After securing a cup, I moved to go to the balcony. All of them were encased in glass, keeping it comfortable in the freezing weather. This resort had beautiful views of the mountains andthe small town below that always took my breath away when we came.
I reached the sliding door and realized Juniper was there. She had her feet tucked up in front of her and her hair up in a bun, sipping her steaming cup. Though she wasn't my normal type at all, seeing her like this made my cock throb slightly. Not that it mattered. She wanted nothing to do with me, and though a single night would be fun, we had to survive the coming weeks together.
I slid the door open quietly so as not to spook her. She turned, her hazel eyes cutting to mine. "Good morning," she said over her cup.
"Morning." I sat down in the lounger next to her, stretching out across it.
"This is beautiful," she said, gesturing to the mountains beyond.
"It really is," I agreed. "Nothing you can see in the city."
We sat in silence, enjoying the coffee and the view.
"What do you normally do on weekends?" I asked, continuing our ritual of coffee and questions.
I wasn't sure why I started doing it. The next time I saw her, I wanted to know a bit about her. I knew it would be good for our ruse, but deeper than that, I also just wanted to know.
"I see we're back to the questions," she said, but doesn't sound truly annoyed. "Depends. Usually it's when Casey and I can work on the app. Sometimes I work, but that's only if I pick up someone's shift. Otherwise, I meet with my mom or my friends. What about you?"
I thought on it. Did I want to admit I usually spent it out, drinking with people I hardly knew and hooking up with random people? Usually I didn't mind saying it, but something about admitting it to her made me stop in my tracks.
"It varies. Usually I do social things."
She snorted. "Social, right."
I shrugged. It seemed with my life being blasted around online, it was obvious what I was up to.
"So," she said, changing the subject. "What's the plan today?"
"Normally we meet for brunch downstairs, then do some walking around the town. It's good to go early, sometimes the snow can make it hard to get down the path."
"Sounds good."
After, we both went inside to get dressed. I chose a simple grey sweater and jeans, and Juniper wore a bright orange sweater tucked into her jeans. The color made her look a bit like a traffic cone, but it suited her still. The bracelet I gave her still glittered around her wrist. I'd seen her wear it when she was at the coffee shop too, and it made a deep part of me–a possessive part rear its ugly head in satisfaction.
So much so, I ended up getting her a pair of earrings. It matched the set, and looked like moons dripping in diamonds.
When she came around the corner, I held the box out to her. She took it, eyes still wide with surprise. That was another thing so different about her. I'd gotten girls gifts before, never quite like this, but nice things all the same. Yet when I gave them those things, they smiled, but it was expected. Nice gifts were always expected.
Juniper didn't ever expect these things, so each time I gave them to her, her reaction did something to me.
She gasped as she opened the box to reveal the earrings. "These are beautiful," she said. Her eyes shone as she looked at me, making my chest flutter in a strange way I didn’t recall ever feeling. Maybe I was sick. Maybe I needed to get checked out.
"I'm glad you like them," I said.
She turned and moved to the bathroom, and a few minutes later she came back with the earrings dangling from her ears. That possessive part of me was satisfied seeing her wear thethings I bought for her. But something else in me warmed when I watched her look at them in every reflective surface we passed on the way downstairs.
When we arrived at brunch, most people already seemed to be there. Though everyone in the family attended these trips, and always essentially rented out the entire place, this first brunch has always been immediate family only.
"Good morning," Rachel said. "I was hoping you guys would be awake enough to join us," she said with a wink.
We just gave a small smile, neither of us admitting that nothing like that was going on between us.
"How was the drive up?" Juniper asked as we sat at the table.
"Fine. Samuel only got lost once."
The man in question scoffed next to her. "I didn't get lost. I just took a wrong turn."
