’t been thrilled when she moved out of town to take care of Randi’s house, but she knew he was ecstatic about one thing—her giving up her own apartment. It meant she’d eventually have to move back home with him after the house sold.
It’s time for Liam to stop. I’ve been able to handle my situation for a while now. He has to realize that I don’t need him to keep sacrificing his life for me.
“Okay. I’ll stay.” She said the words before she could stop them. Really, she did want to stay, and not just for the job.
Tessa desperately wanted to know what had really brought Micah here to Maine, and why he was looking so weary. Something was wrong. She could sense it. Unfortunately, her curiosity almost always got her into trouble.
“Good.” He smiled, looking relieved.
“I could cook for you free of charge,” she answered mischievously.
“I don’t expect you to cook.”
She winked at him. “I like to eat and you’re paying me well, so I’ll cook when you’re around. Are you hungry?”
He nodded slowly. “Honestly . . . yeah. I didn’t have anything except coffee this morning. I was eager to get up in the air. We’re supposed to have thunderstorms later and I flew myself in a Cessna.”
Why am I not surprised that he’s a pilot?
Really, flying was probably one of his tamer activities.
She busied herself by moving into the kitchen. Micah followed her. He took a seat at the small table after he asked if he could do anything and she refused his help. Working in a kitchen was something that came as naturally to her as breathing. Turning her back on him to make coffee, she wondered what he was thinking. If there was one thing that was still disconcerting about being deaf, it was the isolation she felt when someone was in the same room unless she was looking at that person directly. As she worked, Tessa realized that the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. In a way, she could sense Micah’s presence, and she didn’t feel alone even though she couldn’t see him. It was an unusual sensation, and one she really hadn’t experienced since she’d lost her hearing.
Focusing on the task at hand, she had breakfast ready quickly. She didn’t notice what Micah was occupying his time with until she had put their coffee and plates on the table.
“That’s private,” she growled, snatching a piece of paper from his fingers. “Do you always read other people’s mail?”
He looked up at her. “Only when it has the logo of my charity on the correspondence. Technically, it’s my mail, too.”
It didn’t take her long to bury the letter in a kitchen drawer and slam it closed. She should have tossed the silly offer a week ago. The missive did have the Sinclair Fund’s name on the letterhead, but she was still ticked that he had picked it up and was in the process of reading it when she’d taken it away from him.
“It’s addressed to me,” she told him defensively, folding her arms across her chest.
“I should have recognized you,” he said, eyeing Tessa curiously now. “You’re Theresa Sullivan. I could never place your face, but I knew I’d seen you before. I’ve seen you skate.”
It was no surprise that he hadn’t known where he’d seen her previously. Almost nobody connected her previous life with the one she lived now. The Olympic gold medalist in figure skating from almost a decade ago was long gone. Who would know her now? The disabled deaf woman who helped run a broken-down restaurant in a small coastal town was very different from the eighteen-year-old young woman who’d once shined as a rising star. There was no fancy costume, no heavy makeup, and her hair was a tangled mess that she rarely bothered to try to contain in any sense of style anymore. She looked nothing like she had when she was skating competitively.
Tessa turned her back to him again, nervously fiddling with cutlery and napkins before setting them on the table.
“I’m not that woman anymore,” she finally replied, seating herself across from him.
“Of course you are. You’re still Theresa Sullivan, right?”
“Tessa,” she told him tersely. “Everyone I know has always called me Tessa.” Legally, her name was Theresa, but she’d only used it in competition and on legal documents.
“Okay, Tessa,” he answered, still staring at her with a calculating look that almost scared her. Micah was no fool, and she knew he could sense her anger and frustration. “Are you going to do it?” He locked eyes with her for a moment, his expression curious.