He leaned against the door jamb. “Then it was mutual. You were appalled to see me playing poker.”
“I might have been annoyed you won the first hand,” she confessed.
His amusement, that sweet familiarity of talking with his best friend evaporated when Agent Pickering strolled down the hallway. She tossed him a warning look from behind Evie. Damn it. He was in for a ton of questions about his motives and intentions if he couldn’t provide the answers she was after about Cordell and Evie.
“Why?”
She tugged the zipper on her coat up and down a few inches. “Probably because I’m petty,” she confessed.
“No.” He fought a smile. “Why did working here become necessity?”
“Oh.” Her straight white teeth pinched her lower lip. “Long story short, we need the money. For the business and taxes and stuff.”
“What about all your expansion plans? Just a couple weeks ago you had sledding tours listed.”
“You looked me up?”
He smiled now. “I couldn’t come back to Deadwood and not look you up. I wanted to see you.” Although seeing her had been the exact opposite of his actual intent on this trip, he would alwayswantto see Evie.
“It was BYOS.”
“Bring Your Own Sled?” She nodded. “So?”
She sighed and did the thing with the zipper again. “That’s my problem, Wyatt. I just wanted to tell you about this.” She leaned close and lowered her voice. “It’s only winters. If I hadanother option, I wouldn’t be here. But I don’t want to lose the business.”
“That bad?”
Her gaze dropped to the patterned carpet between them and she shrugged. “It’s only winters,” she repeated.
Before he could overthink it, he caught her hand and placed it on the open door. “Hold this.” Swiveling around and darting into the room, he grabbed his coat. “Your shift is over?”
She nodded.
“The snow’s been getting heavier,” he reminded her. “Are the roads clear enough to get home?”
Another bob of her chin.
“I’ll walk you to your car.”
“For old time’s sake?” She cocked her head, skeptical.
The doubt in her gaze hollowed him out and regrets flooded into the void. When they’d been together, she’d trusted him completely. And he’d thrown away that precious gift with a shameful carelessness. And now she was here trying to explain her actions, decisions he guessed she’d been forced to make. He didn’t deserve her. And she didn’t deserve to be used by him, Cordell, the FBI or anyone else.
“Something like that.” He didn’t touch her as they walked to the elevator. It felt wrong, as if a joint was out of place. Present, but not functioning properly. In the past they held hands at every opportunity. “Are you even sure you can make it home tonight?”
“And back again in the morning,” she quipped. “Tomorrow night could be a different story.”
They stepped into the car when it arrived, suspending conversation with other guests around.
“I appreciate your concern,” she said as they walked toward the retail section of the resort.
“But I lost the right to have an opinion about your life and choices,” he finished for her. “A situation I regret,” he added. “Since we seem to be sharing.” The lighting had been dialed down, but all of the stores they passed were open. “Does anything in this place ever close?”
“Of course.” She pointed to a subtle sign near the door of the next store. “The hours are posted, though it strikes me as hypocritical since there isn’t a single clock anywhere in the guest areas.”
“I guess everyone has a phone or smart watch.” And he just realized he’d left both of his devices upstairs in the room.
“True.” She turned down a short hallway toward an exit sign and he followed. “The employee lot is this way.”
