Page 28 of Sharing Shadow Secrets (High Five Novella #6)
S itting on the lake house dock, kicking my feet in the water, I’m decompressing after my virtual therapy appointment.
Addiction and patience have never been friends, and I don’t know if I will ever be able to cultivate patience.
One thing is for sure: I miss Taylor. I don’t think it’s in a withdrawal way.
She is special, different, and I’ve never felt like this about someone.
Especially someone I haven’t even slept with.
My thoughts about her aren’t really like that.
It’s more like, what is she doing? How is her business?
My lock screen lights up, and I look down.
Taylor
Have any audiobook recs? I’m about to drive back to Chicago from Lake Geneva.
Brandon
You’re in Lake Geneva? Meeting with High Five?
Taylor
Yup.
Brandon
Want to say hey?
I snap a pic of my view and text it to her.
Taylor
How funny! Yeah. I can say hey, but I need to hit the road soon.
I text her my address and a code to enter at the gate.
Taylor
Maybe I’ll steal something now that I have the code.
Brandon
It changes every couple of months, so do it soon.
Taylor
Haha. Be there in eight minutes.
I stand, walking up the dock and through the lawn to the home, smiling too much.
I’m really excited to see her. The place is spotless from the cleaning team being here yesterday, yet I feel compelled to tidy in the kitchen waiting for her to knock or text that she’s here.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I instantly smile, stepping toward the front door.
Opening it, Taylor’s blue eyes lock with mine.
She looks too cute in a messy bun, polo dress, and tennis shoes with wayfarer sunglasses.
“Nice place,” she chides, stepping in.
Immediate sass. Why does that make me smile more?
“It is,” I say, closing the door. “I love this house.”
“I would too.” She giggles.
Should I hug her? I want to. Now we’re awkwardly standing in the foyer as she glances around. I extend my arms for a hug. She steps into me, and I hold her tight. I’ve missed her.
“Have you ever been on the lake?” I ask, and she shakes her head. “Want to go on a boat ride?”
“Sure,” she says easily.
I fight back the urge to grab her hand. “It takes two hours to go around the lake if we cruise slowly. How much time do you have?”
“Let’s do a half tour. So one hour, and then I’ll dip.” She smiles up at me as we walk through the house. “When did you get here?”
“Earlier today. I’ll be here through Sunday. I try to spend a lot of time here in the summer.”
“Anyone joining you?” she teasingly asks.
“Maybe.” I nudge into her before opening the patio door and gesture her through.
“Moved on already?” she teases.
“No.” She looks down, a smirk spreading across her face. “Some friends are coming in tomorrow. I wanted to have the place to myself ahead of everyone getting here,” I say as we walk down the stairs toward the lake.
Taylor giggles to herself then asks, “Have you ever thought about modeling?”
Her tone is suspicious. “Why?”
“I’m in need of a shirtless vampire to take photos with people for my Halloween event at High Five.”
I shake my head. “Definitely not.”
“It will be fun,” she nearly sings. “You get to pretend to bite people.”
“Hard pass,” I say as we step onto the dock. Biting Taylor sounds fun. Strangers though? No thanks. “Plus, I’ll be in Puerto Rico anyway. There is a crypto conference I have to attend.”
“Don’t all the douche Bitcoin bros live in Puerto Rico?”
“Pretty much. There’s no federal income tax there.” I sigh. “I’m not looking forward to it. Five days of having fake conversations,” I say as we walk down the yard toward the boat. “My job is investor relations. So I have to bring more high net worth people to Cryptoball’s platform.”
As we approach the pier, the summer breeze ripples across the lake, and I ask, “You can swim, right?”
“You plan on throwing me in?” Taylor asks teasingly.
That would be fun, but too flirty.
“We have extra swimsuits if you want to go swimming.”
“Do girls leave their swimsuits behind or something?”
I chuckle. “No. We keep extras of everything around. You never know who will pop in.” I wink at her.