“It’s small, but I don’t have to pay for a mortgage or rent, or even utilities, so I can’t complain. And it’s only me.” Not that he needed to clarify that.
“I’ve never been inside one yet. As you know, Dylan offered me a cabin, but I didn’t need it at the time.”
“Do you need one now?” When she turned the cabin down, it was quickly snapped up by someone else. So if she was ready for one, she’d have to wait until one came available again.
“If I sold my home, or even rented it out, I’d have to rent a space to teach yoga.”
Right.Because the Lyonses wouldn’t let just anyone onto the property, so Hope couldn’t hold her regular classes on theresort’s grounds. “Couldn’t you do it at the community center or the library?”
“The Fisher Falls library branch is too small, but I’d have to see how much the community center would charge me, if they’re even open to letting me hold my classes there at all.”
He shut the door behind her and watched her wander around his small space, checking everything out. Including the framed pictures of his daughter Laurel at various ages. Those were his most important belongings. He kept them front and center.
He murmured, “I did notice this area sure likes to clutch their pearls over the littlest thing.”
“They sure do. You should’ve heard the scuttlebutt when everyone finally realized what kind of resort this was going to be. You’d think the world was coming to an end. And as innocent as practicing yoga is, some think it summons evil spirits.”
He choked out a laugh. “Are you serious?”
Hope turned to face him. “Yes! Some of them act like I’m standing in a pentagram, summoning the devil and sacrificing virgins, instead of instructing people how to deal with tension and stress and how to clear their minds and open their hearts.”
“Wait. Are you secretly throwing your students into an active volcano? I don’t know how I missed that on your background check. Now I’m going to have to write up a report and give it to Dylan and Dayne.”
She laughed. “Oh, please don’t! I wouldn’t want to have to cast a spell on you!” She waved her fingers at him like she was an evil witch.
She already had. The more he spoke with her, the more he was falling under that spell.
He sure as hell hoped tonight worked out. It would be great if this ended up a solid friends with benefitssituation. This way, if either of them were in the mood to have sex, they could seek each other out.
That would mean he wouldn’t need to seek out random female guests unless he was in the mood for something specific. Because he had no idea what Hope was into sexually. It could be she was completely vanilla and only wanted to bang one out and leave. To him, that would be acceptable on occasion, but not on a regular basis.
He was fine with working at this resort because his tastes aligned with a lot of the guests. As well as the owners.
When he saw the job opportunity come up, he jumped on it immediately. A ranch resort based around sex? Hell yes! That was right up his alley.
Shit.He needed to be a proper host, didn’t he? “Would you like a drink?”
“Water’s fine.”
“No wine, beer…shot of whiskey?”
“Oh, well…a glass of wine would be perfect. As long as you’re having one, too.”
“It’s one of the local reds Danica keeps in stock. And yes, I’ll join you.”
He grabbed a bottle out of the fridge. He appreciated the fact he had a full-size refrigerator/freezer combo in his compact kitchen. It made grabbing a beer or a bowl of ice cream convenient. He didn’t want to hike up to the lodge’s kitchen for a late night craving.
He pulled the cork and poured. When he turned, he held hers out.
Her lips twitched when she saw what kind of glassware he used.
“Sorry. I don’t have any wine glasses. As you can see, my kitchenette is short on space, so some items have multiple purposes.” He lifted his own coffeemug. “Cheers?”
Hope chuckled softly and tapped her mug to his. “Cheers. All the wine has to do is go from the bottle to my belly. The vessel doesn’t matter.”
“Don’t let a wine connoisseur hear you say that. You’ll be looked upon as a savage,” he teased.
“Oh my God, yes.” She cupped a hand around the side of her mouth and gossip-whispered, “‘Have you heard? Hope Reed was seen summoning evil spirits while sipping on Satan’s juice in acoffee mug! Can you imagine? Burn her at the stake!’”
