Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
It felt like forever since he’d kissed her, and every minute it took to get from the pub to her place felt like an eternity. But when she’d gone two blocks and pulled into the parking lot of the Lakeview Inn, he was mildly confused.
Maisie parked and let out a long breath before looking at him.
“Are we here because you don’t want to take me to your place?” he asked cautiously.
“This is my place,” she quietly replied. “I was only in town because of the interview.”
He realized he was getting slightly paranoid, but this just opened the door to even more questions.
But did he want answers, or did he want her?
Her.
It was a no-brainer.
Reaching out, Axel cupped his hand behind her neck and hauled her in for a kiss that bordered on savage.
Maisie clutched the front of his shirt and held on tight as she kissed him back with total abandon.
It was deep and wet, and he couldn’t get enough.
He was so desperate for her that he tried to haul her over the console, but she stopped him.
Panting and breathless, she pulled back, licking her lips. “My room is literally ten feet away.”
“That’s ten feet too far,” he murmured, but he knew they were going to have to take the time to go inside.
“Less than a minute and we can be on the bed,” she said as she quickly gathered her purse, phone, and keys. When she tumbled out of the truck, Axel was fast to follow. She had the door open in the blink of an eye, and as soon as they were both in the room, she slammed it shut.
They reached for each other before clumsily making their way over to the bed. Axel swiftly pulled her on top of him, loving the feel of her there in his arms. Their kisses were wild, their hands were everywhere, and all he wanted was to strip them both naked without having to move from this spot.
So he kept kissing her, touching her, worshipping her.
Every dip, every curve…he’d memorized her body over their weekend together, and it was good to explore it again.
He heard her shoes hit the floor and he did his best to kick his boots off, but he wasn’t having any luck.
As much as he didn’t want to stop, he knew they wouldn’t be able to get to the good stuff like this.
Reaching up, he cupped her face and reluctantly broke the kiss. “Naked,” he said with a growl. “You. Me. Now.”
She was licking her lips and nodding. “Yes. Naked’s good. Good idea.”
Rolling apart, they each took care of themselves. He felt a little guilty about that because he loved helping her out of her clothes, but that would have to wait for another time.
His boots went flying as he whipped his shirt up over his head, and he nearly fell on his ass as he tried to quickly shuck his jeans off but he luckily saved himself.
By the time he was back on the bed, Maisie was rolling toward him.
And then the madness was back and he welcomed it.
Nothing else in the world mattered but her.
Not a damn thing.
Axel: FYI, I’m with Maisie.
Walker: No shit. Lol! We figured that.
Slater: That was actually the plan. We left you behind on purpose.
Milo: It’s cute how clueless you are because you’re in love.
Axel: No one said I’m in love, dick.
Axel: I just happen to really like her, okay?
Connor: No need for name-calling.
Connor: But it really is adorable how clueless you are.
Rolling his eyes, he went to put the phone back down, but the guys were still talking.
Walker: All kidding aside, I hope the two of you talked things out.
Slater: Talk? Lol! Please, I’d bet good money they went back to her place and jumped right into bed!
There was no way he was going to confirm or deny that.
Connor: The important thing is that you’re both cool with whatever you’re doing and you’re going to be okay working together at the resort.
Connor: A lot of stuff is going to be delivered in the next few weeks, so I’m guessing she’s going to be around more.
Axel: We don’t have a problem with that, so don’t worry.
Connor: Just checking.
Milo: I would actually like to talk to her when she brings you back to the resort in the morning. I have a design question about the cabins and some potential issues with wiring and furniture placement.
Milo: I don’t want to mess up the design.
Walker: You better not! We just got it the way we wanted!
Walker: Why didn’t you say anything sooner?
Milo: Because we didn’t have the spaces fully designed yet.
Milo: And don’t get all pissy with me, dude.
Walker: I’m not getting pissy.
Walker: And that’s a dumb word. What are we? Twelve?
Slater: Some of you are sure acting that way…
Slater: I’m just saying…
Axel: I’ll let her know.
Axel: Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s late and I have better things to do than sit here all night texting with all of you.
Connor: Sure, brag about it. Some of us aren’t so lucky.
Milo: Yeah. Way to rub it in.
Slater: And here I thought we were being adults.
Slater: Good night, Axel! See you tomorrow!
Putting the phone down, he rolled onto his side and saw that Maisie was looking at him with amusement.
“What?”
“What?” she repeated.
“Something funny to you?”
“Your lips move when you’re typing. It’s kind of cute.” She moved closer, pressing those glorious curves up against him. She kissed his chest before grinning up at him. “I’m guessing you were letting everyone know where you are?”
“Yeah. I figured they knew considering no one was blowing up my phone to find out if I was alright. Then I thought they were jerks for not checking to make sure I was okay and thought I should throw it out there with a little guilt if necessary.”
“And was it?”
“Nope. As soon as I said where I was, they were all like, ‘yeah, we know.’” He pulled her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. “Oh, and Milo needs to talk to you when you drop me off in the morning.”
Lifting her head, she looked concerned. “Why?”
“Something about how he’s wiring things in the cabins and he’s worried about it messing with your designs and furniture placement. No big deal.”
She visibly relaxed, resting her head on his shoulder. “Okay. Whew!”
“Connor mentioned things are going to start being delivered in the next few weeks, so…I’m guessing we’ll be seeing more of each other,” he said carefully.
“I plan on being there when the first shipment arrives and walking everyone through the plans. Walker said you have a team of people who will unload the trucks and put the furniture together, so I don’t have to be there the entire time. Plus, I need to work on lining up a few more jobs.”
“Considering how everyone was tonight, it sounds like you’ve got some options already.”
She nodded. “Maybe, but they’re not definite and they’re not immediate.”
“O-kay…”
Lifting her head again, she met his gaze.
“I’m heading home on Thursday. I was going to leave on Friday, but it makes more sense for me to go a day earlier.
” Pausing, she sighed. “My cousin is getting married this weekend, and I’m in the bridal party.
I’ve been in contact with her, and she knows where I am and what I’ve been doing.
All of her pre-wedding stuff was over a month ago because she didn’t want anything to distract her during the final planning stage. ”
Axel had no idea what to say to that, so he just listened.
“Anyway, I’ll be gone for at least a week.”
“For a wedding?” he asked with a nervous laugh. “I thought those things were typically just a day.”
Her smile was small and a little sad. “It’s a weekend thing, and I need to spend some time taking care of things. Personal things.”
“Oh.” So she still wasn’t willing to tell him anything personal. He knew it shouldn’t bother him, but it did.
“I’ll be watching all the delivery information, and I’ll be back in time for it, but I just don’t know exactly when.”
He held her tight, tucking her head under his chin so she couldn’t see his face. “It is what it is, right? And when the resort’s done, you’ll move on to the next big thing.”
“Axel…”
“We knew this was a fling, and I’m fine with it. You don’t owe me any explanations. But whenever you’re in town, feel free to call me.”
He knew he sounded like a complete jerk, but he wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to say.
“Yeah. Sure,” she whispered. “I’ll do that.”
They both grew quiet, and the silence stretched on until it was almost awkward.
He didn’t want the night to end like this, but he wasn’t sure how to get them back on track.
If this was it—really it—for them, he wanted to make the most of it.
He wanted to leave her with a memory of him that would be hard to forget.
Swallowing hard, he decided to go big or go home.
And he wasn’t going anywhere.
Slowly, he maneuvered them until he had her beneath him. Staring into her eyes, he murmured, “Tell me you want me.”
“I do.” Her voice was so soft he barely heard her. “I want you.”
“We’re not gonna get much sleep tonight,” he said, resting his forehead against hers.
“Sleep is highly overrated.”
Chuckling, he grinned. “That’s my girl.”
And then he was done talking. They had this one night to make some powerful memories.
For both of them.
Death by Spanx.
That’s what my obituary is going to read…
It was Saturday night, and she’d been stuffed into the shapewear and her gown since ten this morning.
To say that the day was ridiculously long would be an understatement.
Still, the hunter green floral halter dress looked good on her.
She still felt a little self-conscious because she was definitely curvier than the rest of the bridal party, but that wasn’t anything new.
She was curvier than most of the women she knew.
It just sucked when there was no way to stay out of the spotlight. All day she had been posing for pictures and then walking up the aisle at the church, then more pictures, more posing, and when it was time for the reception, it just felt like she would never get a quiet moment to herself.
“There you are!”