Page 25 of #Resort Love (Lakeview Harbor #1)

“No one snuck out, but…yeah. We slept together again. At the cabin.” He shook his head.

“We even had breakfast together and then I took her around the resort a bit, but we realized it was just awkward. Plus, she’s completely against everything we’re doing with the place, and it was exhausting to keep arguing with her. ”

“What’s there to be against?”

That we’re not going to make it exactly as it’s always been.

I told her we want to make it more upscale, more luxurious.

We want to turn the cabins into romantic tiny houses for couples and maybe even add some glamping pods.

Plus, we ultimately want to cater to a more elite clientele instead of just families. ”

Axel leaned back again and studied him hard. “I don’t remember us discussing all of that. I thought we were going to give the entire place a facelift and do the updates it desperately needed, but you never mentioned changing who we were catering to.”

At that moment, Walker was fairly certain his jaw was on the floor. “Seriously? I’m pretty sure we covered this. That’s why Slater’s coming on to add all the new activities and adventure packages! Families on a budget aren’t going to do pay for all those extras!”

Shrugging, Axel looked less than impressed. “Then I guess I didn’t get the memo.” He paused. “So where’d you leave things with the brunette?”

“We just said goodbye and good luck.” And yeah, saying it out loud had him seeing her face when they said it—the sadness, the disappointment, all of it.

He was saved from having to say anything else about it when their server came over.

“Hey! Hope you haven’t been waiting long. It’s like half the town is here tonight and there’s already a line out the door!” she said as she placed a couple of glasses of water down in front of them. “What can I get for you guys?”

Walker was about to place his order when Axel spoke up. “Would it be okay if we had a few more minutes? I haven’t decided yet.”

“Sure thing! Take your time. Just flag me down when you’re ready.” She smiled and turned and walked away.

“It really is busy in here,” Axel murmured. “Seems like the decent thing to do would be to invite your lady friend and her friend to join us. After all, this booth is more than big enough for four people.”

“I’d really rather not. Harlow and I don’t need to…”

“Yes, you do,” Axel said with a wink as he slid out of the booth. “I’ll be right back!”

And before he could do a damn thing to stop him, Axel was halfway across the room.

There was no way Walker was going to make a scene, but he seriously hoped that Harlow would turn down his friend’s invitation to join them.

He was sure that she didn’t want to hang out with him any more than he wanted to hang out with her.

Liar.

Okay, he wouldn’t mind having another night—or several—with her, but it wasn’t possible.

They were too different and would never get along or agree about what he was here to do.

It was better to just let things go, but apparently, he was the only one to feel that way because she was currently laughing with Axel as she and her friend were walking towards the booth.

He immediately got to his feet and tried to look like he was totally fine with this whole thing, but when she went to sit with Axel, he carefully maneuvered everyone so she ended up beside him.

And yes, the shit-eating grin Axel gave him proved he knew exactly what Walker was doing.

He didn’t look at her. His attention was on his friend, who was introducing him to Harlow’s friend.

“Obviously, you and Harlow know each other,” Axel was saying. “But this is her friend, Gwen! They were having a girls’ night and planned on coming here for dinner and then going to a movie afterwards.”

He smiled at Gwen. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Walker,” Gwen said politely.

“While we were waiting for a table and trying to decide about a movie, Harlow and I were talking about how fun it used to be when your grandparents hosted movie nights at the resort!” She smiled.

“Remember how they used to set up that giant outdoor movie screen? Those were such great times! Do you think you’ll do something like that when you reopen the resort? ”

He glanced at Harlow and noticed the small smirk on her face. He wouldn’t put it past her to be nudging anyone and everyone in town about how great the old version of the resort was and to fight him on the new changes.

“We haven’t decided…”

“That would be awesome!” Axel said excitedly. “I remember those nights, too! There were a lot of Disney movies, but I remember a couple of times they played some classic James Bond ones. Those were my favorite nights!”

“Remember the snack carts that were scattered around?” Gwen asked. “You could get popcorn, candy, juice, giant pretzels…they really made it feel like you were at a drive-in movie!”

“Great memories for sure,” Axel said before picking up his menu. “So, what’s good here?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to remind him how he’d already covered that, but he kept it to himself. Axel and Gwen had to share a menu, which meant he needed to share his with Harlow. He held it up and handed it to her.

“You can look at it first,” he said quietly.

“I already know what I want,” she said stiffly. “You can look at it.”

Sighing quietly, he took it back and scanned it, already knowing he was going to get the damn bacon cheeseburger, just like Harlow probably was. When he glanced across the table, he found Axel looking between the two of them, still grinning, still wildly amused.

I’ll deal with you later, he thought.

Yeah. He was going to kick Axel’s ass when they got back to the cabin. Friends were supposed to have their friends’ back, not throw them to the wolves.

Or in this case, the woman he was trying to forget.

It was going to be a hell of a long night.

Axel Hayes might be Harlow’s new favorite person in the whole wide world.

From the moment he came over and introduced himself, she was charmed.

Plus, she saw it as an opportunity to hopefully convince him to see her way of thinking where the resort was concerned. So imagine her delight when it turned out he was already there without her saying a thing! It was perfect!

And Walker was miserable. She could feel the misery coming off him in waves.

Yippee!

It was worth all the awkwardness just to have a front row seat while listening to Axel take her side.

“So, Axel,” she said cheerily, “you used to vacation here too?”

“Oh, yeah,” he replied.

He was definitely handsome in a rugged, works-with-his-hands kind of way, and he seemed way more relaxed and carefree than Walker.

“That’s how Walker and I met,” he went on. “We all were up here around the same time during the summer. Although I’m pretty sure Walker’s family stayed longer than the rest of us.”

“The rest of you?”

He nodded. “You’ll meet everyone over the next several weeks.

Beside the two of us, there’s Connor, Milo, and Slater.

Jayce and Kelsey are also investing, but they’re not doing anything at this stage.

Maybe Jayce is. He’s an electrical engineer and he said he’d come and do an inspection for us.

” He looked at Walker. “Do we know when Jayce is coming?”

“No.”

Harlow had to fight the urge to laugh.

“Anyway,” Axel continued. “Jayce will be here at some point, and then he and Kelsey will come back right before the grand opening. It was Kelsey’s idea to save the resort.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t know that,” she murmured, instantly wanting to hate this woman.

“She had a real attachment to the place and was up here last summer—you know, the last summer the resort was open—and just hated the thought of it closing forever. She had Jayce reach out to Walker and the rest is history.”

She nodded, but wasn’t sure what else to say. Thankfully, their server came over to take their orders.

“I’ll get the grilled chicken sandwich,” Gwen said, “with coleslaw and fries, please. Oh, and a diet Coke.”

“You got it!” Then she looked at Axel.

“I’m going to get the jalapeno and bacon burger,” he stated. “And I’ll take fries, an order of onion rings, a Coke, and…” He glanced at the menu again. “Can I get an order of mozzarella sticks to start with?”

Laughing, Beth—their server—nodded. “You got it.” She looked over at Harlow. “And for you?”

“Um…”

“Get whatever you want,” Axel told her. “Walker’s treating!”

“Um…” Turning, she looked at Walker, who simply hung his head. “Okay, I’ll have the bacon cheeseburger, fries, a Coke, and can we get an order of the spinach and artichoke dip for the table?”

“Absolutely,” Beth said, turning her attention to Walker. “And for you, Sir?”

She heard him sigh before saying, “I’ll also get the bacon cheeseburger with fries and a Coke.” He handed her the menu. “Thanks.”

“I’ll have your drinks out in a minute!”

As much as she was—again—enjoying Walker’s misery, she felt the need to at least try to make things a little better. “You don’t have to pay for our meals. Gwen and I have no problem paying for our own dinners. Right, Gwen?”

Her friend nodded. “Right. Not that we don’t appreciate the offer, but it’s unnecessary.” She smiled at Walker. “But thank you anyway.”

All he did was offer a weak smile and a small nod.

Then things got awkwardly quiet.

“Where did you travel here from, Axel?” she asked, to fill the silence.

“Baltimore. But I packed up everything and I’m going to be calling Harbortown home for a while.”

“You mean until the resort reopens?”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure. As of now, I’m open to staying on indefinitely. I’ve got no ties to anywhere else, so…”

“What about your family?” Gwen asked.

Axel shook his head, studying his water briefly. “I don’t have one,” he said, sounding more matter-of-fact than sad. “I grew up in the foster care system. I lucked out and spent all my time after the age of eight with the same family, but they never adopted me.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry,” Gwen said quietly.