Chapter 29
Friday morning, Maddox yawned while they poured themself a cup of coffee from the complimentary dispenser sitting at the front desk after they’d finished filling it for the morning. Yesterday had been a long day, and they were still feeling the effects of it.
The night before, they had gone to bed exhausted but satisfied from the evening’s activities. They smiled at the thought.
It’d been nice to have a diversion from something that had bothered them earlier that day: watching Denise and Jeremy on the Cypress Lodge porch.
The two of them had stood together and even touched in a way that suggested more closeness than mere coworkers.
For several hours after the fact, the image of that interaction kept popping up in Maddox’s mind, distracting them while they’d been trying to work.
Were Denise and Jeremy in a relationship?
In the few brief interactions they’d had with Jeremy, Maddox had gotten a vibe that made them think he might be gay. But they could have been wrong. Maybe he was bi or pan like Denise presumably was. Or maybe he and Denise were only friends. It didn’t matter!
Maddox had no business speculating on Denise’s personal affairs, whatever they might be, any more than they had any business dwelling on that moment over and over.
Wondering what it would be like to be free to share such a familiar touch with Denise again.
Even if only in friendship. What if the surprising intimacy they’d found before could have lasted longer than a short while?
Ugh, there I go again.
What-ifs were pointless, especially in this case. Denise had made it clear that anything personal they’d shared was in the past.
“Good morning, Maddox!” a cheery voice greeted them, and they looked up from the coffee dispenser to see Jeremy himself strolling up to the front desk.
Maddox tamped down their pensive mood and conjured up a friendly smile. “Morning! You’re up bright and early. Are you planning on sampling some of our world-class biscuits and gravy?”
“Not today. I’ve got plans to make! And I was hoping you could help me.”
“I’d be glad to,” Maddox answered, their smile feeling a tad more genuine in the face of his enthusiasm.
Jeremy leaned his elbows on the desk. “Can you recommend a good restaurant for a quiet, romantic evening?”
And just like that, Maddox’s smile slipped. “A romantic evening?”
“Yeah, you know. Someplace with candlelight and good wine, where the tables are private and discreet.” He lowered his voice. “Denise said you would be the perfect person to ask.”
“She did?” Maddox’s stomach twisted. Denise had told Jeremy to come ask them for a recommendation for a place he could take her on a date? Was this another way of reminding Maddox of their place, or was it an innocent request because she didn’t realize it would bother them?
Maddox bit the inside of their cheek. Wait, no. It didn’t bother them! What were they thinking? Silencing the flood of questions that threatened to spill through their thoughts, Maddox returned their attention to Jeremy. “Absolutely!”
They pulled out one of the trusty paper maps stored behind the desk and began circling a couple of restaurants on it.
Jeremy’s phone began buzzing loudly then, and he pulled it from his blazer pocket. “Oh, I’m sorry! I need to take this. Do you mind?”
When Maddox shook their head, he patted their arm. “Thanks, hon.”
He answered the phone. “Hey, ba—wait, already? But I thought…”
The front door swung open, and a handsome black man in his early thirties walked in. He was holding a phone to his ear.
Jeremy spun around. “Derrick!”
He put the phone back in his pocket, and Derrick lowered his as well. The two of them grinned at each other.
Jeremy moved forward and raised his arms as if to embrace Derrick, but Derrick’s eyes darted to Maddox. Jeremy followed his gaze and flapped a hand in Maddox’s direction. “Don’t worry. Maddox is cool. They’re helping me pick a place for us to have dinner tonight.”
The men faced each other again, and Maddox turned away to give them privacy, coughing out a soft chuckle before heading to the office behind the front desk.
Jeremy and Derrick were partners! And Maddox was lucky they hadn’t pulled a hamstring with all the conclusions they’d been jumping to about Jeremy and Denise. They couldn’t help but laugh at themself.
In the past, Maddox had playfully accused Rhonda of speculating about her fellow guests too much, but Maddox’s wild guesses had Rhonda’s beat by miles. All when it had been none of their business, anyway.
Maddox sank into the office chair, letting the quiet of the pre-morning bustle wash over them. It hit them then that another feeling was waiting there beneath the humor. Relief.
They were so damned relieved to know Denise and Jeremy weren’t involved. Why? Had they actually been…jealous?
They allowed the word to fully form in their mind, and soon it released a torrent of feelings and thoughts.
Ever since Denise had returned, Maddox had been stinging from her rejection.
Yes, rejection. Because, as absurd as it might be, when Maddox had first seen Denise again, they’d longed to pick back up where they’d left off.
They’d wanted a continuation of those brief, but thoughtful conversations.
Wanted more time spent in each other’s presence.
And yes, more nights spent tangled up together in Maddox’s sheets.
It was ridiculous. They’d been perfectly content to leave other encounters they’d had in the past at one or two nights without ever expecting or even thinking of more.
They had recognized those flings for what they were.
But with Denise, it had seemed like so much more than that well before they’d wound up in bed together.
Although that night had really reinforced it.
The way it had felt watching Denise as she completely surrendered to pleasure.
The lingering warmth and passion of her kisses.
The way the two of them had kept sharing space even after they were finished, laughing and chatting.
But Denise had said their night together had been blowing off steam.
She’d laid down the ground rules for their relationship moving forward: they would stick to their jobs so Denise could focus on the business she obviously cared about a lot more than she’d first let on.
What did Maddox and their silly feelings matter in the face of negotiations, money changing hands, and Farrington Parks’ grand expansion plans?
Maddox had avoided admitting to themself how much the whole situation had bothered them.
But they couldn’t ignore how gutted they’d been believing Denise might be in a serious relationship with Jeremy.
Thinking how professional boundaries apparently weren’t an issue there, not when the relationship was with someone Denise viewed as an equal.
And that meant she felt Maddox was too far beneath her.
Now that Maddox knew the truth, they saw how they were probably being unfair to Denise. Being involved, even if she wanted to be, with someone who worked for a resort her family’s company was buying out could raise all kinds of issues.
But you couldn’t really reason yourself out of heartache, could you?
Maddox couldn’t help the way they felt about Denise, it seemed.
Probably not any more than Denise could help the fact that the success of her dad’s company was her top, if not only priority here.
They only wished Denise had been more honest about that from the beginning.
Maybe they could have avoided getting their silly feelings involved if they’d known.
Since they hadn’t managed to avoid that, the only path left to them now was to avoid her until her business at the resort was done.
Denise was no stranger to starting Mondays in a bad mood.
About six or seven months into her time at Farrington, she’d started to view the return of the work week with a combination of dread and resignation.
It meant five or six more long days of showing up somewhere she didn’t want to be.
As the end of her promised two years drew closer, she had at least learned to make some peace with it, though.
But her mood on this Monday rivaled even her grumpiest day of reporting for duty at the Farrington office. Ironic that she wasn’t even in the office today but at a serene resort in the middle of some of the most beautiful autumn scenery she had ever seen.
Nothing could be done for it, though. She’d had a miserable weekend cooped up in her room going over and over the offer and looking for ways to make it more appealing to Oliver.
She didn’t regret not having Jeremy’s help with that per se.
After all, he’d done so much to get her ready for this already, and he deserved to spend a nice couple of days of one-on-one time with Derrick.
She was glad for them. However, seeing them so happy together had created an uncomfortable ache in her chest that had lingered until the lovesick couple had gone back home Sunday afternoon.
It also hadn’t helped matters that every time Denise tried to analyze what it was Oliver might truly want out of these negotiations, she ended up thinking about Maddox.
Maddox and this mysterious Janelle that was apparently important enough to take them away from their precious work here at the resort but not important enough for them to breathe a word about her to Denise either before or after they’d slept together.