“And leave you here by yourself? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
She gave him a dirty look. “I’m not helpless.” She turned her back on him, stalking to the bucket by the door where she’d left her umbrella.
“I know. You’re the furthest thing from helpless I’ve ever met. But fuck me, you’re frustrating — here we are, totally alone in a place made for lovers, and you won’t tell me I’ve got no hope, but you want me to leave?”
“Don’t assume we’ll have sex if you stay,” she warned him, feeling surly and stubborn, then she glanced back for a moment and caught the expression on his face.
Undone, confused, humbled, and desiring.
“I can hope, can’t I?” he muttered.
For a moment, all of Nell’s defenses fell away as a ripple of something powerful and urgent washed over her, sensitizing her skin and liquifying her core. Maybe this isn’t just a game for him. His unconcealed lust made her feel… sexy — not something she was accustomed to feeling. Too strong, too much in control. Chunky Booty. That one was Tommy’s voice in her mind. Scary woman. Robotic, cold. She got admiration in plenty, but it was usually for being able to fight hard and break things, or for being competent and efficient, and the lewd variety was so often of the any-hole-will-do sort. Eamonn couldn’t take his eyes off her. And she felt wanted, warm, and glorious.
“Yes, you can. And I’m allowed to be frustrating.” She could feel a twisted smile spreading across her face, almost against her will. “Stay, then.”
His answering smile was equal parts hungry, dirty, and grateful. “We’ll have fun, lovely.” And he lowered his gaze to her chest for a moment, blatantly admiring. “There’s a hot tub, and I’ve got a bottle of tequila in my truck — pretty sure we could find what we need to make margaritas or something.”
She laughed. “Are you suggesting your intention is to get me drunk?”
He blew a raspberry at her, his eyes teasing. “I think you know exactly how much you can drink without losing control, and I bet you never let yourself go there, so… no.”
“Fair guess.” Nell shrugged, as though it didn’t mean a thing. Why does that sting a little? Staying alert and in control was a good choice, a smart choice.
“But you’ll have a margarita or two with me, won’t you? Relax, soak in the hot tub, forget about the rain?”
“I don’t have a bathing suit.”
“Your sports bra and boyshorts probably cover more than most bikinis — hey, no, I didn’t peek!” He raised his hands as if to ward off any violence she might do. “Are you going to tell me you’re not a sports-bra-and-boyshorts kind of woman?”
He had a point. “You probably prefer your women in lace and butt-floss.”
That just made him laugh. “Oh, babe, the gift wrap doesn’t matter — it’s what’s underneath that counts.”
“Awkward,” she said. “Don’t push me, but we’ll see.” He winked at her, and she raised her chin. “I should go over to the office and call Tommy now in case we lose phone service later.”
“All right. How about I gather up some supper and snacks, and we can take the food back to our cabin? The dining room is a bit big and lonely when it’s just the two of us.”
“Sure. Good plan.”
Alone in the office, Nell felt unaccountably anxious as she picked up the phone and dialed. “Hi, Lila, it’s Nell. Could you put me through to Tommy?”
“Nell!” Lila’s voice bubbled with giggles over the phone. “How’s the romantic cascades? Get laid yet?”
“No. Lila, someone will hear you. Please just put me through to Tommy.”
The hold music played for a moment and then Tommy picked it up. “Nell. Good. Did you find that manager?”
“Yes. She’s in the hospital, but she’ll be back to work as soon as she’s released, probably in a day or two, and—”
“Did you say hospital?” he snapped. “What’s wrong with her? Anything that will make her unreliable or cause problems for us? If we need to get rid of her, I want to start the hiring process right away.”
If I say anything about the baby, Jessalyn will lose her job. “From what I understand, she fell and hit her head, gave herself a concussion.” Which wasn’t a lie. Jessalyn did have a concussion from falling, if one left out the part about gestational diabetes and a hypoglycemic seizure. But even lies of omission didn’t sit well with Nell’s integrity. It’s the lesser evil, she told herself.
“All right. But you’d better conduct a performance review as soon as she’s back on the job, and don’t renew her contract at the end of the season without talking to me first. We can’t have clumsy site managers falling everywhere.”
“Yes, Tommy,” said Nell. In her heart, she knew that Jessalyn wouldn’t last at Wildforest once a single word was said about maternity leave, never mind childcare. She sighed, not wanting to be the one to burst that bubble.
“Is that all you called about?” Tommy asked. She could hear him tapping his coffee mug against the desk.
“Unfortunately, no. We also have a flood warning for the highway below the property, so we’ve had to voucher the guests out, and I’ve sent the staff home. Eamonn and I will stay onsite until we’re back to operation.”
Tommy swore, ostensibly under his breath, but she felt the words were directed at her. “How can you have a flood warning in June?” he demanded, as though she had some kind of responsibility for the weather. “This is ridiculous. I need to see better things from that property, Nell.”
“I’m working on it, Tommy.”
“Good. Call me when you’re on your way back.” And before she could ask him to put her through to booking so she could let them know about the flood warning, he’d hung up.
Not wanting to talk to Lila again, Nell looked up the
