When he doesn’t, I go back to painting, making an even coat over the wall, climbing up on the ladder and moving steadily along. I move to the space behind the coffee bar, which Evan is making quick progress on, and when we need to move past one another, he puts his hands on my hips, maneuvering me carefully.
Each time, it makes a shameless sort of heat move through me, and I avoid his eyes. In a way, I’m here for work. Not here to follow him back to his cabin, see what else we can do with another night together.
When Beverly returns to the room to check on us, her eyes widen. “Wow! Are you two the dream team, or what? This looks amazing!”
Evan and I glance at one another, and I try to swallow down the ball of glowing pride from the praise. I really am a simple girl.
“We’re closing up for the day,” Beverly says, nodding at us. “But we’d love to have you back, Evan. And Amy—will you be around tomorrow?”
“We’ll be around,” I say, pulling on my coat. “But we have some other tasks to take care of.”
“Shoot—well, I’ll be in touch.”
With that, it’s time to go. Evan insists on walking me to the lodge across the street, insists on grabbing my duffel bag from the trunk for me, and carrying it inside.
The person at the front desk’s eyes go wide when they see us, and I realize Evan is kind of a character around town—people recognize him and seem to have some preconceived notions about who he is.
“I’m sorry,” the desk clerk is saying, five minutes later. “I’m not finding a booking under that name.”
“But I called to make the reservationlast week,” I insist, trying to keep from getting angry. I really don’t want to make the drive back to town right now. “How could it not be there?”
“It must have been a mistake.”
“Well, can you book me a room right now?” I say.
“We’re full. Only four rooms, so it fills up fast.”
I turn and curse under my breath, and Evan appears, putting his hand on my elbow. “It’s okay,” he says, voice low. “You can stay with me.”
CHAPTER 15
EVAN
It’s not like I invited Amy to stay at my cabin with any certain intentions in mind. It’s not like I planned anything, like I was rooting for the lodge to be overbooked, or for her to agree to stay in town rather than making the drive back to the city.
I expect nothing from her.
But when we walk through the threshold, something changes.
The moment the door shuts behind us, Amy steps into me like it’s the most natural thing in the world, like she’s been trying to keep herself from doing it all day. And I won’t lie—it’s been a bitch to keep my hands off of her. To keep from touching her, letting my hand rest on her back.
For some reason, when we’re in town, I want people to think we’re together. I don’t want any of the assholes around here getting ideas about her.
Even though we’renottogether, and I don’t have any right to try to lay a claim. And she made it pretty clear with the way shesnuck out of here last time that she’s not looking for something serious.
And yet.
I kiss her like a dying man looking for breath, hauling her body up against mine, walking her backward down the hall and toward my room. Part of me wants to pull away from her, talk about this, make sure we both have the same expectations for what’s happening here.
But another part of me, the part that’s clearly in control here, isn’t about to waste a single second I can have my hands on her.
Last time wasn’t nearly enough. There were a million places on her that I wanted to touch, and now I’m going to finally get the chance to touch them. Fingers working on their own, I peel off her clothes, revealing swaths of her smooth skin. I kiss the top of her shoulder, then unclasp her bra, trying to keep from gritting my teeth at the sight of her perfect breasts.
There’s something about Amy that makes me want to unravel her. To take all that taut worry and unspool it, one thread at a time.
And I fully plan to.
When I get her on the edge of the bed, tugging down her panties and bottoms, tossing them to the other side of the room, and falling to my knees between her legs, she lets out a low gasp, partially sitting up, trying to close her legs.
