Page 19 of #Resort Love (Lakeview Harbor #1)

“Oh.”

“Plus, you don’t strike me as the kind of guy who likes to spend the entire night with a woman.” She laughed softly. “Like…if we were at my place, I think you would have left by now.”

Okay, wow. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that because that was quite an assumption.

And an insulting one at that.

Even if it was accurate.

“Um…why would you…?”

“I imagine a guy like you—you know, one who works at these swanky resorts—has the opportunity to meet a lot of single women who are there on vacation. I’m sure you get a lot of women doing the whole girls’ trip thing.

And, let’s face it, you’re very attractive, so the women are naturally drawn to you.

” She shrugged. “But because it’s probably frowned upon for you to mingle with the guests, any sexy stuff would have to be done on the sly, and that would mean you don’t spend the full night with them.

” She pulled back a little more. “And I’d bet good money that they never come to your room because you don’t want them to know that you have a suite on-site. ”

Shit.

She completely nailed that one.

And it made him sound like a crappy person.

“Am I even close?” she asked.

It would be easy to lie, but what was the point? “A little too close,” he mumbled.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s kind of scary how you figured that out after knowing me for only a handful of days.”

“Well, to be fair, what I’ve gotten to know about your personality really made the rest kind of obvious. And I think any guy in your position would be beyond tempted to do exactly what you’re doing.”

“Yeah, but…it’s not as sleazy as you’re making it sound. It’s not like I take a different woman to bed every night. Hell, sometimes it’s weeks between times I’m with anyone.”

“Walker?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re making it worse. Like I’m getting a serious ick factor and just thinking about what you’re saying makes me want to bolt, so…”

“Okay, okay, sorry. That was kind of a douchey thing to share.”

When she squirmed to put some distance between them, he held her a little tighter.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want you to go. If you want, I won’t even talk.” It seemed drastic, but he really didn’t want her to go.

Again.

It was crazy because after he realized who she was, his initial instinct was that she was a pain in the ass—beautiful, but a pain in the ass nonetheless. She’d been pushy and annoying, but over the course of their dinner, he saw a completely different side of her.

Or, rather…he saw the woman he met at the festival.

She was confident and funny, and yet a little shy at the same time. He never got a lot out of her about her life, but he assumed she was a private person. The last thing he expected was for her to come back to his cabin and kiss him senseless.

Although…that’s what he had hoped would happen when he invited her to join him. He just figured he’d be the one seducing her, not the other way around.

Not that he was complaining.

“So? Will you stay?”

“I want to say no, but…” Pausing, she yawned again before snuggling closer.

So he went back to letting his hand trail lazily up and down her back with the occasional pause to squeeze her very grabbable bottom. Their legs were tangled together, and he knew she was on board when she started to lightly grind against him.

It was on the tip of his tongue to say how much he wanted her, but he did just kind of promise not to talk. Plus, he preferred to show her how he felt, so…

Slowly, he rolled her beneath him, kissing her softly, languidly as she hummed with pleasure.

This time, there was no rush, no frantic movements.

It was slow and sweet and beyond satisfying.

And when they finally exhausted each other, he knew she wasn’t going to leave until the sun was fully up in the sky.

Harlow came awake slowly, careful to slowly disentangle herself from Walker. She had no idea what time it was because there wasn’t a clock in the room, but she was fairly certain it was very early.

Wow…déjà vu much?

The sun was just starting to come up, and it was way earlier than she usually woke up.

Beside her, Walker was sound asleep, and as much as she would love to stay in the world’s most comfortable bed—he wasn’t lying about that—and stay curled up beside the world’s sexiest man, she felt like she needed to leave.

She shouldn’t be considering sneaking out again, but she wasn’t a fan of the awkward conversation they were probably going to have when they were both awake.

Walker Bradshaw was completely out of her league, and the exact reason her crappy life was going to stay crappy.

She knew it wasn’t personal; it wasn’t like he deliberately decided to take on rebuilding the Lakeview Harbor Resort just to spite her.

But she knew she would always look at him and know he was the reason she didn’t get the deal she had been working on for years.

And she certainly didn’t want to keep coming back here and having it rubbed in her face.

The smart thing to do was cut her losses and leave.

The cabin and Harbortown.

It was time. Hell, it was past time. When her father had been convicted of murder ten years ago, she should have left.

Of course, she had only been fifteen, so it wasn’t exactly possible. But if her mother hadn’t turned into a raging alcoholic, maybe they could have moved on and had some sort of normal and happy life.

That ship had sailed too.

But now she was an adult, and maybe it was time to stop making excuses and blaming everyone else for her rotten luck.

Maybe if she finally left this tiny resort town, she could have the life she’d always wanted.

She might have to work a little harder since she hadn’t had a decent commission in months, but that wasn’t a big deal.

Harlow was used to working hard. She had to in order to support herself and her mother for years.

Fortunately, her mother had latched onto the bass player in a Bon Jovi tribute band and left town three years ago.

Harlow hadn’t heard from her since.

Good riddance…

Now she was truly alone and this whole situation with losing out on the sale of the resort could be the push to finally make her get off her ass and start living her life on her own terms. She’d been holding out hope that Dale and Peggy selling that she stopped thinking about anything else other than just waiting for them to change their minds.

She’d made some mediocre sales, but this was going to be her unicorn.

And now that ship had sailed too.

Sighing quietly, she began to inch her way toward the edge of the bed.

She already knew that Walker was a fairly deep sleeper, but that didn’t mean she wanted to make a bunch of noise and risk waking him up.

She had barely gotten one leg out from under the blanket when his hand landed on her arm, scaring the crap out of her. She gasped, but didn’t say a word.

“Stay, Harlow,” he whispered sleepily.

Why couldn’t he just let her go?

“Walker, I…”

He rolled toward her, somehow getting her back in arms, and their legs tangled together.

“Stay,” he repeated, kissing her cheek.

“I really should go…” she softly whined, but she didn’t even believe herself.

He inched down, kissing her throat. “Not yet. Stay a little longer.”

Her hands languidly moved up to rest on his shoulders and then raked up into his hair. “But…we shouldn’t…”

Walker gently rolled her beneath him. “We should.”

Frankly, she had to agree.

The next thing she knew, they were kissing—slow, sleepy kisses; the kind where they could either be the start of something super sexy, or the kind that you’re totally content to just keep you where you’re at.

Personally, she wouldn’t say no to heading in the super sexy direction.

Again.

It was dangerous territory. She was getting addicted to Walker. Well, physically addicted at least—it was completely possible that if sex were taken out of the equation that they wouldn’t have any desire to be around each other.

So, she decided it was okay to indulge this one last time. Once the sun was fully up and she could climb from the bed and leave, she wasn’t coming back.

Savor every sensual moment, she told herself, because it will be over far too soon.

Harlow gave herself over to the pleasure. The feel of his hands, the warmth of his skin…she wasn’t even sure it was normal to still want someone after spending an entire night making love.

I’m totally okay with being abnormal…

His stubbled jaw rubbed along all her most sensitive spots and she moaned with delight, silently begging him for more.

And he more than willingly obliged.

“I think all the bathrooms are going to get major upgrades,” Walker said as she stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. He handed her his robe. “Here, put this on. I made us some coffee.”

This so wasn’t the way she envisioned the morning going after they finally got out of bed.

She was prepared to get dressed and go, but he offered her the opportunity to use the shower and mentioned something about breakfast. Her stomach growled right on cue, so she figured a few more minutes with him wouldn’t kill her.

Slipping the robe on, she shimmied out of the towel and smiled when Walker bent down to pick it up. She almost wished he wasn’t so nice because he was making it harder to be okay with leaving here and not seeing him again.

Then he handed her the coffee mug and motioned for her to join him at the tiny kitchen island. The first sip was so damn good that she almost couldn’t believe it.

“Holy crap,” she said almost reverently. “That’s good.”

“It’s a special brew from the resort I work for.

I asked them to ship me a case of it,” he explained.

“And before you say it, yes, I know. It’s a total snob move, but I don’t care.

There’s no way I can start my day—especially all the days of the next six months where I’m going to be working my ass off—without a proper cup of coffee. ”