William picked that moment to step around the corner with the bags. “What’s going on, Sugar Lips?” He did that drawl again. The teasing should have pissed her off, but damn it was kind of cute. He moved forward and kissed her on the forehead as he stepped through the entry.
Jelly. Not just her knees this time. Her whole body whimpered.
“Looks like they gave us the same room.” The other man waited in the hallway with his wife.
William dropped the bags beside the bed. Two beats, and he held out his hand confidently to the Mack-truck dude. “William.”
The man shook it. “Max.”
“What do you say we head to the front desk and find out what’s going on, yeah?” William asked the guy.
Without waiting for a response, William moved, and they followed. A magnet. He drew people to him, with him, beside him. As he closed the door, his eyes caught hers, and he said softly, “B-roll, babe. We need raw footage of everything.”
“You’re so bossy.” She settled her hands on her waist, her elbows flared. “And seriously, Sugar Lips?”
He glanced to her mud-soaked shirt. “I’ll grab you something to wear from the gift shop.” A wink and he slipped on the glasses.
The door closed, and Lucy stood alone in the big room with all the bags and a big bed she’d likely not get to sleep in after all.
Chapter Eight
William and Lucy got demoted to Cabin Number Six—down by the lake.
Of course they wouldn’t kick a real couple out of the honeymoon suite on their actual honeymoon. Simple and private—that’s what the front desk clerk assured William when he offered to move out of the suite. The suite Lucy had seemed really into. And since he was really into Lucy, the last thing he wanted was to disappoint her. It’s not like she’d been excited to tag along on this little excursion anyway.
While the cabin wasn’t the luxury of the suite, it wasn’t awful.
William had re-loaded the bags, sent Lucy’s clothes to be cleaned, and waited while she changed into the only clothes he could find in the gift shop. The pajama bottoms hadPrincessstamped across her ass. They fit snugly around the aforementioned backside, the waistband resting just below her navel. She filled out the wordPrincessperfectly, and he made no attempt to hide his gawking. He could get behind whatever declarations she wanted to display on her ass at any point during their trip.
The simple cabin had a living and bedroom combo that made up the majority of the large room with a fireplace on one side and a kitchenette on the other. A giant bed crafted from logs faced the doorway. The bathroom only had a shower, but they could live with that. No television, though. That would be harder to live with.
He and Lucy went to work, taping footage of the space before he moved in their bags.
William itched to get out of the monkey suit he’d had on since they left KDVX. In the bathroom, he changed into jeans and a plaid button-down shirt. Before he hung up the suit coat, he retrieved the worn envelope he carried with him all the time. He ran his finger along the edge and tapped it on the counter before closing his eyes and leaning his forehead on the mirror. His future was secure in Confluence. That’s what mattered. It’s what his mom had worked so hard for, and he swore to himself he wouldn’t let her down again. This would be his last story as a reporter, and he’d make it a good one. Then he’d run her company just as she would have.
He leaned away from his reflection and took a deep breath before opening his eyes and slipping the envelope back into his pocket.
“You want to check my footage before I put everything away?” Lucy asked as he emerged from the bathroom.
“I need to?” He dumped his clothes on a chair.
“Nope.”
“Then no.”
She frowned slightly. She frowned a lot around him, especially in the truck. Like he was a puzzle she tried to solve, but a piece was missing.
The curtains on the window near the small sofa revealed a picture window framing the lake.
“You swim?” he asked.
“No.”
“Not at all?”
“Not at all,” she replied.
“Why?”
