“You don’t have to be sorry,” he assured her. “And I’m a really good listener. If you want to talk…”
Turning her head, she looked at him and sighed. “I think if I shared more, it might taint your view of me when we finally do that interview tomorrow.”
They hadn’t done it earlier. After they changed and met back up in the kitchen, they had made a mess while making their sundaes and then thought it would be fun to eat them in bed. And instead of talking about her proposal or the resort, they had talked about TV shows and movies, music, and just random topics. It was really enjoyable, but they were both tired and decided to call it a night and handle the interview tomorrow before she left.
“I can separate the two. Your talent as a decorator and designer is separate from what your life is like on your personal time.”
Her laugh was more like a snort. “I wish I could believe that.” She sighed again. “My life is a mess right now. I already told you that getting this job is a matter of life and death, and I don’t want to drag you any further into it than that.”
“Okay, but…saying things like that just makes me want to know what’s going on so I can help you.”
But he already knew how he could help her.
Hiring her was the answer, but it felt weird to make that offer to her right now, and he had a feeling her pride wouldn’t allow her to accept it until she gave the entire presentation.
“You know what I wish?” she whispered.
Axel shook his head.
“I wish I had met you in another setting. A place where we didn’t have this job thing between us. You seem like a genuinely nice guy.”
“I am a nice guy,” he said gruffly. “And if we’re being honest, I wish we hadn’t met because of a professional situation.”
Her eyes went a little wide. “Really?”
Ugh…what am I doing? I’m flirting with disaster here!
“Yeah. Really. I’ve enjoyed talking to you. And cooking with you. And laughing with you. I know you’re going through something right now, and we have this interview in the morning, but there’s a part of me that can’t help but wonder what it would be like if that weren’t a thing. If we were just two people stranded together in a storm.”
He swallowed hard and wanted to kick his own ass for being so bold and putting that out there. But he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t a liar, and he appreciated it when people were honest with him. He knew Maisie would be honest about how she felt.
“I wish that too,” she said, her voice so low he almost didn’t hear her.
They laid there just staring at each other in the semi-darkness for several long moments.
“If there wasn’t a job on the line, what would be different right now?” she asked, and Axel wasn’t sure if he should give her a casual answer or a brutally honest one.
“I’m afraid to answer that,” he said, his voice going gruff again.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“Why would it…?”
He pushed up a little more, the blankets draping over his hip. “Because if there wasn’t a job on the line, I’d want to be under those blankets with you. I never would have let you put on that dress, because I would have peeled your robe off of you right here in front of the fire and I would have kissed every damn inch of you.”
Her soft gasp was her immediate response before she turned away. “You don’t have to say that.”
“One thing you should know about me, Maisie, is that I say what I mean, and mean what I say. You’re a beautiful woman, and in any other circumstance, I’d want to be buried deep inside of you right now.”
When she turned to look at him again, he couldn’t quite tell what she was thinking. Was she shocked? Appalled? Turned on? Turned off? The firelight was great in a lot of ways, but with the way the shadow was falling, he wasn’t sure if he needed to apologize or close the distance between them.
“Oh, wow,” she whispered. “I…I don’t know how to respond to that.”
He wanted to encourage her to say exactly what was on her mind, but he didn’t want to appear to be too pushy.
Then again, Axel knew he wasn’t going to sleep a damn wink if he didn’t know the answer.
