“Yes,” she lied. But when she turned her head and looked at him, she told him the truth. “No.”
“What’s going on?”
“Just…family drama. It’s part of the reason I’m in the predicament I’m in.” Another sigh. “I never should have responded to the text, but I did and now I regret it.”
“Oh.”
He didn’t push her for more information, and she really appreciated it. At some point, she might feel comfortable sharing all the details with him, but not now.
Now she wanted to simply bask in the afterglow of an amazing afternoon. Talk about a sexual awakening. Maisie never knew sex could be like that. So…raw and needy and exhilarating! Axel took her to places she never knew existed, made her feel things she’d never felt before. And now that she was thinking about it, she wanted to feel it all again.
Rolling onto her side, she faced him.
“I don’t want to think about any of that—the family stuff.” Reaching out, she smoothed her hand over his chest. “I’d much rather think about everything we did here in this bed.”
He grinned, holding her hand over his heart. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “Definitely.”
When he didn’t move or make a move, she wondered if maybe she should be the one to do it first. Moving closer, she was about to kiss him when he stopped her.
“Maisie, I…”
Oh, crap. The tone. She could hear it in his voice that he had regrets. Moving back to her original spot, she tried to pull her hand away, but he wouldn’t let her.
“It’s okay,” she said quickly, unable to look him in the eyes. “Like I said earlier, I don’t have a lot of experience, so…”
His grip on her tightened. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s just…I can hear it in your voice, okay? We had some fun, but you’re not looking to do it again. I get it. It’s fine. I’ll just…”
The next thing she knew, she was dragged across the bed and then Axel was on top of her. “It’s not fine, and that’s not what’s going on,” he said firmly. “I was going to say that all those text messages were from my partners and they were all speculating on what you and I were doing together.”
Her eyes went wide.
“I didn’t tell them anything, but…it’s out there, and I didn’t like it. I don’t want anyone talking shit about you—or me. And I certainly don’t want them thinking about us being together like this.”
“But…they are.”
He sighed again. “I know. I’m sorry.”
For several long moments, neither of them said anything, but Maisie hated the silence. More than that, she hated having to keep her feelings to herself. She’d been doing it most of her life, and it had to stop.
“Look, we didn’t plan this, and we’re both adults. On top of that, we know that…you know…sleeping together has nothing to do with the resort or my job. So if anyone’s worried about that, I’ll talk to them and set them straight.”
Now it was Axel’s eyes that went wide.
“I’m serious,” she stated. “I’m so tired of people talking about me like I don’t know what I’m doing or that I can’t take care of myself. It’s insulting. And I know that last night I was the one who was worried about it, but I know now that I can separate these two sides of our relationship. Can you?”
He mutely nodded.
“Okay, then. I’m glad we have that settled.” She smiled sweetly at him. “I guess the real question is do you want me again or are we going to get up, get dressed, and be roommates until the road is cleared?”
His expression went from wary to amused in the blink of an eye. And by the way his body was responding to hers, she knew she had her answer.
But she still wanted to hear it.
“Make no mistake, Maisie. I want you again. And I’m going to want you again after that, and again after that. I can’t imagine a time when I’m not going to want you. But there’s also going to come a time when we’re going to have to get out of this bed and have something to eat or maybe be in this bed and just sleep. But no matter what, I’m still going to want you.”
