It was crazy that Axel’s face came to mind, but she knew that would never happen, not even in a million years—not only because it was too soon to even be thinking of such a thing, but her parents would die if she brought him home. A man with no proper lineage, who grew up in foster care, and worked in construction? Yeah, they’d probably try to have her committed for even considering it.
This train of thought made her entire body tense up, and she hated it.
Plus, this was just…a fling, right? Under normal circumstances, they would have had an interview, she would have gotten the job, and maybe their paths would have crossed every now and again. It was just a storm that brought them together.
Plus…her life was a mess, and from everything she’d learned in the last few days, Axel’s had a hard enough life without her bringing all her bullshit into it. It seemed like he was finally getting things together and feeling good about where he was at. If Maisie stayed around and he found out who she really was, all the hard work he’d put into his life might come undone.
There was no way she would do that to him. He deserved better.
He deserved everything because he was a genuinely good person.
That meant she needed to enjoy what little time they had left because it was all going to be over far too soon.
“Think happy thoughts…think happy thoughts…think happy thoughts…” she whispered, closing her eyes and breathing in the fresh morning air. It took several moments for her to force her mind to go blank. She’d been existing in fight-or-flight mode for the last few weeks, and hadn’t realized how relaxed she’d become while stranded here with Axel.
Although she was pretty sure all the orgasms she’d had in the last twenty-four hours helped with that.
Today, they were going to go up to the lodge so she could look at all the spaces while he did some inspections to make sure there weren’t any leaks or damage from the storm. Yesterday they focused on the grounds and the cabins; today was all about the lodge.
And she was really looking forward to it. Everything she did for her presentation was based on pictures she found online, so it was going to be super helpful for her to walk around and envision how everything was going to look while standing in all the spaces.
Just thinking about it was helping the tension leave her body.
Thankfully.
Sitting down on the dock, she simply stared out at the lake for a while. Axel was probably waking up and wondering where she was, but she wasn’t ready to get up and go back to the cabin yet. She had no idea how long she sat there, but at some point, she heard footsteps and knew her alone time was over.
Without a word, Axel sat down beside her on the dock and handed her a cup of coffee. And they sat like that for a few minutes before Maisie turned her head and looked at him.
“Thank you.”
His smile was a little sleepy, his hair was all askew, and it looked like he had just rolled out of bed.
It was a good look on him.
“I hope you don’t mind my interrupting your quiet time, but I woke up and you weren’t there, and I know you like your coffee first thing in the morning.”
Just the fact that he remembered that made her heart melt a little.
“I’ve never been out in nature like this,” she admitted quietly. “Like, I know we walked all around yesterday afternoon, but I mean watching the sunrise on the lake, listening to all the sounds. It was really quite peaceful.”
“And then I went and ruined it. Sorry.”
Maisie rested her head on his shoulder. “You didn’t ruin anything. I was planning on heading back to the cabin, but I was being lazy.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
They sat in companionable silence, sipping their coffee, for a few more minutes before she felt like it was time to stand. Axel stood first before reaching out his hand to help her up.
“Before I came here, I lived in Baltimore,” he said, facing the lake again. “It was always loud and hectic, especially with the traffic, and it’s how I started every day. Now, this is.” Turning his head again, he grinned at her. “I don’t know if I could ever go back to the noise and chaos of a big city. I think deep down, I’m a small-town guy.”
Add that to all the reasons they’d never work, she thought.
“You seem completely in your element,” she said instead. “It looks good on you.”
His smile grew. “Thanks.” Taking her hand, he nodded toward the path. “Since we’re up, we might as well get our day started. Do you want to eat breakfast in the cabin, or should we bring stuff up to the lodge?”
She wanted a little more time to themselves.
