I take a sip of my wine. “Find anything interesting?”
“Nah, just pictures of books with juices and enough olive green to blind me.”
“That is Harlow Olive’s life,” I agree.
He glances sidelong me. “Why do you write?”
My lips slide side to side, as the reason is one that I’ve rehearsed many times. “It’s an escape. Sometimes ideas enter our heads, and we have to get them out, otherwise we’ll get consumed. Plus, romance is fun and gives people a few hours of relaxation.”
“You must have had a great love life to lead you to romance, no?”
“The opposite. I had a few long-term boyfriends years ago but nothing serious in retrospect. Actually, they were kind of jerks, so maybe I’m writing my dream guys to compensate,” I joke.
“I really need to buy one of your books and then ask you to highlight the good parts for me.”
We’re back to flirting again. “You mean the dirty parts.”
“If you insist.”
I can’t help but smile. “You have a sense of humor, I’ll give you that. So why are you on this retreat?”
He rubs his stubbled jaw because it’s the end of the day, and it just makes the image of him more sweltering. Made worse by the fact that he seems to have no clue of his appeal that makes many women melt, I’m sure. But I do my best to sit here casually. “Simple. Our publisher says I need to change up my view on my plot. So far that plan has kind of gone to shit in terms of why I’m here. You?”
“Same, they think I need to clear my head and change direction.”
Stone’s face goes puzzled. “You mean write about hockey players?”
“I don’t know, but sports bore the hell out of me.” And writing about sports just kind of irritates me. I choose my own direction, not somebody else’s.
“You said writing is perhaps a distraction, so you don’t really believe in it all, do you?”
I huff out a sound and sigh. “Truthfully, I’m not sure, but some things, yes. Second chances, for example.”
His head bobs side to side. “Okay, maybe that makes sense. Not that relighting a flame with an ex would ever cross my mind.”
“You can be attracted to your opposite. Your enemy can seriously become your lover, that’s why people have hate sex all the time,” I list.
A cheeky look returns to his face. “Are you saying that I might become your lover, considering this morning you really wanted to throttle me?”
A blush hits me in full force, and my face instantly warms from his sentence. It’s an image flashing in my mind now, and I feel a wave of sensitivity between my legs. “No, uh… of course not.” I swallow his statement to shake it off.
“Keep going,” he encourages.
“Accidental pregnancy is another,” I add.
He laughs and seems ready to give me another shocker. “You’re going to love this. My brother Vaughn and Isla had an accidental pregnancy… but she didn’t tell him until she was about to deliver the baby.”
My jaw drops. “What? Like a secret pregnancy kind of thing?”
“Totally, but they’re together now and finding their way.”
This is like discovering gold. My hands splay out. “See, maybe it’s all realistic, and I have it all wrong.”
“Ah, you still seem kind of unconvinced.” He remains firm.
I’ve nearly finished my wine because time seems to be flying, but I don’t want this conversation to end. We could talk for hours.
“Did you get your goodnight cookie?” Stone asks to change the topic.
