Chapter 23 #2
Bringing her close to his body, he leaned in and whispered, “I’d follow you, you know.”
Her dress slid to the floor, her grasp on the slinky material giving way at his huskily spoken words, and she gasped, “What?”
“You were running. I’d follow you,” he murmured low, and this time she heard the warning in his voice. She had no doubts that he meant it. His lips flit over the corner of her mouth, causing electricity to zing across every nerve ending, making her shiver.
Taking a step away from her, he bent at the waist to retrieve the dress that had pooled at their feet and to take her shoes from her.
“Were you seriously considering not wearing any shoes outside?” he grumbled, steering her toward the main lobby.
Calling over to the concierge, he said, “The lady will not be needing the shuttle, she’s staying. ”
“And just where are you taking me?” she hissed as his fingers tightened around hers. Her cheeks were on fire in embarrassment.
“Breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” Shaun parroted dumbly.
“Yes, breakfast. It’s the meal normal people eat when they wake up in the morning. Usually comes with a cup of coffee.”
“Kasey, I have no shoes—” she protested as he led her toward one of the several restaurants inside the massive resort. “They’re not going to let me inside. And I’m wearing your clothes with no bra on—”
“Oh, trust me, I’ve noticed,” he muttered darkly as they stopped at the hostess stand just inside a set of giant double doors that looked like they’d been carved from massive trees.
The smell of a breakfast buffet wafted over to them, and her stomach growled.
He smirked over at her. “Lucky for us, it’s so early in the morning after every other human on the mountain was up late as fuck getting hammered, so we should be relatively alone. ”
A woman that appeared to be in her late forties welcomed them, taking in their rumpled state, Shaun’s dress and shoes in Kasey’s hands and smiled knowingly, then led them both to a table.
“Would it be possible to have a booth? Please?” Kasey asked, and the woman nodded, motioning to a booth situated in one corner, which held much more privacy than the table. “Perfect, thank you.”
Half a heartbeat later a petite, brunette waitress had sidled over to them as they settled into the booth on opposite sides.
“Coffee?” the woman asked, and the chorus of ‘Yes, please’ made them both smile.
The waitress was back just a moment later with two porcelain coffee cups and a carafe of coffee.
Pouring out two servings, she set the carafe on the table for them.
“Any cream or sugar?” When they both shook their heads, no, she continued, “Alright then. Do you need a few minutes to look over the menu? Our strawberry cream cheese stuffed French toast is our special this morning.”
“Oof, sold,” Shaun moaned and slid the unopened menu toward the edge of the booth table with a smile. “With a side of bacon, please. Limp. It smells amazing.”
Kasey’s mouth tilted up at one corner as he perused his menu, and Shaun’s cheeks heated again. Handing the waitress the menu, he said quietly, “I’ll have the western omelet and a side of sausage gravy, please.”
When the waitress had walked away, Kasey leaned forward on his elbows across the table and whispered, “Limp bacon, huh? I got the impression last night you liked your meat a little…firmer.”
“You are a menace,” Shaun hissed through her teeth, her cheeks roaring into flames to match the fireplace that blazed across the room. Kasey laughed out loud and leaned back into his seat, picking up his coffee cup and bringing it to his lips.
His hair was still messily tousled, his jaw shadowed with a days’ worth of growth, and he wore a plain white long-sleeved shirt, and she’d noticed he’d pulled on a similar pair of gray sweatpants.
His feet had been shoved into what looked like a beat-up pair of crocs, which made her grin.
She kept his gaze, staring into those gray-blue eyes that always seemed to look like they were bringing a storm with them.
“Text your parents,” he murmured, motioning with his chin toward her phone that she’d placed on the table off to the side.
“Why?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you keeping me hostage?”
“A willing one, yes,” he drawled, setting his coffee cup down and wrapping the fingers of both hands around the mug.
“You’re so unbelievably conceited,” she scoffed, a sardonic laugh escaping her. “Just because—just because we—”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” she hissed, leaning over her tightly clenched hands that rested on the top of the table in front of her.
“Don’t open that smart mouth of yours and try to come up with some half-cocked excuse as to why last night was a mistake, or that it wasn’t absolutely mind-blowing,” he murmured quietly, though she sensed the tension rolling off of him in waves.
“Why, you arrogant ass—”
Reaching across the table quick as a viper strike, he clasped the point of her chin between his finger and thumb, holding her still as he ground out, “Lie to yourself all you want, but don’t lie to me, darlin’.
” His fingers slackened and then rubbed his thumb over the fullness of her bottom lip.
“Stay with me, Shaun. Just for a little while. Let’s just pretend for a moment that nothing outside of this place matters. ”
Well, damn. How was she supposed to say no to that?