William would die a slow death at the hands of Lucy. She took her time over dinner, laughing and clearly savoring their time together. He should’ve enjoyed himself, too, but his mind looped their plans for the rest of the evening on replay.
“You ready to head back?” He trailed his finger over her knuckles.
“We haven’t ordered dessert.” She tucked her hand in her lap. “We might as well indulge since we’re heading back to Confluence.”
“We aren’t going home tonight.” He shook his head. Not a chance. “Order dessert to go? Eat it at the cabin?”
He sent a silent prayer that she’d agree.
She scowled at him. “The ice cream will melt.”
“Then get the carrot cake.” See? Easy.
Her nose scrunched up. “Seriously? No. I don’t believe in vegetables in my dessert.”
She had a point.
Her ice cream sundae came, and she ate slowly. Each time she ran the spoon against her tongue, he nearly groaned aloud. He was fairly certain she didn’t understand the power she wielded with flatware.
She popped the maraschino cherry in her mouth and, holy hell, was she sucking on the damn thing? He swallowed the guttural growl that threatened. “Let’s head back, yeah?”
One last lick, and she dropped her spoon.
“Yeah. I’m stuffed.” She stretched her arms over head, giving him a front row view of her breasts tight against the now dry T-shirt.
He had lost his mind. Poof. Gone.
Given that any semblance of coherence disappeared at the cherry, he couldn’t be sure, but it seemed he dragged her back to the cabin like a caveman.
“Seriously, what’s the rush, Will?” she asked when he threw open the door.
If he were an evil cartoon villain, he’d be rubbing his sinister hands together.
She stopped abruptly. “Wait, you didn’t use your key?”
“The door wasn’t locked.” He turned the handle to show her.
“I locked it when we left.” She was adamant.
“Luce, we were both upset. It was a mistake. No harm done.” All this talk of doors and locks put a serious kink in his evil genius plan.
Her face paled. “No,youdon’t understand. I’msureI locked it.”
He gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Wait here. I’ll go in and check it out.”
“I’m not waiting out here alone.” She stuck close beside him.
When he flipped the switch, lights flickered on. Normally, he wouldn’t think anything of the way they wavered. But with Lucy freaking out, the subtle dim and flare gave off a seriously creepy vibe. She gripped his back pocket, and subsequently his ass, as she shuffled with him through the cabin. “We were both upset when we went out. I’m sure—”
“I could’ve sworn I locked it.” She paled and crossed her arms around herself protectively. He preferred where her hands had been before.
“You’re my girl now. I won’t let anything bad happen.”
Her eyes got wide. “I’m your girl?”
“Thought we established this on the trail, at the boathouse, and again by the lake?” He kissed her forehead. “Let’s see if anything’s missing.”
They’d planted a few pieces of jewelry and several hundred dollars throughout the room. It didn’t take more than a few seconds to realize the cash had been lifted. He shouldn’t have been excited, but his instincts clicked on high alert and he went straight to the cameras.
